Through the history of humanity one creature, one man, one entity, takes on the true embodiment of evil. You may know him as The Devil, Lucifer, Satan, Beelzebub, or Mephistopheles. I don’t care what you think his name is, I know it, Montgomery Calfus. As much as it shames me to admit he’s my goddamn brother.
He was born to the perfect angelic family and looking at the two of us you would never be able to tell we were related. I often hope that he was somehow switched at birth, I even tested it back in my teenage years and I can say without a shadow of a doubt we are brothers. Born to the same ma and pa on the same night at 3 am. Two twin boys, I took after my mother and father my skin was still white but much darker. Brown eyes and no hair, and I would grow to be an average 5:10 with black hair just like my father. But on that same night, my pure opposite sat beside me. Blonde hair, blue eyes, twice my size, and pure white skin matching the paint on the hospital walls. I was named Micheal a common name for a common-looking boy. He was named Montgomery something unique to match his unique look. The family all called him an angel. Just like that the favoritism began.
Montgomery was born with albinism. In our earliest years, I didn’t even know anything was wrong with him. But one day I think I was 5 at the time, I noticed my brother’s unique look. How he had to wear more than the average person. How he was much paler than everyone else, how mom lathered him with sunscreen everywhere we went. But that didn’t bother me I knew he couldn’t control but despite that when the neighbor kids began calling him vampire boy I followed tribute.
Due to that, Mom chose not to send him to public school until she believed he could take the jokes. So from kindergarten to 6th grade he was home schooled and I was sent to be with all the other kids. Mom quit her job to help homeschool him, which put a strain on the finances. I distinctly remember when he began being homeschooled the dinners got a bit smaller. But to a little kid, you don’t notice things like that. What you do notice is how unfair it is for your brother to stay home all day while you have to go to school. Mom always paid more attention to him, Dad too, and the rest of the family.
On our 7th birthday, I watched as the family brought triple gifts for Montgomery, a few of them even forgot to get me anything. That wasn’t new to me, despite the fact we shared a birthday it was never about me. Same with Christmas and, one year my mother told me I didn’t need a Halloween costume since I was quote “normal” I ended up cutting some holes into a sheet. On our 8th birthday, I had two gifts one from my parents and one from my grandma, I later came to find out my mom never even put my name on the invitations for the party. I remember this birthday well cause Aunt Christa got Montgomery a fish. A fat ole goldfish, which was named Stanley. I ended up taking care of Stanley even though he wasn’t mine and wasn’t even allowed to stay in my room. One day my brother watched as I fed Stanley he yelled at me screaming and cussing how it wasn’t mine. I argued how he never fed him or cleaned his tank, once he realized I was right he reached into the bowl before squeezing and killing the fish. I cried and told our parents their only response was “Well it was his fish.”
This wasn’t the only pet that he killed either, on our 10th birthday our parents bought us a golden retriever named Shelly. Once again I was placed in the role of parent to said pet. Any time Montgomery was around her she would whimper and run to hide. One day I figured out why as I watched Montgomery hit her locked within his room, I stopped him. When I told my parents we yelled at and grounded, by the end of the day he talked them outta of it. After that, I took good care to not let him be alone with my dog. When a 10-year-old can notice that then you know it was bad. But 9 months of having her I slipped up, I left her in the backyard with him and ran to go pee. When I returned I saw the back gate was open and they were both gone.
I thought maybe she got out maybe he went after her. I gave him the benefit of the doubt but no. After 5 minutes of running, I found them both lying in the woods. Laying against a rock was Shelly her head bloodied, and my brother sitting next to her with a sharpened rock attempting to cut into her stomach. I screamed at him “WHY, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!” His response was bone-chilling to this day. “I just wanted to see what was inside.” I ran back to our house pushing my lungs to their limits. To tell what my demonic brother had done. Screaming to my parents they looked at me confused, and when I turned around I saw why. He was behind me wearing different clothes than what he just had been. My parents chalked up Shelly’s death to a coyote or something and even after I found his bloodied shirt. He somehow convinced them it was a nosebleed despite the fact the was an indescribable amount of blood.
I rarely talked to any of my family after that, I knew they had their favorite and I wasn’t going to try to win their affection. I never brought friends over and I spent every waking moment I could away from my home, trying to avoid my bother. Praying for the next day of school to come quicker and being the only kid who hated the summertime. But on the day 7th grade started and I could return to my sanctuary my dream was ruined and my mother told me he would be coming with me. If you ever went to Middle School you’ll know that if you’re waiting to start someone in school to avoid bullying Middle school is not the time.
