To my brother, Danny
If you're listening to this, then I'm already dead.
…
Daniel's face went bleak in an instant and his mind was filled with nothing but emptiness.
Tears began to flow from his eyes generously after he heard his older twin brother's voice for the first time in seven years and the last time in life.
*********
Daniel Ensoul clenched his hand around his umbrella tightly, the pressure of his grip fuelled by nothing but sorrow and sadness from the death of his twin brother.
Five months earlier, he had received a letter from home informing him of the demise of his twin brother and the request for him to come home.
Without wasting any time, Daniel took an emergency leave from his Medical Outreach Duty in another country, sponsored by the International Health Organization (IHO). Ordinarily, it would have been approved after a couple of days but the team leader had a soft spot for him because of his skill and personality.
"Please, Professor Berkley," Daniel pleaded inside his superior's office with tears in his eyes.
The young man had been holding his sorrows in for a few days now since receiving the disheartening news.
Upon hearing the problem Daniel was facing, Professor Berkley wasted no time in approving his leave, advising that he take as much time as he needed before returning.
"...if, peradventure, you want to be redeployed back home, Danny, just let me know."
Daniel cleaned the tears in his eyes and stood at attention before saluting the Medical Professor who was also the Commander of his Military Unit.
Daniel Ensoul was a Military Doctor and a member of the platoon deployed to Eastern Africa to settle some rising conflict in the nation.
However, because he was also a doctor, Daniel was not in the frontlines very often. Nonetheless he did not lack any ounce of the standard military or whatsoever his comrades received.
"Thank you, sir."
Without further ado, Daniel made quick arrangements and within the next few days, he had returned to his home country to bury his brother alone.
Returning to their family home, his sadness became even more overwhelming as the memories of him and David playing around rushed into his memory.
Gradually, it dawned on him that David Ensoul, his twin brother, was truly dead and gone forever.
Within a few months of his return home, Daniel organised his brother's funeral and while he was alone in the cemetery, under the downpour, he felt a touch of a stranger on his arm.
Staring from the corner of his eyes, he saw a short elderly man, whose face he didn't recognise.
Much like himself, this man was dressed in black suit with white shirt and a black tie while also holding an umbrella.
In his hand was a black box, which he extended into Daniel's personal space, drawing his attention.
Daniel merely stared down at the box through his dark glasses and said nothing to the man. He ignored the man for several minutes as he continued mourning his brother's loss in solitude, that was until the older man spoke.
"It's your brother's last gift to you, Daniel Ensoul."
Daniel's eyes became extra wide and he turned his head to the man, who nodded in affirmation of what he had just said.
"He said to deliver it personally to his twin brother, if anything was to happen to him. Do accept my apologies. It's so sad that he had to go this way."
"You know my brother? Tell me, do you know what happened to him?"
Daniel removed his shades and looked into the man's eyes. Sadness, sorrow, anger and revenge beamed from Daniel's eyes as the man looked back into his, not hurrying to say anything in response to his question.
Although he was a bag of depressive emotions at the moment, Daniel did exceptionally well with handling it. Off his face alone, no one could tell what was on his mind. As a doctor and a soldier, it had become an instinct to maintain a cool and calm composure regardless of the situation.
However, Daniel's demeanour was not just cool and calm. It was also cold.
Losing his twin brother was like losing half of himself. They were identical twins yet different.
They looked very alike physically but had their very different lives that perfectly complemented each other.
While David was the outgoing of the twins, the life of the party and the adventurous one, Daniel was the more reserved half of the duo. Daniel was more observant and self-reflecting than his brother.
While David got invited to the parties in schools and all the fun stuff, Daniel had his time basking in the vast world of fiction—comics, web novels, light novels, traditional books, music and whatnots.
Regardless, this didn't falter their friendship and brotherhood. In fact, they made it a point to exchange their world with one another.
The fact that David Ensoul started to read a book was shocking to his peers but that was thanks to his brother and vice versa, when Daniel had gone for a swimming hangout at one time.
David Ensoul was friendly and welcoming but Daniel was cold and possessed a repulsive face that made him look unapproachable.
*********
The old man scratched the back of his head, having been taken aback by the flooding of questions he experienced from Daniel.
He shook his head with a little disappointment.
"I wish I knew but sadly, I am just a man who was indebted to a little kid. How can I say no to his one request?"
The man took Daniel's hand and placed the black box into his hand.
"Tell him this is my final message and while I know that he would want to turn the world upside down, let him know that I don't want him to. Tell him that I love him and finally, tell him to save our mother if he can."
The man looked at Daniel. "Those were his words."
After saying this, the old man walked away, leaving Daniel alone with his brother's gift and his sorrows.
Daniel returned from the cemetery and without even changing his drenched clothes, he sat like that on his bed and began to unwrap the box he was given.
Opening it, he saw a golden ring and his face changed with scepticism.
He recognised the ring but somehow he doubted that it was the same ring. However, he picked it up and looked at it.
'It's the same ring I gave him on our 18th birthday,' Daniel recalled as a slight smile formed on his face and immediately after, sadness took over again.
He turned the remainder of the box upside down and saw nothing else except the familiar ring.
No letters. No puzzles or any other form of messages. Absolutely nothing.
A feeling of bitterness filled Daniel's heart as he developed a sudden anger towards his deceased brother.
He hurled the ring at the wall and screamed out in agony.
Daniel had expected some sort of explanation after his brother vanished for six years prior to when he received the news of his death.
But there was nothing else in the box.
"You've always done this! Always handling things on your own without telling me or mother anything at all! How do you think we felt all these years!"
Daniel was thrown into the gnawing abyss of his emotions as he barked and bawled his heart out.
After several minutes of shouting his hearts out, Daniel glanced at the ring where it had fallen on the floor of his room and dragged himself towards it.
He picked it up and sat on the floor, admiring it even more.
"I'm so sorry, brother," he cried. "I'm so sorry I couldn't help you."
He held the golden ring close to his chest and wept his eyes out before finally honouring his brother's memory by putting it on.
Daniel slid the ring into his right ring finger and recalled the events that happened around the time of their 18th birthday.
It was the day they so much looked forward to as adults. Little did he know that a few days after that day, David would disappear from their simple lives.
"Ouch!" Daniel suddenly screamed out as he felt a sharp prick on his skin.
He looked at his finger and there was a drop of blood seeping out from underneath the ring.
Before Daniel could contemplate what was happening, a familiar voice struck inside his mind that almost drove him mad.
It was David's voice.
His twin brother's voice played like a recording inside his head.
"To my brother, Danny
"If you're listening this, then I'm already dead."