Blood on the Leaves

Jumping into the big pile of autumn leaves, Ryan felt like a child again.

The smell of the damp earth and pinecones lingering in the air surrounded him as he got buried into the colorful piles, and it was enough to evoke the sense of nostalgia and make Ryan reflect. He stood up and stepped out of the pile, dusting himself off from the speckles of dirt that the leaves left on his clothing.

"You just couldn't help yourself, hm?"

At the sound of his twin's voice, Ryan turned to look at his own reflection. The freckles on his twin's face were buried under flushed cheeks from the cool weather. Looking at his identical dual-colored eyes, Ryan ruffled his hair to shake the leaves out. "Absolutely not. You should try to have fun sometimes."

Rolon rolled his eyes. "That's not fair." He chuckled a bit. "I used to have a lot of fun, you know, before..." he trailed off.

Ryan nodded slowly as Rolon trailed off in his sentence. Stepping into his brother's side, they walked together, kicking the leaves out of the way as they took a stroll through the park. This particular park had been closed down for some time due to renovations. It was the park that Ryan and Rolon used to play in when they were younger. Their mother would take them here almost every day while their father was out working. It wasn't a terrible childhood even though the thought of their father barely being around didn't sound so pleasant. They were still able to have a stable, normal life growing up and share countless moments celebrating holidays, birthdays, and achievements.

As they aged and headed off to college, their parents welcomed them back with open arms every summer and even after graduation while they decided on the next step of their lives. The park was still open when they came back from graduation, but just last autumn, the park had closed down. It was only a few weeks ago that the park reopened, and Ryan felt like he needed a fresh start on life. This park reopening was a sign given to him if he ever saw one.

There was something about the beauty in the warm and vibrant autumn colors that moved Ryan. It had always been his favorite season, despite everyone around him loving summer or spring instead. In all of their 26 years of life, every time the new season rolled around, Ryan was captivated. He would sit in the window and watch the green leaves gradually turn into an enchanting medley of red, orange, and brown. He loved watching the leaves then fall onto the ground slowly. He would imagine shrinking down in size and being on one of those leaves as it made its way to the ground.

If the leaves were able to embrace change and evoke new beginnings, couldn’t the same be said for Ryan?

He was feeling hopeful.

He had created a new version of himself within the entire year, since last year's autumn. He had always been an introverted person; he was the complete opposite of Rolon. Ryan kept to himself most of the time whereas Rolon loved to be the center of attention. Growing up together, that's how it always was between the two. Both were very considerate and kind, but Ryan didn’t interact with anyone unless they interacted with him first. That all began to change within the last year.

Rolon was the first person who would witness this change in Ryan. "So why are we out here anyway? This place brings up not-so-great memories."

"Don't say that," Ryan shook his head. "We used to love coming here with Mom."

"Yeah, but that was before," Rolon insisted, keeping his eyes on the ground.

Ryan let out a sigh and took Rolon's arm. "Come on, let's go over here." Rolon made a sound of protest but followed his brother anyway as he dragged him to a tree that was surrounded by the colorful carpet of leaves. As it turns out, it wasn't just any tree that Rolon got dragged to. It was the tree where he had asked Courtney to be his girlfriend. It was the tree where he had also proposed to her 2 years later. Their initials were still deeply carved into the trunk: C + R

Rolon looked at the carvings and pursed his lips, looking away with a faraway gaze in his eyes. Ryan nodded a little in understanding. "Hey, man. It's alright," he comforted his brother.

Rolon shook his head. "It's not okay" He frowned at Ryan. "She left me. She's gone. She just up and disappeared. We were supposed to get married last year. All the time and energy I put into our relationship went out of the window. What did I even do that was so bad that she had to leave?" Rolon kicked some more leaves out of the way and then shouted, "Ow!”

Frowning, Rolon looked at his foot. "Something stabbed my foot." He bent down and looked down at the ground. Flicking some leaves and dirt out of the way, Rolon saw something shiny stuck into the ground. Frowning even more, he cupped some dirt out of the way and pulled up what looked like a necklace. A locket.

Not just any locket.

