I kept tumbling deeper and deeper into the darkness of insanity. I couldn't give her up not when I had her in my dreams, not when another lifetime meant another chance. In the blink of an eye, I lost her. In the blink of an eye, she was there. Anyth...
I'm back in the apocalyptic world again. I find it peculiar that I no longer get those damning headaches anymore. I'd usually only get them if I was jumping back from the apocalyptic world to the safe world though, don't know why that was, but it was a nice perk of knowing when I was about to jump. Now, it happens in a second and I never know when. Me and Amber reach the checkpoint with the wind from the chopper above us blowing our hair all over the place. Uncle Emmett and Dad are already in the helicopter. Jace passes the gun to Bray to keep a lookout while he helps the girls up the ladder.
"Bray!" I get his attention. "Needa ask you something!"
"Shoot!" he tells me, the irony because he's got the gun pointed at any potential targets.
"Don't ask why just answer! Okay?!"
"Yeah, yeah, go, mate!" he's not even looking at me, too focused on the task at hand.
"Why'd you hate your dad so much?!"
He faces me, sweating and limping a bit. "What?!"
"Just answer, trust, I'll explain it all later!"
"Go, Carmen!" Jace helps her up as soon as Amber reaches the top.
"L-look," my throat is getting dry from the chaotic wind, "I know you said that he was an abusive drunk and all but what else?!"
"Just that, Dean!"
"What else?!" I insist, I need the answers ready for his other self and 'just that' won't do it.
"He wasn't my real dad!" Bray coughs a few times and shakes it off. "Didn't do shit for me and Mum but yell! That basketball I always had with me?! Yeah, Mum said it belonged to my real father! You done now?!"
Oh... Step-dad. That makes a lot of sense actually. Only his mother would come to the parent-teacher interviews. Bray always said his dad was 'busy'... Busy being a drunk and busy not being the father he needed.
"Dean!" Jace holds the ladder to me. "I'll spot ya!"
"I'll go after," I push it back to him. "You go!"
"Brother!" he shakes his head. "I ain't making the same mistake twice, get on!"
"Jace, it's okay," I urge. "You're forgiven, for real. Go!"
He double-guesses himself but when I give him the nod, he accepts and goes up the ladder.
"One more question, Bray!" I duct, covering my ears, hearing a few lurkers drop dead with Dad blasting a bullet here and there from the chopper.
"Bro, I don't think we have time for 21 questions!"
"What's your most hated memory?" I say quickly, we're running out of time. "Trust me, please! It'll all make sense!"
"Getting hit by a baseball!" he says, sorta sarcastically. "Fuck, dude! Why you asking me this shit now?! Surely it can wait!"
"Paris 207!" I tell him.
Bray pauses for a sec, tilting his head, "how do you know about that?! I never told you or any-"
"Bray, please! Just answer!"
"F-fine! I had this.. this crush on some girl at the hotel when me and Mum went vacationing! Mum went out and I was alone in the hotel room, y'know naked, music on blast..! That sorta thing! I was trying out all the liquor in the mini-fridge they had!"
Sounds like him.
"Long story short, I got wasted and my crush knocked on our door for the music to be turned down and..!"
"And she saw you naked," I grin.
"Yup!" Bray cringes. "Most embarrassing moment of my life! Which you now know! Congratulations! Can we move on now, please?!"
"T-minus 7 mins! " Emmett hollers again. "Hurry on, lads!!"
Jace has just made it over so I grab the ladder and hold it out for Bray.
"You go!" he shakes his head, a soft smile playing on his lips. "I'll cover your ass!"
"You wish!" I roll my eyes.
"G-go, D-Dean!" and he winces, limping a bit.
I pause, tilting my head, something's not right with him... My scan drifts down to his leg. I spot a few droplets of blood dripping down his shoe.
"Y-you're hurt!" I step towards him. "We can get you patched up, Bray! It's okay!"
"No, no..." he takes a silent step back. "Just go, Dean! I'll-I'll get on after you!" he glances away at the last few words of his sentence so I know he's lying.
"Boys, get on, NOW!" Dad demands, sniping another lurker. "Zinedine!"
"Dad, just give me a sec! Bray's hurt! I need to help him up! Hey, Bray-"
There's no one there. What the fuck? Where'd he go? Then I catch a small glimpse of him disappearing behind some trees.
"Dad, I'll be right back!"
"Zinedine, for Christ's sake! You're grounded as soon as I have your ass up here!"
I ignore Dad and chase Bray. I lift the cold pieces of branches covering my view. Bray's standing in front of a lake with his back to me and holding the gun by his side. He's all broken and worn out... The lake he's staring at is breathtakingly beautiful and he takes it in with every paced out breath. The lake. It's real, it's surreal. It could've all been a dream but Bray wouldn't be hurt in my dream so...
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"Brayson..." I whisper.
It's silent all of a sudden. Maybe it's the aura of the lake. Or maybe it's the fact that all I wanna hear, all I wanna make sense of, is why Bray's acting like this. He turns to me, pivoting with limps. The dark circles around his eyes have gotten darker, his sweaty body looks weaker, and the smudges of mud all over him cover the sickly paleness of his skin.
"Sorry, Dean..." a tear rolls down his cheek, leaving a clean trail of skin behind.