I fought with my mother trying to act like the nice guy. She didn’t know how mean middle school kids could be. I think deep down I was trying to protect my brother even just a little bit. But I was mostly driven by my desire to escape him. See by this time the difference in our looks had grown I was 5:2 still growing but he was already 6 feet and was almost 300 pounds of fat. Despite that, he was strong and fast. If it wasn’t for his condition I had no doubt he would be a star football player or something. Mom expected me to somehow protect him like he couldn’t protect his damn self.
Here I was walking into school with the vampire. I remember the looks we got walking in. Immediately you could hear jokes and snickers. I tried to walk faster maybe I’d been able to lose him. But with his long ass legs, he could take one step Per my four. I was hoping I didn’t have any classes with him but no. One class first period every day. My friends asked why I never told them I had a brother and I told them the truth I hated him. They thought I was harsh tell I told them why, not just my pets he killed but so much more.
When we were 11 my brother had his first crush. A small girl Justine. She was 15 and was beautiful way out of anyone’s league you ask me. But Montgomery found himself drawn to her beauty. I couldn’t blame him by this time I had already started my weird little thing with the girl a couple of streets over and decided I’d marry her, I was uninterested in other girls. But not Montgomery he was amazed with this girl and it was creepy. He began writing her love letters which were horribly unpunctuated, our mother wasn’t a good teacher. He would sneak from the house to watch her and return late at night. My mother thought it was an innocent crush but I saw the facade. I followed him on one of his escapes and what I found was downright disturbing. He had a spot where he dug out a hole that could look over her yard. He had snacks and drinks, he had used a nearby brush to camouflage to hide himself. He was holding binoculars and he had the perfect view into her bedroom window.
I didn’t bother to tell my parent they would twist it some way or the other. So I went to Justine’s house. I told her what my brother was doing, I even took her to his hiding place and she was shaking from fear. We waited for him and when he came she confronted my brother, but that didn’t stop him it made it worse. His stalking became more unhinged, he followed her before and after school. He watched her as she swam in her pool outside. But the worst is when he broke into her house, smashed her window, and began going through her clothes, smelling them and all sorts of weird shit. Her dad walked in on him and cops were called. Somehow though he used his sharp tongue and got out of it just as he did hundreds of times through our childhood.
She begged her dad to get a restraining order or something and I can’t blame her. It all boiled over we thought, he stopped stalking her or at least I stopped noticing. But one day I walked home from school to see an ambulance and police and firemen and men of the church and all our neighbors at Justine’s house. In the middle of it all stood Montogomery. I asked and begged people to tell me what was going on and I wouldn’t know till a few days later. According to the official report, Justine sat in the bathtub and shoved a knife in her stomach in an act of suicide. That made no sense I mean who stabs themselves in the stomach? On top of that, she had bruises on her neck, chest, and arms, the police tried saying she was abused but her parents were nothing but kind. I’m sure Montgomery was involved, cause on that day in the middle the crowd of police, firemen, priests, EMTs, and neighbors, stood Montgomery with a huge smile.
The relentless bullying towards Montogomery was just as bad as I thought. I heard so many names thrown his way, Pillsbury doughboy, vampire, Paul Blart, Mr clean. The main one the one that stuck through school came from one of my friends named Charles. Who called Him the Michellen man and if there wasn’t a better description. 6 months into school he began making a name for himself, he acted out, drew on the walls, and threatened people. He was suspended twice and my mother somehow blamed it on me. He acted weird at home avoiding our parents and stopped acting so entitled. Mom asked me to take his clothes into his room one day as he was out in the woods which he did often. On his bed was left a journal and against my better judgement I read it, and among those pages were feelings of pain which I was almost sad reading. But that sadness faded as he talked about what he would do to those who caused pain to him.
He promised to mutilate them and torture them, he wanted to do indescribable things to them while filming it. But what he said about Charles was the worst he blamed him for his most suffering and getting rid of him would make him so happy. He used words 7th-grade me didn’t even know but knew was unforgivable. I wanted to throw up reading it, but I looked through his window to see him coming. He was dirty and he was holding a shovel. He looked through the window at me and he was smiling the same smile I’d only seen one other time the same day of Justine’s death. The next day Charles didn’t come to school. I thought maybe he was just sick I hoped he was. But he didn’t come the next day or the next or the next. 1 week later I looked at his missing poster on the bulletin board at the local grocery store. I knew he wasn’t coming back.
