My Great Big Brother- No Promise Left Unkept
Disclaimer: Don't read this if you are underage, meaning if you are under 18 SHOO! NOW. And I know you aren't gonna listen because I did the same thing when I was 16. Sigh, so just make sure you lock the damn door so your parents don't catch you, a'ight? All characters are mine. Also, this story contains Incest in it. For the record, I don't condone it and sure as hell don't recommend it. So listen up kiddies and don't try to bang your sis. Got it? If not, your ass is grass and your dad's foot is a lawn mower. Oh, and any copyrighted names I used belong to their respective owners and I was not paid to use them. Go Steelers! And also Go Gators even though I don't go to that school. =)
"Ugh...what time is it Where am I?" Kyle said aloud as he stood up. He felt dizzy, drowsy, and detached all at once. Once he was on his feet he rubbed his eyes and tried to clear his head. "What the hell happened?" he asked no one in particular as he surveyed the carnage that lay around him. The bodies of the terrorist forces still lay strewn about in bloody heaps, some already being picked at by stray birds looking for an easy meal. Kyle turned around and strode over to the ruined Humvee. Smoke was starting to pour from the hood as the gasoline leaking inside had finally combusted. The SAS tiger was still slumped against the driver's side door of the Humvee. The tiger was still breathing, although Kyle wondered how long he had before the internal bleeding killed the large cat. Kyle moved over to the tiger and tried to grasp him by his shoulders to move him, only...he couldn't. As Kyle reached a paw forward, his fingers simply disappeared into the tiger's body. It was as if the man was intangible. "What the fuh...how's that possible?" Kyle looked over and saw John still lying on the ground, his head wound having clotted to a degree. He walked over to his fallen comrade's body only to be further nauseated by his friend's condition. The right side of John's face was coated in a thick layer of his own blood, and his cheek fur had become matted as the blood dried. Kyle reached down and tried to check John's pulse, only to have his fingers pass through John's corpse. Kyle brought his paw up to his own face and touched himself successfully. "Oooookaaaaayyyy...what's going here?" Shaking his head in confusion, Kyle walked over to where he'd been lying earlier...except...he was still there. Kyle's eyes went wide as he rushed over to a dead wolf in Marine fatigues, and sure enough it was him! His face looked exactly the same, there was a small hole in his abdomen and a large bloodstain around it, and he even had the same dog tags. Kyle tried to grip what he was sure was his own body, only find for the third time that his own paws simply passed through the corpse. At first Kyle felt utter terror...but after a few seconds his mind began to calm down and process the situation. "Okay...soooooo I'm a ghost...or something. But how do I tell? Well umm, how do I feel? Wait...I don't feel anything. What's that mean?" It was true, Kyle didn't feel anything in a physical sense. The earlier feelings of dizziness and drowsiness had left shortly after he stood up. The air around him felt cool without being chilly, sort of like the early morning during summer. He stood up again, staring down at his own body while scratching behind his left ear with his right paw. "Huh, this must be one of those out of body experiences I read about on Wikipedia. At least I hope it's one of those and I'm not fully dead yet...because if this is an afterlife it sucks." Kyle joked to himself. He reflected on that statement for a moment and chuckled. "Heh, even in death I can still crack a joke. What's funny is I always pictured myself dying in some hopelessly romantic way, but I never guessed it would actually happen." As Kyle stood talking to himself he suddenly felt cold to the bone, almost as if ice had suddenly grown over his ribcage. The battlefield had suddenly become covered in a thin layer of fog that floated effortlessly through the air. Kyle turned about several times, trying to figure out where the fog had suddenly come from. After a few quick turns Kyle started to get dizzy and decided to stop. Kyle shook his head a few times to clear his vision and took a deep breath. Just then he noticed someone approaching him. Kyle squinted to get a better look, trying to see who was still alive up here. Had the tiger gotten up without him knowing it? Or had another terrorist been playing dead and finally decided to get up? However, as the figure continued to approach him Kyle felt a twinge of fear go through his heart as he noticed