My Little Brother

[[Okay, so this one-shot is basically Victor as a young boy; set after James murdered Victor's father at Howlett Manor, the two brothers on the run, both young, Victor around 15, James around 13. I might do a second installment, or add on to this, i'm not sure, it all depends on the reviews!]]

You are my little brother now...and brothers stick together. Brothers look out for each other. That's what they're supposed to do. That's what we are supposed to. You need me, little brother, you can't survive on your own, and i won't let anything happen to you. We'll run to the ends of the earth if we need to, and then we'll keep running, running until we finally find somewhere safe, until we can finally find another home.

Our homes had been taken away from us. They chased us away, like monsters, like animals. But they were right. We're not like them, not human, not civil, not anything worth caring for anymore. My father was two steps ahead of everyone else. From the moment i was born he saw fault in me...he always did. Everything i did, there was something wrong, and as i grew, things got worse. I grew savage when i was younger, and i couldn't help but act in my father's image.

He was a bad man, abusive, hurtful, he always beat my mother, his wife, she still loved him, she swore she did, but he was a drunk, and he didn't care, he didn't care about any of us! I knew he didn't, he insisted he did, but he lied. He was always a liar! I acted like him, i lied, i stole, i hurt, and one day, i snapped. I killed my very own little brother. And i felt no remorse. Why should i? He took my piece of pie! I was young, but i was stronger than him, and i was different than all the other boys in town! I was stronger than all the others, they swore i was an animal, not human!

My father, the bastard, he locked me up from then on, chained in the basement. My mother pleaded with him, she tried to get him to set me free from the cellar and its darkness. But it didn't work, and for the longest time i was there, practically rotting away. Finally, she got to him, though i was still forced to live with that basta and the only thing that cured me from my hatred, if only temporarily, was my neighbor, the neighbor boy on Howlett Manor.

His name was James, he was younger than me by a few years, but my father let me visit him in his ill health. He was always sick, but i knew what it felt like, i was sick like that too when i was his age, before my drunken father decided to lock me away. We both faced near death illness, but we'd recovered, only to become ill once again.

On that fateful night at Howlett Manor, Jimmy was in bed, sick as can be, my claws carving away at a stake of wood to kill the time, besides talking with my friend. My father had showed up, looking for me Jimmy's father had assumed, but that wasn't the case. My drunken father wasn't here for me...he was here to speak of James Howlett.

My father's murder was what i'd witnessed. Though i am glad i saw what i did, heard what i did, i learned the truth. So the rumours were correct. James' mother Elizabeth was nothing more than a skank; a whore. My father was as much of a father to me as he was so James!

So then, that night, once Jimmy had shown his true colors...we ran. We ran together. We ran as brothers. Our fathers dead, the townspeople hot on our trail, they would come after us no matter what, and we'd had to escape. Our escape meant our survival, and eventually we got away. Though we knew it wouldn't be for long, we were glad to be away from those crazed townspeople we knew as neighbors, friends, they were all against us now. It was just us two against the world. Me and my little brother.

"I'm cold, Victor,"

Your quiet request for warmth did not go unnoticed. It is still my job to protect you, to keep you safe, and i'd make sure you stayed safe. Turning my head to look back down at you, i scoot back, before laying next to you, my natural body heat welcoming to you. I watch as you huddle up against me. Our shelter was still shelter, though it wasn't like one of those fancy hotels, the rich men stayed in. We hide in an old barn, dusty, cold, but it is shelter, and the barn is the only remnants of the residence that lived there years before, when the house had burned down in a crazy fire, leaving nothing but rubble, and nobody in the area would care to fix it, care to rebuild, the lonely couple who'd loved there were at peace now, and it was nobody's business to build on their property.

"Just try to go to sleep, Jimmy, we'll have to run again in the morning."

Your response is soft, yet shaky and unsure: "I...i'm sorry...i really didn't mean to do it..."

"Yes you did, Jimmy, and he deserved it, there was nothing else you could've done...it's alright. We're in this together," I take a clawed finger, tracing it under your chin, you look up at me at the gesture, i smile half-heartedly, i know that things are bad right now, but we'd get through this, we had to stick together. That's what brothers did. Now you try to sleep, i can see tears on your cheeks glistening in the moonlight that seeped into the barn, you are scared, i am too, i admit. But i know what it is we have to do. We have to run, and we have to survive, that's all there was to it. There wasn't a home to go back to anymore. All we have is each other now, it's just me, and my little brother.