Page 68 of A Silence So Divine

That grabs Cecil’s attention, and he narrows his eyes at me. Like he can read my mind if he looks hard enough.

“How do you know?”

“Eden told me she killed her.”The callous way I say it makes my own stomach churn.

My brother looks how I imagine I did when I was told this new bit of information. Face ashen, jaw slack.

“When?”He asks.

“When she was born. Her mom died during the birth.”

Cecil’s lips pull down.“Why would that be her fault?”

I throw my hands up in aggravation.“I didn’t get that far. She was hysterical.”

He nods, resigned. His lack of reaction is all the more infuriating. I’m the only one grasping the severity of the situation. Even Eden’s acceptance pisses me off. It’s like her brain is programmed to tolerate horrible things over and over, and she carries on without batting an eye.

Cecil stares off, deep in thought. I snap my fingers in front of his face, and he gives me an exasperated look.

“What is your plan?”

“You’ll have to be more specific.”He stretches his arms and yawns.

“With her. What is your plan with Eden?”

He leans against the counter, scratching at his stubbled cheek as he contemplates.“I’m not sure, yet.”

“You can’t make her hurt anyone,”I say firmly.

“I don’t want to,”His face is earnest.“Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”

My eyes nearly burst from my head.

“Hopefully!? You can’t–”

My brother mouths something, and then he turns his back on me and heads towards the hall. Marching towards the island, I slam my palms down on it repeatedly, forcing his attention back to me.

Whirling around, his index finger flies to his lips in an effort to silence me.

“You will destroy her. Can’t you see how fragile she is already?”

“I understand–”

“I’m not finished! You always say that you do these things to protect me, but that doesn’t make it any less selfish. You’re not afraid for my life, you’re afraid for how it might make YOU feel if something happened to me. Can you care for someone other than yourself for once?”

His face falters, and there’s a glimmer of something akin to devastation. But my brother is stubborn, and unfeeling, so he sets his jaw and schools his expression.

“Thank you for your input,”he responds coolly.“I will take it into consideration.”

The response is so formal, I almost expect him to shake my hand like we settled a business deal. Instead, he turns on his heel and exits the room. This time, I don’t stop him.

Twenty Eight

Cecil

I’m plagued by Creed’s words. For his whole life, I’ve been able to ignore his little outbursts; in one ear and out the other. Being isolated, his perspective of the world and how it should work is different than mine. I don’t fault him for that.

This time, though, his accusation burrows into my skin with a barbed edge. Unable to pull it out, I writhe uncomfortably in my blankets. It’s the dead of night, early morning still a few hours away. If I were to fall asleep right this second, I would have at most five hours before it’s time to get up.