this strange being was dressed in a dark hooded cloak. "Oh my god..." Kyle managed to whisper at the realization of who was coming through the fog at him...for the figure was none other than Death himself. Death stopped walking towards Kyle and stood about ten feet away from him, his hands clasped together in front of him at stomach level. Kyle couldn't see Death's actual hands, as the loose fabric from his sleeves covered them. Death's most noticeable feature was his face, as it had no features. It was as if an invisible cranium was filling out the hood of his heavy cloak. Kyle's mouth hung open as he stood there, wondering if he was just dreaming, or was he actually staring Death in the face? "Umm, hi. I'm guessing you're the Grim Reaper, right?" Kyle asked rather frankly. Death simply nodded. "Uh-huh. Can you talk?" This time Death shook his head. "Okay. So...am I dead?" Again Death shook his head. "But I'm not alive either, right?" Death nodded. "Let me take a guess here, I'm going to be dead in a few minutes, and when that happens you get to ferry me to the afterlife right?" Death nodded again. "Then can I ask for a favor?" Death tilted his head, not quite understanding the question. "There's a girl, who's still alive by the way, that I love more than anything. Now, I know you're probably not allowed to do this, but...can I see her one last time before I die?" Death's body seemed to heave, almost as if he was laughing. Finally he shook his head and unclasped his hands before taking an ominous step towards Kyle. "Oh come on man, is it that big a deal for my soul, or ghost or whatever the hell I am right now to be next to my body when you claim me?" Death gave no answer, but simply, almost magically, drew a scythe from his cloak and firmly wielded it in both of his hands. Kyle's eyes went wide as he realized that Death's hands and fingers were made of solid white bone that shimmered as if it had been polished. Death continued to approach Kyle, who in turn started to back away. "Don't fuckin' touch me bro, I'm warning you," Kyle cautioned while raising his paws in front of him. This caused Death's body to quake with silent laughter again. Death simply stretched out his arm and opened his hand. Kyle clutched his throat as he felt an invisible hand wrap around his neck and hold him in place before raising him up so he floated three feet off the ground. Horrified, Kyle began struggling, trying to break Death's grip on his throat, but it was no use. Kyle gritted his teeth and snarled as Death slowly walked up, one hand still stretched out. Kyle's eyes went wide as Death raised the scythe, ready to strike Kyle right in his heart. However, Kyle realized that his legs were still free, and that meant he wasn't dead yet. Thinking quickly, he loosened the boot on his left foot so that it hung on his toes. He then swung his leg back, and then kicked forward, launching the boot straight for Death's face ten feet away. Kyle's boot struck Death on his forehead, causing him to drop his scythe and lower his hand. Kyle landed and rolled forward, hastily snatching up the scythe and raising it to defend himself. "Go back to hell you ugly motherfucker!" Kyle shouted as he prepared to deal a deathblow to Death (It's the irony that would kill him, not the scythe you see). Surprisingly, Death answered him with a deep, gravelly voice. "Go ahead mortal, finish me. It won't save you from your fate. On the contrary, killing me will bring about a much graver one for you." "What? You can talk? And what do you mean a graver fate?" Kyle asked while keeping an eye on his opponent. "Death cannot be stopped, no matter what. If you finish me, you will take my place." "And why would I want to become death itself?" Kyle replied with a frustrated tone. "You don't get a choice. Your species must have someone to ferry your dead from this life to the next. If you strike me down, you will simply become me until another mortal has the strength to challenge you." Kyle pondered this for a moment. 'Great, if I kill him I'm no better off than if he kills me. But what if neither of us die? Hmm...' "Well young wolf, what are you waiting for?" Death questioned Kyle with a hint of impatience. "Nothing. I have your scythe, which means you can't kill me. I don't need to do anything but wait for my friends to find me and revive me." Death broke out into a fit of roaring laughter that seemed to echo through the mountains. "That's your plan? I should have figured you'd take the noble route. You see, the scythe is a part of my being. In a few moments it will disintegrate and be returned to me, and then you will finally be put down like the mutt you are. And don't think you can get away with that little shoe trick you pulled, I'm no fool." "Oh no? What happens if I'm 5000 miles away?" "What?" Death said with an air of confusion. 'Dear God, please let this work,' Kyle prayed as he looked at his reflection in the scythe's blade and silently said, "Okay, take me to wherever Katie is...NOW!" Without warning Kyle suddenly disappeared into thin air. Death's jaw dropped in awe as he realized his prey had escaped. However, he recomposed himself and waited, knowing that it would not be long before he would regain his scythe and finally put an end to this chore. **************
