His Brother’s Keeper

I had been outside mowing my lawn when the moving van had come to the vacant house next door. I watched rather enviously as load after load of expensive furnishings were unloaded and taken inside. I briefly caught a glimpse of the new owner when he was talking with the movers but other than that I had not seen him. He had been in the house for about a week when I decided to take a chance and introduce myself to my new neighbor. The young man who answered my knock was quite good looking. Under his fitted clothing he was well-toned and his hazel eyes beneath a head of dark hair gave him an irresistible charm.

“Um…hi, I’m your next door neighbor Darryl.” I said as I nervously extended my hand in greeting.

“Hello Darryl. Would you care to come inside?” He seemed friendly enough. I had expected dust and cobwebs everywhere but instead was greeted by a very clean foyer. “Please have a seat.” He ushered me into a well-appointed parlor.

“Thank you Mr.?”

“Pardon my manners. Please call me Mark.” He must have sensed my discomfort and did his best to make me feel at ease.

I found Mark to be an intriguing young man as we carried on a conversation. Despite my shyness we bonded quickly and soon were chatting like long lost brothers over snifters of a very fine brandy Mark brought out. I was so comfortable with him that I hadn’t noticed the time slipping away until the grandfather’s clock in the foyer chimed midnight. I said my good nights to Mark and promised to come over tomorrow to help him finish what remained of his unpacking.

Sleep did not come easily that night. I tossed and turned while having very odd dreams that in the morning I couldn’t recall other than knowing I had dreamt about Mark. After breakfast and a shower I made my way over to Mark’s house. There was no answer when I knocked on the front door so I decided to try the back of the house. The sound of someone rummaging around emerged from the open bulkhead doors leading to the basement. I slowly went down the stairs.

“Hello? Mark?”

Mark spun around looking like a naughty little kid who had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. His beaming smile quickly greeted me once again. What had he been doing?

“Hey Darryl… I wasn’t expecting you quite so early. Let’s get out of here.” He quickly ushered me out, shutting the bulkhead and locking it. We headed inside and together finished unpacking and storing the rest of his belongings. Mark poured us drinks and we sat talking again until I began getting sleepy.

“Hey man I gotta head home for a nap. Didn’t sleep too well last night and I guess it is finally catching up to me.” I tried to stand but had trouble finding my feet.

“Why don’t you just stretch out here for a while? Nobody else is here to disturb you and when you wake up we can grab some dinner.” That sounded good to me and I promptly fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

When I awoke I was in complete darkness. The odor assaulting my nostrils was damp and moldy like an old basement smell. I found myself unable to move and to my great consternation I was totally naked. I felt violated that Mark had taken all my clothes off while I was unconscious. Why would he do that? I didn’t have much time to wonder as a bright light suddenly snapped on, blinding me until my eyes adjusted to the harshness. Mark was holding a jar containing some strange jelly-like substance.

“Welcome back Darryl.”

“Why did you undress me? What did I do wrong?” I pleaded as I struggled against whatever was holding me in place. “What are you going to do to me?”

“Calm down. Just relax. I’m not going to hurt you. You’ll enjoy this.” Enjoy what? And as far as relaxing, well, that just didn’t seem too likely given the situation. I futilely continued to struggle as Mark spread the goop on my body, working his way down from my head to my toes. I was soon enveloped in a soothing warm cocoon and, despite my efforts to stay awake, drifted off to sleep once again.

I found myself lying on a bed when I regained consciousness. Had it all been some sort of sleep-deprived hallucination? Surely Mark wouldn’t have done any harm to me. I certainly didn’t have any strange substance on me but how did I get here and why was I naked? How long had I been asleep? Where was Mark?

“Mark?” That didn’t sound like my voice. It must be the acoustics of the room. I sat up and started to survey my surroundings in the dimly lit room when I noticed a light from underneath a door. I rose from the bed not feeling quite myself as I unsteadily walked towards the door, not thinking about being undressed. He was just getting out of the shower when I entered.

“Good. You’re awake.” Mark’s cheerful intonation greeted me as he came nearer to me, wrapping a towel around his waist. My eyes took in the full glory of his body: relatively tall, well-built to just the right degree, and overall one impressive young stud. When he told me to face the mirror I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It must be a trick of the light because there were two Marks reflected back. Mark had to be playing some kind of joke on me.

“Good one Mark. How’d you do it?” My voice still sounded off and this time it wasn’t the room. I raised my hand to my face, one Mark in the mirror mimicking my movement precisely. I hadn’t noticed the silver chain I saw in the mirror but sure enough it was hanging around my neck. Shocked, I turned to face Mark. “What have you done to me?”

“Don’t go getting all dense on me Darryl. Isn’t it obvious? Tell me you don’t like looking like me. You’ll find clothes in the closet in your room. Meet me downstairs after you get yourself dressed and we’ll go to dinner.” He was very cavalier about the whole situation as though it was the most normal thing in the world for someone to suddenly wake up as a totally different person.

Still somewhat stunned from what I had seen in the mirror I went to find something to wear and was amazed to find a wardrobe unlike anything I would ever have worn before. I decided to take a shower to clean up a bit, admiring the body I now had but still feeling awkward. After getting dressed in an expensive suit that accentuated my body quite nicely, I spotted a wallet on the dresser. I opened it up to find a license inside with a picture of someone who looked like Mark but whose name was Luke. I glanced in the dresser mirror, comparing the beautiful young man who looked like he just stepped out of GQ to the picture. Was that really me? Without thinking I stuffed the wallet into my pocket then headed downstairs to meet up with Mark. I found him in the library dressed splendidly in a suit and tie, drinking brandy and reading an old book.

“You’re looking debonair Darryl.” He greeted me so nonchalantly.

