A Companion for Life (Part 4)
#4 of Companion
A Companion for Life Part 4
The next afternoon, after a long car ride, Sam stood outside of the same apartment that he had lived in prior to leaving. Everything seemed to be the same. There was a steady flow of cars passing by on streets, one occasionally honking its horn. Jet was noticeably nervous from all of the noise that was echoing through the streets. During the ride Sam told him that as long as he was outside he would always need to be in his anthro form. Sam's reason was so no one would mistake him for an actual wolf, but he didn't let Jet know that.
Despite Jet showing off he was actually a Doubu, people still stared at him. It wasn't as though they hadn't ever seen a Doubu, but they're just never really seen walking out in the open with the people. Perhaps the people were curious, or perhaps they were nervous, perhaps they just stopped to look at the most interesting thing they've seen all week.
Jet kept close to Sam as they entered the building. He was nervous from all of the people he didn't know just looking at him. "Am I doing something wrong?" Jet asked Sam in a low voice as they entered the elevator with Sam's mom.
"You're doing fine. Those people just don't have anything better to do except watch how amazing you are." Sam smirked as the elevator doors closed. Jet's anxiety dropped thanks to Sam's remark. They reached the thirty-first floor of the thirty-six story building. It was one of the tallest buildings in the metropolitan area. The rooms on floors thirty through thirty-four were larger than the rooms below, but nowhere as big as penthouse that took up the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth floor.
His mother unlocked the door and went inside, leaving Sam and Jet outside. Sam just stared into the inside of the apartment. He couldn't believe how natural this felt after so long. He slowly entered with Jet closely behind. He closed the door behind Jet. "Alright. You can shift into your other form if you want." Jet seemed to think about it for a while, but decided to stay in his anthro form for now.
"So what's it like being back?" Sam's mother asked as she started opening the curtains on all of the windows.
"It feels weird..." Sam said as the dark room quickly lit up.
"Well you'll get used to it after a while." After she finished opening the curtains she came up to Sam and gave a long, strong hug. "I'm so glad you're back... I just wish the circumstances had been better."
"Me too..."
His mother let go. "What can I make for you? It's been so long since I've been able to cook for you so what would you like?"
"Anything would be fine, mom. I'm just going to show Jet around."
"Alright. I'll call you when lunch is ready." She walked into the kitchen with excitement.
Sam approached Jet. "Want to see what this place is like?"
"Yeah!" Jet said with excitement as his tail started wagging. Sam chuckled; Jet was hardly ever in his anthro form unless he needed to be or felt like it, and seeing him get excited in this form was amusing. The first thing he decided to show Jet was the view. He led him to the glass windows. Jet almost jumped back when he looked out and saw how high they were. "What's wrong? You were never this scared while we were flying."
"I don't feel comfortable being this high without wings..." Jet was shaking as he stood behind Sam. "I don't want to fall."
"You're not going to fall if you get too close. Watch..." Sam walked towards the window and stood right in front of it. He tapped his hand against the glass and even leaned against it for a while. "This is very strong glass, see? You won't fall out. Jet approached the window again. He placed his paw up against the glass and felt how cold it was. He gazed outside and was amazed by the tall buildings and how far he could see. His amazement turned to horror as he looked down to realize again how high they were. He jumped back again. Sam sighed. "I guess you just have to make sure you don't look down..." Sam closed the curtain on that window to calm Jet down. "Let me show you the rest of the place."
Sam led Jet to a nearby hallway. "This is my room..." Sam opened the door. He was amazed to see how there was little difference from when he left. He could tell his mom had been keeping it clean while he was gone, but it was just as he left it. He sat down on his old bed, noticing how different it felt from the one at his grandfather's. "And the room next door used to be my brother's."
"Where is your brother?" Jet asked curiously. "Is he around?"
Sam was silent for a moment. "How about we go see him tomorrow?"
It didn't take much to convince his mother to take the two of them to the hospital. "Are you sure you want to see him today?" His mother asked. "You could always wait until next week after you've got yourself situated."
"It's been almost three years, mom; it's long overdue." His mother didn't say anything else as they entered the hospital. The people seemed much calmer around Jet than others were. It might have been that they were too worried about other matters to care about him, or it could be because there are a few Doubu who work there. Jet looked at the other Doubu curiously when they passed in the hallway.
"I'll let you have your time together..." his mom said as they arrived at the room his brother was in. She took a seat on a chair next to the room.
Sam slowly opened the door and immediately could hear the familiar beeping of the machine that kept track of the vitals. The door slowly closed behind him and Jet. "Hey, Tyler." Sam smiled as he approached the bed. "It's been a while, huh?" Sam took a seat next to the bed. Jet stood at the foot of the bed, curiously looking at the person lying on it. "I've been living with grandpa for a while now, so I haven't been able to visit you..." Sam was silent for a while. "He recently passed away though... I'm sure you wanted to see him when you woke up... and I know he wanted to see you again..." Sam sighed and wiped his eyes. He saw Jet looking at him with worry. "Where are my manners? Tyler, this Jet. Say hello, Jet."
"Hi...Tyler" Jet said as he looked man's face.
"I met Jet shortly after I moved in with grandpa. He was so cute as a little pup." Jet's ears twitched. "Jet's a Doubu. Do you remember what those are? Well Jet isn't like them. He can talk, he can show emotion, and he can fly!" Sam chuckled. "You might think I'm crazy, but we really did fly... and it was amazing..." Sam sighed. "I'll just have to show you when you wake up. It won't be long until I graduate, and it would be great if you could be there..." Sam closed his eyes. "There's so much more I want to tell you, like how I made friends, but I want to tell you when you wake up. So there's your incentive! Wake up soon so I can tell you more stories!" Sam let out a soft laugh as he got out of chair. "I'll be waiting..." Sam walked away with a smile, a smile that faded the closer he got to the door. When he looked back at Jet his face showed no sign of happiness. "Let's go Jet..."