May 9th, 2010 - 11:58 A.M. - Kyle's Room in the Blackmon house. (Author's note- It's May 10th in Afghanistan because it's across the international date line). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lljBSQdlvY - Good Song! "So close, no matter how far, couldn't mean much more from the heart..." Katie lied on her stomach on Kyle's bed while listening to "Nothing Else Matter's" on one of Kyle's Metallica CDs. She was surprised that Metallica actually wrote a song that she loved. The sentimental lyrics seemed to match up exactly with her life, as her mate was thousands of miles away, and yet she still loved him with all her heart. It was raining at the moment, and since Katie had just gotten back from church (it being a Sunday and all), she didn't feel like doing much. The school year would be over in a week, which meant her teachers barely gave out any homework. The extra time this provided gave Katie more time to reflect on her situation. She knew that it was nighttime over in Afghanistan, and Kyle was probably eating or something. She sighed to herself and said, "Dang it Kyle, why can't you be here right now?" "Who says I can't?" Katie jumped up in shock and rolled on her back so that she could face the door to Kyle's room. Her mouth dropped open in utter shock as she saw Kyle standing before her! She leapt from the bed and yelled, "Kyle! Oh my god how'd you get here!" However, when she tried to hug him her arms simply passed through him. As she looked at her arms, which were somehow magically passing through Kyle's stomach, she noticed the bloodstains all over his shirt. "Oh my god! Kyle what's happened to you?" "Sis, umm, I don't know how to say this but...I'm dying." "What? But...that's impossible! You're right here!" "Not quite. It's a long story on how I got here, but the best way I can explain it is that I got shot, I killed the guy who shot me, and now I'm bleeding to death back on some hill 5000 miles away. It's just that I'm not quite dead yet, so I guess I'm a ghost until I get finished off." Kyle looked to his right and saw the scythe he'd dropped on the floor turn to dust and smoke as it was returned to its owner. Kyle was thankful that he remember to tell the scythe to let Katie be able to see him, otherwise this trip would have been for nothing. He looked back at Katie. Katie's eyes began to fill with tears as she desperately tried to touch her brother, but it was no use. "Kyle...I...you can't die! You promised me you'd come back! You have to!" "I'm sorry sis, but it looks like I'm not going to be able to keep that promise," Kyle said regretfully. "This isn't happening, this has to be a dream! Oh god why can't I wake up," Katie began to mutter to herself as she desperately hoped that none of this was real. "Katie, look at me." Katie stared up at Kyle, who smiled down at her and gently ran his paw across her shoulder, although she was unable to feel his touch. "I love you, but I want you to know that if you want to find another mate besides me, I'm perfectly okay with that. You shouldn't be cheated out of a good husband and kids just because I got careless in a firefight." "You...you don't mean that," Katie said. "I do mean it Katie. I love you, I always have. All I've ever really wanted in life was to see you be happy, and I don't want to be a reason why you're not. Remember, that's why I agreed to be your mate in the first place."
Katie smiled to herself while tears ran down her cheeks. "Oh Kyle, I love you too. But it's okay, I promised myself you'd be the only wolf I'll ever love. I'm not going to go back on that promise, okay?" Kyle nodded and said, "If that's what you want, then I'm fine with it. I just want you to be happy." "Then don't die!" Katie quipped. "Heh, you have no idea how much I'd like to, but it's not my choice." "But...I don't think I can live without you," Katie said, her voice cracking as she started sobbing, no longer able to hold her tears back. "Yes you can Katie. You're my sister, I know you. You'll be able to make it through life without my help."
