The sun peered out from its hidden nest and stretched itself widely across the sky. It was one of those enchanted summer mornings where no one could picture anything going wrong. Birds chirped merrily as they soared through the sky, spreading joy wherever they flew by. People from all walks of life, exchanged looks of glee as they got ready for another day of life.
Everybody genuinely seemed grateful, everybody except Lyon.
“Ugh…why did the sun have to rise AGAIN?, Another day at a boring absolutely uninteresting workplace.. yay!.”, he sneered sarcastically as he stuffed himself with buttered toast. A desperate man’s meal. Lyon had a thing for these seemingly picturesque days. He didn’t like them, just like he didn’t like the sun, the birds, or even the children. He found them pesky and nosy. Basically, he despised a lot of things. But the one thing he felt a true calling for was making lists. And so, he made a list of dreads, that contained every little thing he had disowned for the past forty - three years of his life. It was more of an accomplishment for him, something he took a lot of pride in.
‘Too good to be true’ he yelled at each and every house he passed by, but truth is no one took him seriously as for Mr. Lyon, paranoia was normal. This unending ranting was another Wednesday morning for the residents of Cabbagetown. No one knew why he was the way he is. Always sceptical, always filled with rage and always lonely. Though basking under the summer glory Lyon felt a dark cloud of doom loom over him. All was silent, the only sound was of the pleasant breeze that ruffled his golden hair. That’s when, he saw him… . The mysterious stranger across the street who had covered his face with a black scarf and who wore a thick black hoodie with a huge white skull drawn on it the only thing visible was his strangely familiar ocean blue eyes that gave out a cruel glare as it shimmered at Lyon. He looked criminal. Like he was ready for murder.
The man crossed the road with his eyes still darting towards Lyon. And before he could react, the man had stood right in front of the car.
Rotten blue eyes met Cynical brown ones.
“Miss me brother?”, bellowed the strangers’ voice. Unravelling his disguise, to show a middle aged man, with quite charming features. The two eerily resembled each other a lot.
Lyon’s face grew pale, 20 years of his life passed right before his eyes.
“You…?..You are supposed to be in jail!” Lyon stammered.
“And, you were ‘supposed’ to pick me up from that perished placed, weren’t you Lyon?”
“What, that can’t be right..no ..it can’t. You were charged with MURDER James..”, gulped Lyon.
“Ahhhh..I take it you didn’t get the memo, umm well you see, since hell is overfilling, they had mercy on us fellow long timers and gave us a chance at life again. I am finally free from the clutches of Satan, brother, loosen up a bit will you? I mean it’s not like you are going to spend the rest of your miserable lonely life with a serial killer” James chuckled, as he made his way to the car.
A look of utter fright and terror fell upon his face, as he started the car back home. It looked like the car agreed with him too, as it coughed, wheezed and staggered it’s way to its den. The only person who looked sane at that moment was the man declared mentally unstable seventeen years ago..
The moment they reached, Lyon barged his way in and threw himself upon his bed. He kept repeating to himself that it was all just a nightmare, that it was all just his imagination acting up, but with every step his brother walked, with every breath he took, every word he let fly that made him wish he was deaf at times, made him think otherwise, made him understand that this was his new reality.
Lyon was filled with so many doubts he thought his head might explode at any moment now. But the most disturbing thought was, why has his brother returned to him? He could have gone anywhere in the world, why here? And why didn’t he get the memo? What’s going on?..
Lyon felt himself drowning with each question, further into a hole. He felt dizzy and sick, like throwing up. His eyes were closing but his mind was working faster than ever. What was happening to him? Before he could figure anything out, he fell into his subconscious, into his mind.
What seemed to be an eternity later, Lyon managed to open his eyes, his head weighed heavy and his whole body ached, almost like he had been drugged. The only thing that made him feel better was that his brother was nowhere in sight.
“Yes!, I knew it, it was all just my mind playing tricks on me, of course, James is still in jail”, he comforted himself.
But that’s where he was wrong. For when he reached the hall, on the wall behind his beloved computer, was a big star, painted in blood red. Lyon felt another faint overcoming him, but he managed to resist it as he walked towards the symbol in utter trepidation.
He knew that sign. He had seen it all too well. 5 times to be exact. It was a sinister symbol. His emblem. Fear overcame every inch of him, as he backed away, knocking down everything in his way. He moved his hands with great effort to the table near him to drag a chair, but when he raised his arm, all he could see was blood. Red blood. His hands were stained completely with it and so was his clothes. Lyon had no intention of knowing whose. He froze. He didn’t know what to do..
“Wee woo, wee woo , wee woo”, a sharp sound filled the air, and echoed in lyon’s ear. Armed men barged through the already open door, with their trusty arms pointing towards Lyon.
“ Mr. Lyon you are arrested for framing your brother James for the 5 murders you committed 17 years ago. Hands behind you back now!”
Lyon just stood there. Blank.
“How did you know?”, he sneered
“Your brother revealed it to us when he died early this morning in the prison infirmary...You sir, have a lot of blood on your hands..”, the officer replied.
- Mahathi.S
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