In our day and age, we are always so concerned with theory and reasons. Every single piece of technological equipment is made to support this mentality. Whenever something unexpected happens, we turn to logic, we ask science for answers.
When Dominic Griffin fell ill, there was no reason to be found, and the means to search for one were not what they are today. And frankly - it did not matter at all. When you are told that you will die within a year, knowing the how and the why of it is very little consolation. This was the time when seeing the doctor in town surely meant that somebody was going to die.
Dominic's illnes was the talk of the town, of course. The younger of the Griffin brothers - sick? Everybody knew them. The quiet, dark Dominic was always the best loved of the two. He was the one who went out of his way to help old ladies carry her groceries or to take lost children home. He was the one who sat quietly listening to stories at dinner parties making the storyteller feel appreciated by his accurate enquiries and appropriate comments. It wasn't that Gideon wasn't popular. He was just very different from his brother. He never turned down a challenge, and he was a bright, handsome young man with blue eyes and fair hair. If Dominic was the one who listened, Gideon was always certain to have an exciting and entertaining story up his sleeve for every occasion. Women over forty loved Dominic and hoped their daughters would some day marry him, and women under forty loved Gideon and hoped they would some day marry him.
Gideon could not stand seeing Dominic sick. He would sit by his bed and start talking about things they should do once his brother got well again. Dominic would just smile at him and tell him how lovely it sounded, and they both knew how futile it was. At times he wanted to take his sword and plunge it into Dominic's heart so that he would not have to see him suffer anymore.
"I don't want you to die!" he told Dominic, holding his increasingly fragile hands in his. "I don't want you to leave me!"
"There is not much I can do about it," whispered Dominic. "I'm sorry, Gideon."
"I'm going to find a way!" said Gideon fiercely, as if this was a crisis that he would singlehandedly face and overcome. "I promise you, Dominic, I'm going to find a way!"
Dominic only smiled.
One day Gideon disappeared. He simply was gone without a word, without as much as saying good bye to his brother or his friends. Evil rumours around town had it that he had abandoned Dominic, and it was not long before people started remembering how cruel Gideon had been to a dog once, or how Dominic might not have fallen ill if it hadn't been for Gideon's unnatural ideas of horse racing on the heath in the middle of the night. Whenever these rumour reached Dominic, he would deny them. Blaming Gideon for his situation was not only futile but untrue as well. Who were they to speak ill of Gideon?
Gideon hadn't left him. Surely he would return. He wasn't so much scared of dying now, but of dying alone. Gideon had always been there to help him through the hardest of times. If Gideon was with him, even the strongest pain was bearable. Besides, if Gideon returned to find him gone already, he would be terribly upset. They needed to say farewell properly. So he simply had to stay alive until he saw Gideon running up the garden path.

Meanwhile, Gideon had left the country in search for a cure for Dominic's illness. There had to be a way. He would not tolerate it! He would not just sit and watch. His search took him south and east. As he rode across the lands, he started hearing rumours and tales to support his quest. Myths of someone who could help him save his brother. As the stories started to grow more real and substantial, he also began hearing warnings from the locals. Yes, there was such a person as the one he was looking for, but under no circumstances should he get anywhere near her. It would be certain death to ask for her help.
In the end, he was directed to a desolated castle. If he really meant to see the witch who lived there, he should wait until nightfall and lure her out with a newly slaughtered animal. And so, Gideon stood outside the fortress, holding the severed head of a goat over his head.
"Come out and talk to me!" he bellowed. "I plead your help!"
The great doors swung open. "What makes you think I will do anything for you, young mortal?" asked the inhabitant, a beautiful, whitehaired woman in far more luxurious garments than the faded, raw walls of the castle would suggest. She was so pale that it was difficult to imagine her ever having experienced daylight.
"I have heard that you can make a man live forever," answered Gideon readily. "My brother is dying. I need to save him. Please," he added, falling to his knees and holding out the head to her as an offering. Its blood was running down his arms and staining his shirt. "Please help me, and I will be forever indebted to you! I will do anything you wish as long as you help me save my brother's life!"
She looked at him with a disgusted frown, "Why are you waving a dead animal at me?"
"I was told you would approve of it," replied Gideon.
The woman gave a hollow laugh. "Not really, I don't. And I don't think I want to help you." She turned around, and the doors began closing.
"No!" yelled Gideon. "No! I came so far! You cannot do this to me!" He pushed his way through the doors and grabbed her by the shoulders. How cold and hard her skin was! It was startling to feel - as if she were a corpse. "Please! I will do anything! Please! I promised him ... I promised my brother I would find him a cure. Please! I - I swear I will kill you if you do not help me!" He brandished his sword at her, his fingers clamped shaking in rage and fear.
Seeing his desperate tears, the woman pushed the sword away with a smile. "Put that thing back in its sheath before you hurt yourself with it. I will agree to help you because you are the first person I meet with a little nerve. The first man who doesn't flee in horror at the touch of my skin."

