Greeting the obvious celling with a smile, Brandon thought, "Maybe I should look for clues about what happened to the original Brandon?"
While he was saying this, he went over to the desk, flipped open the laptop, and pressed the power button to turn it on. The background and password block, where you write your password, were both present.
Brandon gestured to his head, triggering another wave of memories that revealed to him the pins and passwords for all of Bran's devices. Lesley was curious as to the meaning behind the password, "Delicate 5n0w," at first, but threw away the thought to the back of his head and continued to look into Brandon's past.
When he opened the laptop, a dartboard wallpaper with black and red circles forming a center in the middle was visible. Les spotted a file labeled 'Diary of Bran' on the display and clicked on the folder, where he entered a password from his recollections.
There, he found five diary entries ranging from 1288 A.T. 31-January to 1288 A.T. 7-July. He began to read them after that.
"First diary entry:
1288A.T. Sunday, January 31, 12:30 PM
Greetings, dear friend from long ago Mr. Journal
Following the events I detailed in my paper journal, Matthews and I have been distant from one another, stopped talking, stopped going on walks together, and stopped spending the holidays at his family's house. Monday is here, therefore I'm heading to Hollow Academy, one of the top five country schools in Hollow's peak city. Dad and I will still be here because we live so nearby.
I have to hang onto hope that he would tolerate me around for the time being since I feel useless when he sneezes or coughs. There are moments when I wish I wasn't marked so I could try my hand at magic and heal him.
DIARY ENTRY 2:
1288A.T. 29 February, Tuesday, 19:00
I apologize, dear old friend, for not being in communication with you.
Hollow Academy has become my prison; my warm and cozy cell serves as my home, and my father, with his frail body, is my cellmate, whom I must guard. On my first day, I encountered hostility from everyone when the school learned that I was Matthews' close buddy and that I am a half-breed.
People began calling me names like abomination, generational disgrace, offspring of disorder and torment, and, finally, wormwood, which is what I am now known as at the academy. I suppose my cellmate refers to me as Brandon Wilson when I arrive at the cell, bloody and injured. He gave me that call only to cheer me up, I kept that thought to give myself an adaptable personality.
DIARY ENTRY 3: 1288 A.T. 19 June 05:45 AM Saturday,
Dear Old Friend Diary, I apologize for not being a better friend to you lately. Being your only friend, I guess that's why Matthews left me behind. Being a WERE of the Wolf clan, he already has a direct path at the Academy and doesn't need to get in the way for the benefit of his family or public opinion.
I have been the victim of bullying for months now, and some of Matthew's boys have been coming over every day in the afternoon when I leave for home. To stop this from happening, I had to take a different route home, and you know wolves right—they have a keen nose. I can't keep hiding from this, so I need to tell Matthew about it. We may have moved on from our past, but Matthew has always stood up for the weak, like me. I hope he calls them off.
Diary ENTRY 4:
1288A.T 1 July 21h00P.M Friday
Dear Diary: When I told him about his goons coming for me, he called me an ant, and you know what he told me? He said they are just doing as they have been told to do, which is to fix the school and the future of people. And he said that to do that, he has to slowly dismantle the threats of the future, like me, because I am a Half-breed.
My mother and father are the world's burden, and their child is the catastrophe that will reignite the War of the Lost Ages, according to him. Since we learned about the first Half-Breed that started the war, he has been calling me Drean instead of Wormwood. That would be cool if I could still laugh at my eighth-grade sense of humor, but I'm too angry to laugh right now.
I had ceased corresponding with all members of the Academy, including professors, lecturers, and teachers. I have lunch on the roof and head off before the Wolves arrive to smoke because they are all against me. I had to use nicotine products to hide my fragrance so that they wouldn't track me down and beat me up repeatedly.
I despise this place and haven't been this angry since I discovered that the Guilds failed to pay my father's pension for all of his service to the city and its people. I have to acquire a job as a spotter, and since I'm scared of getting caught by the police, I've been picking up on my instinctive neighbors.
DIARY ENTRY 5:
1288A.T 13H55P.M 7 July Thursday
To Diary, I am so foolish and naive to be performing this work. Being a spotter for six days is enough to make me give up on life, so I should have paid more attention to Alice, Ashley, and Blake. The money is good and useful to my father and our living expenses. The cops almost caught me, but I was wearing a mask, so I left the spotter's home and informed Agent 6 that I intended to leave.
I assumed I would be able to depart because we had never seen each other's faces due to all members being masked. He showed me his face and warned me I had a week to disappear, or his guys would come for me. He told me this, but I didn't buy it. I therefore started making plans to flee this area with my father; it seemed nice to move to a new city that is remote from this one.
Maybe I'm a little optimistic about this strategy, but I have to have hope. I didn't want to die; they assured me that my dad would be left alone.
I need him, I don't want to die. I am needed by him. I am needed by him. I am needed by him. I am needed by him.
You are the only friend I can confide in, diary. Luckily, I had faked my address on the spot, they thought I left at Alice's place, and I had Ashley looking after Dad while I made the plan to leave unnoticed by Agent 6 and the police.
I need help but I am hopeful that I will fix this
Farewell if I don't see your old friend
Love your absent friend
Bran
Les was taken aback and amazed after reading the Entries. He knew someone had murdered Bran in cold blood, but he didn't expect it to be from a drug or weapon trafficking outfit.
Boy, you shouldn't have made that agreement; the world is harsh. The bad guys usually triumph when they perceive you as a weak boy. However, you can be confident that I will find a solution for the issue you have left me with," Les remarked, getting to his feet and stretching out his weary body while yawning.
Closing the laptop, he pushed back the sheets and went to bed wearing his clothes. After some time, he understood that part of Bran's demise was caused by the blood retracting back into his skull, sealing the opening.
Additionally, there was no apparent blood on the discolored garment, which was dry. "You were quite strong, boy." Too bad Death was the activation code; I'll check the mark later,' he said inwardly, his head and body resting on the soft bed and cushion.
He slept in silence, dominating his new room and looking forward to this new world.