35 35–The Inappropriate Stepbrother
Helanie:
Something about this guy claiming to be my stepbrother just didn’t sit right with me. I kept glancing over at my mother and then at my father while I sat in the passenger seat. My new, mysterious stepbrother sat in the backseat.
We were driving back home in our own car, and my mother had insisted that I sit up front with my father.
“Why did you call yourself her stepbrother?” I heard my mother ask the guy named Kaye, which is how he had introduced himself to us.
“I don’t know. Did I?” he responded..
“Kaye! You must have forgotten. You’re her real brother. Your father and I gave you away because we didn’t have the means to take care of a child when you were born. You’ve been living with my sister, but you always visit us,” my mother explained. The moment she said that, a memory of him visiting us resurfaced.
However, I still felt a strange, heavy unease with him being in the car. I steadily turned my neck to pass a quick glance and instead stared at my mother as she quickly moved in front of him. Her hair got in the way.
Two beautiful purple roses rocking her hairstyle.
Wait! She had one rose earlier, where did the second one come from? Did she pick it up from the venue? My mom was very particular about the rose in her hair. But now she has two.
“Oh right. I remember now. Wait! How did I forget?” Kaye suddenly straightened up, startling me with how tall he was.
“Or were you just playing a prank on us?” my father asked, and that’s when the three of them started laughing. I thought maybe I should laugh too.
So, I did.
But I had missed the funny part. I was trying hard to recall more memories of him, but nothing concrete came to mind–nothing that I could picture clearly when I closed my eyes.
When we arrived home, my mother made sure to walk me to my bedroom. “Listen, don’t leave your room until morning. It’s bad luck for a bride to talk to anyone before the wedding. Now, go to bed so we can wake up early in the morning,” she said, stroking my hair lovingly before closing my bedroom door.
I heard a click from outside and realized she was serious about these customs. I didn’t mind; I felt so happy being cared for like this.
After taking off my dress and slipping into a white nightgown, I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection.
10:20
1/4
<
35 35–The Inappropriate Stepbrother
And just like before, I felt strangely unfamiliar to myself.
Was I just nervous because of the wedding? My dad had mentioned that my mom felt the same way when she was getting married to him.
Shaking off the thoughts, I turned to leave my bedroom but froze when I saw someone sitting on my bed, the window to my room wide open.
I swear, if I hadn’t felt so secure and content in my life, I would’ve screamed at the top of my lungs. But I didn’t.
However, I stormed over to the bed to make sure I wasn’t seeing things incorrectly. My brother Kaye was sitting there, head tilted, holding a book I had been reading.
“The Perfect Life of Helanie? Seriously, who wrote a book about you?” His voice dripped with jealousy.
Yes, that’s exactly what it was–he was envious of my perfect life and how everyone adored me.
“Why are you even here? And don’t touch my stuff with your hands!” I snapped, snatching the book out of his grip and placing it back on the nightstand, glaring at him.
“That’s it?” he asked, and I frowned at him.
“That’s your dream? People aim for greatness, and all you want is to be loved? So the others were right about you. You want to be treated like a princess, to have everything revolve around you.” I had no idea what he was talking about. What others? Was he referring to my brother
Sullivan?
“You and Sullivan are jealous of me because everyone cares about me-” As I started to rant, he suddenly stood up and grabbed my wrist, twisting my arms behind my back and shoving me against the wall.
He did it so effortlessly and shamelessly that I forgot to scream. But as the shock settled, I
realized how close his face was to mine.
“What the hell are you doing? I’m going to scream,” I hissed, warning him.
“Do it, and I’ll silence you,” he hissed back, his face inching even closer.
“You’ll need to let go of my hands to do that,” I muttered, trying to lean away from him, attempting to avoid the awkward proximity.
“There are other ways I can silence you,” his eyes darted to my lips before he quickly looked up. For a moment, I swear he even surprised himself because he gulped and hurriedly added, “I’m not here to argue with you.”
I was still shocked by his comment.
“You’re here to make your sister uncomfortable? How could you even joke about something so disgusting?” I snapped, justifiably furious.
How dare he touch me like that? It was completely inappropriate.
10:20
2/4
<
35 35–The Inappropriate Stepbrother
“We’re not siblings,” he muttered under his breath.
“What the hell are you talking about? Why are you trying to convince me that we’re not related?” A shiver ran up my spine as he narrowed his eyes at me and groaned.
“It’s not like that. I’m here to bring you back to the real world. You’re trapped in some ridiculous fantasy that’s going to consume you,” he said, his tone growing more intense.
I couldn’t let him keep ranting.
“Fantasy? This is my world! What are you even talking about? Did you come here to ruin my wedding or something?” I grimaced as he rolled his eyes, leaning so close that we were practically breathing the same air.
“Helanie! You sniffed that stupid purple rose and ended up here. Did you forget? You’ve been working for my brother Maximus, and I caught you.” The moment he said that name, a shudder went through my body.
It was a new name, but something about it deeply unsettled me. Kaye noticed my reaction and nodded aggressively.
“That’s it. I have to say things from the real world to break you free from this dream,” he said, a wide grin spreading across his face as he started spouting the most outrageous things.
“Remember? You went to live with your mother, and she kicked you out. You had nowhere to go. You said you left your father too. You wanted to join the academy, but you didn’t have any money –“He made me close my eyes, and what I felt on my cheek next stunned me.
Tears.
I hadn’t cried out of sadness in years.
“Helanie! Wake up before that man consumes you like he has consumed all his other victims,” Kaye shook me, forcing me to open my eyes.
And that’s when I gave him a small nod.
“Good. Now, tell me, what do you remember?” He finally let go of my hands and stepped back, waiting for me to agree with him.
But instead, I calmly and steadily said, “That I need to call for help.”
Before he could understand what I meant, I started screaming at the top of my lungs, “HELP! HE’S HURTING ME!”
10 20
