Orphan Stage Prologue - Setting the Stage by Terrasa
Standard disclaimers apply

Duo POV

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Duo Maxwell, that is my name. Although it hasn’t always been my name. Sure, the Duo part has been with me since I was very little, but I started out being called Pen Phelps. Somewhere along the line everyone started to call me Duo, cant really remember why now… Its been too long.

Not many people have lived the life I have, its been hard. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to not have grown up in an orphanage, to not have had an alcoholic father, to not have lost the most important person to me.

But the thing about life is, it doesn’t care what you think. Fate will just stick you anywhere it well pleases, that is if you believe in fate. I never could get with the concept of ‘our lives are all planed out’. Like some sort of story. Story’s contain elements which make it up, there is introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and then the resolution. Sort of like life, ne? Your born, given an identity programmed to fall into the system of laws and boundaries. You grow up and have to work, get married and raise a family. In the end you grow old and life is not as exciting as it once was. Then its all the same, we die and our story is over. Nothing more to say, feel, that’s it! You die. The End!

Anyone can predict the future in three words. “Your gonna die.” That simple, wow! I am now a prophet. But no one can predict what obstacles lie before our deaths. No one could predict that my father was going to be drunk every day and beat me till I was bloody. My so called ‘fate’ made my life pretty bad. I kept waiting for the good stuff to come, the good memories to remove my bad ones. They never came and I’m starting to feel that I got royally screwed in the ‘life’ section of my existence.

I was really depressed for the last couple of months, I saw myself going nowhere. The thought of ending up like my father scared me, and I wanted to know where I was going in life. Then I stumbled upon something that changed my whole outlook on fate, if only for a moment.

Sitting in the office of the Maxwell church directors room I got bored. I was in trouble, again. Of course! You couldn’t keep Duo Maxwell away from trouble. Not that it was trouble in the first place, I liked to call it ‘having fun. But ‘god forbid’ telling scary stories to little children is an ‘un-holy’ thing to do! How else do they think children are going to grow up to be ‘brave and confident‘? The answer is in the scary storied I tell ya! After listening to them they get scared, and if they listen to them enough they might just get immune to scary stuff, right?… I didn’t think so either… Actually I just wanted to scare the pants off the little annoying brats.

The director, Father Maxwell, got a call and left to take it in the other room. I was left alone in his tidy little office. For some reason the little filling cabinet caught my attention. And being the good little person I am I ignored it… ok so maybe I picked the lock and opened it up to sorted through all the files. I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I started to look for my brothers file.

Yes, yes… I have a little brother. The most important person to me, or was the most important. He was adopted when he was five and I was seven. It was pretty horrible watching him go, I don’t like to think of it much. Last thing I heard about him was that his new parents changed his name and he was moved into a huge mansion. No one would tell me anything else, seems the family didn’t want anything to do with me. It hurt, I miss him a lot.

As I browsed through the files I finally came across his file. I just sat there for awhile staring at it. The thought that all his information and whereabouts were in this thin folder sent a chill down my spine. I slowly opened the folder and stared at the bright blue eyes of my younger brother. The picture was taken of him after he first came here, eyes red from crying. He was always crying back then, didn’t really have a reason not too. I stared at him for another minute, he really looked nothing like me.

Hall, my father, had mentioned once that we were half brothers. Our mothers ‘supposedly’ died when we were babies. I never believed that though, Hall always had a different woman every month. My guess was that he got two women pregnant and they dumped him with us and left.

My hair is a light chestnut color, just the opposite of my brothers pale blond hair. His eyes being bright blue, mine being an awkward color of violet. The only thing we really had in common was our small heights and thin frames, which is weird since Hall was a really tall man. I hoped someday I’d get a growth spurt, sure, I’m not ‘that’ short. I’m just average, which bugs the hell out of me.

I drug my eyes away from the picture and started reading some of the notes.