By the time 9th grade year rolled and I was getting into high school, life was getting better. I moved in with my grandparents and the only time I ever saw my parents was during family events. Unfortunately though when you live in a small town schools are limited, so I was forced to see my brother. He grew to 6 foot 4 inches and was easily the tallest in town. He could be seen from across the school. At least now he had friends a small group of easily just as weird boys. They were kinda known in the school for the pure sexism that labored off of them. None more than Montgomery who had taken it to a new level. He often slid threatening notes into girl’s lockers. He once told a girl he wouldn’t mind raping her. Somehow he got away with all this.
I started dating Veronica the same girl I pledged to marry so many years ago. I never allowed her around my brother, I did everything in my power to stop that. We had a football game coming up I didn’t play but I didn’t mind watching. I didn’t think he cared about football so I figured it is fine. Living in a small town sucks cause everyone knows everyone and everything. So the fact I was related to the sexist Michellen man was not unknown. But I made my dismay of him just as known. So as I saw him walking towards me at the football game I called my friends over fully prepared for something to go down. He stopped to say high and my guard was down for only a second. He looked at Veronica and then said, “Wow you fucking this whore.” I was pissed I stepped between him and Veronica. I somehow had forgotten what he had down I don’t know how. He was taller but I was sure I could take him. “Get the fuck outta here you know I want nothing to do with you.” He angrily left and I wouldn’t see him again tell the funeral.
The next morning was coming up on a 4-day weekend the school was doing some maintenance or some shit. My dad knocked on the door to my grandparent’s house. It had been some time since I’d seen him. He hated his mom and dad so his being here must have been important. It was the night before my mother had been killed. While he was working late and my brother was at the game. Someone had broken in. She had been violated and mutilated. When my father came home and found her. I won’t give the details but her stomach was taken by the attacker. Now I was staring at the mother who didn’t care for me all those years. Who I should’ve despised but instead I cried. Montgomery didn’t, he looked happy. He was fucking happy our mother was dead. Then it clicked and I remembered what he had done those years before and realized what he did now.
I dropped out for the rest of high school to do it all online, I became distant with friends and the only person I ever talked to was Veronica. I don’t know how but she convinced me to go back for my senior year. I was welcomed back into my friend group with open arms. I avoided the hallways choosing to walk outside in between classes. Anything I could do to avoid him, but that’s hard I still made my encounters and everyone chilled me to my core. I kept Veronica away from him and for most of the year, we were going on just fine. 1 month left of school and I swear I would leave this town and never look back.
But then my brother came to me just after school and he tried to speak to me. As like our whole childhood, he was nothing but a demon. As if he didn’t take my family from me as if he didn’t hurt those people I called friends. He spoke like he was my brother but to me he was nothing and I made that known. “ You are nothing to me, I hate you and I always will. I don’t know how you got away with it all but someday it’s gonna catch up with you and I’ll be the one pissing on your grave.” I spit in his face before trying to walk off. But what he said still haunts me “You may be right but before that, I’ll make your life miserable.”
Those words resonated with me all that night, I texted Veronica to tell her and she talked me down outta my crazed friendzy as she’s done so many times before. But suddenly she ended our conversation with see you later. I was freaked but she just needed to go to bed. But my worst fears came to life, Veronica wasn’t at school and she wouldn’t answer my texts or calls. I had seen this before I wasn’t wasting time I left and went straight to the place I used to call home. I didn’t knock I went right in. There was Montgomery standing kitchen making something to eat. “You fucking piece of shit where is she!” I yelled. “Oh Micheal where’s who.” He responded with the same shitty smile on his face I’d seen those times before.
I was done being afraid of that piece of shit. I jumped on him taking him to the floor smashing both of my fists into him repeatedly. No one ever stood up to him they were scared of him but as he lay on the floor with my fist repeatedly bashing into him soaked in blood I knew he was nothing. “Out of my house.” I heard turning to see my own father pointing a rifle at me. After all these years, after everything he had done, he was still the favorite. I looked at him beaten but through all the blood he was still smiling.
I left town that night with the little money I had saved, and for the next 3 years, my life was miserable. No house, no food, no money, no one to call a friend. Reaped with the guilt that I hadn’t done enough. I spent my days begging people for money and my nights wasting that money on drinking to forget. I slept under bridges and in boxes trying to escape the weather. I lived off of fast food and anything else that was cheap. I found myself on more than one occasion diving into trashcans to feast on one person’s leftovers. I traveled from town to town hitchhiking when I could and walking when I couldn’t I was homeless and alone, but there I found myself in Colorado. There I would meet some people who’d see a young broken man and take pity on him. I found to call these people my friends and I felt I could trust them.
