Luis

In the flash of an instant, he finds himself standing on the porch of his very own home. A family of three, though one is missing, makes their way to his front door, ringing the doorbell. By what he's seen so far, it makes perfect sense that this is the next flashback the dream is playing for him.

"Is it really okay for you to be calling off work?" Kaylen asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Bills have been piling up, but that'll all change once your mother gets well. All we need is Luis to sign his consent to proceed with setting a date for the surgery."

This was the day he was supposed to be getting a ride from Gregory to the hospital, not owning a vehicle himself. Since tests confirmed he was a match for Mrs. McBride, the next step was to finalize his decision. Though that never did come to pass.

"I still have my doubts about this higher power that your mother believes in. But it is nothing short of a miracle that I ran across Luis at this opportune time."

The older twin tucked strands of hair behind her ear. "It's too soon to celebrate yet. We don't know how the surgery is gonna go."

"I suppose you have a point, but we should try and think positive. That's what your mother would say anyway, so let's take this one day at a time."

The door at last opened to reveal his other self still wearing his pajamas. This wasn't the ideal choice of clothes to go farther than the mailbox, and Gregory's eyes widened as he looked him up and down.

"W-Why aren't you dressed? Did you forget the appointment was today? I had reminded you last night."

When no reply was given, he ran his fingers through his short ginger hair.

"Just throw on something quick so we can get moving. My wife isn't in good condition, so this needs to be scheduled as soon as possible."

"I'm not going."

The words took a minute to register as he rubbed his ears as if he had misheard him.

"What did you say?"

"I'm not going anywhere, Gregory."

After repeating his response, the old man turned into his home, tailed by Gregory who was right on his heels. The squeeze on his shoulder was desperate, a shaky plea to reconsider before a single syllable left his mouth.

"I-Is this because you're afraid of complications during the surgery? I know you said you weren't originally, but fear can sprout now that this is getting set in stone."

"You speak as if I'm still going through with this, and the procedure is the least of my worries. I was far more terrified operating on others when first starting in the field as a brain surgeon. A little gas and low risk of death isn't a fear at my age."

"Then why else would you be retracing your promise?"

"Oh, promises. That's a word with a lot more weight than many seem to realize. A commitment is something you shouldn't make loosely, but you would understand that better than anyone."

He can tell this precise moment is when the reality of his situation began to click. Gregory knew he wasn't getting his kidney, but his daughters were very much in the dark. This was a revenge long overdue, and his past mistake was why his wife is no more.

"You do recall the one you made to me about my son, or have you forgotten our vague conversation at the cafe?"

The twins exchanged glances with one another before they looked up to the middle-aged man between them.

"Dad, what is he talking about?"

A humorless laugh escaped the resident at Kaleigh's question.

"So you kept your wild college years a secret from your girls? Well, allow me to enlighten them." He began to pace, his hands behind his achy lower spine that doesn't compare to how his heart felt back then. "Gregory and my only son were best friends growing up; they were inseparable, so it was no surprise that Daniel wanted to attend the same university as your father. And two years later when he graduated, it was exactly what he planned to do despite the distance. I yearned for him to attend one closer to home. You see, Daniel was a socially awkward boy and a people pleaser. A good-hearted kid that could easily get in into trouble by the...wrong influence."

His gray eyes darted towards the man that remained silent. Gregory's lips were pressed into a thin line like they were glued shut, and his own curved into a bitter smile as he continued.

"To reassure me, your father made a promise. He said that he would always look out for him. After all, Daniel was more like a younger brother than just a best friend. He wouldn't allow any harm to happen to him down there. That's what he vowed to me the day they were leaving."

Luis's feet came to a stop in front of the round table, and he picked up a picture frame. The two children stood--both boys that appeared to be around the twins' current age. However, one face was cut out as he had done to every captured memory Gregory had tainted.

