Brother || Teen Wolf

Chapter 19 - That Fateful Night

Allison looked at the picture on Jamie's phone. 

It depicted a family of five, both parents smiling at the camera and three children holding various poses. The youngest one was smiling sweetly at the camera, holding a doll close to her chest. She was standing in the middle of two older children, a boy and a girl. It was difficult to say which one these two was the eldest, the boy was taller but not by much. Both had a hand on the youngest one's shoulders and they were looking at each other rather than at the camera. On the left, the girl was laughing, covering her mouth with her free hand. On the right, the boy was visibly sighing but his eyes held a spark of laughter.

The picture appeared slightly discolored, as if taken a long time ago. Allison frowned when she recognized the young boy. He had dark blond hair that were in a mess and piercing blue eyes. It was Jamie. Allison's smile disappeared immediately: the picture was sweet, but where were the three girls now? Jamie lived alone with his father. Hearing Jackson's words in her head again, it dawned on her what had happened.

"I'm so sorry, I--" Allison's voice wavered, "I shouldn't have said anything..."

"It's okay, Allison. It was a long time ago," Jamie answered with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "This picture was taken eight years ago. I guess you recognized me and you can figure out which one my father is. My mother is there, with my little sister Kylie and my twin sister Malia," he explained pointing at the family members on the picture.

The young man paused, gathering his strength before telling the rest of the story. Allison was looking at him intently, silently encouraging him to continue.

"A week after this picture was taken, my Mom decided to take my sisters and I downtown. I remember Kylie was excited to go, she was supposed to get a new bicycle that day. When we were in the car, Malia and I started fighting. I don't even remember what it was about, we fought all the time so it was hard to keep track. Our mother intervened at some point and, huh..."

Taking a second to think, Jamie decided against telling his friends exactly what words had been exchanged. It had been an ugly, unnecessary fight, just like every single fight he ever had with Malia. He loved his sister dearly, but children could be cruel and Malia was no exception. She always spoke her mind, no matter who got hurt in the process. Jamie had made it his mission to apologize for her, telling people she didn't mean to hurt them and that she was just brutally honest. That it wasn't her fault, it was in her nature. In retrospect, Jamie used to be a very quiet and polite child -- how things had changed.

However, while Malia often seemed like she didn't care, Jamie was extremely protective of Kylie. She was his little sister and he wouldn't let anyone hurt her. If Kylie needed help, Jamie would throw politeness out the window and use words even sharper than Malia's to defend her. And that's how they got into such heated arguments.

"In the end, the last thing I ever did with my mother and twin sister was fight. You see, there was something on the road. I don't know what it was, maybe an animal, but it was big enough for my Mother to try and avoid it. The thing is, she lost control of the car and we ended up rolling down a hill. I don't remember what happened next, I think I lost consciousness when we crashed. When I woke up, I was in the hospital."

Jamie paused and looked at the ground. The memory was vivid, forever imprinted on his mind. He had felt so lost, waking up alone in a white room. He heard beeping sounds to his left, bright lights were blinding him and everything was foreign. He instantly wanted to go home, but he could barely move. He could barely even feel his own body, like his mind had been detached from it. He assumed he was dreaming, but the memory of the car being lifted from the ground, this weird sense of being weightless and of time slowing down, of not knowing the ground from the sky... he couldn't have invented that. Like he couldn't have invented the pain he felt with every nerve in his body.

He understood something very wrong had happened. He couldn't see anyone in the room, his parents and his sisters were nowhere in sight. And this never, ever happened. Henry and Evelyn Tate were always near. Kylie always followed him, especially in unfamiliar places like this one. Fighting or not, Malia was always at his side. Always.

The sense of dread that built up in his chest, it was not something he would ever forget. Piece by piece, he remembered the accident. The accident that he and his family had been in, so where was his family now? 

He had trashed around as much as his injuries allowed him, trying to yell for someone to come and tell him it was all okay, that his sisters were fine and so was his mother. But that didn't happen. When his father finally came into the room, the hollow expression on his face was enough for Jamie to know he was the only survivor.

"I lost both my mother and Kylie that day, but they never found Malia's body," Jamie explained softly. "My Dad, I don't think he ever stopped looking for her... Deep down I think he still hopes she's alive, somewhere. Anyway, the doctors said I made a spectacular recovery but it still took me months to get better. I still have scars from the accident, and so when Jackson said what he said, I..."

"It's okay, you don't have to justify yourself," Scott intervened. "I should have punched that punk!"

Jamie let out a small chuckle, picturing his friend attacking Jackson in the middle of the bowling alley. It would have made quite the sight. Lydia was holding similar thoughts.

"Yeah, he deserved it! Also because he ruined bowling night," she stated bitterly. "I don't feel like going back to the game after that, but I'm starved! Should we grab something to eat?"

Allison stared at the strawberry-blonde girl like she was the most insensitive being on the planet. So naturally, she didn't understand why Jamie smiled and readily agreed to Lydia's suggestion. She didn't know Lydia enough to see that she was simply trying to make everyone move on to happier grounds, ones that weren't tainted with sorrowful memories or engulfed in a bitter atmosphere. Deep down, the School Queen was actually thoughtful.

The gang got up and left the bowling alley. Their night out was starting over, and the first step was pizza.