by Tyler Porter
Matt watched the gun fall, and as he turned his head back toward his opponent, he was met with a sharp elbow to the cheek. He wobbled back away from Cody, leaving him enough room to jump in the air and land a kick right under Matt’s chin, sending him flying backward onto the floor.
“You just came in here and overpowered my brother. You won’t be able to do that with me. I’m gonna make you my bitch, then I’m gonna kill you in front of your slut sister.”
He sent a ferocious kick into Matt’s ribs, driving the air from his lungs. He grabbed his head and threw a knee, but Matt blocked it. He held onto the leg and stood up picking Cody up with him and jumped to the side, sending both men through the bedroom window onto the front lawn. Both men got to their feet at the same time, but it was Cody who made the next move.
A straight right punch caught Matt clean in the nose, disorienting him. It was followed up by an uppercut that dropped Matt on the ground. Matt turned to all fours to push himself back up, and as Cody approached him for another kick, Matt threw a kick of his own from the ground. His foot connected with Cody’s knee, causing it to bend inwards. Cody screamed and fell onto his side as he grabbed desperately at his knee.
Matt took his opportunity. He rolled over twice and crawled on top of Cody, pinning him down with his left hand. With his right, he rained down three powerful punches, two landing on Cody’s face and one landing on his throat. Matt switched hands and threw a left, but Cody blocked and grabbed it. He twisted Matt’s wrist with both of his own hands until it cracked. Matt struggled to get it free, and when Cody released it, he created his chance to swing hard with a right of his own.
Matt fell off of him and onto his stomach. Cody was quick to take his back and slide his arm under Matt’s chin, locking in a choke, but he wasn’t trying to make him pass out; he was trying to break Matt’s neck. He yanked and squeezed as hard as he could as he howled into the night. Matt pulled at his arms, but could feel himself fading. He was on the edge of darkness, on his way out of consciousness, when he remembered Mariah.
He remembered her as a little girl. How she’d been so happy, and so innocent. How that had been taken from her. He thought about how Aaron had treated her and about how many times she had been beaten and abused. He thought about what Cody might do to her when Matt was dead. These thoughts brought him back from the darkness. They gave him strength. He pushed himself up from the ground and got one foot under him with Cody still on his back, fighting with everything he had.
Matt thought about his parents. He thought about the love they had shared and how it had never died. How they had always loved and cared for their family. He thought about how hard his father had worked to provide for them and how hard his mother had worked to keep the rest of their lives together. He thought about how she always put on a happy face when everyone else was feeling down. He thought about the light she brought into the world, a light the world would never be graced with again because of this man on his back.
He got another burst of energy, of life. He got his other foot under him and stood completely up with Cody still on his back. He hooked both arms around Cody’s legs to pin him against his back. Then he thought about Andi and Riley. He thought about all the things that could be wrong. He thought about how badly he had to get back to them. He refused to leave them. Not like this.
With one final burst of life, Matt jumped with all his strength into the air, flipping backward and crashing down on top of Cody. The choke was released, and Cody gasped for air. Matt turned over, straddling him again, and began hitting him over and over. His punches became hammers as he brought them down sideways over and over like a heavy sledge.
As Matt hit him, he was no longer Cody; he was Michael, and all he could see was that sick smile on his face. He began hitting him harder and faster, holding his face in place with one hand and striking with the other. Blood flew in all directions, more with every fist that landed. The hits weren’t enough to release the rage that was eating him alive. With both hands he grabbed each side of Cody’s head, picked it up, and slammed it down. Picked it up and slammed it down. Picked it up and slammed it down. Over and over. Five times. Ten times. Twenty times. Then he lost count.
Matt slammed Cody’s head onto the ground until he no longer had the strength to lift it. Finally, he dropped his hands to his sides and looked down at the bloody mess in front of him. He didn’t know who the man was. He was unrecognizable. In looking for justice, Cody had suffered the same fate as his brother, and Matt had once again committed murder and taken vengeance of his own.
Chapter 22: Moving On
Matt ran back inside the house and found Mariah lying on top of their father’s body. He carefully untied her and removed the tape from her mouth. Neither said a word; they just shared a long embrace as they sat next to their father until the police sirens echoed in the night. As they were waiting for the officers to enter the home, he said all of the things that had been eating away at him for so many years.
