Earth, March 12th

After two months of being the only ones that could hear each other, Gabriel and Carlos didn’t want to stay in the nest anymore. The more they were disconnected from their family, the less appealing everything seemed.

The parties weren’t fun, the pretending wasn’t fun, and nothing was fun anymore.

Everyone watched them leave, with a heavy heart. They begged them to stay, but Carlos and Gabriel didn’t want to. Their heads had become clear now that the spell of being one was gone.

Now they were two, and that was much more manageable than one.

After a month of living apart from everyone else, in a quiet house on the outskirts of New Springfield, they had finally become themselves again. Carlos was no longer drinking from meat suits but got his blood delivered by George, who still pretended to be a nurse at a nearby hospital.

Carlos even went back to church and invited Gabriel to go back with him, but he never did. He never saw the point anymore.

One afternoon in March, with the blackout curtains pulled and the lights turned off, Gabriel sat in the living room, and closed his eyes, focusing on the outside. The only view he could get of daylight was through Carlos’s eyes, and it wasn’t enough.

He gripped the white couch and tore into it. It was already torn up, from his daily fidgeting, and after a lot of internal complaints, Carlos returned home. Like a faithful German shepherd, Gabriel was waiting for him at the door.

Carlos sighed when Gabriel greeted him, silent and unblinking, eyes following him like a motion sensor camera. Whenever Carlos returned was the most exciting part of his day, and this just made Carlos worried.

When Santos was alive, they were obsessed with him. With Santos gone, there was no beacon to keep their emotions in check, no target to cull their intensity.

Gabriel had replaced Santos with Carlos, and Carlos now understood why his father was tired of being around his children. With just one rabid fan, Carlos had enough. After a lot of thought, Carlos realized that it was the daily blood he had given Gabriel, and he knew why the others told him it wasn’t a good idea to do that.

Carlos took off his trench coat and hung it on the coat rack near the front door, and flipped on the light switch. Without saying a word, Gabriel followed him upstairs, to his room, and Carlos tried to find the right way to give him the news.

Gabriel sensed his unease when he walked into Carlos’ neat room, and Carlos felt his as well, their feelings just amplifying each other. When Gabriel took the few steps to the bed from the door, he was sweating and wondering what he could have done to upset the only person that would ever matter.

"I think this relationship isn’t natural," Carlos said.

He ran his fingers through his black hair, no longer short but shoulder-length. Carlos paced around the room, and Gabriel got up to copy him, but Carlos pushed him down to the ground.

"Stop! Stop it! Why are you like this," Carlos shouted.

"I just want to be closer to you, I need you, " Gabriel pleaded.

"No! This isn’t right. This is an obsession!"

"Father, please-"

Carlos picked him up by the back of his shirt and tried to contain his anger as dragged him, and put him back on the bed. He leered down at Gabriel and tried to make him understand that this wasn’t a discussion.

It was what was going to happen.

"I’m leaving, Gabriel. I’m not coming back. You can’t come with me."

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Gabriel knew he was telling the truth, but his brain couldn’t comprehend the words. He heard no other words after that, his subconscious blocking out everything Carlos was saying.

Carlos stopped talking, waiting for a response, but he already knew what it was. The obsession was too strong, and Carlos worried that it was now permanent. Gabriel started to fidget again, cutting up the bed comforter and thinking about all the different ways he would follow Carlos.

"I’ll leave during the day, and you won’t be able to follow me," Carlos told him.

"I’ll follow, I’d rather be dead than without you."

" Father above, help us, " Carlos groaned.

Carlos walked over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room, and collapsed, staring at the ceiling and wishing it would cave down on them, and answer his eternal question if he could really seek salvation after death.

"Where are we going," Gabriel asked.

"I’m leaving for Florence."

"So when are we-"

Carlos shot up like a bullet, his patience worn away like a rock on a beach. There was no getting rid of his vestigial twin, and even if he did follow through on his threat, he would kill himself as they walked into daylight.

Gabriel knew immediately that he was going with Carlos, and he tried to hide his excitement. He didn’t do it very well, his mind now warped and obsessed with his new father. Carlos just hoped where they were going there would be a cure for this new malady, as their current curses were enough to deal with.

That night, Carlos decided to cut Gabriel off.

He was no longer Gabriel’s dealer.

It was almost 9 PM, their daily time that Gabriel would get his fix, and no longer hear the swirling voices of his new family. The closer they got to nine, the more the voices trickled in, slowly.

Soft murmurs and mumbles turned to whispers, and now Gabriel’s head was shouting with the sounds of I’ve missed you so much, and when are you coming to visit? He banged against Carlos’ door, and Carlos didn’t hear a thing. He lay in bed, headphones in his ears, listening to classical music, The Bee Gees.

Carlos didn’t hear Gabriel when he broke the door, and by the time he had seen him, it was too late. Spit dripping out of his mouth, his iris’ shrunk, Gabriel needed drugs.

He couldn’t give it up.

What else was there to do other than to have a new obsession, to get high on it all day? With Carlos as his new drug he knew he couldn’t ever hurt himself, and he was never willing to let go.

Gabriel’s addiction gave him a burst of strength as he overpowered Carlos and bit into his neck. Carlos pushed him off, but it was too late. All he needed was one bite, and the voices were gone.

All was quiet, and Gabriel shuddered, holding himself and whispering, never again. He looked Carlos in the eyes and told his first dealer the same thing when he threatened to cut him off.

"There are others like you. I can get this from someone else."

And just like Gabriel’s first dealer, Carlos took the bait.

"Don’t. Please don’t, you can stay with me," Carlos said.

"Really!?"

A large smile was plastered on his face, and with Carlos’ defeat, Gabriel was hooked again. That night Carlos couldn’t relax. He liked to spend the hours most people slept relaxing in bed, but instead Gabriel was watching him the entire time, waiting for his next command.

Carlos groaned, and turned over, sinking his face into his pillow, and screamed. Gabriel copied him and Carlos’ screams turned into sobs. He knew that Gabriel was addicted to the worst drug of all.

Love.

His love was twisted and unending, and Carlos wanted to take responsibility, but he didn’t know what to do other than cutting him off. He was worried if someone else gave Gabriel his fix, they would take advantage of him in horrible, perverse ways.

That night Carlos gave up on ever being separated from Gabriel.

They would be together forever, for better or worse, through sickness and in health.