Imperfect Identity

I'm warning you before you start reading- it's a very lengthy story. I planned on posting it in small segments, but I wanted the first chapter to end on an interesting note, so my first post is lengthy... very lengthy. 2200+ words, in fact. If you dare continue I'd like to say it's worth the read, but it's all up to personal preference. Either way, here it is; Imperfect Identity.


This is my write up of what had happened to put me in this position. It’s very difficult for me to summarize such a big piece of my life in so few words, and upon these pages, but still I will do my best to complete it. It started about a year ago, when I was still asleep. Maybe even before that, but that’s when things really picked up. Without further ado, I present to you Imperfect Identity, the life story of Colin Grene, written by Colin Grene.

"Wake up!" was the first thing I heard that morning. I was still groggy, and my brain wasn't working properly yet, so I had no idea who had said it or where the voice had come from. Deciding I deserved another hour or two of sleep, I ignored the call and laid my head back down, to quickly fall asleep again. Sadly, I wasn't able to get to sleep because of a loud pounding sound I heard now. I tossed onto my side and tried to ignore it, but it became louder as it approached my room. Soon after I felt weight on top of me- I didn't know what it was, but it seemed hostile so I quickly swung myself up, and pushed my arms outward to get whatever it was off of me. What I didn't know was that the thing on top of my was actually my obnoxious brother, Aiden.

I would say that I wish that he'd give me more warning before he decides to ambush me, but I guess he did ask for me to wake up first, so I can't really complain. "Yo, chill out and wake up already, we're going out!" he said, now on the ground from when I pushed him there, now glaring at me from below. "What're you talking about?" I asked, closing my eyes tightly then opening them, attempting to get any traces of exhaustion off of my face. His expression changed from annoyed to something that was very hard to explain, it was a dull expression of almost nothingness. "Are you serious?" he said, and shook his head. He simply got up and headed out of the room. I'd obviously done something wrong but once again, I had no idea what that was. He was always like this. We may look alike, but personality wise we were completely different.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention- we're twins. Aiden and I weren't just brothers, we were twins. Except unlike most people think, we weren't very in tune or similar at all. We never have the same thoughts or feelings on just about everything, so I have no idea why almost everyone assumes that we're supposed to be completely connected. He's so uptight and such a perfectionist that if we looked differently, no one would ever assume I'd even associate with a guy like that. I mean sure, he seemed more relaxed this morning, but as soon as he's in front of other people- particularly those he wants to impress- he's a completely different person. It's pretty sickening, in my opinion anyway. I'm the same person no matter who I'm with, it makes people like who I am rather than someone I pretend to be... besides, why bother being someone you're not? Seems like a pretty poser thing to do.

I may as well stop complaining and get on with it, as it was then that a lightbulb finally lit up in my mind and I realized. It was our birthday. No, not just his, it was mine too. I didn't know why this meant I had to get up early, but I felt it'd be best to avoid another stupid mistake and just get up and get dressed. I quickly slipped into some clothes,I picked out some jeans and a button down shirt. It seemed pretty snobby looking to me, but I had no idea what we being planned so I may as well look decent. As soon as I was dressed I quickly combed my hair into place, and freshened up. I nearly flew down the stairs with the speed I was running at, and made it into our living room. I flopped down onto the couch, tired from doing twenty minutes worth of preparing in only five. I had to quickly jump up when I saw a girl giggling in front of me with a large bag in her hand.

She was tall and very pretty. She had long dark hair and slim figure, she didn‘t wear much makeup; the only makeup she wore was eyeliner, and that made her bold blue eyes stand out even more. Her name was Hayley, and I had been dating her for about six months now. She was all I ever wanted in a girl, and though we had our fights here and there, she was all I really wanted in a girl. "Hayley!" I said, almost instinctively, as I rose to my feet. "Hey..." I said, not making eye contact for a moment, feeling slightly awkward. All signs of awkwardness were gone when I hugged her though, and soon after she handed me the bag in her hand. "For you!" she said, as she watched me dig through it. I pulled out a neatly wrapped gift with a red bow at the top. The wrapping paper had a mesmirising design, and I felt bad tearing off the paper because it was obvious a lot of effort went into wrapping it up.