He told her how much he loved her, and how much he’d missed her. How sorry he was for all the time he had missed, and for not being there when she needed him. They both cried with each other, but they both knew it was all over. In a way, they felt the weight of Michael Vincent lifted off both of their shoulders. It was like he had lived on in their lives somehow, and now that Cody was dead, the last of his memory died with him.
It was the deputies that found them, sitting next to Patrick O’Bannon’s corpse. Both refused to say a word as to what happened in the house or regarding the body of Cody Vincent on the front lawn. So they were both taken into custody and transported to the small holding cells at the Sheriff Station. They were kept in separate cells, but the cells backed up to one another. For hours, the siblings who had long been separated sat holding each other’s hand, not saying a word, just appreciating the fact that after everything, they still had each other.
It was early in the morning when Sheriff Demsey showed up, sling and all. He kicked the cell wall to wake Matt up, but didn’t say a word. He opened the cell door and nodded, gesturing for Matt to follow. Demsey led them into the small, familiar interrogation room. The same room that this same Sheriff had used to question Matt about Michael Vincent’s death.
Both men sat quietly for a while, silent and still, aside from Demsey occasionally adjusting his shoulder. Matt didn’t look directly at his eyes, but studied his face. He tried to decide if the Sheriff had already made up his mind about what had happened. He tried hard for a good while, and although he’d always been good at reading Sheriff Demsey, this time he got nothing.
“We have been through this before,” Demsey said, “and I know how it goes. I ask questions; you stay quiet. I beg you for answers; you don’t give up a damn thing.”
Matt sat quietly.
“I’m not gonna beg you this time, kid. I’m too tired and in too much pain. So I’m just gonna be straight with you. If you don’t tell me exactly what went down in that house and how this Cody character ended up with a dented-in skull, you are going to prison. If you don’t talk, and she don’t talk, all we have are two bodies and a gun with no prints, because pretty boy was wearing gloves.”
Again, Matt said nothing.
“I know you didn’t go there on your own free will. I can put the pieces together here and see what happened. We’ve ID’d this guy as Michael Vincent’s brother. I get it, but right now we have zero evidence. All we have is a bloody mess and your stained hands to go along with it. This town has let you off on one trial; they will not do it again. I need you tell me what happened, and I need you to tell me quickly before this thing gets too far down the line and out of my hands.”
“I killed him,” Matt said.
“In self-defense,” Demsey included.
“Call it whatever you want; it doesn’t change anything. I disarmed the guy. I had him beat. All I had to do was stop, and I couldn’t. Just like the night I went after Michael Vincent. All I had to do was let the justice system do its job,
and I couldn’t. I could stop myself.”
“In the eyes of the law or not, you had cause in both situations.”
“I committed murder in both situations. I had a choice in both situations, and I chose to kill. I’m a killer. It’s inside of me.”
“You’ve done what you’ve had to do Matt. It is not who you are unless you let it become who you are.”
“I don’t know what to tell you Sheriff. I’m tired. I’m going back to sleep.”
With that, Matthew O’Bannon looked away and refused to say another word. Even after forty-five more minutes of prodding, he never said another word. Finally, he was escorted back to his cell where he laid back down and fell asleep right away. It was like he hadn’t slept in weeks. He slept through an entire day and night, only waking to the sun the following morning. He was leaning against the back of the cell, waiting for Mariah to wake up, when Sheriff Demsey returned. He opened up both cell doors wide.
“Mariah O’Bannon, Matthew O’Bannon⸺you are both free to go.”
Mariah started to stir, and Matt stood up and walked to the Sheriff.
“I don’t want you risking your ass for us. Whatever you did, undo it. You’ve done enough for me.”
“I didn’t do anything. You just be damn happy that your sister over there is a hell of a lot better at using her words than you are.”
Mariah had told them everything. From the moment she was taken to the moment Cody Vincent was killed. The police closed the case, calling it self-defense. And since there were no remaining members of the Vincent family that they could locate, the case was closed without objection. Mariah and Matt walked out of the front doors of the station and into the sunshine like it was for the very first time.