But 8 years to the day I left, I received a letter in a fancy envelope stamped with wax the handwriting looked as if a typewriter had made it, elegant, and when I looked at the sender I nearly vomited. Montgomery Calfus after all this time found me, the devil found me. A cruel twist of fate no matter how hard I tried and how much I wanted to forget, his soul would find its way to mine. He would always find me and he would always torture me. The letter wasn’t what I expected. He wanted to talk, he wanted to make amends, he wanted his brother back. I laughed at the words at the absurdity of what he claimed he wanted. I showed my roommate Matt the letter Matt knew my story and he helped me through years of therapy he was the driving force to making my life normal. He urged me not to go but in my mind, I had to. Not to give Montgomery what he wanted but to end the years of pain.
The next thing I knew I was once again outside the house I once called a home. It was run down like no one took care of it all this time. I walked through the door I wasn’t gonna knock. The inside was filthy trash and feces on the floor I was disgusted. I made my way up the stairs to his room. I walked in to see him sitting on a rocking chair reading. “ I was wondering when you’d come, knew you’d never be able to resist me.”
“Why am I here Montgomery.”
“Hold on, follow me.”
I did and he took me to the backyard, there was a second house smaller than the main one. He’d added it, it was nice contrary to the shit hole behind us. He unlocked the door and though it should have sickened me, I expected it. People some living some dead. Some were skinned and turned into furniture like what you see in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Some were chained to a wall and they weren’t even trying to escape, and some eating meat from the floor which I knew wasn’t beef. Some were lying with a dead look in their eyes. Some holding each other as if they were their only comfort. Some work on meaningless tasks like dusting. In the middle, he sat in one of his skinned chairs. He ushered me to sit I chose to stand.
He picked up a bell from the stand next to him. When he rang it someone came from the next room someone I hadn’t seen in some time. When we locked eyes you could see the brief glimmer of hope but it was gone just as quickly. Veronica, and she had a collar around her neck and her eyes had no light within them. She was wearing a revealing outfit, but to me, it just revealed the bruises and scars amongst her body. He had branded his initials into her stomach. You could tell she was broken that at this point she didn’t care about her own life. My anger returned and I wanted nothing more than to kill that man.
“She’s still a beaut ain’t she,” He spoke “She was always my favorite toy maybe cause she was yours.” He laughed as if it was the funniest joke he had ever told.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” I said trying to fight back the tears forming in my eyes.
“But what would that accomplish, in the end, I still won you came back you have to see my treasures you have to sit there and wonder what I did to your bitch for these years. Do you feel guilty Micheal, you could have killed me on that kitchen floor but you let your fear of your own life stop you, and for that, I got to do so much worse, she ain’t the only one you saw my other toys on the way you’d be surprised how easy it is to break some people. You know where our dad is Micheal well I ain’t a hundred percent sure but I know I’m sitting on part of him. Look at you that look on your face you don’t know what to think.”
I sat there what else do I do, hit him kill him he was right he won.
He continued to speak “Well let me cut to the jist after all this time even though I knew exactly where you were why wait till now? I’m dying cancer ain’t got but a few months left.”
“That’s fitting a slow death for an utter piece of shit,” I spoke.
“You know I thought that too but I’d rather die on my terms, you see right when you came up I saw took a sip of some real strong shit. Best to say I’ll be dead within the hour. Don’t want my biggest hater to think I suffered at all. But I wanna leave you with a gift you all the family I got left.”
“ I don’t want anything from you.”
“Well too bad the house my car my property and all my toys are yours. Dog go be with your new owner.”
I half expected an animal to come from somewhere but no Veronica came to stand by my side. I was destroyed after everything after all the scenarios I went over in my head. He’d never face justice he wouldn’t suffer. No, he’d be happy knowing that just one more time he’d made me suffer before he died.
I left I called the police I left town and took Veronica with me and I will never go back. I feel bad for leaving all those people but I had to get her out. She’d spent 8 years being a personal toy to Montgomery and I knew she’d never be the same. I did my best to get her the help she deserved. Therapy, medical whatever. I looked at her “I love you,” she said. Normally I’d relish her saying that but I didn’t know if that was Veronica or what she was programmed to say.