What They Took from Me

Victor had been tiny and frail from birth, so my parents poured all of their attention into him.When I fell and bloodied my knee, they would still be holding Victor, smiling at him as though nothing else mattered.Growing up, the thing I heard most from my mother was that I had to put my brother first.When I was ten, my parents sought out a ritual master who claimed he could bind Victor's fate to mine.They forced me through a grotesque blood-marking ritual and made me drink something bitter he had blessed.After that day, I always felt as though something foul clung to my skin, and I became quieter and quieter at school.No matter how desperately I tried to please my parents, they barely looked at me.When Victor said I did not deserve good clothes, I stopped getting anything new. I wore only the things he had stained, torn, or discarded.On my twelfth birthday, I cooked dinner and made my own cake, then waited at home until after midnight for the parents who had promised to

My mother became completely quiet.She sat on the couch without even removing her heels, pulled my medical report from her bag with trembling hands, covered her face, and sobbed.My father, who had always been cold toward me, smoked in silence, one cigarette after another.Victor could not stand the atmosphere and finally shouted."Mom, Dad, Julian is dead. So what? Didn't you always say he was useless anyway? Why are you acting like this now?"Am I not your son anymore just because Julian is gone?""You monster!"My father struck Victor across the face and pointed at him."He was your brother. Victor, do you have any conscience at all? He was your brother."Victor laughed coldly, wiped the blood from his mouth, and slammed his bedroom door hard enough to shake the walls.My mother stared at the medical report, her voice trembling."Kidney failure... Marcus, was it because we made him give Victor that kidney? Julian was always so healthy. How could he have died?"My father

My father said the charitable gift was meant to create something good in my name and wished me peace in whatever life came next.But to me, the only thing worth calling good would be watching the people who caused my death answer for it.Victor watched the entire funeral with a cold expression.Not long after the service, police sent my parents a video recovered during the investigation.It showed Victor's vehicle at the location where my body had been abandoned.The image was blurry and appeared to have come from another person's recording.The detective asked whether they recognized anything useful.I watched my mother deny knowing anything over the phone, even though her hand shook until my father covered it with his own.Victor had changed vehicles, altered identifying details, and covered his face, but after loving him for twenty years, could my parents really fail to recognize him?I expected them to arrange for Victor to flee.Instead, they behaved as though nothing ha

After police recovered data from the old phone Victor had discarded and updated my parents on the case, I tried leaving Victor's side to follow them and discovered, to my surprise, that I finally could.Back home, my parents took out my phone with shaking hands.It had originally been one of Victor's castoff phones. He replaced devices constantly, but to me it had always worked just fine.My notes app contained a diary.I had written down only the happy moments because they were rare enough to treasure, and I often reread them when the painful days became too heavy.April 2: Dad tossed me his lighter and told me to light his cigarette. He never asked for it back, so I'm pretending it was a gift.June 10: It was really hot today. Mom bought dessert for everyone in the house. I got one too.November 15: My body hurt badly today, but just when Victor was about to torment me, Mom and Dad called him away. I'm happy.My mother read every line again and again. Then she opened my messa