Siblings with Benefits Ch. 35

As we walked through the condo I found myself debating whether or not to call her again. Dawn had been as wild of a ride as I'd had, but The Voice was right. Her bizarre resemblance to my sister would not be good for me. Still, Megan was with someone and a little harmless fantasy....

"Oh my god!" Dawn exclaimed.

We had entered the parlor and as she spoke, Dawn veered off over to the end table next to the couch. Reaching it she picked up the framed photo of Megan and me from my PC graduation. We were facing the camera as we hugged, our faces close together.

"Holy shit this is your sister?"

"Oh great, Mark just great."

"Uh, yeah."

With a laugh Dawn held the picture up to her face and smiling at me said.

"Just a slight resemblance no?" She laughed again as she put the picture down. "Now I see why you wanted to play last night, hell I could be her sister!"

"Right." I said forcing a smile. "You got me, I always wanted to play it out and saw you and couldn't resist."

"Well hope I didn't let you down!" She said then pouting whispered; "I didn't, did I little brother?"

"No Dawn, you were everything I'd hoped she'd be."

The Voice didn't even have to say anything. As soon as I'd said it I knew I couldn't see this girl again. A couple more remarks like that and the next time I ended up in the news she would be telling people she knew me and all about the bad boy attorney's incest fetish. Fortunately Dawn just smiled and resumed walking towards the front door. I took her down to the garage where we shared a long hard kiss. I lied, promising we would hook up again soon, and watched her pull away in her red Volkswagen Jetta.

Turning I walked back towards the elevator and stopped as the entire garage began to spin. I took a couple more unsteady steps before leaning against one of the stone pillars. I closed my eyes and tried to take some deep breaths. I became aware of the fact that I was sweating and my stomach was starting to twist in time with the ever present throbbing in my head. My legs felt like rubber and had I not been against the pole I don't think I would have been able to stay on my feet. What the fuck? I thought.

"No sleep in days, ton of booze and the sexual Olympics will do that Mark. Told you you're messed up, Christ your still drunk."

I'm not.

"Yeah okay, I only live here pretty sure I know your still feeling it. Now get your sissy ass moving, or you're gonna pass out down here"

With a deep breath, I shoved myself off the column and made it into the elevator before needing to lean against the wall again. I felt my stomach pitch as the elevator rose, and swallowed hard trying not to puke. The elevator stopped two floors from mine and I rolled my eyes as an elderly couple that lived a floor above me got in. I kept my eyes down but could feel them staring at me. Looking up, I saw the woman shaking her head in disgust, following her gaze I saw she was looking at the teeth marks in my forearm. The elevator stopped and moving away from the wall I went to leave. The door to the elevator seemed to be moving and I staggered back a step as I banged into the door frame.

Somehow maintaining my balance I walked through the door out into the hallway. As the doors began to close behind me I heard the man say; "Guess the papers weren't lying, sick bastard."

"Oh they don't know the half of it."

I weaved unsteadily down the hallway until reaching my door; I opened it and practically fell into the apartment. Using the furniture to hold me up on the way to the bathroom, I fell to my knees and threw up. I stayed there for a few minutes waiting for the pain in my head to subside. Standing up, I dry swallowed three Advil, and staggering into the kitchen chugged a bottle of water before going into the bedroom. I stripped the t-shirt off and all but fell into the bed. I rolled over onto my side near the nightstand and heard my phone beep. Picking it up I squinted my eyes until I could make out that I had missed three calls, all of them Doug. I briefly wondered what could be so important, then dropping the phone on the bed next to me rolled over onto my back. I looked up at my reflection, I could see the red in my eyes from here and my face was slicked with sweat and pasty underneath my tan. Every man wants to be me I thought dryly. I closed my eyes and immediately went out.

I started awake to Rob Zombie blasting inches from my head. Swearing, I grabbed the phone and saw it was Doug yet again. Hitting the call button I croaked into the phone.

"What is it Doug?"

"About fucking time you answered the damn phone." Doug shouted in my ear.

I pulled it from my ear grimacing.

"Are you there?"

"Yeah," I said softly. "Good morning to you."

"Nothing good about it." Doug snapped.

"What's wrong?"

"Get your ass over here and find out!"

"What did you say?" I asked.