Jet was still standing at the foot of the bed. He quickly looked at Tyler again. "It was nice meeting you, Tyler." He then hurried himself to Sam.
Sam was quiet for the entire ride back.
When they got back Sam quickly went to his room and plopped himself on his bed. Jet slowly followed behind in his feral form. "What's wrong, Sam?" Jet jumped onto the bed and nuzzled Sam's back.
"I'm not in mood, Jet..."
"I could always just merge with you and find out." Jet meant it as a joke, but Sam didn't take it that way.
"No! You have no right to freely read my mind! Don't ever do it!" Jet's ears flattened and his tail hung between his legs. He was scared; this was the first time Sam had ever yelled at him. "I want to be alone right now!" Sam yelled as he got off the bed to herd Jet out of his room. When Jet was out he slammed the door and locked it.
"I'm sorry, Sam..." Jet whined. "I didn't mean to upset you... I'm sorry..."
"What's wrong?" Sam's mother asked came up behind Jet.
"I made Sam mad. He yelled at me... he's never done that before..."
"Oh don't blame yourself, dear. I'm sure it's just all of the stress finally hitting Sam. He was like this the last time he visited his brother. He still hasn't gotten over it."
"Gotten over what?" Jet asked.
"Sam doesn't like to talk about it, but he witnessed firsthand what happened to his older brother..."
Summer, six years ago. It was the beginning of summer break. Sam was heading into middle school while his older brother, Tyler, was getting ready to go to college. Sam was sad from the thought of his older brother moving across the state so he decided to spend as much time with Tyler as he could.
"I don't want you to go!" Sam said as he continually jumped up and down on his brother's bed.
"Well I have to, Sam. I have to plan for my future." Tyler said as he walked around his room, picking out various things he decided to pack away for his trip. "You'll understand when you're older."
"I don't want to understand, I want you to stay!" Sam took the opportunity when he saw his brother turn towards him and jumped straight at him. Tyler was surprised by the action, but was able to put his arms up to catch Sam.
"I've told you not to do that. You could have broken something if I hadn't caught you! Would you want that? Have to go to the hospital to have them put a cast over it?"
"No..." Sam was hurt by how Tyler snapped at him.
Tyler sighed. "Now don't go and cry. I'm not upset with you; I'm just trying to look out for you while I still can." Tyler ruffled Sam's hair. His words seemed to cheer Sam up... at least until he mentioned how he was leaving. "I think I know something that'll cheer you up..." Tyler went to his closet. It was a sliding door closet with mirrors on the outside of both doors. He slid it open and rummaged through the drawers of the dresser inside. "Close your eyes..."
"Okay!" Sam did what he was told.
Tyler looked back to make sure Sam's eyes were shut. He pulled out a small, thin box with a plastic cover. "I know it isn't your birthday yet... but since I won't be able to spend it with you I think I can at least give you your present now." He gently placed the box into Sam's hands. "You can open your eyes now."
Sam slowly opened his eyes and looked at what was now in his hands. His eyes widened when he realized he was holding a blue iPod Nano. He started jumping up and down in place before jumping at his brother and wrapping his arms around his waist. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Well at least you're happy now..." Tyler looked down as he felt something vibrating in his right pocket; it was his cell phone. He reached in and grabbed it. "I got a text from Lucas." Sam's mood quickly dropped. "He wants to hit a few balls later today... wants to know if I want to join..." Tyler looked down at his brother and saw those sad, pleading eyes. "Now Sam, you can't have me all to yourself all summer. Lucas wants to spend time with me before I leave too; we've been friends since elementary school- before you were even born."
"But I'm more important than him! Aren't I?" Sam started to look heartbroken.
"Please stop it with the drama, Sam." Tyler groaned. "Fine... I'll tell him I'm busy..." Tyler texted his response.
A few seconds later he received another text. "Don't worry about it. I'm going to have a blast tonight."
"Glad he took that well..." Tyler put his phone back in his pocket. "So how about we put some music on that new iPod of yours?" Sam nodded his head with enthusiasm.
They spent the next few hours going through all of Sam's CDs; picking which ones would be imported to his iPod. Before they knew it, it was seven in the evening. "Want to get something to eat?"
"Are you sure?" Sam asked. "Won't mom and dad be upset if I'm out too late?"
"They won't be home for another hour. Besides, I'll be with you so it'll be alright. Now put on your jacket and let's get ready to go."
After a long elevator ride the two emerged from the entrance of the hotel. The cool summer breeze immediately brushed against them. "Want to go to the usual place?" Tyler asked. A response didn't come. Confused, he looked down at Sam and chuckled. A white wire ran from Sam's pocket and split to two earphones. Tyler tapped Sam on the shoulder.
"Huh?" Sam looked up at his brother as he took out his earphones.
"I was asking if the usual place was alright." Tyler sighed. "You should probably turn down the volume; you don't want to tune out the world do you?"
"Alright..." Sam rotated his finger on the dial pad. "Troy's sounds good." Troy's was a small restaurant that mainly served burgers and fries. They both preferred it to McDonalds. It was only two miles away, past the park.
"Well we better start walking if we want to get there before they close..." Tyler offered his hand to Sam. Sam took Tyler's hand and quickly set off to their destination.
They made it with plenty of time to spare. They sat at one of the restaurant's booths while they waited for their food. "So what are you going to do after college?" Sam asked as he sipped his soda.
Tyler thought about it for a moment. "Well... I'd like to become a geologist."
"What's that?"