Chapter 23: Blood Stains Forever
“You’re sure you want to do this?” Matt asked as he set her suitcase down next to her in front of the airport. “Big cities aren’t like Council Grove and Alta Vista.”
“I get it, Bro. But I gotta do this. I’ve spent my whole life just trying to blend in. It’s time I find my own place. My own life.”
“But San Diego? It’s hot, its muggy, its expensive. I mean, you gotta think about those things.”
“So, I guess our inheritance will be put to good use while I get my feet wet.” She was referring to the money left behind by their parents because Matt had given his share all to her, plus some. The few days after the arrest hadn’t been easy, but they had done their best to get through the burial process and reading of their parents last will and testament as well as they could. Now she wanted to leave and they would be apart again. That felt like a hammer on his chest to think about.
“You know you can come stay in Chicago with me for a while until things get a little more... normal? You can meet Andi and Riley. You’ll love them.”
“I’m sure I will one day, but right now this is what I have to do.”
“Don’t forget, I’m only a phone call or a four-hour jet ride away.”
“I’ll see you at Thanksgiving. I love you,” she said as she buried her head in his chest.
“I love you too Mariah. So much.”
They released each other, and she walked into the airport and once again out of his life. Now it was him who was reminding himself she was only a phone call away. Thinking of phone calls, Andi still wasn’t answering or responding by text anymore. He figured she had a right to be angry. He had a lot of explaining to do. He got back into the Tahoe and drove around the airport to the exclusive entrance where his jet was parked and prepped. He boarded, waited for take-off, and had an easy time falling asleep for the second time in years.
The jet touched down, and he was in the Phantom and on the route home before he knew it. He didn’t speed this time. This time he drove under the speed limit. He was trying to buy time to find the words. How could he tell her? How could he explain that he was so late because he had just killed for the second time? How could she let her daughter be around a killer? He was still trying to find answers to these questions that he knew were inevitable when he parked in the garage of his building.
He took a deep breath, locked up the car, and went inside. He almost took the stairs, just to buy a few more precious moments, but he couldn’t take the anxiety anymore. The not knowing what was going to happen was worse than facing it head on. He waiting for the ding of his floor and walked steadily to his door. After a brief pause for one more big breath, he opened it and walked inside.
It was different than he had left it, which brought him happiness. He was glad they had been here safe and sound while all the craziness had been happening. He didn’t know what he would have done if something had happened to them. He called out announcing he was home, but no one rushed to greet him. He didn’t hear anyone stirring anywhere in the apartment. Were they napping? He dropped his keys on the small table at the entrance and walked into the kitchen.
“Hello!?” he called out again.
Matt started to walk toward the bedrooms when he saw it. At the center of the dining room table was an envelope with only his name printed on the front. He slowly picked it up and his hands started shaking. How? How did this get there? No. No. He was dead. He couldn’t have put this here. He began to open it when his phone buzzed.
He pulled it from his pocket quickly thinking it might be Andi, but it was a number he didn’t recognize. He had several spam call blocker apps on his phone, so generally unknown numbers were somewhat important. He decided to answer it on the off chance Andi was calling from a different number for some reason. It was an automated machine message that played on the other end of the call.
“Hello, this message is from Aller Cove Asylum for the Criminally Insane, calling to inform Matthew O’Bannon that patient 5874, Claire Johnstone, is currently missing from the institution. Should the informed party have any questions or concerns for their safety, they should hang up and dial 911 immediately.”
He dropped the phone onto the floor, trembling as the shock set in. She escaped. How could she have escaped!? She was on high security terms. Slowly but surely, he began to realize that the phone call and the envelope had to be connected. As the fear crept in, he opened it and unfolded the note that was inside.
My love,
I am sure by now you have found my letter and I can only hope that you found this before you found my gift. I hope you like it. We will be together soon and you can tell me all about it. Master bedroom, can’t miss it.
Love,
Claire
Matt dropped the letter and sprinted down the hall. He didn’t even slow down enough to turn the knob on the door of the master bedroom; he shouldered it open breaking it away from the frame. He looked at the gift on the bed that Claire had been referring to, and all of his worst fears had come true, all in one moment.
“No,” he whispered as he crumbled to his knees.
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