As We Know It
Chapter 14Zac had gone straight to Isaac's apartment as soon as he left the studio, but wasn't particularly surprised to find that he hadn't returned there. He knew where Isaac was going to go, and he rushed to Laura's apartment as quickly as he could manage.
He could tell Isaac had been through there by the wreckage of shrubbery and fences he had run over while driving there. He spotted Isaac just outside the building, and ran over to him. Isaac seemed dazed and unsure of himself, but no less angry than he had been when he had left earlier.
"Isaac, stop," Zac said, in the most commanding voice he could muster.
"Fuck off," Isaac said, glowering at him. Zac took a step back, surprised. He wasn't having any effect on him - nothing at all - and he was beginning to feel like he was scolding a misbehaving dog. A rabid one.
"Isaac," Zac tried to remain calm - War had found a way to infect his brother's mind and he wasn't sure he knew what he was capable of. "What are you doing here?"
"How could she do this to me? That fucking bitch, I'll -"
"This isn't you. Well, not entirely you anyway. The homicidal tendencies are definitely not your style. You just have to try and remember who you are right now, ok?"
Isaac wasn't interested in listening - instead, he took a swing at Zac, which Zac just barely dodged. He was positive he and Isaac hadn't come to blows since Zac was about fourteen, and he had broken some vintage record Isaac had been salivating over. He wasn't sure he wanted to break that streak, but he had little other choice at this point.
Zac looked around him, desperately. There was no one in sight, which was good for other people, but didn't bode particularly well for him. He slowly began to back away from Isaac, his only remaining plan being to get Isaac as far away from Laura's apartment as he could without losing a limb. Isaac walked towards him again, and Zac continued to back up, towards the back of the building, leading Isaac further away from the chance of hurting anyone else.
Of course, if anything were to happen, only a bunch of trash cans and the side of the building would be a witness. Zac needed to act, and he stopped suddenly, deciding how he should act.
Isaac detected the movement, and his eyes shifted suspiciously.
"Don't think you can stop me now, you're too late," Isaac said, his voice unrecognizable.
"Maybe not, but it's worth a try, at least."
Isaac lunged towards Zac, and without a moment of hesitation, Zac grabbed the lid off of one of the garbage cans and felt it collide with the back of Isaac's head. Isaac fell to the ground, crumpled and clearly unconscious. Zac looked down at him and cringed. That was oddly easier than he had expected it to be.
"I hope you know that I did that for your own good," Zac said delicately, hoping that Isaac would somehow understand him.
He sat down next to Isaac, comforted to see that he looked mostly all right. And really, it was kind of satisfying to bash Isaac in the head. He figured he was set for at least a year now, possibly two.
But then again, thanks to him, there would be no more years to come. He wasn't sure there would be a tomorrow, let alone next year. He felt disconnected from the thought, unable to reconcile it with reality. He had thought he had things under control, but no one could control the worst, most diluted parts of human nature, and seeing Isaac in this state had proven that much to him. He wondered if it was best to simply put it out of its misery.
Zac briefly looked down at Isaac again. He knew he should stay with him, make sure that he would be ok, but he felt restless. There were things he needed to do first.
"You're going to be sleeping for awhile, and well - when you wake up, you won't remember any of this happened. Especially the part with me hitting you. Just hang in there."
Isaac made a small mumbling sound, which Zac was pretty certain was just a sign of him having a head injury, but for the sake of the situation, he decided to pretend was something encouraging that an older brother would say. It made him feel a little better, at least.
Well, not that much better.