Summary

In the event of of receiving an email requesting his presence, Isaac returns to his childhood home to find his brother and sister supposedly in need of his help. However, Isaac is no fool. He knows just how conniving his family can be, and is skeptical of their claims. Though this doesn't mean they will let him off the hook so easily. Isaac is twenty-six(?) in this story.

(This story also takes place long before the events of Brother Dearest, and is one of very few that is not told in Isaac's POV.)

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"You must've lost it, big bro." Isaac's brother Todd wore a grin on his face when he spoke.

Isaac knew it well. Hated it just as much since he knew the level of smugness contained in one simple grin. But what he hated more was the painful fact that the man was right. He had gone mad tonight.

"Perhaps." Isaac agreed with him. Begrudgingly, but with confidence. "What's it to you?"

His gaze trailed back to the front door, tantalizingly close yet so far. It was just five minutes earlier when he crossed that threshold, beyond the unclean and lichen infested outer walls, and into the dark and dreary atmosphere of the house he dreaded so much. Todd and their sister Clara waited for him, sitting at the old glossy wooden dining table surrounded by memorabilia. Chilling memorabilia that triggered haunting, but familiar images of past abuse and neglect. Isaac felt the goosebumps beginning to rise along his skin.

What made him come here? Lunacy, most likely. He was counting on that. Or perhaps it was just curiosity in regards to how everything had ended up after his escape; though all seemed to remain the same so far. Everything from each individual rip and tear on the couch, to even his brother and sister themselves; who appeared unchanged as if nothing had ever happened six years ago. The only thing left to be judged was their father. He had not shown his face yet, but Isaac did not need to see him to know that there would be no difference.

"I just didn't think you'd actually show up." Todd was saying. His expression had fluctuated into something of amusement. "You and your superiority complex over us, and all."

Isaac ignored that last comment. "The email I received read that this was urgent."

"Since when did that matter?" Todd asked.

"Clara sent it." Isaac replied. "It piqued my curiosity."

"Huh..." Todd glanced over to their sister for clarification, but she remained unresponsive. Typical. She never was the one to speak up in situations such as these. She probably didn't even care.

Isaac tapped his fingers on the table impatiently when her lack of input dragged the conversation into an awkward silence, then sighed in exasperation. "What do you two want?"

Todd chuckled. "To poke fun at you, really." He said. "But I'll cut to the chase. You're useful to us. All of us."

"Useful?" Isaac spat the word out like it was venom. "Please..."

"I mean it, big bro. Dad's starting to realize your potential." Todd insisted.

"Father never cared about anything in regards to me." Isaac reminded him, his voice low. "Or any of us, for that matter. What could possibly make him start now?"

Todd looked infuriated in the blink of an eye. His older brother's words clearly rubbed him the wrong way, though Isaac knew them to be true. Their father was a cynical, conceited old man. Nothing mattered more than his own needs and wants in his mind, and he was more than willing to put them before his children at any given moment. Like with the fact that there was enough inheritance money for all of them, yet Isaac was the only one to make it to college. He was convinced that their father stole it for a personal gain.

However, Todd remained in denial, as naive as he was. "Okay, that's bullshit, first of all." He said. "Second, to put it simply, Dad has a plan to revive the business and he wants all of us involved. I've got the strength, you and Clara got the smarts, blah blah blah...you catching my drift?"

Isaac turned to Clara again for her input, but still, nothing. Though now she was finger tapping the table as well; out of anxiousness it seemed. That alone was enough for Isaac to tell that there was nothing good about this supposed plan.

"I understand," He told Todd. "But you all are fools if you think I want any part in this."

"Yeah, well, it's not about what you want, Isaac. It's about what we need. What Dad needs." Todd said.

"Ugh...as always, isn't it?" Isaac spat in return. "You know, you haven't changed a bit, Todd."

"And neither have you, brother dearest." Todd interjected. He was smug again, but his eyes were ablaze with an enraged fire. "You claim Dad never cared about us, yet you're just as bad. Not once since you ran away with your dumb girlfriend have you ever come back for anything, let alone helping Dad with his endeavors. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween-- you're never here!"

"Why in the hell would I come back to the house where I was physically and verbally abused?"

"Pfft...'abuse', dramatic much? Dad only ever roughed you up a tiny bit."

"God...just stop it, Todd." At last, Clara had uttered a couple words as the tension was growing thicker. "We need him on our side, and you're not helping."

But Todd wouldn't quit. "Hey, I'm just stating facts, sis. Dad had the perfect plan for us, and this man acts like he committed murder."

The perfect plan. So he says.

Their father once ran a prominent business as it's CEO. He made far more money than most average American workers every single day, for his entire life since he was elected into the high chair. He hardly ever spoke of what the business actually did, though almost no one questioned it. He was largely successful in what he did, so why bother?

Isaac was one of the few who actually did by the time he was old enough to understand, which just so happened to be when his father had mysteriously fallen from grace. He lost almost all of his money, as everything had to be shut down and demolished bit by bit, forcing him to rely on his wife as the new official breadwinner of the household. Then, several years later, he grew tired of sitting on the sidelines and figured he would recruit his children in a scheme to rise above and beyond again, essentially giving them a free career path under his word. But Isaac didn't want that. Not only did he have his own dreams and aspirations that he chose to follow, he also knew someone like the man his father once was does not simply lose their position so easily. There was something under the surface. Something bad. Maybe it was murder, as joked about by Todd. It was dire enough to make sense.

