The broken brotherhood.

Er lige blevet færdig med anime serien gun grave og den har inspireret denne her novelle.

The broken brotherhood.

Time is short. I must go on. I stumble through the room, my arm hanging limb along my sides, a gun in the right, and a knife in the left. There is blood on my shirt and blood on my hands, none of it is mine. I still have my blood, but I would gladly trade it for one more day from back then, the days where we were free, the days where all that mattered was the food on the table and the sun in the sky. Just you, me and Eddy, we could take on the world back then. We where free, but that was not enough for you, was it? You wanted more you wanted power, you wanted money, and you wanted freedom. Why could you not stay in the streets with us, why could you not forget the money, why could you not see that you were already free? The power of controlling your own destiny, with your own two fists, a pipe or a gun, the money to keep yourself alive and enough to get a house to call home in this world, he freedom to leave everything behind, to call it a day, to help those you liked and punish those you didn’t.
Could you not see that Eddy were not able to go into the mob, could you not see that I was not ready to go into the mob? Sometimes I wonder if you were even ready. Since we joined I have taken many lives, since we joined I have helped you towards the top, since we joined I have hated myself.
Eddy is dead.
Do you remember the place we used to eat? The little diner where no one ever came, have you forgotten how we used to laugh with the cook, have you forgotten how you flirted with the waitress, have you forgotten how they all died?
Don’t you remember the mob war? Don’t you remember the shooting that took place there? Don’t you remember how we almost got killed? Don’t you remember seeing their burning corpses in the ruins? Don’t you remember the promise of brotherhood we made back then?
Did you remember that promise when you signed us op for the mob? Did you remember that promise when you killed the boss to get his job? Did you remember that promise when you became a member of the family’s inner circle? Did you remember that promise when you became the big boss? Did you remember that promise when you gave us the assignment?

A simple task: two targets, in and out, two minutes flat. Did you not know that I was sick? Did you not know that Eddy was unstable? Had you really distanced yourself so much from us? Did you not know that these two people were the two people in the world we could never kill?
We went in at the same time; we fired our guns in perfect harmony and created a battlefield. Two bodies, I bend over them to see the faces of the victims for there is something familiar about them. I looked into those brown eyes; I saw the reflection of myself in them, as I had done a thousand times in these eyes. I coughed, threw up and passed out, when I woke up again Eddy was dead, his body lay on top of the lady he loved, smiling. One bullet had done the trick, one bullet had given him eternal peace, I hope he finds his woman in heaven and that she can forgive him. I hope my woman will forgive me for not coming, but I still have to go say goodbye to my best friend, to say goodbye to you.

The elevator is slow when you are in a hurry, and there is nothing to do in it. It just moves upwards no caring about the 4 dead men in the lobby, or boss on the top floor, that will suffer by my hand in a few minutes.
“Pling” that is what the elevator says, as it stops at the top floor. The doors opens painfully slow, to reveal a scared person at the other side; he points a gun at me but lowers it when he recognises me.
“Sir! I heard shooting downstairs, do you know what is going on?” he moves towards me, he is not surprised by the blood; I am always bloody after a job.
As he gets close to me I lean forward, pretending to fall and as he tries to catch me I plunge the knife into his heart. I see the confusion in his eyes, the pain and my own reflection. I move on, leaving him bleeding on the floor, almost unable to keep walking. There is the door, right there, behind it you sit comfortable behind your desk. I reach out and fall through the door.
You shout my name and run towards me, take me in your arms.
“Intruders in the hall.” I whisper, and your two bodyguards leave the room.
“Don’t speak.” you say with care in his voice, we are still friends in your eyes. “Where is Eddy?”
“Dead.” I answer and look you in the eyes, I see the pain of the news, I see the anger in them, and I see my own reflection.
“Who did this to you? Who killed him?” you ask, you truly don’t know.
“I am sick.” I tell you”that is what did this to Me.” you look shocked by the news. “Eddy killed himself, after you made him kill the woman he loved.”
I get onto my feet, my legs are like jelly and my vision is so blurred I can hardly see you.
“wha- what are you talking about.” You look confused, even scared.
“You do not have to play games with me.” I keep a steady voice but it is only a matter of time before I collapse again. “I know you wanted to make us strong by having us kill our own weakness, but you are a fool.” I lift my gun there is only one bullet in it, one bullet is all I need. “Have you forgotten the promise we made all those years ago? Have you forgotten that we were to be equals to eternity, to be free from everyone else?” I see the fear in your eyes, the confusion, you have forgotten haven’t you? ”Do you remember what we promised each other back then? ‘If one fails to defend the other, chooses not to, or bring upon them unnecessary psychical or psychic damage, then the other two must bring him back on the path of the brotherhood. This rule is above all laws, all restrictions and there are no exceptions to this rule.’ You don’t remember that, do you? You have forgotten that law we wrote on the ruin with our own blood?”
I can see it in your eyes that you remember now, but I also see that you no longer live by that rule.
“You have strayed from the path of the brotherhood; I will bring you back onto the path. This I know is not possible in this world so I shall do it in the next.”
The gun cried and claimed another life, just as it had claimed the life of my loved one. I see your regret in your eyes as you fall to the ground, I see your pain, I see my own reflection. I feel the pain in my chest, as a hard cough charges through my lungs and escapes through my mouth. The cough carries blood through my mouth and it sprays onto the corpse of my dead friend. Did you forget that we had mixed our blood and called each other brother? Did you forget about the times we fled from the stores after a successful robbery? Did you forget how we promised to live and die together no matter what?
Another blood-filled cough forces its way through my lungs and I hold my hand before my mouth.
“Blood” I whisper as I look at my hand, “This blood is mine.” I collapse besides you, my heart slowly coming to a halt, perhaps in the next world we can be friends again?