He knew that it would do no good to make noise and carry on because all that would do was piss his brother off. And the last thing he wanted to do was make William angry.

When he had first regained consciousness and realized that he was tied up in his own bedroom closet, he had panicked. But one soft "Joe" in the ‘dangerous voice’ reminded him to settle down.

So he started to count. 1…2…3…4…5…when he got to 5, he started again. And he timed each breath to a count. 1 breathe…2 breathe…3 breathe…4 breathe…5breathe.

A handful of people knew that the teen was afraid of the dark…but not one them knew why. If they had…

Well Joe wouldn’t be locked away in a closet right now.

Trying to shift into a more comfortable position, the boy let out a small gasp as his sore body protested any movement, particularly his leg which was bent up in a very uncomfortable position.

Seconds later when the closet door was swung open, his heart dropped. William had heard him.

* * *

William was almost asleep when he thought about something he had overheard Fenton telling Laura after they got back from the hospital. Joe had woken up screaming from a nightmare.

Oh crap, thought the kid as he reluctantly pulled himself out from under the warm blankets. Although the day had been nice, as was typical in the autumn, the evening had cooled down and the nighttime was downright cold.

Rifling through Joe’s desk, he found what he was looking for just as he heard a small, almost inaudible gasp from the closet.

Swinging open the door he was rewarded by the unconcealed fear he saw written on his brother’s face. Without saying anything he ripped off a large piece of duck tape to put over Joe’s mouth. Instinctively Joe tried to pull away but William grabbed his hair and forced him to look up.

"That’s better", William smirked as he released Joe’s hair.

"Now if you have any bawd ol’ dweams, you won’t be waking up the house," he taunted before a sinister look crossed his face, "but maybe we better make sure this is enough."

Dread filled Joe but he was helpless to resist or stop the inevitable as William kicked him sharply in the side, aiming for the injured ribcage.

Hot tears burned Joe’s cheeks from the pain but the tape muffled his outcry and then the scream as William aimed two more quick hard kicks at him before he was satisfied.

Crouching down, William watched with great interest as the younger boy struggled to get enough air into his lungs after his attempted scream. His nose was still plugged but with his mouth taped, he had no other way to breathe.

He was suffocating.

* * *

Frank’s dreams were troubled. He kept seeing the same thing over and over again.

With a start Frank opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. It took him a minute to recover from his dream but when he did, he really wanted to see Joe.

Slipping quietly out of his bed, Frank walked through the bathroom and slowly turned the doorknob. But to his shock, it didn’t open. The door was locked.

Frowning, Frank considered this for a few moments. Joe had never locked his room door before but then he remembered it was not just Joe sleeping in there anymore. Suddenly the older brother felt awkward, misplaced even.

Joe’s door was locked. Was it his way of keeping Frank out so that he could spend time with his twin brother…alone?

No, Frank shook his head scolding himself, Joe wouldn’t do that. It’s not like him.

But then he thought about William, and turning he quietly went back to his own room…maybe it’s like him.

As he covered up, Frank decided to let the matter rest for now but come the morning he was going to see if he could find out why the door to his brother’s room was suddenly locked.

* * *

Just as Joe started to lose consciousness he felt the tape roughly ripped from his mouth.

"Don’t ever say I don’t have your best interests at heart", William said sarcastically as he let his brother breathe again. It was quite a rush, crouching there, watching his brother slowly suffocate. It was a rush he had never experienced before…the ultimate power over life and death.

He had waited until he saw Joe’s head start to loll forward before he stopped it. If Joe died now, it would ruin his fun…take away his play toy. But he did enjoy the power of taking his brother to the brink and then pulling him back…when he saw fit.

After Joe’s breathing recovered, William put the tape back over his mouth with a warning, "Next time, I won’t take it off…so you’d better behave yourself."

And then before standing up and leaving Joe in the darkness of the closet again, he decided to give his brother something to think about, "Imagine sweetie, I can do anything to you right now and no one could stop me…or save you. Anything…" He ran his fingers tips down Joe’s bare chest to emphasize ‘anything’ inhaling the shudder that accompanied the touch as he continued to torment.

"Your precious Frank, Mommy, Daddy…they’re all asleep nestled down in their warm little beds…did they come when you were fighting to breathe??? Did they come when you were ready to pass out??? No. It was only me. Yes, little brother…You and me. Just like old times."

Straightening up, he closed the closet door and went back to his bed.

…leaving Joe in his living hell.

* * *

"Hey Frank!" the dark haired boy stopped outside his locker and waited. Biff Hooper trotted towards his best friend’s brother, glad to have caught him before the next class.

"Hey Biff," Frank returned him greeting, "Where’s Joe and Will?" Biff and Joe had most of their classes together, and since Will had been put in the same classes as his twin, Frank assumed they would be with the big blond boy.

"They’re outside. Will wanted some fresh air so he asked Joe to show him the school grounds", Biff explained and Frank nodded. It made sense, "Anyway do you guys want to come over for supper? My mom is dying to meet your new brother and she’s told me I’m not allowed to take no as an answer."

Frank laughed as Biff started to roll up his sleeves for emphasis, "So are you coming the easy way or the black and blue way?"

Holding up his hands to warn his friend off, Frank laughed, "All right…all right. I’ll call my mom and let her know. I’m sure it’ll be fine."