The time was drawing closer. It was clear to everyone who knew Dominic. At day he appeared to be accepting his fate, to be tending to matters such as his will and telling his friends not to be sad, because he would soon be free of the torment of pain. But at night he cried silently, for Gideon had been gone for several months now, and he did not know how much longer he could wait for him.
At one point he considered getting it over with and taking his own life. What did a month or two matter? He admitted this to a servant, and curiously all sharp objects were removed from his room shortly after. But had he really meant to do it, he could have jumped out of the window and hoped to break his neck on the cobblestones below. He didn't, because Gideon still wasn't there, and Gideon would be so sad and angry with him if they couldn't see each other one last time. "Gideon, where are you? I'm scared," he whispered into his pillow. "I'm so scared."
Late one night when Dominic had cried himself to sleep, he was awoken by a sound at the window. "Gideon?" he breathed hopefully. The window was open, and a cool breeze was playing with the curtains.
"Dominic." Gideon was standing in the shadows by the window. He was back. He was finally back. He sat down on the bed and kissed the forehead of his little brother. "I'm here now, Dominic," he said softly. "I'm here."
Dominic was crying. He wouldn't have to be lonely now. He was safe. He would never have to be scared and alone again. "I've missed you!"
"I have missed you too," replied Gideon. "But don't worry. We will never have to be apart again. We will be together forever now."
Dominic shook his head. "At least for a little while. I have no more than a few weeks to -"
Gideon put his finger on his brother's lips. "Shh. I said forever. I will never leave you again, and I will never let you leave me. I am going to save you," he said. "But first ... I am going to have to hurt you. It will be over soon, but I'm going to have to ..."
"I don't understand. What are you ..?" whispered Dominic.
"To give you a new life, I am going to take your old life," explained Gideon. "Trust me. I love you."
"I love you too, but what ..?" Dominic's eyes widened in surprise as Gideon bent closer and put his hand hard over his mouth. The purpose of this became clear when what would have been an agonised scream came out as a muffled cry. Gideon was biting him. Or was it a monster disguised as his brother? The teeth piercing his skin and his veins were no ordinary human teeth. He instinctively tried breaking free, but his efforts were futile. Gideon was pinning him to the bed, hurting him. Killing him.

When Dominic woke up, it was strangely clear to him that he had died. He had felt it. The death he had so been trying to stall had been dealt to him swiftly in the form of his own brother. And yet - yet he was alive to have these thoughts. The room was dark, but he could easily discern every detail of it. The bloodstains, the curtains still blowing in the wind. The form of his brother crouched on the floor with a clumsily made bandage around his wrist, holding it tenderly.
"Gideon?"
Gideon swayingly got to his feet. He staggered to the bed and sat down on it again. "Dominic," he replied. "My brother, my son."
"Gideon," Dominic whispered again, "I'm ... You killed me."
"Yes," Gideon smiled, putting Dominic's hand on his own chest. "See? I promised you, didn't I? I promised you I'd find a way to save you, and I did!"
"But I'm dead. We're ... dead," said Dominic horrified.
"And free to live forever!" laughed Gideon, revealing a set of deadly canines. "I kept my promise, Dominic! And we will be together forever!"
Dominic stared at him. His eyes started brimming over with tears.
"Don't cry, Dominic. My wish was granted. I will never have to worry about you dying again," he said, embracing his little brother tightly.
Dominic didn't reply. He returned the embrace, clinging on to Gideon with trembling arms.

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