Katie shook her head and forcefully said, "NO! I can't...it's going to be too painful without you here." At this point Katie noticed a large pocketknife Kyle kept on his dresser. It had not been touched in months and was coated with a thin layer of dust. "Kyle, how long are you going to be a ghost?" Katie asked as an idea began to run through her mind. "I don't know, but probably only a couple of minutes. Why?" "Because you won't have to wait long to see me." "What?" Kyle asked as he watched Katie walk over and pick up the knife. "Whoa, Katie do NOT touch that!" "But..." "NO!" Kyle barked at her. "You're not killing yourself. Think of what John and Eliza would feel. You mean a lot to people besides me, and it's not right to kill yourself just so you can be with me. Besides, I don't think killing yourself will take you to the same afterlife as me, so let's not risk it okay?" Katie looked at the ground, then back at the knife. She started to reach for it again, which caused Kyle to yell, "AH AH! NO! Katie, if you really do love me you'll promise me that you won't take your own life. Okay?" Katie took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "........okay." "Good girl," Kyle said with a relieved smile. Katie walked back over to Kyle's bed and Kyle quickly sat next to her. Kyle rested his paw on Katie's lap while giving her a loving stare. "You know, you've gotten even more beautiful since I last saw you." Katie blushed and smiled, briefly forgetting that this was the last time she would see Kyle. "Aww, thanks Kyle. You know, you've gotten more handsome too." Kyle chuckled and said, "Yeah, but I'm just glad basic training is over. Remember how exhausted we were after we had that fight on Christmas morning?" "Hahaha, yeah how could I forget? I swear that was the best we've ever had," Katie happily replied. "Well, picture being that exhausted twenty-four hours a day and you'll have an idea of what training was like." "Ouch, how'd you get through it in one piece?" Katie asked with an expression bearing concern. "I just thought about you instead of focusing on the aching sensations coming from my legs," Kyle replied with a grin. Katie's eyes teared up again as she said, "Oh god, Kyle I'm gonna miss you." "Me too sis, me too. But it's not like we'll be apart forever right? And....GAH!" "What's wrong?!" Katie gasped as Kyle brought a paw to his chest. "I...I don't know. It felt like I got stung in the chest by a bee or something." Looking around, Kyle suddenly noticed a dark shape looming behind Katie. 'Oh fuck! He's back!' Kyle thought to himself as he saw Death standing behind the bed. Katie was unable to see what Kyle was looking at, but the terrified look on his face told her he knew something bad was about to happen. Kyle suddenly grabbed his chest again and collapsed to the floor. "OH GOD! WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!?" he shouted while clutching his chest tightly. "Kyle, talk to me! What's happening?" Katie asked while panic surged through her. Kyle realized Death wasn't fooling around this time and must be hitting him with some sort of dark magic or something. "Katie, I think I'm dying for real this time." Kyle looked up at Death to see him raising the scythe, ready to sink it into Kyle's chest. Katie began to quiver in fear as the weight of the situation fell upon her. "Oh no, Kyle...what...what do we do now?"
All Kyle could think to say was, "I love you!" He then pressed his muzzled to Katie's and held it there, closing his eyes as he did. A second later he felt a sharp pain surge through his chest again. "OH FUCK......!" Katie looked around the room. She was all alone again. The sadness that had been building within her boiled over and she buried her face in one of Kyle's pillows as she cried deeply over her fallen mate and brother. However, one thought still hung in the back of her mind. 'That last kiss, it had felt so...so real. But it couldn't have been, right?'
10 Seconds Earlier on Hill #214 "Clear!" the medic shouted to the Marines scattered around him. A second later he pressed the orange button on the defibrillator. With a distinct sound the defibrillator charged up before sending an electric shock through Kyle's body. "OH FUCK!" Kyle gasped as he awoke. His head throbbed, his tongue felt like a pickle (and tasted like one too), and his whole body felt cold. However, the most pressing feeling in his body was a gagging feeling in his throat. "Oh gods...URRRGGHKKK!" Kyle moaned as he turned on his side and puked a load of greenish yellow bile. The Marines standing around him turned their heads and moaned as the disgusting sight and smell made them want to vomit too. Only the medic standing over Kyle did not show signs of disgust. "Corporal, can you hear me?" he said to Kyle. Kyle grunted a reply as he felt the medic rest his paws on his shoulders and rolled him over so that he was on his back again. Looking up, Kyle saw a white furred fox kneeling over him with a concerned expression. A black wolf, whom Kyle immediately recognized as Lieutenant Sheppard, walked up behind the fox and asked, "How's he doing Sergeant?" The fox began to take Kyle's pulse while also wiping some of the vomit out of Kyle's cheek fur. "Not too good sir. He's got a weak pulse and internal bleeding. It's a miracle he's still alive after this long. I had to give him a shot of adrenaline to his heart (hint hint) and zap him twice with defibrillator, but he came to. He's gonna need surgery though, as the bullet ripped his spleen in half." "How long does he have?" "Probably an hour, maybe two," the medic replied. "Alright, then move your ass and get him to the Black Hawk with the other wounded!" shouted Sheppard. "Yes sir!" the fox shouted back before barking out orders to a pair of medics bringing a stretcher over to Kyle. Kyle felt himself get lifted onto the stretcher and then rapidly carried to an awaiting UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Kyle closed his eyes as he lied still while the medics strapped him in. Finding it hard to stay conscious, Kyle stopped fighting the feelings of exhaustion and passed out.
