Page 45 of Brody

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Aaron and I had once been very close. We were born barely a year apart, so we’d grown up together and hit most of our milestones around the same time. Even once we were adults, we’d stayed in constant contact. Then, when our parents died, and we were the only family left for each other, we grew even closer. I always thought, no matter what life threw at me, that I’d always at least have Aaron in my corner.

Then he got sick.

At first, he tried to reassure me, saying that people beat cancer all the time. Soon enough, everything would go back to normal, and we’d be able to laugh about it one day.

Yet, that day never came. With each failed treatment, and with each worsening symptom, he grew more and more distant with me, until some days I could barely get two words out of him. He spent most of his time online, talking to people I’d never heard of. These people said ridiculous things, claiming that his cancer was a result of living in a modern city, surrounded by sin and filth every day. That he could be cured if he just returned to the way humans were supposed to live.

I asked Aaron about it once.

What was this way that humans were “supposed to live?”

It was such a vague statement that didn’t make sense.

He never answered me.

Then, a few months ago, I went out to refill his prescription, and when I came back the apartment was empty. Aaron took nothing but some cash and his ID with him. His cellphone, his credit cards, even most of his clothes, were all left behind.

That was when I filed the first Missing Persons report and was dismissed by the police for the first time.

I sat on that couch crying for nearly an hour, until finally the tears stopped. At that point, I didn’t even care if Aaron refused to come home. I just wanted to know that he was really all right. That he was happy, and his cancer was being treated properly.

I just didn’t want to lose the only family I had left.

At some point, while I cried, I’d picked up the medicine bottle and was clutching it so tightly in my hand that the rim of the cap was cutting into my hand.

No, I wouldn’t give up. No matter what any officer said, I would keep looking until I knew Aaron was okay.

Or I got confirmation that he was dead.

Another month passed without any sign of my brother. I used the last of my savings to hire a private investigator, but I couldn’t afford more than a consultation and a periphery investigation. It was enough to tell me that my brother was probably still alive, as no John Does matching his description had turned up recently, but it still wasn’t enough for me to actually find him.

In that time, I was fired from my job for missing too many days of work. I didn’t really care. It was just a menial office job that paid barely more than minimum wage. I couldn’t stand the place, but without a job I had no money, and without money, I had no means to keep looking for Aaron. Each day looked a little more hopeless, but I still didn’t give up.

Then, one evening, I got a text from an unknown number.

It’s Aaron. Meet me here.

A map with a pinned location was attached to the message.

It could have been a scam. Most people probably would have questioned such a cryptic message before blindly following its order. However, I was so desperate to find my brother, I never even hesitated. I spent my last few dollars on a bus ticket to a completely different state and headed off that very night.

The pinned location on the map led me to a small town called Rynkirk. The location turned out to be a run down motel on the edge of town. When I arrived, I received another message telling me what room number to go to.

There, lying on the stained motel bed, was my brother.

“Aaron!” I shouted as I ran to him, dropping to my knees beside the bed. It had been months since I last saw him. He’d changed so much that he was barely recognizable. He was once a robust man just like me, but now he resembled a skeleton draped in skin rather than a human. His breathing was shallow and raspy, and when he looked at me, it seemed to take all his effort just to open his eyes.

“Ellis, hey,” he greeted me, his voice as rough as sandpaper. “Didn’t think you… you’d actually show up.”

“Of course I showed up.” I gripped his hand and nearly jumped at how cold it was. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I was so worried. You just disappeared and I… I…”

Aaron squeezed my hand. There was barely any pressure to it, but he seemed to be putting everything he had into that grip. “I know. I messed up. I was so stupid. I never should have listened to them, but I was just so scared. Nothing was working. I was dying, and I didn’t… I didn’t want to die.”

“You’re not going to die,” I insisted, but he cut me off with a weak shake of his head.

“I am. Don’t think I have much time left. Those bastards lied to me until the very end, were probably laughing at me behind my back, but I finally wised up.” He smiled, and I could see that his gums had receded around his teeth. “In the end, I’ll have the last laugh. Look in the drawer there.”

The motel room didn’t have much. Just a bed, a small side table with a chair, and an old TV that didn’t work. It wasn’t hard to figure out what drawer he meant.