"It's someone who studies rocks and the Earth."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "That sounds boring. What's so interesting about rocks?"
Tyler chuckled. "Rocks can be very interesting. They can tell stories of what the Earth was like many, many years ago. Not only that, but you can find very unique looking rocks." Tyler closed his eyes. "I found a book that had pictures of rocks of various shapes, textures, and colors. I just find it so fascinating how there can be so much diversity of something I used to think was so simple."
"Do you collect rocks then?"
"I'd like to find and keep some unique looking rocks" Tyler sighed. "But there really aren't many to find in the city... unless you want to buy them."
"Then just buy some. You're rich!"
Tyler laughed. "I'm not rich; it's called having a job. Besides, I want to find rocks on my own, not purchase them from someone else."
"What if I found something like that? Would you want it if I gave it to you?"
"Sure." Tyler looked to his side. "Looks like our food is here."
It was a few minutes pass closing time when they left. "Full?" Tyler asked Sam as he noticed him rubbing his stomach. Sam nodded his head. Perhaps he had eaten too much. Walking would probably help ease the pain in his stomach.
Halfway home they started walking next to the park. "I wonder if Lucas is still here... Let's go see." He looked down at Sam who wasn't too keen on the idea. "I'm just going to say hello. Aren't I allowed to say hi to my best friend?" Sam sighed. He wanted to get it over with quickly and head home.
They approached the baseball field in the park. The lights were dim and there didn't seem to be any activity anywhere. "Looks like he isn't here." Sam smiled. "I guess we'll just go-" Something caught Tyler's attention. Behind the metal bleachers he could see a faint red glow. "Wait here..." Tyler said as he left Sam on the pitcher's mound. Tyler approached the bleachers and walked under.
The further he walked in the more it began to smell. The red glow got brighter and soon he could see a silhouette of someone. He recognized it. "Lucas?" He noticed the red glow was sticking slightly out his mouth. "Since when did you smoke?"
Lucas turned towards him. He took the piece out of his mouth and flicked it in Tyler's direction. "What are you talking about?" He started giggling. "I don't smoke..."
Tyler looked down at what Lucas had flicked at him. The end of it was rolled into a tip. Tyler's eyes widened. "You smoke joints?" Tyler couldn't believe this. "How long have you been doing this?"
Lucas kept on giggling. He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know." He said it in a playful manner. "I've lost track of how many I've had." He reached into his left pocket and pulled out a lighter. He flicked his thumb and the area around him became illuminated. Tyler's attention immediately went to the ground at Lucas' feet. There was over half a dozen of the same white tips littered around him. "Help me count them dude." He started laughing some more.
"You need help, Lucas..."
"Huh?" Lucas' laughter stopped. "I don't need help, and you don't need to tell anyone."
"Yes I do. I can't let you continue like this; you need help. Listen to me-"
"No!" Lucas was serious. "You listen to me..." Lucas grabbed something with his right hand that was hidden in the darkness. "I'm not going to let you tell anyone about this. I'm not going to jail." Lucas lifted his arm and brought into view a metal bat. He pointed it at Tyler. "I can't let you snitch."
"Lucas! Come to your senses! You're not yourself right now! Think about what you're doing!"
Lucas started giggling again. "I'm just going to do a little more batting practice..." He dropped the lighter in his left hand. Everything went dark. Tyler couldn't see much, but he could hear the sound of the bat swinging back and forth in the air continuously... and it was getting louder. He had no choice but to turn around and run.
Tyler ran out of the bleachers with Lucas following closely behind, still swinging the bat and giggling. When he was outside the bleachers he could see much better thanks to the overhead lights. He turned around a saw Lucas come out not soon later. "Where do you think you're going?" Lucas lunged towards Tyler, swinging his bat down towards Tyler. Tyler shifted to his right causing the bat to miss his head, and instead hit his left shoulder. Tyler screamed out in pain as he heard the sound of cracking.
Despite having turned up the volume on his iPod, Sam couldn't miss the sound of his brother's screaming. "Tyler?" He looked over at where he heard the scream and could see two figures in the distance. Sam rushed over.
Tyler tried his best to avoid all of Lucas' swings, but the best he could do was avoid hits to his head and torso. His arms and parts of his legs were getting beaten and it was becoming increasingly difficult to dodge. "Stop, Lucas! We're best friends! Doesn't that mean anything to you!?"
Lucas laughed. "If we're best friends then why didn't you join me today? What's more important than your best friend!?" Lucas readied a sideways swing. It seemed easy to duck under.
"Tyler!"
Tyler's eyes widened. He turned his head and saw Sam looking at him. "Sam..." He wanted to tell him to run, but before he could everything turned red as he briefly felt the bat impact his head.
Sam's eyes widened as he saw his brother fall to the ground, the sound of his brother's skull shattering echoed all around him. "Tyler?..." Sam slowly approached his brother.
"Boy was that fun!" Lucas laughed. "We should do this more often, Tyler." He looked to his side when he heard someone approaching. "Hey, I know you. You're Tyler's little kid brother. What are you doing here? Is your brother around?"
Sam couldn't hear anything Lucas was saying. He just knelt down next to his brother. "Tyler..." He softly shook Tyler. "Wake up Tyler..."
"Holy shit! What happened to your brother!?" Again Sam didn't answer... Lucas looked confused until he felt something drip down his right hand. He looked down and saw blood rolling down his hand. He traced the blood to the source at the tip of his bat. There was a small section splattered with blood. It was then Lucas experienced a moment of sobriety as his eyes widened from realization. "Oh shit..." his hands started to tremble uncontrollably. He dropped the bat to the ground. "This can't be happening... this can't be happening!" Lucas dashed off cursing to himself, leaving Sam still kneeling over his brother.