And then on a more serious note, "So are they doing? Joe and Will, I mean."

At the mention of his best friend, Biff sobered up immediately, "Okay I guess. I mean I haven’t really talked to Joe much but Will is certainly having a great time. I think he might even have a date or two lined up already."

"Not with Iola, I hope!" Frank couldn’t help but joke. Chet’s younger sister, dark haired beauty Iola Morton had been smitten with Joe for a long time.

Biff shook his head, "Nah, not Iola. She only has eyes for Joseph. Funny enough, though, I don’t think she likes Will very much at all."

"Really?" This struck Frank as being odd, "What makes you think that?"

"Oh I don’t know…intuition maybe, "Biff smirked before ‘fessing up, "Well more likely because I heard her saying to Callie that there was just something about that boy that just rubbed her the wrong way. Go figure…girls." He shrugged as he finished his last comment just as the bell was ringing, "I got my Dad’s car…you guys can get a lift home with me!’ and then Biff melted into the crowd of milling teens who made their reluctant way to class.

Frank opened his locker, grabbed the book he needed, and then hurried off to class making a mental note to call his mother and tell them about their dinner date and that they didn’t’ need a ride home from school.

* * *

William followed Joe out of the school and then grabbed his brother’s arm, "Somewhere we can talk, privately…" in truth Will just wanted a smoke but he loved to see the look that flickered on Joe’s face whenever he thought Will was up to something.

Barely nodding, Joe started towards a small group of trees and bushes behind the football bleachers. It was cold today but he didn’t notice as he was too busy trying to figure out what William was up to next.

As they turned their backs to the school, Will lit a cigarette and inhaled it deeply. They only had a few minutes until next class and he wanted to make the most of it.

Joe stopped and leaned on the crutches as a violent cough racked his body. The cough suppressants were working…when he took them. But unfortunately his new life routine didn’t always afford him the luxury of taking his medicine.

His nose had gone from stuffy to runny and he was just plum miserable in every way.

Laura had actually been concerned enough to suggest Joe stay home from school, but he refused. A distant memory strengthening his resolve…

William turned around and stared at his brother before commenting in a surly tone, "You are a pain in the ass, you know that." Whatever he was going to say next was cut off as two large seniors stepped out from behind a bush. The bullies had been hanging out there killing time until it was time to go home when they were rewarded by sight of the two 15-year-olds making their way towards them.

"Well well looky here", Todd, the bigger guy sneered, "I think I’m seeing double."

William took a long drag on his smoke but didn’t say anything. His vibrant blue eyes were cold and calculating as he took in this new development. The boys were easily much bigger then they were and Joe thought he recognized them as being blockers for the football team.

Joe let out a small sigh. He wasn’t afraid of these guys, even though they were bigger then Biff, because he was normally very good at taking care of himself in a fight. But with his aching ribs, sore knee and tormented body, he was not in any physical shape for a confrontation. Let alone mentally.

Mentally he was falling apart. William’s subtle abuse, while not physically apparent to his family and friends, was painfully apparent to Joe. No the last thing he needed right now was to be pounded on by these guys.

"Come on Will", Joe said backing up, "We don’t want no trouble."

He stopped short as he backed into another guy. Shoot he forgot that there were usually three in this crowd.

William was doing the math. He figured out who the leader was and targeted him. Before anyone could respond, he had tossed his light cigarette at the bigger guy Todd, and grabbed the wrist of Peter, their ‘leader’ if they had any, twisting his arm savagely behind his back.

Peter, caught totally unaware by the frontal assault, was amazed by how strong this kid was. Grunting he tried to twist away but that only made William twist his arm more until the bully was kneeling down in the dirt in front of him.

The guy behind Joe went to grab him, but to his own surprise, the kid with the bum knee side stepped and at the same time brought up his crutch and landed a solid clip off the bully’s chin. Without a sound, he went down, unconscious.

William was impressed but all it did was warn him that his little brother might not be as weak as he used to be. Making a mental note of this, William turned his attention back to Peter. As far as he was concerned, there could only be one boss in this schoolyard…and that was him.

Whispering loud enough for only Peter to hear, he said, "Do you know what my two favorite sounds are in the whole wide world?"

"N-no", Peter stammered amazed at how painful this hold was.

"The sound of a bone breaking…and the sound of the scream" With that he gave Peter’s middle finger a savage twist and was rewarded a second later.

"Ahh" William moaned in satisfaction, "thank you". And then let go of Peter’s arm and stepped away as the big teen held his injured hand to his chest and stood up shakily.

Todd moved to help him, in total shock at what had just happened. Sure they beat up guys on occasion but nothing like William had just done. That was cold.

As they staggered away, Peter turned around and shouted back, "You’re one twisted f**k!" And then they headed towards the school nurse as fast as they could.

Joe was wordless. New horrors adding to his other ones but nothing prepared him for what was still to come.

William knelt down beside the prone figure of the guy that Joe knocked out.

"Come on Will", Joe said as he heard the school bell, "we gotta go. Leave him alone."

"This guy wanted to hurt you Joey", Will said with a feral glint in his eyes, "no one hurts my brother…except me."

Before Joe could stop him, William slipped a small Swiss army pocket knife out of his pocket and held it to the bully’s throat.

"NO!’ Joe screamed, "NOOOOO!"