MARROW: The Crimson Odyssey

Chapter One: Through Thought and Prayer

CHAPTER ONE 

Through Thought and Prayer 

Several Months Before

John was the definition of a champion. He was bold, strong, and humble with the courage of a lion. At a time he and I were inseparable. He was a boxer in the minor leagues, and he planned to go all the way. John was a gentle man, but fighting seemed to help him with everything. He had a problem and he went to the gym, he had a bad day and he went to the bag. 

"So what do you think?" John put his hands in his pockets as he smiled at me and looked back up to the sky. 

He was looking at a billboard of us. Yes we knew we were amateurs, but we were almost to the big leagues, we might as well try to act like it. At least that's what I and our marketing manager had thought. We were back to back, him in blue jeans with his traditional boxing gloves hanging over his shoulder, a dark, grey, long sleeve sweatshirt, fitted to "show off his muscles", his snake chain with the Gabriel's Cross as a charm around his neck, his hands taped as he slightly held them up, clenched and gave that gaze that to me looked like something between a death stare and a look of proud confidence. 

"I think it's a start." I said. I was wearing a sharp black suit jacket in the billboard picture, a burgundy collared shirt with black stripes, a black tie, and black pants. My silver watch barely showing, peeking out from behind my cuffs and I gave that smile that seemed to say 'we'll take the world by storm'. In fact when I told our marketing agent, he loved it so much he decided to put it on the billboard. He told us that it was the perfect new slogan for the Keaton brothers, that was a little over four years ago when he said that and he was true to his word. The picture was taken, the billboard standing and the words that came out of my mouth when I described how my look, looked to me was our new slogan, catch phrase, or really whatever you want to call it. 

"Twenty one years old and we're on billboards, come on, Jake. I think it's flattering." He had that smile that gave people a sense of calmness, a chance to let their guard down without any repercussions. 

"I don't like the glasses." Yes in order to give a little spice to my character and provide a little tick for our fans to tell us apart the photographer and the marketing agent suggested I wear glasses in the picture. I hated them. Sure, it made me look 'more intelligent' and 'professional', but... wait, should I have said 'intellectual'? Nevertheless they liked it, I didn't. 

John and I had both been interested in fighting. It was easy to think that everything could be solved with a little hand to hand or the more usual hand to bag instead of the infuriatingly under zealous conflict resolution. Don't get me wrong, I was never a violent person, in fact I used to be a kinder spirit than John was. It was at a young age of five years that John and I showed interest fighting. Mother eased into it, and eventually had us train with a professional self-defense coach and take several mixed martial arts classes. We were always neck and neck when it came to skill and talent. It was almost like we were carbon copies of each other, meant to be the same and opposites. It gave us a reason to try harder, and to never give up on it. 

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Five Years Prior 

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"Again!" Our Coach screamed and John slammed his fist down as I used my arm to block. Coach loved the idea of repetitiveness. We would go through a lesson where I would defend and John would attack, then switch roles and repeat the motions. 

Even our bruises matched. I have to say out of everything I hated about being a twin; the one at the top of the list was being compared to one and other, right above the people who go "Wait, which one are you?" and the one that unfortunately is only paired with such a special case such as John's and mine... Those people who come up to us with that unsettling, mischievous smile just to tell that incredibly stupid, redundant joke. 'John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt', oh if it weren't for the fact that comparison was more of a prominent annoyance and even more than that, Mr. Schmidt would be more of a threat. Still, there was nothing I'd want more than to go back in time to make sure that stupid song was never written.