"You heard me Mark, roll your ass off of whatever whore you fucked last night and get over here," He paused then snapped. "Now!!"

"Doug what's wrong? " I asked feeling my heart begin to beat faster. "Is Mom okay?" I swallowed hard. "Is it Megan?"

"It's about Megan now..."

"Well is she..."

"Mark!!" Doug cut me off. "If your ass isn't at my house in a half hour I'm coming to yours!"

Before I could reply he had hung up.

*****

I pulled up in front of the folks' house twenty minutes later and sat in the car for a moment before getting out. I had taken an ice cold shower, soaking my head under the water for several minutes. Although my head was till throbbing it had settled into a manageable ache, and my vision wasn't blurry anymore. I checked my eyes in the mirror and blinked at how raw they looked. I should have put some visine in them. Oh well I thought as I shut the Lexus off and got out. At least I had remembered to cover the bite marks with a bandage.

"You remembered?"

I walked up the path leading to the porch and by the time I reached the stairs Doug was standing in the doorway.

"He looks pissed."

When doesn't he? Since he had retired a couple of years ago it seemed like everything pissed Doug off. The only thing he did now when he wasn't golfing was hang around the house, watch TV, and try to avoid going places with Mom. Aside from that his favorite past time was bitching about pretty much anything. The last time I had seen him was a couple of weeks ago when he had asked me to look over his investments because he swore his stock broker was screwing him. In reality he was screwing himself with piss poor choices, but telling him that would have only got him going even more.

I walked up to the stairs and Doug opened the door.

"Hey Doug, what's so.... okay then."

As soon as I stepped into the doorway Doug had turned and started walking through the house. Shaking my head I followed him.

"Where's mom."

"Out with some friends." Doug said over his shoulder. "Lucky for you she's not home."

I frowned. That did not sound good at all. I followed Doug into the kitchen where he sat down at the table. I walked over, and sitting down across from him, felt the warning bells begin to go off in my mind. Doug was staring at me as if he wanted to hit me. As he looked at me I could see the pulse in his temple. There was a FedEx envelope on the table in front of him, and as I watched he removed a folder from it.

"What's that?" I asked warily.

"Tell me."

With a flick of his wrist Doug sent the folder across the table where it stopped against my arm. With one more look at Doug I slid the folder in front of me and opened it.

My eyes widened and I felt my stomach jump as if I'd been kicked.

"Oh fuck me!!"

I was staring at a picture of Megan on her knees with me behind her fucking her doggie style. I was pulling her hair, and my sister's eyes were rolled back, her mouth open in a scream of ecstasy.

"Oh." I whispered.

I quickly closed the folder and looked back up at Doug whose lip was curled up in a snarl as he stared at me. The throbbing returned full force, and I felt my stomach turning. There was no need to look at the rest of the pictures I had already seen them before in my office.

"That motherfucker!!" The Voice screamed. "Alex, that piece of fucking shit! He broke the rules!! We need to..."

Help me! I snapped at it in my mind. The Voice stopped yelling, and was silent for a few seconds before saying softly; "I... I have nothing."

Neither did I. The secret that Megan and I had fought so hard to keep, the one that she had lied to her parents about for years was out. There was no denying this, it was right there in front of me in full color. I swallowed and opened my mouth but nothing came out.

"What's the matter Mark? Got nothing to say?" Doug asked.

I could hear his voice shaking as he tried to maintain control of it.

"TheMark Phillips is speechless?"

"Doug," I began, having no idea what I was going to say. "Look it's... it's..."

"It's what Mark? I'll tell you what it is," Leaning forward Doug slammed his fist on the table. "It's you fucking your sister!!"

"I..."

"You fucking liars!!!" Doug screamed at me. "The two of you, lying to us for years!!"

"Doug please, I..."

"Shut the fuck up Mark!!" Doug hammered his fist onto the table again. Despite his age Doug was still a big guy and I felt the table rattle beneath my hands.

"I knew it! I fucking knew it! That day at the hotel, the two of you had been fucking!" As he screamed Doug's eyes were bulging dangerously, and I could see the veins sticking out in his neck. "You were fucking all night and I caught you

He threw his hands up in the air.

"And that wasn't the first time was it you sick bastard?" Doug demanded. "The two of you were fucking before that weren't you? Right in your rooms, right under our noses! Not only lying, but laughing about it weren't you?"

