Chapter 4 Jeremy

"My brother, Jeremy Peterson, was a very cruel person; even to me, he did so many horrible things that I don't know where to start from. He hurt everyone around him, mostly those who cared a lot about him. He pushed everyone away. And he started to drink at the age of fourteen; he'd sleep with anything. He only used his abilities to bully, torture, and destroy everyone he hated. I could go on and on about everything he'd done." Jade's eyes glazed over. I frowned. Jeremy sounded like a monster. I wondered how Jade dealt with him throughout their lives together.

Jade blinked and looked down at his feet. "But still," he continued, "he was the only one that understood me. My parents were never around, and all the nannies they brought couldn't stay a single day before they ran away for one thing or another." He paused. "So they stopped looking for caretakers,so it was left to Jeremy; he had to take care of me all on his own. Back then, he'd always smile and make up stories just to see me laugh. He always told me that he wanted nothing more than to play with me forever. And then all of a sudden he just changed into this ruthless monster." Not knowing what to say, I just stared at him in blank amazement.

"He did so many awful things. He tore people's happiness apart just like he did mine," he continued. "He made me so lonely. I couldn't make any friends because they feared that I would also turn out to be like him. My schoolmates resented me and treated me differently. No one wanted to give me a chance to show them that I was better and much kinder than him. They didn't care. And that's how my life has always been." He quickly wiped off the tears that were about to slide down his face and clenched his fist.

"But even after everything he did, I still love and care for him because he was always there when no one else was," he ended.

"I don't mean to upset you, but what happened to him-like, why isn't he here now?" he frowned. "He ended up getting cursed," he stated.

"One day a boy named Damien walked up to me and told me that he had a precognition; it turned out that he sees bits and pieces of the future, so he revealed to me that Jeremy would one day be punished for all his past sins and that the punishment would be a horrible death. And soon after that day, Jeremy was found dead in his car; he was found decapitated from head to toe," he told me with a grim look. I was intrigued; I wanted to know more; I wanted to know why, of all the bodies in this big world, I chose to reside in this one, which, by the way, looked to be in good condition. Did he have super-healing powers or something?

"The body was taken in; they wanted to identify it, but before they could, something strange happened."

"They told me that his body started to regenerate with speed; yes, I know anyone could heal from an injury, but in his case, he was disfigured in such a way that he couldn't be healed back to his recent form, and he was already dead, so everyone was confused." He revealed himself, pacing around the room. "They all concluded that it was a miracle." He stopped to look at me.

"But instead of him coming back to us, it was someone else; it was you," he said bitterly.

I frowned at that. It wasn't my fault. "I'm sorry." I apologised. "I don't need your apology; look, all I need from you is for you to still be my brother; I don't want anyone finding out about you or any of this."

"No one knows the whole story; everyone thinks that my brother survived because he was granted a second chance to redeem himself, and I want it to be like that."

"Okay?"

I had no choice but to agree. "Okay," I replied, looking down at my feet.

Suddenly, he perked up. "What is it?" I asked quietly, "Mom and Dad are both here. Don't talk, just listen; it wouldn't look suspicious to them because, to everyone, you lost your memories."

I silently watched as he headed towards the door; he opened it and welcomed a petite, pale, and delicate-looking woman, who smiled as soon as she saw me. Behind her stood a huge, tall man. He stood like a statue beside her with a permanent scowl. He had dull brown eyes, and he was fully decked out in a black uniform, which made him look sinister.

"What happened here? It's so cold," she said, rubbing her arms up and down as she shivered. She was the feminine version of Jade, with the same green eyes. And then the man-neither Jade nor I looked anything like him except for the tall part.

Thinking back to what Jade told me earlier, I realised that his parents did not seem to care much about him, and because of their lack of parenting, Jeremy turned out the way he did. Just by glancing at them, I can see them fidgeting to flee and go back to their various businesses.

"Mom, it's not that cold in here," Jade said softly.

Out of the blue, I started feeling nauseous. I looked at Diana; she was having a silent talk with her son. I stole a glance at the huge man and caught him staring at me intensely. I saw his eye colour glow, and suddenly my dizziness got worse. Jade tapped me, but I was feeling so light-headed that I couldn't respond to him.

What was going on with me? , I–

I blanked out.