I carefully slipped off the bow, and pulled off pieces of the paper. Eventually all I had in front of me was a bare rectangle box. I lifted it iopen and I can only imagine the expression on my face, because my reaction seemed to make Hayley light up. In the center of the box, which was lined with tissue paper, was a neat hand made card. It was pretty small for such a big box, but I grinned as I read the front and opened it. Before I could even get to reading the contents, a small piece of paper slipped out. I quickly read through the card, curious as to what the paper said, then read through it quickly. After I read it once, I had to re-read it, unsure if what I saw was really there. After a second inspection I was sure that was it: it was a two-way plane ticket to Florida. "Hayley..." was all I could say, trying to find the right words. "This is... wow..." I couldn't seem to find the right adjective but she got the idea because she was smiling and holding up an identical ticket. "It's for next month." she said. "I was wanting to go out of state for a while now, and my parents said I'd need someone to accompany me... are you interested?"

---

I stared at my ticket and then hers for a few seconds, but eventually snapped back into reality and nodded vigorously. "Of course!" I exclaimed, quickly grabbing her into a slightly awkward hug, not wanting to crush the ticket. I put it on the coffee table, and when I spun back around she was already seated in a chair near the dining table. I sat in a chair next to her; then put my elbow on the table and rested my face against my palm.

I could’ve stared into her eyes for the whole day, but then I realized something; I had to repay her somehow. “So, Hayley…” I said, cooly. “Hmm?” she said, smiling. “How would you like to go to dinner with me?” She bowed her head, still smiling. “I’d absolutely love to.” she replied. “Great.” I said. “Just allow me a moment.” I rose from my chair and began towards the base of the stairs. “I’m going to change.” I headed up the stairs into my room, and dug through my draws looking for more proper attire.

The thing I hadn’t realized was that as I was in my bubble of perfection, picking out clothes for my date, Aiden was busy talking with Hayley. The conversation that started it all, the conversation that if I were there to hear it, would have changed so much. “So.” he said, leaning against a wall. “Miss Hayley.” She looked up at him, and met his gaze. His eyes upon her instantly made her smile fade, there was something about him that made her feel a bit uneasy. She didn’t respond and just stared.

“I won’t beat around the bush, I want to know if you want to help me with a prank on my brother.” She began to feel more and more uneasy, but she nodded. “Alright, I suppose… depends what kind.” He lifted his body off the wall and slowly paced towards her. “Well a joke simply, something to freak him out.” Hayley nodded her head but she was still unsure of Aiden’s motives. “When he gets out of his room, you and I could both pop out at him and scare him. Y’know, a double whammy.”

“I don’t know…” she said. Aiden leaned his hand on her chair which made her feel uncomfortable and cringe a bit. “Come on, it’s just a joke, for kicks.” He said, leaning in towards her. “You never gave me a present.” he said, looking down at the ground now, but still eerily close to her face. “You can at least do this for me.” he said. He stared at her for a few seconds, and noticing her lack of comfort, he moved away quickly and turned away. “Fine.” Aiden walked towards the other side of the room and instinctively, Hayley felt bad. “Wait…” she said, raising herself from her seat. Aiden smirked, then wiped the grin off his face as he turned back around to face her.

“So you’ll do it?” he asked, looking as eager and innocent as possible. After a short pause, Hayley sighed and responded. “Yeah.” Right at that moment I managed to pick out some nicer pants, I had decided my shirt was fine as is. I took off my jeans and put on some classier pants. I double checked myself in the mirror, and after deciding my hair was too messy, I ran a comb through it quickly. My hair was naturally straight so it fell into place. Though it normally rests itself on my face quite nicely, I decided to go with my outfit I’d push it to the side and spray a bit of hairspray to keep it that way.

By the time I finished getting ready and was about to leave my room, they were already in place. I stepped out of my room, and stepped into the middle of the hallway. As I was about to turn to go down the stairs, Aiden jumped out from the pitch black hall in front of me, flailing his arms and screaming. I screamed too, out of shock, and as I stepped back, Hayley jumped out from the bathroom to the left of me, causing me to sidestep to the right- a natural reaction to try to get away from them both.

