The Three Brothers

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Things were never to turn out as horribly as they had. But here they were. All three of them in the deepest part of the woods surrounding the eldest brother's home. Oldest brothers digging a giant hole in the ground for a man that had attempted to break in. For what, he wasn't entirely sure of.

But it didn't matter. All that mattered was the fact the intruder was dead. He was dead and they were burying him. It felt so unreal staring down at the corpse next to him. Brandon, the youngest, felt his stomach twist in knots. What if someone found out? Or the cops came? What the Hell were they going to do then? His older brother, Daniel, said that they'd be fine. Daniel had reminded him that there weren't any neighbors for miles. No one was ever going to find out what they had done. But Brandon was still scared that they were. After all, his brother said that they were never going to be robbed. Yet here they were burying a corpse of an attempted burglar. Who's eyes were still wide open and seemed to be staring straight at Brandon. There was an urge to shut the corpse's eyes. But fear of touching the body was keeping him from it. Shoving the urge down, Brandon struggled to hold the flashlight steady. Everything in him was screaming at him to run back into the house. Call the cops and tell them everything that had transpired.

But fear of his brothers' getting in trouble was keeping him rooted to the spot. Trembling like a leaf in a harsh storm but, not going anywhere. And as he stood there, he watched his brothers roll the corpse up tighter in the tarp. Covering the dead man's eyes from 'seeing' anything else. Daniel took the corpse's legs while their eldest brother, Trevor, took his upper body. Carefully lowered the corpse into the ground. Soon as it was safely in the make-shift grave, they quickly started pouring dirt over it. In a matter of minutes, the would-be burglar was covered and would possibly never to be seen again. Brandon thought he would feel relieved about this. But, he wasn't. All he could feel was this heavy sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. Almost as if he had swallowed a medium-sized stone. Trying to ignore this, he kept a tighter grip on the flashlight. Barely noticing that Daniel was talking to him. Looking at his brother, Brandon asked,"Sorry, did you say something?"

"I asked if you're going to be alright, Brandon.",Daniel answered. Going to be alright? Did it look like he was going to be alright?! Was he stupid? Of course he wasn't going to be! They just buried a burglar in their older brother's backyard. Who would be? Brandon didn't say anything as he glared at his older brother. Neither saying anything for a moment before Daniel asked,"So, that's a no?"

"Yes, Danny. That's a 'no'. I'm not okay with what you've just done.",Brandon answered. Turning to head back to his eldest brother's home. Who grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him against a tree. The light from the flashlight barely illuminating his face as he glared down at Brandon. In a low voice, Trevor said,"Stop acting like you didn't have a part in this. You did just as much as we did."

"If we get caught, you're on the hook too.",he reminded. Sure, that was somewhat true. Though he wasn't entirely sure if holding a flashlight was the same as murdering someone. Or wrapping their body up in a tarp then digging a hole for it. But he kept his mouth shut as his eldest brother slammed him against the tree again. Trevor stated,"We'll be fine so long as you keep your fucking mouth shut. Got it?"

Brandon said nothing and only nodded his head in agreement. This didn't seem to satisfy the eldest brother as he slammed him one more time. In a low voice, Trevor hissed,"Do you get it or not, Brandon?"

"Trevor, please. He gets it.",Daniel said. Trying to pry the eldest son off his baby brother and failing miserably. Trevor shook off Daniel's hands as he glared into Brandon's eyes. Determined to get a verbal answer from his baby brother. Brandon muttered,"I got it, Trevor. I got it."

"Good. Now get in the fucking house.",Trevor snapped. Pushing Brandon to the ground as he headed back towards his house. Ignoring Daniel as he stomped his way up the path to his home. Brandon ignored him as well as he started to get up off the ground. Deliberately not allowing Daniel to help him up. Even telling him to stop trying to help him up. Shaking his older brother's hands off of him as he finally got to his feet. When they headed towards the house, neither brother said anything. Nor did they look at each other. Instead, they just went inside their older brother's home. Helped him to clean up what was left of the burglar. Which wasn't much. Just a black garbage bag, some blood, and a knife. No one saying anything before they individually started getting cleaned up.

Putting their dirtied clothes into the fireplace to be burned. Then changing into different ones. Brandon took it upon himself to get rid of the burglar's items while his brothers worked. Tossing his items into an abandoned well that was on their property. Feeling grateful that there weren't any nearby neighbors to be worried about as he headed back to Trevor's house. Finding that his brother's were done with their tasks. After this, they all headed to bed to sleep. Brandon was grateful that he had his own room to panic in. He light the candle that was seated in the windowsill next to his bed. Then he curled up on his side on the bed as he tried to pretend what happened hadn't happened. Put it to the back of his mind as he shut his eyelids. Praying that his dreams wouldn't be plagued by the dead man's eyes.

Only a few minutes after he shut his eyelids did he hear the noise. Soft thumping noises that almost sounded like footsteps. Like someone was walking around downstairs. Almost like...like...pushing the thought aside, Brandon silently slipped out of his bed and towards the door. Silently tip toeing towards the top of the stairs. Soon as he peeked down, he noticed a dark shape moving around the living room. At first, he thought it was possibly Daniel. Looking for something that he left downstairs. Only keeping the light off to avoid waking up his other brothers. He almost believed that thought. Almost had. Until he heard a voice to the right of him. Whispering his name over and over again with such urgency that he had to look over. Freezing when he saw that Daniel was standing in his doorway. Looking slightly unnerved as he whispered,"The Hell is going on?"

Before Brandon could even answer, the footsteps downstairs started getting louder. Brandon turned his head to see the shape from downstairs hurriedly climbing the stairs. In a panic, the youngest brother found himself unable to move. His entire being just feeling frozen as the shape got closer and closer. Barely hearing his older brother screaming at the top of his lungs for him to move. Calling their eldest brother's name. In a matter of seconds, the shape was on him. Soon as it was close enough to him, he realized it was...it was the burglar. Bloodied, dirty, and angry. His hands wrapping around the youngest brother's neck so tight that he couldn't breathe. Everything in him was screaming at him to fight back. To struggle. But he couldn't get his limbs to agree with him. All he could do was lay under the moving corpse as it strangled him. Vision fading as he heard his older brothers screaming and running towards them. The last thing he saw was the corpse's glassy eyes.

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Weeks later, the McDougal brother's bodies were discovered. Found by officers that were called thanks to the eldest brother not showing up to work for so long. Trevor McDaniel was the first found. He was laying in the front yard with a gunshot wound to the back of his head. Seemingly running from his attacker. The second oldest, Daniel, was found on the living room floor in front of the fireplace. Throat slit open with a hunting knife that was later found in the kitchen sink.

Several defensive wounds on his arms indicated he tried to fight his attacker off. But unfortunately failed. But managed to scratch his attacker as there was DNA under his nails

The youngest brother, Brandon, was found at the top of the stairs. Strangled to death.

There was also a strange make-shift grave about five hundred yards from the property. When it was dug up, there was the body of a man inside of it. Shot just like the eldest brother was. Even with the same gun. Even stranger the corpse's fingerprints matched the ones on the knife, gun, and Brandon's throat. His DNA was found under Daniel's fingernails. The corpse even had scratch marks on his forearms and face. But it didn't seem plausible. As he died a full five hours before the McDougal family were murdered.

The case remains open to this day. No one having the faintest idea how a corpse managed to kill three men. Nor would anyone ever.