"This isn't funny, Tyler..." tears started to pour down Sam's face. "Wake up... please wake up!" He continued to shake his brother but got no response. He then stopped shaking as his tears started pouring down faster. He began to scream and cry out. "Tyler!"
Jet whined. Sam's mother sighed. "Afterwards is when we received the news that Tyler would be in a coma, it wasn't long after that when Sam started to act up at school and distance himself from all of the other kids. He started getting into fights. It got so bad that we had to have him live with his grandfather.
"What happened to Lucas?" Jet asked curiously.
"He was sentenced to twelve years in jail. Because of him Sam felt like there wasn't a point to get close to anyone. We tried to explain to him the circumstances, but he was too stubborn to listen." She smiled. "I'm glad, though, that he managed to make friends while he was gone." Sam's mother walked away, leaving Jet to just stare at Sam's door. To his surprise the door opened.
"Come here, Jet." Sam said, motioning Jet to come in. Jet quickly took the opportunity to rush in. Sam closed the door behind him. Jet jumped onto Sam's bed. "I heard my mom telling you about what happened..."
"Yeah... I'm sorry Sam. I didn't mean to upset you... I'm sorry about your brother and I promise never to try to peek into your mind."
"You don't have to be sorry about anything. If it was anything else I wouldn't have minded you peeking into my mind, but... I didn't want you to see that." Sam sighed as he started rubbing Jet's head. "You shouldn't have to see what I saw. All that blood..." Sam said the last part under his breath. Jet's eyes widened as a brief scene played in his mind, one that he didn't remember ever experiencing. He could see blood dripping down a kid's throat. Jet quickly shook his head to get rid of the memory. "Are you alright?"
Jet couldn't explain what he saw, and he was afraid to tell Sam about it. "No. I'm fine."
"You sure?" Sam asked as he continued to rub Jet's head. Jet nodded. "Well alright then. Since we've both said we're sorry, how about we go get something to eat?" Jet nodded his head.
"Where are the two of you going?" Sam's mother asked as she saw them walking towards the door. "Troy's..." A grin formed on Sam's face. His mother smiled back at him.
The day when Sam had to go to his new school soon came. He wondered what it was going to be like compared to his old one. He said goodbye to Jet as he and his mom left in the morning. For his first day of school his mom was driving him to show him the way. It wasn't that far; just a mile with a few turns. It was easy to memorize.
He waved goodbye to his mom after she dropped him off. As he gazed over the school he could immediately tell things were going to be different. The school appeared to be four stories high to make up for the lack of land. There were a few windows scattered about meaning that he might be in a classroom that didn't have a single window. To top it off the entire area was surrounded by a ten foot tall fence. "Looks more like a prison than a school." Sam sighed and proceeded forward.
"I'm sure you all had a very fun break..." the teacher tried to talk to the class, but the majority of them continued to talk amongst themselves. The teacher continued her speech. "But before we talk about what we did I have to announce that we have a new student joining us." Her words again went unnoticed. "Would all of you please be quiet!" she shouted. Her elevated voice managed to catch the attention of most of the classroom. "We have a new student joining us today. Now if you would please come in and introduce yourself..."
The students immediately started talking about the new kid. They tried to predict if it was a boy or girl, what he/she looked like, and how long it would take before the new kid would break. Some of the students were even talking about the possibility of having a new toy to push around. When the door opened all of their eyes focused on it. When the "new" kid showed himself half of the class went dead silent.
"The name's Sam Shepard. It's been a few years since I've gone to school here in the city, but I'm sure I'll get used to it pretty quickly." He looked around the classroom. Most of the students' eyes were wide with either fear or surprise. Sam smirked, noting that those are the ones who know who he is. The rest of the students were either looking at him or at the wide-eyed students with confusion.
"Thank you Sam. Please take a seat anywhere." Sam noticed a few empty seats in the classroom. He thought it would be best for both him and the students if he sat as far as he could from them; he didn't want them fainting.
News spread quickly about Sam's return. He figured that at least one quarter of the junior class had gone to the same middle school he used to. He could tell that those who knew him were unsure of what he was going to do. Sam's plan was simple; nothing. As long as none of them bothered him he wouldn't bother any of them. This tactic seemed to work; he clearly showed that he was different than before, and most of the kids that he used to fight with were either at another school or outgrew fighting.
School actually went by pretty smoothly for Sam the first couple days of school. However, that changed when news of him spread through the senior class. During lunch as Sam was listening to his iPod he felt someone tap his shoulder from behind and started talking. Sam turned down the volume to hear the person better. The lower the volume went the more his eyes started to widen as he started to recognize the voice more and more. "There's no way..." Sam turned around to find his assumption was correct. "Mark!?"
"You look surprised... aren't you glad to see an old pal?" Mark smirked. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you."
"I'm wondering if I should be surprised that this school even took in someone like you..." Behind Mark were a few juniors that Sam recognized. "What do you know? I haven't seen you guys since you jumped me all those years ago."
"I'm surprised you recognized us." One of the boys said.
"Sure... I never forget the faces of cowards; those who can only win a fight by using surprise and large numbers. I'm actually kind of flattered that you had to go so far just to try to take me down." The more he talked the more the boys got frustrated. Some seemed to want to charge at Sam right there, but they were kept at bay by Mark's arms. "You have this guy herding you around now?"
"Think of me as their self-control... if I wasn't around there'd be nothing to stop them from doing what they want."
"Self-control, huh?" Sam chuckled. "Wasn't it your own self-control that got you expelled?"
"It was called disciplining those under me; something I've made clear to all of these guys.
"Right... well have fun with that." Sam turned his volume back up.