The only thing I didn’t realize was that I stepped right onto the first step, but the problem was that one foot was stuck on the step and the other leg now went high up, towards my head, causing me to fall backwards. I felt my heart drop and the last thing I remember seeing before falling was Hayley’s face and the expression on it- shocked, almost in pain. As I fell backwards, my head hit a step below me before I continued to tumbled down to the very bottom of the stairs. As I reached the base, my head crashed right into our back door which was positioned at the base of the stairs. My skull went right through the glass, easily shattering it and getting small shards lodged inside me. I couldn’t remember how painful it was because I was unconscious by the time I was halfway down.

“C…Colin!” after quickly recovering from the shock of realizing what had just happened, Hayley nearly flew down the stairs right to my aid. Aiden stood at the top of the stairs glaring down, but then decided to run down alongside her. “Colin…!” he said, kneeling down beside me. Hayley had a mini panic attack and looked in all directions. “He’s bleeding! Oh God he’s bleeding! What do we have to wrap his head with?!” she hopped up and sprinted into my bathroom and pulled out a long roll of gauze, and she lifted up my head and wrapped around it many times. “It’s seeping through!” she held my head in her arms and tears slowly dripped from her eyes directly onto my face.

Aiden was already in the other room looking for some first aid. “The one day your parents aren’t home… Oh God… It’s my fault… It’s all my fault.” she was crying hysterically. Aiden arrived with a pair of tweezers and some more heavy bandages. He slowly began picking the glass out of my skin, but every few seconds he would glance at Hayley, who was now crying quietly in his arms. “It’s not your fault.” he said softly. “Don’t blame yourself.” she looked up at him, and they locked eyes. He put down the tweezers and then leaned into Hayley, brushed the bangs out of her face, and kissed her forehead.

She said nothing and didn’t push him away this time, tears still swelling up in her eyes. If I had been mobile at that point I would have been able to realize that what had just happened was his plan. He was after Hayley, after my Hayley. Now that I was out of the way for a while, she would be his. The perfect plan, but my brother had underestimated me- she was something worth fighting for, and as soon as I awoke, fight I would- for Hayley, for my dignity, and soon enough I'd be fighting to survive.

This is the first part to the second chapter, written in school so I couldn't finish it up. Expect part 2.2 later on tonight, or the next day.

"We need to get him to a hospital-- right now!" Hayley yelled. Aiden shook his head, still wrapping the gauze around my profusely bleeding forehead. "Do you know what will happen if we do that?" he said, keeping his composure. She didn't respond and he took it upon himself to answer. "Well, our mom and dad will find out what happened, first of all..." Hayley glared at him. "Yeah, so?! He might die!" she was speaking in a nasally voice as she tried to dry her tears and stop crying, as it wasn't getting her anywhere. "Well that means the legal system would get involved. We're only fifteen, and even though it's a stupid rule, we can't legally be left home alone. Do you know what that means?" Again, Hayley was silent.

"That means that we'll be taken away from our parents. Put in a home, maybe. Meaning you'll never get to see Colin again..." He said, paying close attention to detail as he examined every mark and scratch on my face. "Never." The tears she held back now resurfaced, but she cried silently this time. "N... no..." she couldn't do a thing but sit there in self pity, wishing she had done something differently. "I did this to him..." she said, quietly. "Oh God, oh God... I'm a horrible person..." Aiden finished wrapping my wounds, and though it didn't do much, it was fine for now.

"No, you're not. Don't say that." Aiden said firmly, now tending to my arms, picking out the pieces of glass. "Get a dustpan, sweep up the glass around him or your knees will be drenched in blood, too." She nodded and got up and went into the next room over. Aiden dug into his pockets and pulled out a small tablet, which he proceeded to feed to me. I had no physical will and couldn't help but swallow it. By the time she returned to the room there was no evidence of what he'd just done. "Look, there's not much more we can do." He said. "I know I may not have mentioned it, but our parents are actually out of country, and they won't be back for another week and a half or so..." Hayley's mouth was agape, and she was trembling.

