The Awake

Rage And Guilt

We returned home and told the group of what had happened. They were all devastated. But not as much as me...

"He sacrificed himself for us. If he hadn't of made a distraction, we would of been shot dead." Ty explained to the others. Elizabeth and Brianna were both crying. Before Ty could finish the story, I felt something through my tears. I felt something strong, moving throughout my heart. I felt the rage. This time I let the rage make me do something violent. I interrupted Ty, mid sentence.

"The sandmen." I said, feeling the rage. Everyone in the room was quiet."Every single one of them. They will all die!!!" I erupted. The rage surged through me like fire. I stood up and grabbed my revolver off the table. Then, I turned towards the front door. Brianna stepped in front of me.

"Drayton, please stop. Don't let it control you." She pleaded. I easily pushed past her. I opened the front door and continued to walk down the driveway. Brianna, Ty, and the others chased after me. I wanted to put a bullet into each of the Sand men's heads. My heart pumped rapidly, just adding to the rage.

"COME AND GET ME, YOU COWARDS!!!!" I yelled, firing my revolver in the air twice. "I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!!!" I shot straight up once again.

"Put the gun down and come back inside, son." Nick said to me.

"YOU TOOK HIS LEG FROM HIM!!! I'LL TAKE YOUR LIVES IN RETURN!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I shot two more times until there was only one bullet left in the gun. The rage was messing with my mind. I wanted him back more than anything."I CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS!!! NOT WITHOUT AARON!!!" I cried out. I brought the barrel of the gun to the side of my head. The others screamed out to me. I thought to myself, I'll be with you again, Aaron. I was seconds away from pulling the trigger, when Ty tackled me to the ground. He pinned me to the ground, slamming my arm repeatedly until I dropped the revolver.

"Dray!!! Stop it!!! You're not thinking straight!!!" He yelled at me as I cried. He was right. The rage was controlling me. It felt like all the rage in my body was disappearing. Letting me go, Ty pulled me up and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back.

"Why did he have to die?" I whimpered, as my cousin held me in his arms. We all went back into the house and I sat down on the couch. Everyone comforted me until I was stable again.

"All he wanted was to wake Cailey from her sleep." I said calmly. "That's what we're going to do. Wake her up. Ty, when can you start working?"

"I'll start tomorrow morning. I already emptied your backpack of all the ingredients. Under them was a medkit and something else." Ty said walking towards the basement door. He vanished down the stairs and reappeared, a few seconds later, with something in his hand. He handed it to me and I looked at it in my hands. It was a black rod, about 12 inches long. There was a piece of duct tape on the side of it. The tape was about an inch long. On it was the letter "A", written in permanent marker. I instantly knew what it was. I stood up and held the rod in both of my hands. Using my finger, I tapped the stick twice, and the rod extended. The rod was Aaron's staff.

"You tricky, devil." I whispered to myself. I felt tears starting to form again when I smiled, as I brushed my finger over the "A" on the duct tape. I tapped the end of the staff on the floor, with one arm. It contracted back into the foot long rod it had once been. I looked back at Ty, who was standing in the same place.

"I'm sure he would want you to have it." Ty said.

"Thank you, Ty." I replied. After I apologized to the group for my outburst, I walked down the stairs and to my room. I opened my bedroom door and looked down at Aaron's cot, that wasn't made. I approached it and pulled his blanket off the ground. Aaron's Dumpster rock fell from the blanket, onto the cot. I moved it and made Aaron's bed. I picked up his rock and carefully set it down on the cot. I held Aaron's staff in my hand, as I sat down on my bed. I would cherish it forever. I will avenge you, Aaron. One day.