May 11th, 2010 - Ft. McCrery Infirmary - 3:25 P.M. Kyle awoke with a yawn as he came to in a hospital bed inside a large tent at Ft. McCrery. His mouth felt dry, and he realized that he had an IV line in his left wrist feeding him a steady dose of painkillers. "And so he awakes," said a familiar voice. Kyle turned and nearly died of shock when he saw..., "Jon?! What the hell? I thought you were dead? Hell, I even did one of those Assassins Creed last rites things for you." "Yes, and that was very kind of you. But I'm alive well now." Kyle studied Jon and realized that he had several bandages wrapped around his head. "You got shot in the head man, how'd you survive that?" "The bullet never actually touched my brain, it just ran along the side of my skull. The bone fragments got blown out instead of in too, which the doctors say is a miracle. But anyway, it hurt like hell and all I remember was that I got shot in the head, and then you came over and checked on me, and then you went off somewhere." "Wait, you were awake when I came over to you?" Kyle asked. "Yeah. This is why you need to take someone's pulse before pronouncing them dead." "Dude, you got shot in the head and people were shooting at me. Do you think that's a good time to take a pulse?" Jon chuckled and shook his head. "No no, I'm not saying you did anything stupid...although that tiger that was with us said you walked out into the open and got sniped." "That tiger's alive?" Kyle inquired with great interest. "Yeah, he just had been struck by a fragment from a bullet that broke apart when it hit the Humvee. The doctors just removed it and gave him some antibiotics. He was like you and hadn't had time to put on an armor vest." Kyle nodded at this revelation and smiled. "Soooooo, what happened with you again?" "I told you, I got grazed by a bullet and it simply cracked my skull. The pain was so intense all I could do was just play dead and hope you guys would be okay without me," Jon replied. Jon and Kyle continued talking for a few more minutes before a surgeon followed by Lt. Sheppard and a medic walked up to Kyle's bed. The medic was carrying a water bottle with a straw and handed it to Kyle before marching off. Kyle eagerly accepted the cool drink and began sipping down the water as the doctor reviewed his medical chart. "Corporal Blackmon is it? Well, I must say young man you're lucky to be alive," said the surgeon, a tall lion whose main had been trimmed short in a military style crew cut. "From what the medics told me you'd been lying with a severe puncture wound to your abdomen for nearly twenty minutes. You lost two pints of blood and needed a transfusion, and your spleen had been utterly destroyed." Kyle stopped sipping his water and asked, "I'm gonna be okay right?" "Oh yes yes, you'll be just fine. We did have to surgically remove your spleen, but it's not an organ you can't live without. You'll just have to be careful around people with bacterial infections, as your immune system will have a harder time fighting such illnesses now. Lt. Sheppard here just wanted me to tell you that you should be discharged from the infirmary in two weeks." Kyle nodded and then asked, "Tell me, does my family know I've been injured yet?" The lion shook his head and replied, "No, although we were going to tell them. Why?" "Could you not tell them I got hit? I don't want them worrying about me, and even if you say I'm fine they're never going to leave me alone about it." The lion smiled and chuckled and said, "Very well, I'll go make sure any message to your family is halted. Although you are aware that you are going to be sent home in two weeks right?" "Wait, I'm going home?" Kyle asked with a sudden influx of bliss. Lt. Sheppard spoke at this point. "Well you certainly aren't gonna be fit for combat for some time. You're being given three months of mandatory leave to finish recovering from your injuries. You can expect a Purple Heart as well. Anyone who survives getting shot through the gut deserves one." The lion nodded at this and then interrupted by saying, "Yes, and just so you know you'll need to check in with a doctor regularly to make sure you're recovering properly. I estimate you'll be combat effective again in about 90 days, but that's still a rough figure. Still, your wounds have closed and none of your other organs are damaged, so it shouldn't be too long before you can return to active duty. In the meantime, just rest up and enjoy yourself." With that, the doctor turned and left Kyle alone. Lt. Sheppard nodded left a few minutes later after a brief discussion with Kyle over the previous night's events. "Hey Kyle," Jon asked with a curious glance, "Why don't you want your family to know about you getting shot?" "Because dude," Kyle replied, "I had the weirdest dream while I was passed out up there." "A dream? About what?" And so Kyle began to recount his experiences from the night before.
