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Janus - Sunday, September 22, 6:12 PM
A scream came from the living room in the middle of Janus working on his Psychology homework. As Janus hurried from his bedroom to see what happened, the voices became clearer. “Be quiet, you brat!” Dad shouted. He had one hand push Virgil against the wall as the other one backhanded him.
“Stop it!” Janus ran to pull Dad off of his brother when Mom grabbed his arm.
“It’s okay. I know it hurts to see this, but it needs to happen. He was just…” She shuttered. “He used his Savior thing. We can’t let that slide.”
He tried to look back over at Virgil but Mom cupped his cheeks. “Don’t look. It will make you feel worse.”
‘Make me feel worse? They’re hurting him and worried about how I feel?’ “Virgil was probably just asking on instinct. He’s been good for a while. Why not just go easy on him this one time?”
Dad laughed. “The brat’s probably just gotten good at hiding it. If anything, I think we’ve got to be harder on him from not on to keep the little shit in line. Right?”
“I’m sorry. Please, I’m so sorry. Please.” Virgil’s voice was barely loud enough for Janus to make out.
A bang came from their direction, causing Janus to flinch and close his eyes. “If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have done that, now would you?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Jacob,” Mom said, “can you please move that in Virgil’s room. You’re upsetting Dmitri.”
Janus barely even noticed as Dad roughly dragged Virgil away. ‘What do I do? I need to stop him. I…’ He stumbled and Mom had to catch him.
“Come on, Dee. Let’s get you to your room.”
He didn’t react as Mom guided him along. ‘What am I doing? Why didn’t I get Virgil out of here before now? Why am I letting her touch me? She’s awful. They’re both awful.’ She kissed him on the cheek before laying him on his back on his bed. Yelling could be heard from the other room. “Stop,” he mumbled.
“He can’t. You know that. I know it hurts. It hurts all of us, but we need to do whatever we can to fix your brother.” She grabbed his headphones and put over his ears. “You don’t have to listen if you don’t want to.”
Music played, drowning out the screams. He knew he was hiding, knew he should do something to stop this, but couldn’t. Years of guilt pinned him down. Song after song plays but he can’t bring himself to take it off. ‘I can’t hear another scream. I can’t. I’m a monster. I’m just like them. I’m hurting my brother. He didn’t do anything wrong and we’re hurting him. He deserves better. I’m letting this happen. I’m disgusting. I should be the one getting hit, not him. I deserve it.’ Similar thoughts bombarded him for an eternity until one thought remained.
‘I need to get him out of here.’
He got up, grabbed a backpack, and started filling it with the bare essentials: clothes, tooth brush, ect. He tentatively took the headphones off. Silence. He dropped the headphones, not caring if they break, and went to Virgil’s room. He found his brother curled up into a ball in the corner of the room. “I’m sorry. Please stop. I’m sorry,” Virgil mumbled to himself.
Janus put the backpack on before kneeling in front of him. “Virgil? Can you look up at me?”
“I… I’m sorry. I… I didn’t…”
“Virgil, I need you to look at me, okay?” Virgil didn’t move. ‘Jesus, what did Dad do to him?’ He couldn’t see Virgil well in the darkness of the room. ‘What if he needs a hospital?’ “I’m gonna touch you, okay?” Still no response. “Okay. Here we go.” Janus picked him up.
They were almost out the door when Virgil mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
‘For what? What could you possibly be sorry for. Sorry for screaming? Sorry for happening to have a soulmark? Ridiculous. None of this is his fault.’ “I am, too.” He pulled Virgil tighter against his chest. “Let’s get you somewhere safe.”
Thankfully, they made it to the car without issue. He sat Virgil, who had fallen asleep/passed out, down in the passenger's seat. It was only then that Janus realized he had no idea what to do next. He got in and took off, hoping to come up with a plan as he drove.
He parked outside of a Wendy’s. ‘There has to be someone I can call.’ When he scrolled through his contacts, a single name popped out.
Emile answered on the first ring. “Hey! Having trouble with the Psych homework?”
Janus almost laughed at the idea of worrying about homework right now. “Can… Can I come over?”
The desperation in Janus’ voice didn’t register to him until Emile said, “Yes, of course. Are you okay? Do I need to call anyone?”
“I’m okay. Do you have a first aid kit?”
“That doesn’t sound like you’re okay.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’ll be there soon.” He hung up and started driving to his friend’s apartment complex. He had to stop himself from crying when he looked down at Virgil during a red light. A bruise on his cheek was the only visible injury, but there had to be more.