“Who is Luke?”

“You are, now. Luke was my twin brother who I lost before I arrived here.” His voice had a deep sadness in it as he spoke. “I needed to get my brother back so very badly that I would try anything. When we first met I knew you were the one to help me resurrect him. ”

Mark continued to talk but I was listening to a voice in my head. Give in, enjoy being Luke. You’re young, handsome, and wealthy. You have a loving brother. Stop being such a wimp. You have a life most men would die to have. A strong feeling of love for my brother welled up inside me. Brother? Why was I thinking of Mark as my brother? I was not his brother despite how I now appeared. Yet something deep within me kept insisting I actually was his brother. I was torn, confused. My head began to throb.

“What is happening to me? I feel so...” My sense of self started to weaken, my body changing from my timid anxious posture to that of a cocky very self-assured person. Everything faded…

“Darryl? Are you all right?”

“I’m Luke little bro.”

“You’re here at last! Let’s go get some dinner.” My brother smiled so widely, relief flooding his face. I had never seen him so happy before.

Mark opened the garage to reveal one of the perks of being immensely wealthy: two identical brand new top-of-the-line customized LaFerraris. Well, almost identical. One was a fiery red which Mark said was his and the other midnight black that he joyously pronounced to be mine. My “welcome home” present he called it.

“You want to drive bro?” He tossed me the keys.

“Hell yes little bro.” I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel. The thought of all that power and beauty being mine just got my adrenaline pumping. I was a very aggressive driver, relishing the thrill of the speed and the responsiveness of my ride. What a rush! Mark was watching me with a very satisfied grin but I knew there was something he hadn’t told me. Did I really care? Not in the least. I was confident and arrogant. I knew I looked good behind the wheel of my hot new toy. Fuck everyone else - this was my life and I would live like I wanted. I was so hyped by the time we got to the restaurant that the people staring at the two of us as we entered only made me smirk at how jealous they must be of the two identical sexy studs we were.

Sated by great food and wine we headed home. I knew my brother would go to bed as soon as we arrived. That was just his style. But I had other plans in mind. Why waste a perfect night by going to bed? After saying good night to Mark I went to my room to change. As I did so I reflected back on this very strange day.

I had awoken earlier to find myself staring into a mirror. The reflection was mine except it wasn’t me doing the staring. I was like a passenger in my own body. It had been someone my brother called Darryl. I had tried to regain possession but was too weak to do so yet. I had been able to communicate with him and when he got confused I had surfaced. Apparently I knew of him but he had no idea I was there. What surprised me most was when Mark had told him I died. Obviously I wasn’t dead.

I was not going to worry about all that now when there was so much fun to be had. I was here and that was all that mattered. I put on casual clothing and topped it off with a black leather jacket I knew made me look so cool. I was ready for some action. Soon I was cradled in the cockpit of my black beauty checking myself out in the mirror. An overpowering headache suddenly struck and all I could do was watch my handsome face lose it’s confident determined attitude, becoming more insecure looking. I was losing control as my ego was pushed aside and replaced by Darryl.

I must have passed out. The last thing I remembered was Mark explaining about Luke and hearing a voice in my head then suddenly feeling very weak. Somehow I had gone from the library and now found myself in an exotic sports car parked in a garage. I glanced down to find myself no longer dressed in a suit, instead sporting a look to kill in casual clothes and leather jacket. I was trembling. Something was happening that I didn’t understand. I got out of the car and flipped the light switch I found, harsh brightness instantly surrounding me. So much light and my head started to pound once again, worse than before…

That fucking wimp Darryl! He had managed to hijack my body but now I was back in charge. I had to get some answers damn it. I bet Mark would know. I went back into the house and up to Mark’s room.

“Mark wake up.”

“What’s up Luke?” He sat up, his eyes barely open.

“Something is terribly wrong bro. I started to go out after you went to bed when Darryl took over my body. Fortunately I was able to come back while he was confused. What’s going on? Who is this Darryl that is in me?”

“It’s what I was worried about, a potential problem of the transformation. I didn’t think it would happen, not to you.”

“Transformation? Problem? What the hell are you babbling about?” I listened as he explained to me about Darryl and what had transpired. His story was so incredible but now I understood everything.

“Darryl should have been absorbed into you during the transformation process but his sense of self was great enough to remain. I wasn’t sure at first until I watched his reaction to seeing himself in the mirror. I had to think quick, act like everything was cool, and pretend I had only changed his body. I thought he was gone when I saw you come out in the library. You were yourself and I couldn’t see how he could possibly come back.”

“Well bro the little shit thinks he is going to overpower me and take over my life.” I had to laugh just imagining the wimp thinking he could be me, strutting around in my body! Technically it was his body I suppose but he didn’t have the balls to be me. There could only be one of us here and that was going to be me – Luke.

“I didn’t think he would ever be strong enough to exert himself and overcome you.”

“Well he did. What do I do now? How do I get rid of him?”

“Relax and concentrate on Darryl. Focus on making him a part of you and you should be able to absorb him into you.”

I relaxed and focused on integrating him with me. Darryl fought me the best he could but I was expecting him and much too strong for him this time. After what seemed like an eternity of struggling with him it worked. He vanished, becoming part of me. I could remember his entire life, his feelings, everything about him but it was all like a dream I might have had, one that would fade over time. I was exhausted from the effort and badly needed rest.

“The wimp is gone now. Good night little bro. Sleep tight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night Luke. I’m glad you’re home.” He mumbled as he turned over and went back to sleep. I stood there for a few minutes watching him sleep so innocently without a care in the world. I loved my brother. I could only hope I would be able to get some rest as well. This had been quite a night. I headed back to my room, got myself undressed and took one last look in the mirror. Man it was great to be alive and be me.