The screaming in the room got louder as Abel pulled out a gas-powered tree trimmer. He looked like a mad scientist, pretending to ride the bladed piece of equipment like a horse. I stood, downing the drink in a single swig, and Abel hooted louder until I turned to head upstairs.

“Where the fuck are ya goin’, man? I’m just getting warmed up. Tell me a spot you want to try fucking, and I’ll cut you a hole.” He revved the saw, and the girls screamed and tried to pull away from the noise.

“Not in the mood. Maybe another night,” I said.

Abel stomped around the girls, his face livid. “This is what I mean. Look at you. What the fuck is wrong with you? He tossed down the saw and grabbed the knife off the large table.

The girl closest screamed as he grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. Shoving the sharp tip of the blade into her mouth, he forced her to keep it open as he grabbed her tongue and ripped it out of her head with a roar. She flopped forward. She was either dead or passed out as I watched my brother have his childlike temper tantrum. The piece of long flesh sailed through the air, and I stepped out of the way before it could hit me.

He was now completely coated in blood splatter, his eyes wild, and I shook my head at him.

“Sometimes, brother, you really are still just a child.” I walked up the stairs while my brother cursed me out, but I wasn’t going to let him bait me.

At one point, he’d been able to throw his fits. I’d stay to make sure he didn’t make too much of a mess or that he still disposed of the bodies the way he was supposed to, but we were no longer teens, and I had other things on my mind.

Emotions had always been beyond me, so I had no reference for what I was feeling. It would’ve bothered me at one point but instead, the scientific part of my mind wanted more of what made me feel good.

I wanted to understand this emotion that had me not wanting to fuck Abel’s randoms. And why was it that all I could see was the look in my Sunshine’s eyes before I left the room? More importantly, why did the hurt look in her eyes interest me at all? The jealousy was there, and a part of me was feeding off that look. It meant, on some level, she wanted me. The words may not have left her mouth, but her eyes had betrayed her inner thoughts.

Abel was right about one thing. Since I’d met Kirby, I had changed, just not how my brother believed.