Dill Phelps

Brother Pen (Duo) Phelps

Adopted Age five by…

My head shot up as I heard Father Maxwell’s heavy feet making its way to the office. I closed the folder fast, but not before seeing the words: Vanibin City.

Father Maxwell walked into the office with his lips set in a frown. I could see that he was not happy about something and to make matters worse, he was most likely going to take his anger out on me. Well, that is what I assumed. But as he sat at his desk facing me, I could tell that something was a little wrong. Usually the father would walk in saying, “Duo, Duo, Duo… What are we going to do with you?” Or something along the lines of that. This time however, he just walked in silently, not saying a word.

His dark brown eyes just stared at the desk and his head was tilted in his hands, he was deep in thought. This was starting to scare me. Why was he just sitting there?

“Duo…” His low voice brought me out of my thoughts. “You are now seventeen, yes?”

“Aa…” My eyebrows creased together like they sometimes do when I am confused. And I was confused, what brought my age up?

Of course, the father got straight to the point. “There’s… been a situation. Your father, Hall, was released from jail about a month ago.” I could feel my eyes starting to grow wide and my heart was definitely beating faster than normal. I just sat there for a while trying to take in this information which I had dreaded for so long. “He… is now missing. Skipped his parole. Your going to have to go to the station tomorrow to talk to some people.”

“Wha? Why?” I asked in a shaky voice.

“They believe… that your father may come after you.” Fear, if it wasn’t already in me it was now after what the father had just said.

I admit it, I am deathly afraid of Hall. I could still feel his hands around my neck as he choked me. Or his foot jamming itself into my stomach. I can still see my brother crying as he was lifted and flung across the room countless times. Those memories I had wished to forget, but they were the only memories I had of my brother, so I never forgot them.

Hall probably wants to kill me now. After all, I was the one who got him put in jail. That day, long ago, he had come home drunk, an angry drunk. He decided to use Dill as a punching bag, I was scared. Dill had looked so pale, so weak compared to Hall. I guess I got finally sick of him because I somehow managed to call the police. When they finally came, Dill was nearly dead. He had a couple broken ribs and a concussion, not to mention his beautiful face was black and blue. As they handcuffed the drunken Hall, he had looked at me with pure hatred in his eyes.

I knew he wanted to kill me then. I was the reason he was stuck in that horrible place. Though the way I see it, it wasn’t ‘really’ my fault. It was his. His for making my life miserable. His for beating my brother to a bloody pulp. His fault, for not being the father I always wanted.

Yeah, I admit, I’ve always wanted a family. A nice mother and father who would care for me and spoil me. I was never adopted though, no one wanted a rowdy hyper child. I am really thankful to whomever the family was that adopted Dill. He may have been able to live the life I had dreamed of. That was enough for me, knowing that he was happy. But that didn’t stop me from wanting to see him these ten years.

The next morning I was taken to the police station. I cant really remember much of that day, I was too much in shock. My father wanted to kill me, that was all I could think about! He was probably watching me from somewhere. Waiting to get his hands on me and break my thin li’l neck or something. That wasn’t a pretty thought.

I was brought through one of the doors aligning the wall at the far end of the police station. People were looking at me weird as if thinking, “There’s another bad kid brought in. What is the world coming too?” If only they knew.

The office was really small and uncomfortable looking. I don’t see how anyone could stay a whole day stuck in a small office like that. One of my major problems, I’m Claustrophobic. Cant stand tiny places. I remember one time when I had broken a plate, Hall had locked me in a closet for a couple hours. I remember screaming and clawing at the door until my fingers were bloody. By the time I got let out I had scratches all over myself and was bleeding all over. I was so scared I had started pulling out my hair in big chunks. Of course, Hall was pissed that I had made a mess of the closet, and to punish me even more, he shaved all my hair off.