May 28th, 5:37 P.M. - The Blackmon house. John walked into the front door of his house to meet a sight that had become familiar the past two weeks; Katie was crying herself sick in her room while Eliza and Shelly talked about what to do in the kitchen. John heaved a long sigh and walked over to his wife and gave her a quick peck on the muzzle. "How's Katie doing?" "Not good," replied Eliza, "She keeps telling me that she was visited by Kyle's ghost or something, and that he's dead now." John shook his head and replied, "That's ridiculous. If something had happened to Kyle we would have been notified within three days." "True," said Shelly, "But Kyle hasn't phoned us, e-mailed us, or even touched his Facebook page in the last two weeks. And remember he said he couldn't tell us where he was stationed for security reasons." John bit his lip and nodded. "That's a point. I remember in my Army days a lot of special operations guys couldn't talk about what they were doing out of fear of something getting leaked to the press. But Kyle wasn't special forces, he was just an average Marine [Arctic: Although there is nothing average about the Marines, I assure you]. I'm positive he's okay." Eliza sighed while looking towards the stairs and said, "Well, figure out a way to convince Katie Kyle's alright. She's been on summer vacation for nearly a week and a half and all she's done is mope, cry, or sleep. I'm starting to think that maybe she should see a psychiatrist." "We'll only do that if she keeps this up, but for now let's just try to calm her down ourselves, okay?" John concluded.
Meanwhile, Katie had finished crying for the moment and walked over into Kyle's room. Being on the front of the house, the windows in his room overlooked the street. Katie sighed while staring out at the rows of houses bathed in the yellow glow of the late afternoon sun. Katie watched cars pass by the house for a few minutes until she noticed a black SUV pull into the driveway. The windows were tinted so she couldn't see inside, but a pair of soldiers exited from the driver and passenger doors. Katie clasped her paws to her mouth as she realized that these men must be here to deliver the terrible news of Kyle's fate. Katie rushed out of Kyle's room and down the stairs. "Guys! There's two soldiers out front!" she yelled to her family gathered in the kitchen. Eliza gasped while John said, "Oh my god, she was right!" Everyone rushed to the front door as the doorbell rang. John opened it to see two wolves in MARPAT camouflage uniforms standing on the front porch with grim looks on their faces. "Mr. Blackmon I presume?" asked one of the wolves. "Yes, now what the hell happened to my son?" John fired back. The Marine was taken aback by this and said, "Uhh, well sorry to tell you this so suddenly but..." "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SON DAMN IT!" John angrily yelled as the Marine took his time answering the question. "He got shot, but..." "Oh my god!" John yelled while pressing his palms against his eyes. "Why'd I have to be so hard on him, he didn't deserve to die." "Um, sir?" the second Marine interrupted. "What, why are you two still here? You've done your job, just leave me to mourn my son, okay?" John said with tears streaking down his cheeks. Eliza, Katie and Shelly were too shocked at John's apparent concern for Kyle to cry over the supposed news of his death. "Sir, your son isn't dead." "I already know tha...wait. He's not dead?" John asked, now realizing that he had been crying in front of two men. "Yes sir," the second wolf answered, "We're here to drop him off. He needs a couple months to recover from getting wounded." "He...he's only been wounded?" John asked, disbelief visibly showing itself in his face. Before either of the Marines could say anything, Katie-who had been listening the entire time-pushed her way between them and rushed over to the SUV. To her surprise Kyle was standing at the back pulling his large backpack from the trunk. Kyle hadn't noticed Katie come out and at the moment his head was hanging down as walked onto the front yard. "Kyle!!!!" Katie happily yelled before making a diving tackle for him. Kyle looked up to see Katie in midair heading straight for him. THUD! "OOMPHH! Oooowwwww..." he moaned as he lay flat on his back in the grass with Katie on all fours standing over him. Kyle shook his head to clear his vision, and was met with the sight of Katie grinning down at him and wagging her tail like no one's business. "Hey sis, what's up?" he casually asked her. "You're alive! I can't believe it; you had me so worried," she said back to him. "Sorry. Wait, why are you surprised I'm alive?" he asked with a curious glance. "Don't you remember? You showed up here two weeks ago as a ghost and told me you had gotten shot." "No no no, that...that was only a dream I had while I was unconscious in the hospital." Katie tilted her head and said, "What are you talking about? You came here and told me yourself what happened. And then you looked scared and started flinching