"To move the story along, Daniel tried to join the fraternity. You're both still in high school, but you've watched plenty of movies to understand what that is. Gregory was already a member, so it seemed like the perfect chance to find a place he belonged on campus alongside his best friend. His only one at the time, but having the desire wasn't enough to be accepted. They have these hazing rituals that ought to have long well been done away with. And Daniel's task for acceptance was to drink so many-"

"Enough." Gregory's voice was barely above a whisper as his hands clenched. "That's enough."

"But the story isn't finished yet, or do you want to take over?"

His taunt tied his tongue, not a peep to volunteer in twisting the past he chose to run away from.

"As I was saying, he was ordered to drink quite the amount. Well past the limit anybody with a weaker constitution and who had never drunk in their life should consume. Regardless, they pushed him to jug it down; show them that he's a real man. And who do you suppose was there humiliating him alongside them? Your father, of course! Even when he said he felt sick, they pushed--mocked him to keep going."

It was disgusting. He could just picture their coarse crackles while his son was begging them to let him stop. And the one person that should've been in his corner added fuel to the fire.

"T-That can't be true..."

"You who were yet conceived from the womb need not lecture me on the truth!" His shout made Kaylen flinch, and she latched on to her sister. "Your father was bullying him relentlessly with the rest of them. Daniel told me himself in a phone call not long afterwards. The last talk I had with my boy before he wound up dead on his way to the hospital. Alcohol poisoning resulted in his kidneys shutting down, something you all should be quite familiar with."

It all came full circle, the situation they were stuck in now. The girls' clouded eyes looked up at their father, a small sign for him to clear the doubts that must've been going through their minds. This tale comes to an end with a grim conclusion.

"The frat boys responsible for bringing the beer were all charged, but Gregory was too young. A year under the drinking limit, he avoided punishment unlike the rest of them. Do you think that's fair? The person that should've been the most loyal to Daniel out of a room full of strangers was ruled innocent."

"I-I've had it, Luis!" Gregory shouted, his cracked voice resembling the fragile ego he tries to conceal. "I have apologized more times than I count for what happened. I was an ignorant child back then just trying to fit in no more than your son had been. His death was painful for me too; I had lost my best friend."

"Hah, even like a brother, right? You had a funny way of showing it. After his funeral, you never showed yourself around here again. Almost as if your brotherly bond hadn't existed."

Gregory pushed up his glasses while the older man stared back at him with a glint in his bifocals.

"I was ashamed to come around as if nothing had happened... I'm aware that apologies won't raise Daniel from the grave, but please don't have my wife join him. Don't take this out on my family but me alone. Think about my daughters still so young, living without their mother." He rested a hand on each of the young teenagers' shoulders. "They just reached high school, and at this rate, she'll never live to see their graduation."

"Graduation?"

It's a source of amusement for him to attempt to stir up some kind of remorse by mentioning such.

"Graduation is all my son ever had. The life he was supposed to have after that, like you have, was robbed of him: no college graduation, no marriage, house, kids, good career. All of these experiences he missed out on because of a promise you had no intention of keeping. And neither do I."

"D-Do you really mean...?" Kaylen shakily confirmed, though her sentence trailed off, and she bit her quivering lip so hard it threatened to produce red.

"Yes, I'm not giving my kidney away. In fact, I had no desire to since your father first asked me. I could've just rejected him right then in the café, but that was letting him off too easy."

The hatred made his dull gray eyes glow, and Gregory's in turn widened in horror.

"I decided to play a gamble instead. Agree and see if I really was a match to get your hopes up. Then, at the last minute I would renege on my promise just as you did. I can pay you for gas for the short trip; otherwise, don't forget to shut the door behind you. It's getting cold out there."

With his finished piece, Luis took a seat on his recliner with the trio frozen over his cold-hearted words. The television was clicked on, which worked with setting off the middle-aged man's fury.

"How dare you?! How can you be so inconsiderate?! You hold against me something that happened nearly two decades ago because you couldn't move on with your miserable life after Daniel died!" he spat, each insult rising louder though he only hit the volume on his remote. "You even had the audacity to get tested just to throw it in my face that you refuse to help us! Some doctor you are, letting someone die out of pure spite! If Selena dies, her death is on your conscience!"

