Chapter 74: The Past of Two Brothers (Part 1)

— "Ever since we went back to the Connors' lab… a lot has happened. You talked to me, asked me questions… you tried to understand what was going on, and I pushed you away like an idiot. And I think… I think it's important that we talk about all of it."

He paused briefly before continuing, looking directly into Gwen's eyes.

— "Would you… be willing to listen to me?"

Realizing she was finally about to get the answers to the questions she had been asking herself for so long, Gwen shifted slightly on the edge of the bed. Her expression became more serious, and all of her attention focused on Peter, ready to listen to every word he had to say.

Peter took a deep breath. For a few seconds, he remained silent, as though he needed to gather his thoughts before diving back into memories as distant as they were painful.

— "When I was nine, our parents decided to spend a few weeks together during summer vacation. They rented a cabin deep in the woods, pretty far from New York. Back then, our parents were practically inseparable. So Eddie and I kind of were too. We spent our days outside. Our parents kept telling us not to wander too far from the cabin… but obviously, we never really listened."

Back then, Peter and Eddie barely needed anything to keep themselves entertained. After only a few days, the entire forest had become their playground.

They ran between the trees, explored the surrounding area by venturing farther and farther each time, and constantly challenged each other, as though every day had to bring them a new adventure.

That day, the two boys had decided to climb one of the tallest trees they had found. Eddie was already several branches above Peter, wearing that provocative grin he always had whenever he thought he was winning.

— "Eddie was the kind of person who was… stubborn. Whenever he got an idea in his head… whenever he wanted something, he did everything he could to get it. Even when it was just about climbing a tree."

Peter sighed softly as he thought back to that time.

— "He never gave up."

Several meters above him, Eddie continued climbing while Peter did his best to catch up. Neither of them seemed particularly concerned about how far above the ground they were now. To them, it was just another game.

— "After a while, I couldn't see him anymore. I kept climbing, looking for him, and eventually found him somewhere in that huge tree with all those branches. But he wasn't alone."

At those words, Gwen instinctively understood that they were approaching the true breaking point in their story. Probably the moment when everything had first started to fall apart between Peter and Eddie.

— "He was sitting on a branch next to a girl our age."

The young girl wore a long, thin white dress, modest enough while still remaining light and comfortable in the summer heat. Her long, silky red hair framed a face covered in freckles that made her features appear even softer.

With her almost unreal appearance in the middle of that vast forest, she looked like a character straight out of a fantasy book.

Seeing Eddie talking with her, Peter simply decided to join them and sat down beside them. The three of them remained perched in that enormous tree for several hours without really moving, simply talking, laughing, and getting to know one another.

— "She introduced herself as Emma. The three of us got along pretty quickly, and not long after meeting, we were already friends."

— "Emma…?"

Gwen immediately thought back to Peter and Eddie's reunion. That day, Eddie had said that name: Emma. She finally understood who it belonged to… and, more importantly, why simply mentioning it had seemed to awaken something so deep between the two boys.

— "After that, we spent every day playing or just hanging out together. But that's when everything slowly started going wrong."

Gwen swallowed hard. So far, Peter hadn't told her anything truly disturbing or shocking. Yet something about the way he spoke was gradually making her stomach tighten. A bad feeling she couldn't shake.

— "As the days went by and we spent more time with that girl, Eddie started acting weird. Whenever it was just the two of us, everything was fine… he was his usual self. But whenever she was around… his behavior completely changed. It was like he was constantly trying to impress her or make her laugh with everything he said or did, and I didn't really understand why."

Whether during their trips through the forest, the time they spent at the cabin, or meals outside, Eddie's behavior remained the same. Whenever Emma was around, he seemed to exhaust himself trying to get her attention, constantly making jokes, taking on challenges, and doing anything he thought might impress her.

But Emma didn't seem particularly interested. Most of the time, her attention turned toward Peter instead. She enjoyed listening to him talk, watching what he did, and almost always smiled whenever she saw him.

— "One day, we talked about it and got into an argument. He called me a traitor because he thought I was trying to steal Emma from him. I tried explaining that I wasn't doing anything and that I didn't understand what was happening either. Whether it was his obsession with getting her attention or Emma, who seemed to want mine."

Over the following days, the two boys gradually drifted apart because of the argument and the misunderstanding. They now spent most of their time separately, sometimes alone, sometimes with the young girl.

But once again, whenever she had the opportunity, Emma preferred leaving Eddie to spend time with Peter. And the more time passed, the more seeing them so close seemed to drive Eddie crazy.

His behavior gradually became colder. His words, once merely provocative, could now become genuinely hurtful, sometimes even violent. Yet no one around them knew what was really happening. All of that tension remained trapped between Peter and Eddie.

— "Then… came the day when everything went completely wrong."

As Peter continued his story, Gwen felt her curiosity growing alongside her concern. She was already trying to imagine what could possibly have caused such a deep rift between them. Maybe a violent argument over a girl they had both fallen for?

— "Emma and I had gotten into the habit of climbing that huge tree together. We'd regularly bring some food and drinks up there, then talk or just enjoy the moment in silence. But one day… Eddie showed up."

That day, while Peter and Emma were sitting together on one of the large branches, they noticed Eddie climbing toward them. A few moments later, he reached them. But the second he saw the two of them alone together, spending time with each other, something seemed to snap inside him, and he lost it.

— "After he saw us together, he started attacking me."

Eddie lunged at Peter and began throwing punches with all the clumsiness of a child consumed by anger. Peter tried to dodge them as best he could, equally clumsy himself.

After all, fighting several meters above the ground in the middle of a tangled maze of branches made every movement especially dangerous. Under their sudden movements, some of the branches began to shake, while the food and drinks they had brought with them toppled one after another into the void below.

— "I tried to calm him down, but it was hopeless. It was like he'd completely lost his mind. And while I was trying not to fall out of the tree, Emma was yelling too, trying to calm Eddie down… but nothing worked."

Blinded by jealousy and anger, Eddie continued swinging wildly, seemingly unaware of just how dangerous the situation was becoming.

— "At one point, I almost fell, but I caught myself at the last second. That's when Eddie started trying to push me off. When Emma saw what was happening, she tried to help me. She started hitting Eddie to make him stop, but in the heat of the moment… Eddie pushed her. And she fell out of the tree."

TO BE CONTINUED.