in pain and disappeared. God, it was so awful." Kyle's mind raced as he realized in utter terror that he hadn't been dreaming...but instead had really cheated Death by fighting him off long enough for the medics to show up. Finally, after several seconds of silence he replied, "Yeah...yeah it was pretty bad wasn't it? Anyway, can you get off me now please?" he asked with smile. "Oh, sorry!" Katie blushed as she stood up and helped Kyle to his feet. "It's really nice to have you back though," she said. "C'mon, we ordered pizza for dinner and it should be here any minute!" "Great, I'm fucking starved," Kyle said. Katie stopped and looked at him in surprise. "Oops," he said. "Sorry, a lot of the guys in my unit curse like sailors and I guess I picked up their habit." Katie rolled her eyes at him, but then relented and gave him a strong sideways hug. Kyle eagerly returned the hug and gently nuzzled the side of Katie's face. As they walked back through the front door both of the Marines stepped aside as the two Blackmon siblings walked by. Both Marines then looked at John with questioning glances. "It's not what it looks likes, okay? They're just really close," John said to them as if he was reading their minds.
The Marines nodded at this and walked back to their SUV. John shut the door and shook his head. 'Oh dear God, what am I gonna do now that he's here again?' ******************
20 minutes later And so once the pizza arrived the family eagerly sat down to dinner to listen to Kyle talk about his tour in Afghanistan. "It's not that big a deal guys," he said. "I mean I just got shot in the gut and sent back here." "But why did Katie think you were dead?" asked Shelly. "That's a pretty big coincidence if you ask me." "You really wanna know the truth?" Kyle asked. "Umm, yeah!" Shelly replied in frustration. "Well, what happened was a bunch of terrorists ambushed the base and started shooting us to hell. So I jumped in a Humvee with my buddies and we went out and kicked the living shit out 'em. I swear, Hollywood has got nothing on real life. Anyway, some bastard shot me in the arm and then blew the living fuck out of the Humvee. (Pauses to take a bite of pizza) amnd thenm, (swallows) we jumped out and basically got bullet raped until some Apaches showed up and cleaned house. I was the only one who could still walk so I went out to see if there were any more terrorists, and I kinda got sniped. So then I played dead and the dumb bastard walked over to me and that's when I jumped up and surprised him. He then tried to stab me but I just went all medieval on his ass, took his knife and gutted the fucker like a trout. Oh yeah, and one of the medics dropped by the hospital tent to give the knife I used too. Check it out!" Kyle said as he pulled out the knife from the sheath attached to his belt and then stabbed the blade into the table, causing Eliza to yip in surprise. "See, it's still got the dude's blood on it, how cool is that? And I think you can see...yeah right there's part of his colon. How fucking awesome is that I ask you?" "Kyle, do you have curse like you friends, or stab my table like cutting board?" she asked. "Hey hey hey, I got shot...in the stomach! They had to take my spleen and feed me nothing but jell-o and milk for two weeks. I think I have earned the right to tell a profanity laced story, a'ight?" Everyone else simply stared at him, still in shock from Kyle's graphic story telling. "Now where was I?" Kyle said to himself. "Oh right, so anyway I started bleeding to death and I passed out. I then woke up and believe it or not I was a ghost. And then I saw Death himself, and he was there trying to take my soul to heaven or hell, he didn't say but I'm guessing it's the former. Anyway, I think George Lucas must have had a near death experience before writing Star Wars, because Death went all Darth Vader on me and had me by the throat without even touching me, you know like he was using the Force and crap. He then came over and tried to stab me, but I kicked off my boot and hit him in the face, and then stole his scythe. I then used the scythe to travel back here and talk to Katie for a bit. But Death wasn't too happy with me so he made his scythe come back to him and he showed up to kill me, but before he could I got revived by the medics and now I'm here. Happy now?" he said as he finished his last bite of pizza. "Umm, yeah. You aren't any painkillers are you?" John asked. "Nope, just some antibiotics to fight the infection in my abdominal cavity," Kyle replied. "Oh shit! It's almost seven, so I'm supposed to go meet Jon on Xbox Live now." With that Kyle cleared his place at the table, took back his knife, and then headed up to his room where he promptly put on his favorite Iron Maiden CD. "Where Eagles Dare" roared down the stairs, as John had taken the door off of Kyle's and Katie's rooms several months before. Although Katie still had her door, Kyle's room was still doorless and therefore there was nothing to soften the sounds of Kyle playing Modern Warfare 2.