"So we'll have to take care of him on our own, but I can handle it from here." Hayley shook her head wildly, yelling "No! No! I need to help him, it's my fault..." Aiden planted his hands firmly on her shoulders. "Don't. Just go home and get some rest. I can take care of him for the rest of the day, you can visit tomorrow if you'd like." She shook her head again in protest and as she was about to speak, he put his finger to her lips. "Que sera, sera." He said. "What will be will be- we can't help him anymore and I'll just take him up to the bedroom so he can relax. I'll finish cleaning everything up and from there on he'll be able to recover." Hayley protested and argued with no avail, and by three in the afternoon, she was gone, and I was a lifeless puppet lying on the floor, having to take whatever Aiden would do to me.

When I finally woke up again, it was dark out. I was unable to move, and my whole body was aching. As my vision slowly came back to me, I noticed nearly my whole body was wrapped up in bandages, which were covered in blood- dry blood now. I struggled to try to form words and call out for Hayley or Aiden, but I had no luck. I felt lifeless and hollow, just lying in this bed unable to do a thing. Knowing I'd be here for a long while, I relaxed myself and lied flat. I stared at the ceiling, paying close attention to those small details I wouldn't have noticed otherwise, like what parts had paint that was chipping, and which parts were dusty.

In a matter of minutes, my door silently swung open and I jerked my body up to see if Hayley was there; but it was only Aiden. I relaxed again as he approached my bedside. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty." He said. When I was finally able to form coherent words, I had asked him what time it was. "Nine PM." He said. "Oh, so not a lot of time passed..." I said, putting my time concerns at ease. "Not quite, it's Friday." My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. "F-Friday?! You absolutely can't be serious! Two days ha-- guh!" The pulsing pain I was in occurred even with the smallest movement.

He was quiet, just looking down at me. I didn't like the way he stared, it made me feel inferior. "I have to use the bathroom, help me up?" I said, even though I didn't have to; I just needed to get out of this bed. He simply got up and walked towards the door. "Hey, what's the big deal?!" I yelled, confused and a bit angry. "No can do, sorry bro." With that he walked out and went downstairs. "Fine, I'll get up myself..." I grumbled, as I lifted my body up. As I was about to slide my legs off the bed, I realized I couldn't- my legs were bound to the bed. At that point I was even more confused and scared too. I ripped the covers off my body and looked. My legs were bound to the bed with some very strong rope.

"Aiden!" I screamed. "Let me out of here now, god damn it!" I got no response and he casually shuffled around the bottom floor, doing whatever it is he did during the night. I yelled a few more times but still didn't get a response, so I decided it was best to save my energy and just lay down. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the intense pain I was in, and within twenty minutes I was sound asleep, and I didn't wake up until the next morning, promptly at five in the morning.

When I woke up I had only one thing on my mind- food. I was starving, and I hadn’t eaten in days. I was uncomfortably bound to this bed, and I think most of my body had gone numb, or I was just so hungry I was going crazy. “Food…” I mumbled, hoping someone would hear. “Food!” I yelled again, louder this time. After having no one yell back, and no food magically popping out of thin air, I began to scream louder. “Food! Food!” I continued to chant but very soon after I became tired, since I had no energy.

A few minutes after, I heard a knocking at my door, and then Aiden stepped in with a silver tray. “Dinner’s ready.” he said, placing it on my lap. “Sit up.” he said, as he adjusted the harness on me to allow me to sit upright. If I could I’d have beaten the living daylights out of him right there, but since he was my only source of food, I forced a smile and said “thanks”. He sat at the wooden chair at my bedside, which he probably pulled up while I was sleeping.

I got my first good look at the tray and the food on it, and I didn’t know if I was horrified, disgusted, or a bit of both. All I know is that my face must have turned into quite a twisted expression, and Aiden enjoyed it; because he smirked as soon as he saw me. On the plate in front of me was a bird. A dead bird. Around it was a small pool of blood mixed with dirt. It had a horrible odor which I can’t believe I didn’t smell as Aiden walked in.

