Page 136 of Madness Behind the Mask

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I raise the bottle to my lips.

They’re all gone.

Jonathan is gone.

Molly is gone.

Bonnie is gone.

And now Ryo is gone too.

Killed at his own wedding while I mourned his mother.

I should’ve been there to protect him.

I should’ve –

Cruel laughter mocks me – my own demons laughing at my misery before I realize it’s coming from the other room. “You’re so fucking pathetic,” Garret says.

Something hits the floor with athud.“You’re not even going to fight back, are you? Too fucking drunk to even stand on your own feet. Let’s say we have a little fun then, hmm?”

My brow furrows as I lower the bottle from my lips. My hands shaking, I try to figure out what’s disrupting the haze of my months-long bender.

I’m here.

Myers is out there.

But he looks like me.

Is dressed like me.

Probably crawled into bed to look even more like the pathetic man I am.

A slurred curse escaping, I try to rise to my feet.

“You like the alcohol so much,” Garrett sneers, “so why don’t I give you more of it.” Glass shatters in the other room. More cruel laughter hits the ceiling.

I want to yell at Myers to defend himself, to not get slaughtered in my place. He’s my younger brother, and Iamsupposed to be the one protecting him, not the other way around.

I fall through the cupboard door as it swings open. Myface hits the cool tiles, jolting me out of my haze a little bit more.

My little brother needs me.

He’s the last family I have left.

He can’t die because of me.

I crawl towards the ensuite door and haul myself up its frame. My hands shake on the door handle. I try to twist it, but it refuses to move. An agonized scream ruptures from the other room, and I try to cry out, to let him know I’m coming, but all that spews forth is vomit. The alcohol burns my esophagus, and I sag against the door in a cold sweat.

I’m pathetic.

Weak.

And my brother is going to die because of it.

Because ofher.

Because she ran into a stupid situation and got herself killed.

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