Janus carried Virgil up to Emile’s apartment and rang the doorbell. Emile opened the door and gasped. “What happened? Is he okay?”
“He’ll be fine.” Emile moved aside to let them in. Janus layed Virgil down on the couch. “I’ll explain more later. I need to make sure he’s okay first.”
“Shouldn’t we take him to the hospital?”
“I don’t think so.” Janus started to take Virgil’s jacket off. “Dad was very angry tonight, but I doubt he would ever risk hurting Virgil enough for him to need a hospital.” The words slipped out before he could think the sentence through. He looked up at Emile, who stared at him wide-eyed before shaking his head and grabbing the first aid kit.
Janus got the jack off, revealing a variety of bruises, a message on his arm, and his soulmark on his neck. “He has a soulmark? I thought you said no one in your family has one?” Janus didn’t respond. He couldn’t take his eyes off the mark he knew was there but had never seen before.
Emile pulled up Virgil’s shirt. After determining that none of the injuries required immediate attention, he pulled out a pen and paper. “What are you doing?” Janus asked.
“I’m copying down the note for your brother, Virgil, right? I want to make sure that he can read it when he wakes up. Start taking care of the bruises on his left arm.”
Ten minutes later, Emile looked Virgil over one last time and stood up. “He’ll be fine, but I can’t do anything else right now. We just need to wait for him to wake up.”
Janus breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Is it okay if we stay here for a little while?”
“Of course,” Emile said with no hesitation before pulling out his phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling the police.” Janus took the phone out of his hands before he could finish dialing the number. “What are you doing?”
“Why are you calling the police?”
“Well, we have an injured child here that you said was hurt by his father. You also told me that he doesn’t have a soulmate, but now it’s obvious that he does. That paints a pretty clear picture. Now give me my phone back.”
“Only if you promise not to call the police.”
“No!”
“Then I’m taking this with me. I’ll be back soon.”
Janus started walking to the door before Emile grabbed his arm. “What? You’re leaving? What exactly is your plan here?”
“I’m going home to pick up some of Virgil’s things from our house and come back.”
“You can’t just drop your traumatized brother off at my house and leave. What if he wakes up and you aren’t here? Are you thinking ahead at all? What do you think your parents are gonna do when they wake up to both their kids suddenly gone? Pure intentions or not, this is kidnapping.”
“No. This is harboring an abuse victim for their own safety.”
“Are we sure that’s how the police are going to see it? What if you get charged with kidnapping at the same time your parents are charged with child abuse? Then, Virgil won’t have any legal adults left to turn to. Want to know the best way to make sure that doesn’t happen?”
“Em, please-”
“Pull out your phone, dial 911, and tell them ‘Hey, my parents have been emotional and physically abusing my brother since he was born. Please send your nearest officers to get their butts in jail.’”
“It’s not that simple. I have a plan, okay? I’m going to pick up some clothes for Virgil, as well as try to find his phone, tell Mom and Dad I want to borrow Virgil before and after school for a college project knowing they always listen to me, and improvise from there. We won’t call the police until Virgil is ready for us to do so.”
“Until… You realize this is a form of victim blaming, right?”
“In what way is giving Virgil some agency here victim blaming?”
“You are literally demanding Virgil see through more than a decade of constant brainwashing from the people he trusts more than anyone before he’s able to get proper help.”
“That’s not…” He ripped his arm out of Emile’s grip. “Fine, go ahead and think that. I’ll be back soon.” He stormed out before Emile could respond.
Janus entered the apartment carrying two bags full of Virgil’s belongings. He walked over to the couch and found Virgil sleeping with his head in Emile’s lap. Emile pet his hair while crying.
Janus wanted to slap himself. ‘Emile’s the most emotional person I know. Of course this would hurt him.’ “I’m sorry I got you into this, Em.”
“Don’t be.” He wiped his eyes before kissing Virgil on the forehead and standing up. “I want to help. It’s just… a lot to take in at once.” He yawned. “I think we’re both exhausted. Virgil will probably sleep the rest of the night. You can sleep in my room with me.”
Janus nodded and held out Emile’s phone to him. “I’m sorry I took this. I was just… I didn’t want the police involved.”
“Another thing to talk about tomorrow.” He smiled and pulled Janus in for a hug. “I’m happy you came here.” He let go. The two of them went to Emile’s room for some much needed rest.