"You'll be seeing us a lot from now on..." Mark said as he and the others walked away.
Sam groaned as he entered his apartment. Mark was by far the last person he thought he'd ever see. "Welcome home, Sam!" Jet walked around the corner in his anthro form. He'd been staying in his anthro form more and more the longer he stayed. The only times he ever seemed to change into his feral form was when he went to bed at night. However, there had been some times Sam caught Jet asleep in his anthro form on the couch. "How was school?"
Some of the stress Sam was feeling melted away seeing Jet. "It was... a very surprising day. "What did you do today?"
"I tried reading a book."
"Really?" Sam was surprised that Jet had thought of doing that on his own. "Do you need help reading?"
Jet shook his head. "No. I just couldn't finish the book before you got home." Jet held out the book he had been reading. "I still have this much left..." he divided the pages, showing what he had already read and how much he had left. Both sides seemed the same, but that wasn't what caught Sam's attention.
"You've already read half of Great Expectations!?" Jet nodded. Sam couldn't believe it. That book was over five hundred pages long and Jet had already read half of it. He had gotten the book last week as a reading assignment and he wasn't even that far into it. "I'm impressed; I didn't even know you could read."
"Me neither..." Jet said as he stared at the book. "But when I opened it I was able to understand all of the words... well most of them. There were some words that I couldn't understand." Jet flipped through the pages. "I remember this one since it was at the beginning of chapter twelve. Countenance. I know what count means, but not that."
Sam had read past that point. One of the things he was supposed to do for the class is to write down any words he didn't know and look up their meaning. Countenance had been one of those words. He learned it meant a person's facial expression. "What other words did you not know?" Jet started speed reading the book, pointing out any words he didn't understand. With every word Jet pointed out Sam got more and more confused. He couldn't understand how Jet was pointing out the same words that he had written down.
"Do you know what they mean?" Jet asked. His question snapped Sam out of his thoughts.
"Yeah." Sam said. "I'll sit down with you and teach you them." Jet's tail started to wag. He quickly hurried to the couch. Sam didn't know whether Jet was excited about learning about the words or because the two of them were going to do something together. Perhaps both?
Jet's excitement couldn't keep him awake though. His eyes were tired and strained from the hours of reading which he wasn't used to. He only managed to get through a few words before his eyes became watery. He let out a soft yawn as he listened to Sam. He tried his best to stay awake. He didn't want to fall asleep just when Sam got home; that made him feel like he couldn't spend any time with him.
Jet was a bit surprised when he felt Sam's hand start to softly rub his head. "Go ahead and take a nap Jet. Jet looked to Sam with his eyes becoming heavier and heavier. At this point it didn't matter if he wanted to stay awake or not because the soft rubbing of Sam's hand on his head was slowly soothing him into slumber. Jet smiled as he gave up the fight and let his eyes close. Moments later his body slumped over Sam's lap. Sam chuckled when he realized he was then trapped. He picked up the book with his right hand while he continued to rub Jet's head with his left. He started to read from where he left off as Jet breathed slowly.
The weeks passed by. Sam's father finally came back after settling everything his father left behind. He and Sam's mom hadn't decided whether to sell Arthur's house or just rent it so for the time being they let it be.
Sam was continuing to help Jet read. Jet only needed his help with a few words, but they were all ones that Sam didn't know either. Despite that he encouraged Jet to find as many words he didn't know by reading rather than watching television. Jet seemed to prefer this since it was something the two of them could do together.
Things at school weren't going well for Sam. It had nothing to do with his grades, but rather a group of students who were continuously making life difficult for him. They were doing everything they could to make things frustrating for Sam. One example was that they constantly did things to his locker that ended up making him pay for new books. Sam eventually resorted to carrying all of his school materials in his backpack.
He was always being hounded by one of the juniors of Mark's group, waiting for the opportunity to "accidentally" do something to Sam such as shoving him into walls and lockers, tripping him, kicking him, elbowing him, they tried to do anything to him short of starting a fight. As hard as it was for Sam to do, he did nothing. He knew that they wanted a reaction from him, something to encourage them further.
While the juniors were doing the grunt work, Mark was busy spreading lies about Sam throughout the school. The rumors quickly spread and it wasn't difficult for the students to fall for it since many of them remembered how Sam was in middle school. Those students gave the other students a reason to believe the rumors. Soon Sam was practically ostracized from most of the school.
"I still don't understand why we can't just beat the shit out of him after school." One of the students commented. He and the other four boys were with Mark.
"You've got to take things slowly... gradually increase the pain that he feels until he won't be able to feel anything. It's better punishment."
"It's a waste of time." Another student said. "None of this small crap is making me feel any better. I want to finish that fight from all those years ago." The others all seemed to feel the same.
"I don't give a rat's ass what you want." Mark said impatiently. "I'm calling the shots and all of you better listen to what I say. I will not tolerate insubordination."
"What the fuck do you think this is? The Army? We only agreed to listen to you because you told us we would be able to make Sam suffer." He threw his arms in the air. "And yet we haven't done anything to him that we don't already do."
"I'm warning you..."
"What are you going to do? It's five against one. You don't stand a chance against us, and neither does Sam." He got out of his seat. "C'mon guys. We're going to have a chat with Sam. One by one the rest of them stood up and walked away, leaving only Mark.
"The five of you are going to regret that..."
Sam couldn't believe he was doing this. Here he was in a back alley opposite of five students. They had come up to him during lunch that day demanding to settle the score. Even when they started getting physical with him Sam refused. Seeing that threats weren't convincing him they resorted to the tactic of bringing up his brother. Sam was visibly pissed when they started insulting his brother; saying that he deserved what he got. That didn't flick Sam's switch though. It was when one of them made a comment of following him to where he lived and taking out another of his family. Sam didn't think twice about accepting their challenge.