The walls made a creaking sound. The house was settling and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Isaac felt hot around the collar. His discomfort level had risen beyond the stars, but he maintained a cool head. However, he would be more than happy to be kicked out by his father in a drunken rage so he would no longer be involved in this mess.

That was when the thought dawned on him, "Where is Father, anyway?"

"Upstairs, making a couple calls." Todd replied. "He'll be down soon."

"Then he can expect me to be gone before he arrives."

Isaac got up to leave, fed up with his siblings and the dysfunction of his family as a whole. Though they were not quite done with him yet.

Clara was the first to stop him, surprisingly. "Come on, Isaac, wait..." She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a worried expression. Quite odd for her. "We really need you for this. You're a registered scientist, and Dad is looking for one for when he gets things going again with the business. He...he promises that all of us will benefit from it greatly."

"I want nothing to do with his damn corrupted business, Clara."

"But we can't do this without someone like you!"

"I. Don't. Care." Isaac removed her hand from his shoulder, dismissing her suspicious anxiousness as bad acting to try and sell him on the issue. Meanwhile, Todd was scowling at him. But Isaac ignored that as well. "No amount of money or whatever absurd benefits he has in store is worth putting up with him again. Good luck to you two. I am leaving."

"Are you fucking serious?" Now Todd was enraged. "We finally encourage you to do something with your stupid love for science, and this is the thanks we get?!"

"You are painfully dense, Todd." Isaac said. "But you weren't the one receiving the beatings and beratings on a regular basis. So I don't expect you to understand."

His brother was still not having it, however. He looked like he was going to blow a casket as Isaac was approaching the front door yet again, for the final time. He was firm on his statements, and there was nothing his siblings could say or do to stop him from never returning to that god-forsaken house again. End of story.

Yet Todd still felt the need to have the last word.

He scoffed and spat into the trash can near the gritty kitchen cabinets, crossing his arms with eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Fine, have it your way." He hissed. "Burn in hell with Mom for all I care..."

Time stopped. Isaac's hand was on the door handle, but he didn't turn it. He couldn't anymore. His chest burned with the feeling of rage that exploded within him and his blood came to a boil, rushing rapidly through his veins faster than a high speed train as his heart rate had increased dramatically. In a flash, he was back at the dining table, just inches away from Todd's face, seething with rage. "The hell did you just say?"

"You heard me." Todd sneered.

"You do not have the right to speak about our mother like that, you sick bastard."

"I have the right to use my mouth however I please."

"Take it back."

"No."

"Take it back."

"Fuck you."

"Take it the hell back!"

"Enough, you two!" Clara had pushed them away from each other. "You're both acting like idiots, do you want Dad to see you like this?"

"No, Clara. That's not what I want." Todd growled. Now he too was filled with just as much anger as his brother. "What I want is to see this little shit finally get knocked down a few pegs. Acting too good for Dad and the business, and all... and for what?! To be a fucking prick, that's what—"

In that next moment, he was on the floor. Isaac had collided an enclosed fist with the man's jaw. "Next time watch your tongue, or it'll be more than just a punch you walk away with."

Then he stormed out.

Clara chased after him without even bothering to check on her brother. "Isaac, wait!"

He stopped at his car door, but didn't look at her. Luckily, she only expected him to listen.

"Please...I know Todd shouldn't have gone there, but he's not lying about everything else. You really are useful, and the most level headed out of all of us, and Dad can't go through with everything without your expertise! Think about this!"

A pause. Isaac lowered his voice and kept his hand clenched on the car door handle. "You were there, Clara."

"What?"

"You were there," He repeated. "On that night, six years ago...at Father's side with Todd, brandishing weapons while blocking every exit in sight so I couldn't escape...as he chased me around the house in a drunken rage. He was going to kill me. He was going to kill me, and you were there to help keep me at bay. So why in the hell should I believe that I'm suddenly 'useful' to him when apparently my life was just as meaningful as the wedding ring he was prepared to throw away when Mom died?! And why do you care, when you were the one providing backup?"

"Because I helped you escape!"

"Oh, bullshi--"

"No, no...listen to me right now," Clara exhaled roughly with a stern look that could kill. It was something Isaac had never seen before, what with her remaining emotionless and silent for several years prior to this day. "When you got out through your bedroom window, Dad was ready to chase after you. But I stopped him. I told him it was not worth it, and it would only raise suspicion amongst the neighbors...then he'd be in trouble all over again. That whole event is why I need you here now to help, just this once! You know firsthand how our father can get, there's no telling what he'll do to me and Todd if he doesn't get his way with this whole thing! Please, Isaac...I can't stress this enough. I need you. I really do."
   
There was a desperate look in her eyes. Desperate, and pleading. Isaac wanted to believe it to be real, but there was a voice in the back of his mind yelling at him about how it was all a lie. He had been the one to endure his father's hardships, not them, from the time of their mother's death up until adulthood. His siblings just sat and watched like the obedient little pawns they had become for the man. Never reprimanded. Never receiving punishment. For anything.
   
Isaac was not about to make up for that.
  
"I'm sorry, Clara," He finally entered his vehicle. Heavy hearted while also firm with his decision at the same time. "I think you'll make it just fine without me."
 
And then he was gone. His sister watched him solemnly as he drove away, not looking back. He owed them nothing after his terrible upbringing. How long it would take for them to realize that, he didn't know, and frankly didn't care.
   
They would never see him again, anyway.

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So I wrote this as an assignment for my college creative writing class, that's why it's written in first person. Not sure if there will be others like it for now, but who knows? Maybe I'll want to experiment in the future.

Hope you guys enjoyed this surprise update!