I'm going to kill him

There I was, staring up at my brother on the screen of the flat-screen television, deeply unsettled and still in disbelief. He'd grown from the last time I'd seen him. Taller, more well-built, more mature, more handsome. But his handsome face could not hide the drastic changes in personality he had undergone.
The look in his eyes was profoundly unsettling. Sly, sneaky, dangerous and downright deadly right down to the warm orangey flecks within the orbs of gold. His smile had the same effect on me, sending shivers down my spine as I stared at him. It was deep-set, wide and accompanied by furrowed brows and this look of pure rage, quiet, subtle and yet lethal. If I still had any doubt that my brother was a maniac, it was all washed away, wiped clean by this simple portrayal of insanity I was now witnessing.
"Hello, Jasmine, Damon. I'm sure by now you've arrived and found the house quite empty?"
Even his voice had changed. It had shifted from being calming, relaxing and soft to being provocative, smooth and carried the subtlest of sensual undertones. It was though the quality of his voice had turned from steadily flowing water to thick honey. Quite frankly, the man on the screen, now sitting on the couch, crossing his legs over and placing his intertwined hands on his knee was not my brother. At least, not the brother I knew and loved.
"You both probably have so many questions. Why am I doing this? What am I plotting next? Where am I?" He then let out a deep chuckle and I saw Jasmine grimace next to me.
"Well, you both have been found guilty of one of the most heinous crimes a person could commit. You both are guilty of betrayal, in the first degree. You, Damon, have taken something which belonged to me, something I treasured and worked so hard for, shed blood sweat and tears for. It was something you did not even desire in the first place, something you frowned upon and grew to hate as we grew up together. And now, you’ve taken my Vixen as well. And you, Jasmine... my sweet little Vixen. You have left me, after we agreed that we'd never part ways. You abandoned me and ran off, living your life without the one person who said they'd be there for you. Such a pity, I really did believe that I'd be the only person in your life, and I honestly thought that you'd be the only in mine. Which brings me to the answer to the next question. What am I plotting next? Well, it's no secret that I have you all dangling on my puppet strings. I like games, you see, and if you ask my brother, Jasmine, you'll find that it's an inherited trait. My father was a master at games. Games of greed, of sex, of torture… of murder. I, however like to play psychological games. I like to dive into the minds of people and exploit all their dark little desires, their fears, their past, their present. And so, I present to you my stunning game featuring the two people I love the most in the world. I call it the Game of Nightmares, a game in which the both of you will need to relive the most tragic, most traumatic events of your life- in essence, you will need to relive your greatest nightmares and revisit how exactly you became you. I think it's a particularly emotional game, especially considering both your pasts. So, the note which by now Damon must have discovered was left for him, contains your first clue to the first stage of my masterpiece of this game, so please, read each word carefully. Every stage will have a clue provided." He then paused before his eyes widened and he placed a finger in the air, as if remembering something. "Oh right, what if neither of you would like to play? Unfortunately, that is not an option, not if you want the other pawns to perish. Also, you have a deadline for each stage within the game, fail to meet it, and there will be tragic consequences. Now, for your last question, where am I? Well, the last stage of your game will take place at my current location, so, if you are both good little pawns, then you will be able to find me and finally, we can have ourselves a reunion. But until then, I wish you goodluck. You both should be flattered, I hardly ever put so much of effort into my games, but this one had me breaking out into quite a sweat. Oh, and before I forget, the timer on the first stage begins the second this video ends. So, in essence, you have forty-eight hours starting now." And with that the television switched off.
Jasmine and I just stood frozen in place, completely at a loss for words.
*Betrayal? Games? Nightmares?*
The more I learnt about my *new* brother the more I discovered that perhaps I was not the one most like my father amongst my siblings. Perhaps Lucien had been the most similar to my father and had just done a good job of hiding it. Or perhaps something had triggered this type of behaviour. He did mention something about betrayal and had been quite clear regarding Jasmine's betrayal but had been unclear about my own. What had I stolen from my brother? And, if anything, why did it cause him to change so much.
My thoughts were, however, cut short when Jasmine shifted and sunk into the couch with her head in her hands. I looked down at her and could practically see the waves of terror emitting from her body. So, I sat down next to her.
"I hope that this game of his will be his last..." She uttered, and then looked up at me. She looked so tired, emotionally and mentally and I couldn't help but feel so sorry for her. She'd been through so much already, and now this. For her sake, I wished that this would be his last game as well.
"Hey, it's going to be alright."
She shook her head no, and then sighed out, "Forty-eight hours. We have forty-eight hours to figure out the clue in that note... Then the next stage, and the next, and the next. It doesn't end with him."
And then suddenly a look appeared upon her face which had my heart shattering. It was this deep, profound look of regret which was further emphasised by her next words.
"I should never have left in the first place. Who did I think I was? I'm just a poor girl who's had nothing but badluck. I wish I'd never met him. I wish I'd just died in the fire with my family. I just... I wish I were dead."
Immediately I gripped onto her as tightly as I could and held her close to my chest.
“Hey, don’t say such a thing, alright? I’m happy that you’re alive, okay? Besides, if you didn’t leave Lucien, you would have been trapped all your life. You would never have even tasted freedom and grown into the strong woman you are today. So, don’t ever regret your choice of leaving, and don’t ever wish death upon yourself. Because, in all honesty, I’d be nothing but an empty, loveless man if it weren’t for you.” I said to her. She seemed to calm down slightly but still clung to me with shaky arms.
I hated this, and at this point, I hated my brother. Whatever we had done to him, it could not have been that bad. Honestly, did Jasmine and I deserve what he was about to put us through and what he had already put us through? Yes, we were not perfect people. We'd killed our fair share of people, done our fair share of wrong. Still, we did not deserve this... not any of it. Not Loren, not Andrew, not Macy and definitely not this new game.
"When we see him again, I'm going to fucking kill him for putting us through all of this... and more especially, for making you cry. We'll play his game, but only so I can rip his fucking throat out."
Jasmine looked up at me and scanned my eyes with her own glossy ones.
"But he's right, Damon. I did abandon him after I said I wouldn't. I left him alone, knowing that he feared loneliness, and now, we're both paying the price."
I shook my head at her and looked at her sternly in the eyes, "You did not do this to us, he did. He is clearly not mentally stable, Jasmine. You don't deserve any of this. We don't deserve any of this."
She nodded, and then eyed the note which now lay dauntingly on the table, before saying, "So, the note?"
----
Hello! It's only been a few days but I did miss you all! Again, apologies for the late update.
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending you all my love!