"Sitting here talking that fucking cult shit at the table all the time, is that what you were talking about Mark?" Doug asked, pointing at the pictures. "Were you and Megan talking dirty? Sitting in front of her mother telling you what she was going to do to you?"

He hit the table again.

"All those times I thought I heard something and figured it was Krissy, it was Megan!" he shook his head. "In my fucking house! In my...." He stopped and his eyes widened. "In my bed! You fucked my daughter in my bed didn't you!?!"

"Doug it wasn't like that it..."

"Wasn't like what Mark? Look at those pictures!!" Doug yelled reaching out and slapping his hand down on the folder. "Admit it Mark!! You and your sister were fucking!! Probably still are!" Doug took a deep breath and let it out along with a harsh laugh. "Well now I know why she always comes and sees you first!"

"No," I started. "It..."

With a disgusted wave Doug cut me off.

"Go ahead Mark, tell me a good one." He gave me that nasty laugh again. "Let's go Mr. Attorney, get you and your sister out of this one."

I closed my eyes momentarily to try to focus. In my mind I looked to The Voice, who I knew was there, but was silent. For the first time since it had appeared when I was a kid, The Voice had nothing to say. I opened my eyes as Doug began again.

"Got nothing do you? That's because there is nothing!!" Doug whacked the table again. "No way out of this for you Mark!! I always knew you were a sick freak, but this," He gestured towards the pictures. "This says it all!"

As I sat there in silence Doug rubbed at his temples, before continuing.

"Don't worry though Mark, you're not going to take the blame for this yourself, you just wait until I get a hold of Megan!"

I'd been sitting there with my head down; unable to defend the indefensible, but when Doug mentioned my sister's name I quickly looked up.

"That day at the hotel, she begged and pleaded and lied to me! She lied to your mother and made me look like the fucking bad guy!" He grunted disgustedly. "Then when I was still going to throw you out, she sits on my lap and cries to me; oh please Daddy!"

"Daddy," Doug sneered the word, and my heart began to beat faster. "Bawling like a baby, begging for me not to throw you out, making me feel like an asshole that I would think so badly about my," his lip curled up in another sneer, "Little girl"

"Guess she wasn't my girl after all though was she Mark? No she was your girl wasn't she? Didn't want you to get thrown out because then the two of you couldn't fuck every night!"

"Doug,"

"Shut up Mark!" he snapped. "You had your chance and you had nothing! So just sit there and take it, because trust me it'll be the last time you ever have to hear anything from me!"

"And as for Megan, all I can say is she's fucking lucky she's in Europe because I'd be on a plane tonight to shove these in her lying face!!"

As Doug had been yelling at me, I had simply been thinking about both of us, trying to come up with a lie that could explain the pictures, get us off the hook. I had resigned myself to the fact that it was impossible; there was no way out of this. Best case scenario Doug didn't tell Mom but one way or another he knew. Now hearing Doug yelling about confronting Megan had my head spinning.

"I almost didn't tell you, because you're going to walk right out of here and call her," Doug continued. "But you know what? Fuck it! Tell her I know, make her sweat it out, because the day she comes back I'm going to be down there waiting for her, and all of her crocodile tear bullshit won't mean a fucking thing to me!"

"Doug you can't..." I started.

"I can do whatever the hell I want!" he snarled at me. "Seems like the two of you do!"

He looked down at the envelope shaking his head.

"All those years she was on drugs, I kept my distance, tried to prove a point, and yes maybe I gave up on her, but I never stopped loving her."

He looked up at me;his face was twisted into a mask of contempt.

"But after this bullshit, as far as I'm concerned my daughter's dead to me, and I'm going to look into her lying eyes and tell her that in person."

No! I couldn't let that happen. It was one thing for Doug to scream at me, to take it out on me. Although they had taken me in, I had only lived there a couple of years and had never really been their son. Megan on the other hand was their daughter, they had raised her since the age of eleven, adopted her. They were Mom and Dad. More importantly, it had been the guilt brought on by the pain that she had continued to cause them, that had kept Megan running to drugs. She had been tired of lying to them; of causing them pain and worry, of being an embarrassment to them. In the end my sister had come within seconds of killing herself over that pain.

