Natural Born Killers

Unnaturally close, that's what the tabloids called it at first. During those early months, after everyone had exhausted the psychopathic murderer aspect, after everyone got bored of hearing victim's names, that was the next big thing. It was a relatively unspoken rule during the first reports and stories that hit the media, that no-one was to actually declare the relationship anything other than 'unnaturally close'. Then reporters started to pick up on what was always going to be an explosive component of what comprised the Adstrum brothers. The disturbingly intimate, co-dependant relationship. It became a kind of forbidden, taboo joke as the stories progressed. Little innuendos, tiny hints that couldn't be censored. It was only a matter of time before it exploded over the papers and the screens, confirmed and undeniable. One thing the Adstrum’s had never been, was shy.

Anyone who had spent time in the same room with them both could see it. Anyone who had ever made the mistake of touching Therion Adstrum when Galetto was nearby knew that there was something a little more between them than brotherly affection and psychotic loyalty, those who lived to mull it over, anyway. Almost everyone could see it between them. Even when they were kept separate, questioned separately, it was as though the other was there, right next to them. Ask Therion a question two corridors away from where Galetto was being held, and the young Adstrum boy would look next to him at the empty space as if consulting an invisible man. Then he'd answer with that same perfectly angelic face that so many people had fallen for. It was deeply unnerving and there were already whispers circulating the case; rumours about strange things; ghosts, demons, the supernatural element. Seeing Therion Adstrum looking into nothingness like it wasn't just thin air….it made people uneasy. That, of course, wasn't all about Therion Adstrum that made people uneasy.

Nothing fazed the brothers in the slightest; nothing except the threat of harm towards the other. Even that had to be extreme to generate any kind of impact; they trusted one another in a way that was relatively unprecedented for relationships of such co-dependant proportions. They knew each other's limits, had obviously been trained to withstand vast amounts of pain and this made them secure in the knowledge that the other would not be easily hurt. Therion knew Galetto could take care of himself and Galetto knew the same about Therion and...well, if anyone threatened to do more than knock Therion around a bit, Galetto would usually find a way out of his restraints and put paid to whomever was foolhardy enough to boast such a threat. Both boys knew how to take a beating; knew how to laugh afterwards. They smiled with red mouths, blood free-flowing down their faces; giggled with cracked ribs and cat called with strangled throats. No strangers to violence or pain, it quickly became common knowledge that such deterrents were redundant, not to mention dangerous for the people administering such techniques.

It took everyone a while to figure out that Therion Adstrum was the most dangerous of the pair. The first incident occurred back when the police had tried such methods as beating them in front of one another, trying to get them to crack. Therion was cuffed to the table while Galetto was beaten repeatedly right in front of him. For the most part Therion had been silent, watching his brother unblinkingly; face bloodless, barely breathing. The detectives in charge at the time had thought they were making progress, so they let up for a moment. One of them leaned in close to Therion's face, demanding that he explain how they had managed to blow a hole a mile wide in the middle of a shopping mall when no-one could find a trace of a detonation device. He'd leaned in too close to see that Therion's restraints were undone and obviously had been for quite some time. That Therion had been sitting there, hands laced loosely over the table as he watched and waited.

Then one hand shot up whipcord fast and before anyone could react, the man's oesophagus was in Therion's fingers, blood gushing from the open throat like water over the table. Galetto was laughing softly from where he lay bleeding and bruised on the floor.

Therion was lethal because he was unpredictable; always smiling softly, like he was really just an innocent bystander to his brother's unspeakable violence. It was how most people had died early on in the interrogation process. Therion could look like he was about to cry, about break down and admit something significant and just as that person would lean in to encourage it…up came those hands, never properly restrained, no matter how much they adjusted the cuffs and the locks. Those hands knew how to tear, rip and destroy what they set their sights on. He wielded death like he was playing piano and often sang while doing it. Three floors away, his brother would smile without even having been informed of the incident.

Galetto was dangerous, but openly so. It was common knowledge that he was the most sane of the pair and it was from Galetto that the detectives had learned what little information they had about the case. Galetto Adstrum told the story with relish and nostalgia; he remembered everyone he had ever killed. When he spoke of the stories, it was always what Therion had looked like that day, what Therion had said or done, what Therion had been humming under his breath. Never just the story of the poor boy who had been stupid enough to hitch hike with them or the dumb waitress who hadn't known any better than to be beguiled by one or both of their hypnotic smiles. Always with reference to his brother, somehow. He could make a story about a killing spree in a Fraternity House into a love sonnet about Ther's torn-at-the-knee jeans.

Galetto was a little more grounded than Therion, but just as terrifying. He had a way of looking deep down into a person and knowing instantly what would destroy that person, if only with words. Sometimes words were all he had access to and he would never waste a chance to do some damage. When he had more than words, like a free hand or even an unrestrained mouth full of teeth then the real carnage would present itself. There was no question about Galetto's lethality; he didn't try to hide it. Everyone knew not to go near him and it was as simple as that. Even the lawyer spoke to him through bulletproof glass.

The closeness was only one small part of what made them so fascinating; so compelling to read about in the safety of suburbia. Every psychologist worth their salt had clamoured to get near the Adstrum brothers; to crack open the secrets and compulsions behind their actions. Everyone knew bits and pieces, tiny little flecks of truth smothered and built up by guesses and rumours. The paramilitary childhood, methodical violence, sexual abuse; everyone seemed to have their own theory. The mother had died when Galetto was five, Therion had only been six months old. The father, Ben Adstrum, had taken both boys and quite literally fallen off the grid. From what Galetto had told them in bits and pieces, they'd been raised on the road, moving from place to place. Nothing constant in their lives except each other. It was the first time Galetto had ever slipped and said anything to indicate something more in the relationship between them. Of course, the person he'd said it to had suffered a violent, brutal demise seconds later, but it was all on tape. After that, they had gleaned tiny insights into what could easily be the foundations for a 'Bad Childhood' plea. Not that either one of them would dream of pleading innocent in any way whatsoever, but their case was far from complete and there were endless holes and gaps in the story. Questioning Therion yielded nothing but stories of demons, hell and monsters so horrific the human imagination couldn't fathom their existence.

Once, someone had asked him if he missed his father; Therion jammed a pen into their skull. That was the last time anyone tried to get anything meaningful out of Therion. But Galetto…sometimes he would give them something and it would be another piece of the puzzle that was Therion and Galetto Adstrum. The puzzle, most suspected, would always be incomplete to some extent and the others didn't think that the whole picture was necessary to convict them. The evidence amassed against them was overwhelming and sufficient to earn them both the death penalty several times over. Perhaps some believed that digging too far into their dark and terrifying past would lend credence to any potential insanity plea their lawyer might cook up. Anyone who had stared too long into the eyes of Therion Adstrum and lived to tell the tale would agree; there was something…missing. Eyes too deep, swallowing all light and reflecting none.