Ryan smiled at his brother. "I told you it's okay, Rolon." He shrugged a little, keeping that same smile on his face. "Courtney didn't leave you, Rolon."

Rolon's eyebrows furrowed even more as he looked at the rusty locket even closer. There was something that looked like dirt stained onto the metal. Rolon picked at it with his nails. What came off of his nails wasn't brown like he expected it to be from the dirt. It was dark red.

It was blood. Dried blood.

Rolon slowly looked up at Ryan as what he just said registered into his mind. "What did you just say? What do you mean she didn't...?" Rolon looked back down at the locket still clutched in his palms and clicked it open, revealing a picture of him and Courtney.

Gasping, he dropped the locket. That was the locket he gave to Courtney when he asked her to be his girlfriend. She had never taken it off since that day. Did she leave it here when she left? Did she bury it here so she didn't have to look at it? Why was there blood on it?

Rolon looked back at Ryan who had the same stupid smile on his face. "She wasn't going to leave you," he said. Rolon could only blink at him as he still tried to process what the hell his brother was going on about. "She was going to marry you." Ryan suddenly made a face that Rolon couldn't recognize. A face that he had never seen on Ryan before. It's like he was smiling grimly; the corners of his mouth tilted up ever so slightly, and he smiled without showing teeth. "She was going to marry you," he repeated. "Even after she cheated on you."

Rolon blinked and looked at Ryan in utmost confusion. "What?"

Ryan sighed in annoyance, as if he hated that he had to tell his brother this. "Rolon, she cheated on you. I caught her cheating on you."

Rolon shook his head, blinking. He was trying to process so many things at once. "Why is there blood on this locket?"

"She was cheating on you with someone from her job. I came across them at the gym, Rolon."

Rolon dropped to his knees where the locket was and cupped more dirt, shoving it out of the way. He began frantically digging into the dirt. He had no idea what he was expecting to find, but he kept digging anyway. There was a sinking feeling creeping up his spine that was making him dig in this dirt without any gloves. Without so much as flinching from the cold wind biting at his bare hands and dirt getting stuck underneath his fingernails, he kept digging.

"When I confronted her, she promised me she was going to tell you. She was supposed to call off the wedding. But then she never did."

Rolon kept digging, vaguely hearing whatever Ryan was trying to explain to him. Fear settled in the pit of his stomach. Disbelief clouded his mind. He was going to be sick.

"I confronted her again later on. It was right here in this spot. She said that she hadn't wanted to lose you. She told me that I would never understand."

Rolon dug some more, his breathing getting quicker, his heart pounding so hard that he felt like it would shatter through his ribcage. He was trying to shut Ryan's voice out in the back of his mind. None of it was making any sense. Then the next thing Rolon came across in the dirt stopped him in his tracks and chilled his very being.

Bones. Human bones.

"You..." Rolon whispered.

Ryan leaned over to get a good look at the carcass. He winced a bit and made a face. "I didn't think her bones would still be here. I thought for sure she was as good as fertilizer by now."

Rolon's hands began to shake, but Ryan leaned down to comfort his brother. "Hey," he cooed in his ear. "It was for the best. You were too good for her; I see that now." Ryan felt like he did the right thing and honestly didn't have to explain his actions.

However, Rolon still felt sick. Realization sunk into his every fiber, and pain surged through his chest, making it harder for him to breathe.  "What the fuck did you do?" he breathed in horror.

"You want the details?" Ryan shook his head. "You won't be able to handle them." Ryan stood to his feet and took a deep breath of the autumn air. “I know what you’re thinking – you’re probably reevaluating our entire lives together; you probably feel an overwhelming sense of betrayal. However, I can assure you, brother,” Ryan turned to look down at Rolon as he stayed on the ground, looking up at Ryan with horror and pain in his eyes. “That I did this for you.” 

Gone was the man that Rolon thought he knew. His twin, his other half, his own flesh and blood. He looked towards the sun and, feeling the sun's golden rays casting a warm glow on his face, he sighed in content. “You have no idea how long I wanted to tell you.” A tremendous sense of relief washed over Ryan. Letting go of this secret felt like removing a thorn from his heart.

Turning away from his brother, Ryan walked down the path.