Carry On Dreaming (The Cowboy's Promise sequel) (SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter 2

"Dude!" Elliot shouts suddenly, the sound echoing in the quiet house. "Dude dude dude dude!"

I laugh at my baby brother, pausing the episode. "Shh. You'll wake everyone up. What's so important?"

"Gay marriage is legal!" he yells at the top of his lungs.

"Okay, well congratulations, but let's move my laptop before you break it," I comment, reaching for the MacBook. He hands it over, and I sit it on the coffee table. "And be quiet. People are sleeping. Your boyfriend is a bitch without sleep."

"Hey! Oh, come here." He starts heading to his room, and I follow him. He bounces in and pulls a velvet box out of his nightstand. His eyes are glowing with excitement. Before he wakes up Seneca and August, I pull him into my room.

"Well, let's see it," I prompt him. He pries the lid open to reveal a steel engagement ring. He tells me it's gunmetal with a line of sapphire in the middle. "Pretty nice."

"Yeah. He didn't want anything fancy, and sapphire is his birthstone."

"When are you proposing?" I ask.

"What's today? The third?"

"Since it's one-thirty, technically it's the fourth, but yeah."

He gives me a bitchface. "Dude. Anyway. Thalia, her husband, and her brothers are coming over for a cookout, right?"

"Yeah. I even got Mom to come down."

"Yay! I'm gonna propose then. But, right now," he yawns, "I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed."

"Sounds like a good idea. Think I'm gonna crash here though."

€*€

"It's all your fault, Redson."

"No it's not! None of it!" I shout, standing in front of the ruins of my home. The ashes coat my boots. Not a single board remains standing.

"Yes it is, and you know it. You're the reason Blake is gone. You're the reason I have these," Elliot's ghost says, holding up his arms. His wrists are slit, crimson blood running down his forearms. He has dark shadows under his eyes.

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if this was your fault." He spreads his arms wide, gesturing at the ash that used to be our house and barn.

"Stop it! Stop it right now!" I demand.

"And now you're going to join us," he says ominously. He moves closer, a knife blade shining in his hands. I try to run, but I trip over something and fall to the ground. A saddle. Blake's saddle. I can see his skull next to it. I scream. Elliot jumps on me, the blade flashing a second before he presses it to my throat.

"Now you can know how we feel," he growls. The last thing I feel is my hot blood running down my neck.

€*€

"NO!" I scream, bolting up from my sleep. That dream has gotten even worse since Blake died.

"Red, what's wrong?" It takes me a minute to recognize the voice.

"No! Get away from me, you son of a bitch!"

"Red! Hey, chill out! Man, it's me. I got you." Elliot's voice lowers the longer he talks. The minute I figure out that this is reality, I clutch on to him to remind me that he's still alive. He sits on the couch next to me.

I keep my head buried in his neck. He rubs my back, not saying a word until I lift my head.

"Okay, what was different tonight?" he asks soothingly.