During her first two years sober Megan had done everything she could to rebuild her relationship with her father; to become a good daughter, one that he could be proud of. She and Doug had gone to counseling together; talked things out, even went on a retreat for recovering addicts and their parents. As I sat there my mind racing feverishly, I remembered my sister, coming to me, tears of joy in her eyes, and telling me that Doug had started calling her his little girl again. If Doug confronted her with this, it would crush her! Megan would be heartbroken, and although she had been sober for years, she was still fragile in many ways. The guilt would come back tenfold; it could even push her back into....

We can't let this happen!

"Mark really I don't know what..."

Doug said something but I didn't catch it. I was still trying to come up with something. The conversation between Doug and Megan would be even worse than this one. Doug would be even harsher to her than he was being to me. After all in the end Doug had never really trusted me, had always thought the worst of me. Hell we only got along because I saved... I stopped and went back to my previous thought. Doug had always...

"Well what are you waiting for?" Doug asked. "Get the fuck out of my sight Mark, go call Megan and tell her your little secrets out!"

"No!" I snapped. "You can't say anything to Megan!"

"What?!?" Doug asked in disbelief. "Fuck you, I'm telling that lying..."

"It's not her fault!"

"Are you kidding me? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Don't blame Megan Doug, it was me I..."

"You what Mark? What bullshit story are you going to come up with? You going to say you made the first move? Well who fucking cares if you did? She wanted it! You..."

"I made her do it!" I blurted out.

I wasn't sure where I was going with this, but as I spoke The Voice whispered;

"Yes," It paused, and I saw a terrible image in my mind. "We did it like this."

"Oh really?" Doug asked.

Reaching across the table Doug flipped open the folder to the photo of my sister and I fucking.

"She sure as hell looks like a willing participant to me!" To my surprise Doug flipped a couple of the pictures over to the one of me on my knees between her legs, Megan's eyes were closed and the look on her face, was one of pure pleasure. "Looks like she's suffering there!"

"I..."

"Give it up Mark!!" Doug shouted closing the folder. "There's no more lies, no more cover ups! You're both..."

"Doug shut up and listen to me!!" I snapped.

"How dare you..." Doug began.

"I will not let my sister lose her father over me!" This time it was my turn to hit the table. "I will not! Now you said your peace, let me tell you what happened!"

"I've heard enough of your lies Mark! You're just trying to protect your sister..."

"From you blaming her!" I shouted. "You know what Doug? You want to throw Megan away that fast? Fine then maybe she's better off without you!" This time I laughed harshly. "Wouldn't be the first time you gave up so quickly now would it?"

"You," Doug shook his head. "You have no right to judge..."

"And you can't judge Megan until you hear me out! Megan wasn't lying to you Doug! Not back then and not ever! This..." I hit the folder. "Is just another thing she's either too ashamed to talk about or might even have ..."

"No," Doug shook his head. "This is another one of your..."

He trailed off and looked at me. I saw his eyes soften just a bit. I had a chance; because deep inside he wanted to give Megan a chance.

Make it quick Mark, The longer I look at you the sicker I get."

I took a deep breath and began the most important lie of my life. It was more important than Max, because this was my sister's future, not mine on the line.

"First of all," I started. "We never did anything in this house. We..."

"Oh please!"

"Doug you said you would listen!"

He shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"There was nothing going on then Doug, and Meg wasn't lying to you at the hotel, we weren't; doing anything."

"Mark, you're..."

"Yet," I put out there to quiet him.

"Smart boy; partial admittance of guilt lends credibility to all future lies."

"I know what I saw!" Doug snapped.

"And you were right to a degree Doug." I said putting my hands up. "No we were not having sex, but yes I was too close to her."

"Damn straight you were! You were all but copping a feel! You..."

"Back then," I continued, ignoring him. "What Megan said was true; I had terrible nightmares and she would let me in bed with her so I could sleep." I paused and said softly. "When they were really bad she would hold me and I liked it."

"A lot apparently!"

"When Megan told you that wasall it was, she meant it. She wasn't lying because she didn't know that..." I sighed and looked away. "That I was falling in love with her."

"What?" Doug demanded. "Give me a break Mark! Don't try to make having sex with your sister sound fucking romantic! She was your sister! How the hell could you fall...?"

"We weren't your average brother and sister Doug," I pointed out. "We were separated for a long time and..."