Gregory stormed for the door, dragging his twin daughters behind him. The younger had hiccupped sobs escape her throat, with tears mixed with snot staining her once hopeful expression. However, the eldest was glaring at him with not a hint of sadness etched on her face. Only an unspoken anger was evident by her flared nostrils, and she slammed the door shut when they departed--knocking his picture to the floor.

"I was plotting then on how to make you pay for this. If our mother was forced to succumb to an endless sleep, yours should be plagued with agony."

The third location is a hospital. In particular, the intensive care unit where only a single destination greets mostly every patient checked in there. I'm not in this flashback... Both males observe the McBride family who sleep soundly in the uncomfortable chairs of the one-bed room. The occupant was the woman from the picture that breathed uneasily, not peacefully as her family. Whatever dreams the twins were having were poplar opposite to the nightmares he's been enduring. And the fantasy land was about to come to an end when the heart monitor line suddenly went flat. This must be the moment Selena took her last breath.

Doctors rushed in; panic flared up as they all woke up. It was a good few minutes the team fought to get her breathing, and Gregory struggled to hold his daughters back who fought desperately. This struggle ceased when their mother was declared deceased. All it took was a shake of the head to confirm the most dreaded.

The clock continuously ticked as if laughing at how their mother's time had reached its limit. Kaylen crumbled to the dusty floor, which seemed to be of no importance to her with the heavy sobs that shook her. Perhaps possible hyperventilation made Gregory kneel beside her first; his arms pulled the child close but the body heat didn't erase their mother's lifeless form. He ought to know since his wife did a similar comfort when their son was announced dead.

Kaleigh, on the other hand, had approached her bed, her fingers intertwined with her mother's. Though no amount of squeezing resulted in a reaction from her, yet she repeated the action over and over. Not a single tear trickled down her cheeks, only a consuming fire that matched her ginger hair. It was a deadly furnace that couldn't be controlled by flattering reassurance alone.

The family said their goodbyes before they stepped outside the room. Kaylen still struggled to get her heart rate lowered while their dad appeared to be in a state of shock with his empty eyes. It was Kaleigh to cut the tension though her seething was evident.

"This is all his fault. Luis could've saved her but he chose to let her die."

"W-We don't know that for sure. The surgery could've gone wrong, and I never should've asked him in the first place..."

"Why, because of Daniel? I don't care about his weak-willed son that died twenty years ago! I care about my mother who is now dead right before Thanksgiving!"

"That's right. If he wasn't going to do so, Mr. Gonzalez shouldn't have promised to do it at all. He's a cruel miserable old man," the younger twin muttered in agreement, her puffy eyes holding a certain malice.

"I hope he kicks the bucket soon; he probably won't have many years left in him."

"Stop! I know we're all hurting, but I didn't raise you two to talk like that!" His demand alarmed a few late-shift hospital staff, and he separated himself from his daughters. "I-I need some fresh air."

Their dad stormed out of the main doors and left them in the lobby alone. This must be the final part of the flashback as their surroundings eerily warp. Lights change from white to red, replacing the scarlet moon inside the building. So the nightmare will take place in the hospital tonight. This doesn't just create a unique setting but brings a new monster.

The creature is spotted at the end of the long narrow hall, its red body twice as large. Such sharp teeth look made of steel, and Dionte's firm stance proves this isn't the first time he has seen it.

"Your son died within a day, but we watched our mother wither away for over a year. We knew her death was coming, but we still weren't prepared for it."

Kaylen's voice is directly evading his brain yet she's nowhere in sight.

"For the one who gave us--and most importantly our dying mother--false hope, enjoy this beast inflicting on you a small percentage of the pain she succumbed to."

At Kaleigh's order, the red daemon begins to ready its paws as if about to charge. And it does this, closing the distance quickly with its pattering. The flickering hall lights reveal mere flashes of the hungry beast storming in their direction.

