Thin Air (Complete EDITING)

16- Brandon

16 Brandon May 25, 2020

My heart is slamming against the cage of my chest as I snap into consciousness. I've been sleeping like shit since I found my dad. The nightmares haven't stopped coming, and it's steadily wearing me down.

This one started with Dad lying on the floor, blood bubbling from his mouth as he groaned in pain. He was telling me it was my fault he was dying in between garbled gasping breaths. I was trying to sop up the blood seeping out of him and had begun to drip up the walls when his voice changed, and the walls fell away. I was met with a blank-eyed Erin standing in the woods. The once vibrant jade of her eyes had been replaced by a milky white. Her mouth fell open as she shrieked that I had killed her. Over and again, louder and more urgently: until I mercifully woke in a cold sweat.

I had been sure my dad was dead when I saw him face down in that puddle. I still don't get how he is alive after losing that much blood. It was so dark and thick that I could not make out the blackened designs of the rug he had fallen on.

His condition hasn't improved much, but they were able to take him off the ventilator this morning. Now we sit and wait. We are hoping that his brain heals as well as his body has. It's probably for the best that he hasn't woken up yet. I cracked a rib once and it was almost unbearable. I can't imagine that pain he'd be in with four of them fractured and both bones in his lower arm broken through. The gash on his head is going to leave quite the scar. He's lucky that his hair hasn't thinned so he will be able to keep it covered. Not that it is going to matter if he doesn't wake up.

I throw the covers back and decide to get up—no sense in tossing and turning.

My restlessness must be bothering Lorde Augustus the Knucklehead; he is scratching at the door and whimpering. I must have been talking in my sleep again.

"You want to go for a run, buddy?"

He jumps up, putting his massive paws on my shoulders and smashing his big black head against my face, so we are nose to nose. He's hyperactive for a Great Dane but awkward as hell. That's why Eli gave him the name. There was something about him when I saw his grey eyes on the screen as I distractedly scrolled through Facebook one night. The thing they say about pets and their owners looking alike is real for us. We are both long-limbed with dark hair and grey eyes. I knew I had to have him.

I'm not one for social media in general, but people talk in small towns like this one. And I'm always listening. Someone has to know what happened to Erin. I keep hoping that someone will say something useful or post it on the page dedicated to finding her. People don't just disappear into thin air.

Having given up on the idea of sleep, I fill up my water bottle and pull Gus's harness over his head. As soon as the clasp clicks, he's pulling me out the door, already knowing where to go. We turn left twice and then right. We are taking the route Erin was walking the last time I saw her. I used to take this way hoping to find something useful, but over the years it's become a habit. Anything useful is long gone by now.

My mind is blank as my feet slap the damp pavement. I hope getting up early, running, and the long day ahead of me will wear me out enough to sleep tonight.

I've just slowed and rounded the last corner of our route when the streetlights turn off, and headlights hit me in the eye. I raised my hand to shield them and see a familiar red Jeep coming at me. Looks like Nicole's car issues have been taken care of.

I wish Drew would have called me the other day when her car conveniently broke down after the boys' baseball game. If he had, I'm sure I would have found a loosened disruptor cap or pulled spark plug wire. That conniving witch is always trying to sink her claws into my naive little brother. At this point, I'm not sure if it's because she wants him or if she lives to make Jamie angry. Either way, she is a thorn in my side.

She waves her hand out of the open window in greeting. I toss back a curt nod in acknowledgment. I was planning to stop by the office to grab a few things this morning before heading out. Looks like I'll be doing that after work now. I don't want to risk running into her. There aren't many people I go out of my way to avoid, but God, I hate her.

The second Shannon and I take over the company; she's getting canned. I know it sounds cold with her being a single mother and all, but I don't care. She's a clever woman, she will work something out.

I soothe a hand down Gus's back, trying to lay his bristling hair flat. "It's okay big guy, the witch is gone."