“A…aaghhh!” I screamed and shoved the tray off of me in Aiden’s direction, in an attempt to hit him. The bird corpse hit him and stained his white shirt with a hideous maroon-brown color. It suited him well. “What was that for?!” He yelled, immediately lunging for the paper towels on the other side of the room. “Oh gee, I wonder what for?!” I yelled, sarcastically. “Oh yeah, you nearly killed me, then tied me up, and tried to feed me dead bird!” He spun around and the look in his eyes showed he was ready to kill me there and then, but like a miracle, the doorbell rung just then.

“Tell anyone about what’s happened, and you’ll regret it.” Aiden said firmly, throwing the covers sloppily over my legs to hide the rope that restricted me. I heard him walk down the stairs, then I heard some voices. In a few minutes, I heard another knock on my door. I cringed, and looked away. If Aiden was going to come back in, I didn’t want to have to see what other things he had in store for me. “Colin?” a soothing voice rung from my bedside. I flipped over and came face to face with the one thing that would save me from insanity: Hayley.

“Hayley…” I could only repeat her name, though I had so much more that I wished to say. She wrapped her arms around me, then when she let go, thoroughly examined me. Tears began to form in the corner of her eyes, while she spoke quietly to me. “Colin… I’m so sorry… Oh God…” I gathered up my energy and reached out again, to hug her again. “I’m sorry to ask, but… do you have any food?” I said, when we broke the embrace.

“Huh? Oh, food? Of course! What do you want?” She asked, eager to do anything possible. “Anything is fine.” I said, and by the time I finished the sentence she was out the door, preparing food. I leaned my head back and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how everything came to be up until this point. I was mostly curious as to what would happen next. I didn’t know if I would be safe or how long I could live like this. All I knew was that Hayley was the reason I would hold on, and she was the reason I would try my hardest to never go over the edge.

I pondered Aiden’s motives and why he would ever do this to me. I knew in the back of my head the whole time it was no accident I got hurt, but I wished with all my heart that my brother wouldn’t do that to me. We were twins, the same since birth. We were together through everything together, and inseparable through childhood. Sure, we drifted apart a bit as the years went on, but that didn’t change the fact that we were practically the same. How could someone who looks so much like me do something so… evil?

I didn’t have much more time to wallow in self pity and confusion, as Hayley walked through the door. In her hands was a silver tray, which made me wince, thinking of the “meal” Aiden attempted to serve me before. I was relieved beyond belief when she laid it on my lap and I saw a grilled cheese with potato chips, an apple, and a coca cola. I would have thanked her but by the time the tray touched my lap, I had already began wolfing down my food.

Within five minutes I downed the whole tray, and though I felt sick, it was worth it for this perfect fullness I now had. “Ah, thank you!” I said, already feeling better. She smiled and when she was about to sit down, quickly caught herself and stayed up. “Oh, anything else?” she asked. I thought about it for a moment. “No, I think I’m--” I was cut off by the voice of my brother shouting up the stairs. “Hayley, your ride’s here.” he called. “Already…?” she said quietly, and glanced at the doorway, then at me. “I’ll be sure to visit very soon again, okay?” I would have grabbed her arm and told her to never leave my side, but I knew she had things to do and I couldn’t be selfish.

“Alright.” was all I said. She bent over and kissed my forehead, then headed out the door. I listened to her as she walked down the steps, and towards the front doorway. She said her goodbyes to Aiden and then headed out. I heard the slam of the car door, and the engine start up. Within a minute from her walking out the door, she was already down the street, to not return for who knows how long. The perfect sanctuary of safety I had was gone, and now I was under Aiden’s control again.

I wished so desperately to tell her what was going on, and plead for her to save me. She would understand and risk her life for me, but I knew that wouldn’t be right. I could never risk her safety for my own. Instead I lay back down, intending on enduring whatever torture I had to. I knew that my saving grace would be the return of my parents. I’d only have to rough through a week more, and I would be fine. If I could survive two days, I could definitely survive seven more. If only it was as easy as I had thought.