"You have to go hide now!"

Despite his order, Dionte steadies himself, making no intention to come follow. The young man is throwing himself in the middle of a fight he has no place in. Turning tail to flee is what they'd want from him. To do such would grant them the satisfaction they crave from this twisted game.

"I won't run and hide this time. If this is the final act of their revenge, then so be it."

Dionte can't try and reason with him when the monster is right on them. It swats the male aside, slamming him against the large desk. He recovers quickly, his hands snagging any items off the wooden surface to throw at the target. But these little supplies do very little to stop his hunt; its glowing eyes pierced at the old man.

"Make him suffer!"

Kaleigh's command has the red daemon launch on him, delivering a powerful blow to his abdomen. Calculated slashes continue after the first, the flesh wounds growing deeper from the relentless attack. And countless droplets of crimson color gather on the marble floor. It's the same shade as the beast and the twins' vision while observing this torment upon their enemy.

Luis holds his tongue, determined not to let out a sound through these blows. Once the red daemon does one last strike, the monster's bloody claws depart from his curled body.

"Rather than have a quick death like Chantel, you can wallow in pain until your life expires." 

Kaylen's low, bitter tone compelling the monster to leave, it going down the opposite hall as he lays there dying.

"Luis!" Dionte rushes to his side, his green eyes anxiously examining the gruesome injuries before standing. "I'm going to find something to patch you up with!"

He can't tell him not to bother when the young man disappears around the corner. His gaze can only focus on the ceiling as he remains as still as possible, each movement equivalent to needles being driven in him.

"These should help!"

Dionte managed to find some wraps given their location, and he sloppily applies them quickly around his torso. So many other areas have been hit that it'll be impossible to properly cover them all. Uncleaned wounds can lead to infection, but his life will long evaporate before any of that happens.

"Do you really not feel any remorse for what you have done?"

The question is unexpected, but he did witness his heart lay bare during the flashbacks.

"That's correct. I got my revenge for how Gregory treated my son back then. Kidney failure resulting from their mother's poor choices is what ended her life, not me."

"But you deliberately gave them false hope by agreeing to be a donor. It didn't just hurt Gregory, but his daughters, and even Selena herself."

"Likewise, Daniel's passing was collateral damage as most losses are. To the person's life that was cut short and those affected by it. My wife suffered dearly for his death as well."

"Well, your wife wasn't twisted enough to toy with people's hearts in the form of grief."

"True justice is only obtained by your own hands."

At least, that's what I tell myself. Anger has burned him ever since Daniel informed him how Gregory stood against him. Yes, his son was just as weak for being peer pressured, but his resentment would've been non-existent if he had stuck in his corner. You promised me... The only method he'd feel that same devastation was to lose someone important to him in a similar manner.

A gagged cough shudders through him as the red begins to seep through the bandages. It's getting hard to breathe with fluid filling his lungs, and Dionte once again fights to tighten them.

"W-Why..." His dry lips manage to form, though talking has become difficult. "Why are you fighting to save me?"

He ought to know that the deaths in there aren't permanent. Or maybe this one will be. Unique rules could apply to this nightmare, but even then, he has seen the type of person he is. A cranky old man stuck living in the past with hatred isn't someone worth mourning over.

"I thought as a doctor, that answer would be obvious. Regardless of whether this death won't affect your actual health, I hate seeing people's eyes lose their light right in front of me. It never stops being unsettling..."

His tone doesn't waver, revealing any hint of dishonesty. The young man isn't doing this to play the hero, but because he can't stand the sight of watching a person die before him. I remember those days... Luis put his all into each surgery he performed, and the relief he felt when it succeeded with no problems. Though that compassion soon diminished when his son was the one doctors had no chance of saving. And as his own surroundings grow dark, as his mind has fallen a long time ago, Dionte's muffled pleas stir the twins screaming as their mother stopped breathing.

A/N Part 2 of Luis's Arc. I'll be uploading the epilogue shortly.