After that, I never cut my hair again. Which is why it is down below my ass now. And lemme tell you, it wasn’t easy keeping it long. The Sister at the church, Helen, always was on my case about it. One time she actually tried to cut it in my sleep. Of course I woke up just as she was snipping me some nice little bangs. I was so mad that I had actually grabbed the scissors and almost stabbed the woman. Luckily, I missed, and instead cut her robe pretty bad.

Inside the office I was directed by the Father to sit down on one of the fold up chairs in front of the small dark wooden desk. A short man sat on the other side. He had beady little eyes that looked frightened for some reason. Maybe he was a new guy? He certainly didn’t look older than twenty. Holding out a shaky hand towards me he introduced himself as Frank.

“Now Duo, I know you are still a little confused at why you are here.” He brushed his dark brown hair out of his face and smiled. “I’ve been asked to look after you for awhile, we’ve had cases like this before and you are going to have to be put into a sort of protection program.”

“What?” Protection program? What did this guy mean? The only protection program I had heard of was witness protection program in which they change people’s identities and send them off far away. Which was one thing I did not want to do!

“Your father, Hall Phelps, as you may already know had skipped out on his parole. We are worried about your safety and therefore ask for your cooperation.” The man’s voice lowered slightly as he took in my frightened look.

I had kinda hoped when I got to the station that maybe he would tell me that Hall had been found. But if Hall didn’t want to be found, then they probably weren’t going to find him. “What do I have to do?” I asked, clamping my hands together tightly.

For the next half hour I was told about other people brought into protection programs, and what they had to do. Frank told me that I would have to change my name and move somewhere far away, figures. Of course I wasn’t going to make it easy on the poor man.

“Hell NO! I am not changing my name…” Just then a thought occurred to me. “Well, I will if you let me pick my name.” I smirked as I saw the guys eyes widen.

“I’m sorry, but we aren’t really suppose to do that…”

“Hey, I’m the one who has to live with the name… and there’s no way I would live with a stupid name you people like to give out!” I yelled. I guess I had gotten to him, he caved in and said he could make the arrangements.

And what do you suppose that I had him change my name to? “I want to be Duo Maxwell!” Frank looked like he was about to be ill. A new recruit and already stuck with an uncooperative child.

“Duo is already your name…”

“No, my nickname, and I like it. And what’s the big deal if I just change my last name? Its still a different name, right?” I grinned as I saw him mumbling under his breath. “Oh! And I want to choose where I am going!”

“WHAT?” His eyes widened and he really did look frightened now. “I’m sorry, but I just cant do that!”

“Hey, either I get to decide my location or you are going to have to waste a whole police patrol on guarding the orphanage!” Once again the man caved in. I felt pretty bad, hoped he wouldn’t get in trouble because of me. But I had a plan now, and nothing was going to stop me!

So where do you think I chose to go? None other than Vanibin City! I knew there were slim chances that I might find my brother, but I found out that there were two high schools in that city. And there was a fifty fifty chance that I would be placed in the same high school as him. I was going to be a Junior this year, which would make Dill a Freshman. I could feel the fear of my father leave me, as the excitement of possibly seeing my brother again took over.

Frank looked pale once I told him where I wanted to go. Vanibin was a pretty rich town, and it wouldn’t be cheap sending me there. I’d be living by myself, since I was almost eighteen, I would be able to request to become recognized as an adult. There was a whole process that usually took a couple weeks, I wasn’t paying much attention, but Frank said that he could speed it up. The thought of living on my own excited me. I had never even had my own room! And now I would have my own apartment!

I was set to leave in a week. One week to prepare myself for my mission. I was going to find my brother! Oh and stay safe from Hall, but he wasn’t really on my mind anymore. I walked out of the police station that day with a smile on my face. Father Maxwell was looking at me weird like I was a totally different person.

Blond hair, blue eyes… I could see my brothers face clearly in my mind. Wondering what he would look like now that ten years had gone by. Would he even recognize me? He was only five when he last saw me, he might have forgotten about me! I shook my head to rid myself of those thoughts as I got into the car. Now wasn’t the time to worry about those things.

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TBC

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