"Before we start..." Sam said. "Could you at least tell me what I did to piss you off so much."
"You had just made enemies with the wrong people."
Sam chuckled. "So in other words... none of you have a reason." None of them said anything. "Great..." Sam sighed. "So you're only fighting me because of a grudge."
"Call it what you want..." One of them started approaching Sam. "It won't change our minds." He stood a few feet in front of Sam, cracking his knuckles. "Let's see if spending time in the mountains has made you soft!" Without warning he threw a punch straight into Sam's face.
Sam spun around once before he lost his balance and fell to his hands and knees. He spat out a bit of blood before slowly getting up. "Soft? My will to fight may have faded while I was gone, but don't think I've gotten weaker." Sam rolled his head. "It's my turn to have a shot!" Sam quickly dashed at the boy and threw a similar punch to the one he had received. When he made contact the boy flew back a few feet onto his back. Some of his teeth flew out of his mouth.
"One punch and he's out cold!?" One of them said with surprise. Sam himself was surprised. He looked down at his right hand with confusion. He never thought he could do something like that.
"Get him!" Two of them charged at Sam. Sam looked back up to see them quickly closing in. Without thinking he raised his right leg to kick right when one of them was in range. The guy immediately fell to the ground clutching his chest as it throbbed with pain. The other watched with shock as Sam threw a punch straight at his nose, breaking it and causing blood to spill out.
"I guess I don't know my own strength..." Sam said as he realized he just took each of them out with one hit. The looked at the two that were still standing. "Which one of you is next?" Both of them just stared at him with shock and confusion. "C'mon... didn't you all want this?" Sam mocked them, but they still did nothing. "Fine... I'll come to you then." Sam dashed towards them. Their senses kicked in as they started to defend themselves.
One of them tried to block one of Sam's kicks, but when his foot made contact with the boy's arm the sound of bone shattering was heard. The boy started screaming in pain as he felt his arm and could feel the shattered bones. Sam quieted him with a punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of him hard.
"Wait! Stop!" The last one shouted. "We give up!"
Sam spit out some more blood that had pooled in his mouth. "That's it!? You make this big effort to force me into this and then you just say you've had enough!? Do you know how much of your shit I've had to put up with for the past couple of weeks!?" Sam grabbed him by the collar of his neck and raised him into the air. Under normal circumstances Sam would be shocked that he could even do that, but right now he was too pissed to care. "Then you have the nerve to not only disrespect my brother, but also threaten my family!?" Sam threw him backwards. The boy impacted the brick wall of the alley hard. The boy groaned. Sam chuckled. "Just remember... you all started this." Sam picked up his backpack and headed out of the alley.
A few minutes later Mark walked slowly into the alley. "Well... well... well..." Mark smirked as he saw all of the boys scattered about moaning in pain, bleeding, or knocked unconscious. "Looks like you guys couldn't even take care of one person... I'm actually surprised he was able to do this much damage to you... Surprised, but not disappointed."
"What the hell do you want, Mark?" asked the boy who Sam had thrown against the brick wall. "Here to gloat?"
"Actually I wanted to punish the five of you for defying me." Mark quickly glanced behind himself as he approached the five boys. "Others would consider your injuries punishment enough... but I'm not satisfied with that. I'm not the one who inflicted those wounds, so how can I feel satisfied about them?"
"You going to kick us while we're down?"
"Of course not... I just wanted to show you a new toy I just got..." Mark reached into his jacket. "I hadn't planned to get one so soon, but after seeing that Sam was here I just couldn't wait." Mark grabbed a black handle and pulled out a silenced Walther P22. "Beautiful isn't it? It's imported from Germany. This beauty has a clip size of ten... so I guess I'll have five ready for Sam when the time comes."
The eyes of the conscious boys went wide. "What about the other five?"
"Yes..." Mark placed his hand to his chin. "What am I going to do with five bullets?" Mark started walking around until he stood over one of the unconscious boys. "I know!" He then aimed the gun down and fired a shot into the boy's head. "I'll give them to each one of you..." His tone was serious as he approached the next boy and shot another bullet into him. The boys that were still conscious were shaking with fear as they watched Mark kill them off one-by-one. The worst part was that they couldn't run because of their injuries from Sam.
"And then there were two..." Mark said as he approached the remaining boys. "I warned you all from the beginning that I do not take lightly to those who don't listen to me..."
"Please forgive us!" The boy lying on the ground screamed. "We promise never to do it again! Just let us li-" The boy was silenced as Mark shot a round through his head.
"I'm also not fond of beggars, but you didn't know that did you?" Mark laughed a bit as he faced the last remaining boy. He was terrified out of his mind. Mark knelt down to face the boy. "You don't want to die do you?" The boy shook his head furiously. Mark pushed the barrel of the gun against the kid's head. "Tell you what... I'll let you live, but you are going to have to help me with something special. How does that sound, Justin?"
Justin didn't say anything. He swallowed hard before slowly nodding his head.
"Good..." Mark placed the gun in his jacket. "Now get up!" Mark grabbed Justin by the arm and yanked him to his feet. Justin groaned with pain as a jolt shot through his back. "Oh quit being a baby. I know what will make you feel better."
Justin was afraid to ask. "What?"
"You're going to help me get rid of Sam. It'll be like we're both getting our revenge on him."
"You're going to kill Sam!?" Justin yanked himself away from Mark. "I didn't agree to help you kill someone!"
"Actually you did..." Mark reached towards his gun. "You promised you would do anything to save your own life. Decide now... help me kill Sam or I'll kill you right now."