" Jon? Yeah hey man I'm online. Dude? Duuuuuude? Ugh, John quite dicking around and plug your MIC in so I can talk to you, jeez!" Back downstairs, John and Eliza looked at each other and smiled. "It's funny how the more things change the more they stay the same isn't it?" he asked. Eliza nodded and replied, "Yeah, but you're giving that boy his door back." "But..." "Not buts unless you want me to have Kyle kick yours, understand?" "Yes dear," he sighed.
Later that night It was 3:00 A.M. and Kyle couldn't have been happier. He had sneaked over into Katie's room a couple hours earlier and was now cuddled up next to Katie in her bed. They had both been too tired to yiff, so they simply enjoyed being able to sleep in each other's warm embrace. However, Kyle's sleep was anything but peaceful. He was having a nightmare, although he would soon discover it was far more than that. In his dream Kyle saw himself back at the battlefield on Hill #214. He was surrounded by the corpses of the insurgents he'd slain. The air was filled with fog like before, and sure enough Death stepped through it to meet Kyle. However, Death wasn't holding a scythe this time. "Greetings mortal," his gravelly voice stated. "Not you again," Kyle said with an exasperated sigh. "Let me guess, you're gonna kill me in my sleep right?" "I wish," Death replied. "But, sadly you've somehow escaped you fate. I can safely tell you that unless you do something to kill yourself, you'll simply die of natural causes." "Really? Awesome! Thanks for coming all this way to tell me that," Kyle replied with a boastful tone. "Not so fast, I'm not done with you yet. You escaping death means that someone else's fate will be changed so that they may take your place." Kyle felt a twinge of fear strike through his heart. He also noticed Death looked...different. He was no longer a skeleton but rather a black wolf. His muzzle poked out from under his large hood, and his paws hung folded together in front of him. "Wait, you're telling me someone else is going to die in my place? Who?" "Now what fun is it if I tell you?" Death asked with a sinister chuckle. He turned around and began to walk away from Kyle. "But if I were you, I'd look after that sister of yours, she seems like such a nice girl. See you around kid." "WHAT? You sonuva bitch, just who are you anyway?" Kyle growled as he rushed over to Death, spun him around and knocked the hood off of his head. Kyle's jaw dropped and he took a step back in utter terror, as the face upon Death's head was none other than that of Kyle! It was like staring into a mirror, everything from Kyle's red stripes to black fur was perfectly in place on Death's face. "What the fuck!?! You're...me? But I didn't kill you! I'm still alive," Kyle said as he looked on in disbelief. "Hm hm hm," Death laughed to himself, "I said I'd see you around. Till then, you'll just have to wait. Have nice life." Without another word Death suddenly disappeared as Kyle was bathed in a bright flash of white light. "GAH!" Kyle exclaimed as he woke up. "Kyle? (Yawns) are you okay?" Katie asked as she awoke from Kyle's outburst. Kyle responded by tightly wrapping his arms around her and hugging her close to him. "Katie, I promise you I'll never EVER do anything to hurt you. I'm your big brother, I'm here to protect you and so long as I'm here I promise I'll keep you safe. I promise..." Kyle's panicked response had Katie worried. "Kyle, are you sure you're okay?" "Huh...oh um, yeah," he replied as he calmed down a bit. "Sorry Katie, it was just a bad dream." "Ahh, well that's okay. G'night Kyle, I love you!" Katie said while giving her brother a tight hug. "I love you too sis," he replied. Kyle smiled as he watched Katie drift back to sleep. It would be several more hours before Kyle would be able to return to sleep however as Death's words still haunted his thoughts. ********************** THE END...FOR NOW