Justin's eyes widened. It was true that he hated Sam, but not to the point that he wanted him dead. He never thought that way about anyone he knew. He didn't want to die either, and after watching what Mark had done to the others he knew his words weren't empty. His morals were clashing with his will to survive. "Alright..." Justin said defeated.
Mark smiled. "Good. Now follow me. I know exactly where he lives."
"How?"
"I followed him one day to the apartment he lives in. I just asked the person at the front desk which room he lived in. Lucky for me she was a ditz and told me what I wanted to know." Mark started to walk. "Now let's go; I'm anxious to get this done."
Sam couldn't stop looking at his right hand as he rode the elevator up. He couldn't believe that he had that much power. "I shouldn't be that strong..." He clenched his fist, remembering how far he made the kid fly when he punched him. He shook his head. "It must have been a fluke." The doors slowly opened when he reached the thirty-first floor.
"I'm home Jet." Sam said when he opened the door. To his confusion Jet didn't answer back. "Jet?" He walked into the living room and saw Jet sitting on the couch, his eyes staring into space. "Are you alright?"
"I don't know..." Jet said softly. "I started reading this book today..." Sam looked at the book lying next to Jet on the couch. One glance at the cover was all that Sam needed to recognize the book. It was one that he had been curious to read when he was younger, but his parents forbid him from reading it since it was filled with intense violence: fighting, blood, and death. Sam had forgotten about the book until now and was surprised that Jet had even managed to find it.
Sam picked up the book. "It didn't scare you did it?"
"No... it didn't scare me... but something is." Jet's eyes started to tear up.
"What's scaring you?" Sam asked as he sat down next to Jet."
"I don't want to tell you..." Jet whimpered.
"Why?"
"Because you're going to hate or fear me when I tell you."
Sam smiled. "There's nothing you can do or say that'll make me feel that way about you. You can tell me anything."
"Really?" Sam nodded his head as he gave Jet a gentle smile. Jet took a few breaths. "It started when you told me about your brother. Every once in a while an image would flash in my mind, but I don't remember ever witnessing it."
"What did you see?" Jet was filled with doubt again. He tried to form the words to explain what he saw, but nothing came out. "Take your time, Jet. Has anything else happened?"
"Well every once in a while another image similar to the first would flash in my mind... I started to think at first that I was just having nightmares, but..." Jet stared at the book. "As I read that book I began to see even more images every time it mentioned blood. Soon all of the images came together and formed a memory." Jet started to cry harder. "I don't know where this memory came from, and I wish I could just forget it!" Jet wrapped his arms around Sam and started crying into his chest.
"It's alright. It's alright, Jet." Sam rubbed Jet's head with his left hand and patted Jet's back with his right hand. Sam wished he could know what was making Jet so scared. For now he continued to hold Jet as he continued to cry into his shirt, creating a few damp spots, but Sam wasn't going to let that bother him. "Let's get you some air." Sam slowly lifted himself to his feet with Jet still clutched to him.
Jet slowly got off the couch and onto his feet. It was then that Jet took his face off of Sam. The fur around his eyes was matted together. "But I haven't told you what it is yet."
"There's no rush. You can tell me after you've calmed down. Some outside air will be good for you."
"I don't want to be around others right now."
"Don't worry about that. There won't be anyone around where we're going." Sam smiled. Jet smiled back, trusting Sam, and for the first time in months he took ahold of Sam's hand.
The door closed after both of them entered the hallway. Sam started to lead Jet to the stairway at the end of the hallway, not noticing the elevator opening up behind them. They started walking up the stairs.
After a bit of climbing Sam opened the door at the top of the stairs. Immediately a powerful gust of wind blew past them. He opened the door wider and led Jet through. "Where are we?" Jet asked as he looked around.
"We're on the roof." Another powerful gust blew past them, making Jet's fur and Sam's hair flutter. Jet closed his eyes and tilted his head back. He sighed and let a small smile form in the corners of his face as he took a deep breath. "Feeling better?" Sam asked.
"A little..." Jet turned to face Sam. "You promise you won't hate me if I tell you?"
"I promise."
Jet took a deep gulp. As he opened his mouth his ears perked up when the door behind Sam opened. Sam turned to look behind him. His eyes glaring, "What the hell are you doing here, Mark?"
"Can't one just come over to say hello? I mean, that's what normal people do."
"Yeah, normal people; you don't fall into that category."
Mark chuckled. "And I suppose you do? You're the one on the roof alone with a Doubu. What's normal about that?"
Sam didn't bother to answer Mark's question. His attention instead went to the second person who emerged onto the roof. "You really don't know how to take a hint do you?" Justin remained silent as he walked behind Mark. "So what do want, Mark?"
"I want to talk to you."
"Well I don't want to talk to you. Let's go, Jet." He started to walk towards the stairs.
"You should rethink that..." Mark said. Sam's eyes widened as he watched Mark pull a gun out of his jacket. Mark smirked. "Are you in a talkative mood now?" Sam clenched his fists and glared at Mark, not saying a word. "Fine... you can just listen if you want. Now get away from the door."
Sam slowly backed away from the roof access. He looked at Justin again, then back to Mark. "I'm guessing the other guys were too injured to join, huh?"
"More like too dead." Mark laughed as Sam's eyes went wide again. "They were of no more use to me."
It took a while for Mark's words to fully register in his mind. "You're a maniac!" Sam shouted. "Do you see others as nothing more than tools for you to use!?"
"Don't preach to me you bastard." Mark glared at Sam. "It's your fault I'm like this!"
"What the hell are you talking about!?" Sam shouted back. "I've done nothing to you."
"You killed Keith!" Sam was taken aback by the absurdity of his claim.
"I did nothing to that idiot!"
"Don't you dare call him that!" Mark was huffing. "You don't know what it's like to be an only child in a family that sees you as nothing more than a nuisance. My parents didn't care for me. They only felt obligated to keep me alive without showing any care." Mark chuckled. "You don't know how happy they were when I was expelled. They didn't bother searching for another school that was close. No. They picked this city that was far away from them. I was emancipated after they sent me here." Mark chuckled. "But to show that they weren't completely heartless, they send me a monthly allotment for food and housing." Mark laughed. "I should thank them for that; it allowed me to purchase this as quickly as I did." Mark waved the pistol in the air.
"That's heartbreaking and all, but what does your family issues have to do with me or Keith?"
"I'm getting to that!" Mark said impatiently. "In seventh grade I was recruited into a particular group. In eighth grade I became in charge of that group at the middle school. It was then I met a seventh grader who for some reason seemed to look up to me. Can you guess who that was?"
"Keith."
"That's right. And at first I saw him as nothing more than another underling who was probably trying to get on my good side to receive some perks. But as I got to know him more I learned that he was an only child like me who also didn't have the best family. He told me he looked up to me so much because we both had the same eyes. It was a weird feeling to have someone look up to me and who wanted to spend time with me just because." A brief smile appeared on Mark's face. "It felt good... to have someone to depend on me. It's something you can't understand; to see someone who isn't related to you as if they were your own family..."
Sam didn't respond. He smiled involuntarily as he turned his head to face Jet. His smile quickly faded and his face was filled with concern when he saw Jet staring with wide eyes. "Jet... are you alright?"
"I'm not done talking to you!" Mark shouted. "Keith made me feel like I had something better in my life. I looked forward to spending high school together, but you had to ruin that!"
"I'll say it again... I am not responsible for what happened to Keith! He's the one who caused me to fall off the mountain!"
"Then how the hell are you alive!" Sam was caught off guard. "If what you're saying is true then how did you survive!? Even if you survived the fall how could you have been taken to the hospital so quickly while Keith and the others rotted at the bottom of that mountain for so long!?"
Sam was silent. He really had no explanation for what happened to Keith and the others, but he did know how he survived. He gave Jet a quick glance. He couldn't tell Mark the truth about Jet. At best Mark would see it as just a pathetic lie, but the worst possibility would be that Mark believed his story and focused his rage on Jet. He remained silent.
"No answer, huh? I knew you were just bullshitting me. Justin."
"Yes!" Justin gasped when Mark's attention suddenly went to him.
"This is your chance to get your revenge on Sam. Beat the hell out of him like he did to the others."
"What!?" Both Justin and Sam were surprised.
"It's a simple concept... have your fists meet his face. Hard."
"Did you see what Sam did to the others!? One punch and I'm done! I can't beat him!"
"Don't you worry about that, Justin." Mark said grinning. "Sam is willingly going to let you beat the shit out of him."
"And why would I do that?"
Mark placed the barrel of the gun close to Sam's head. "Because if you don't I will kill you!"
Sam didn't move. "You don't want to kill me now... otherwise you would have already pulled the trigger." Sam eyes looked at Mark. "You want to see me suffer first, right?"
"Very perceptive of you. However, I'll skip right to the killing if you don't amuse me."
Sam closed his eyes. "I'm not going to give you the pleasure..." He looked down. "You're going to kill me either way, so I'd rather get it over with than give you any satisfaction..."
"Is that so?" Mark smirked.
Jet and Justin couldn't do anything but watch. Justin was paralyzed by the fear of being on the other end of the gun. Jet, however was paralyzed for another reason. Ever since Mark mentioned the name Keith a certain part of the new memory played. He watched as he dug his claws into one boy's hands, sending him falling to the ground below. That boy had shouted the name Keith. He chased after another boy and tore his throat out. It must have been Keith. That kept playing in his head each time he heard the name Keith. He wasn't aware of what was going on between Sam and Mark. That soon changed as he felt something hard slam against his face. He let out a yip as he fell to his side.
"You bastard!" Sam shouted as he watched Mark slam the side of his gun into Jet's face. He was about to charge at Mark, but stopped short when Mark aimed his gun at Jet.
"I guess I've found something to get you under control." Mark smirked as he knelt down next to Jet and buried the barrel of the gun into Jet's temple.
"If you do anything to him I'll-"
"You'll do what!? You're not in a position to make threats. Now... about that fight... You're going to take it all without fighting back. If you don't I'll put a bullet into your precious Doubu. Do as I say and I won't harm the creature."
"What makes you think I can trust you on that?"
"Do you have a choice? I'll kill this thing if you don't do what I say, and it'll be your fault. Do you want that on your conscious?" Sam swallowed as he looked down at Jet whose eyes were closed.
"Alright..."
"Excellent. Now get over there next to Justin." Sam gave Jet one last glance before he approached Justin.
"Look Sam... I didn't want it to go this far..." Justin said as Sam got closer.
"Stop making excuses and get to it already..." Sam said as he stood in front of him. "Earlier you were ecstatic at the idea of beating the shit out of me."
"Stop talking and get on with it!" Mark shouted. Justin looked at Sam for a second before he took a deep breath. He hesitantly raised his fist and swung it forward. His fist impacted right below Sam's left eye. He followed up with another punch to Sam's chest. After each punch Justin became less and less hesitant about continuing.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Mark shouted as he watched Sam stumble about from the barrage of punches. Below him Jet's eyes cracked open.
"Sam?" Jet said softly. Mark didn't hear him since he was too entranced on the fight. Jet's mind was spinning from the impact to his head. He could barely make out the two figures fighting in the distance. He watched as one of them fell to his knees.
"You realize..." Sam huffed as blood dripped off of numerous cuts on his face. "Once he's done with me he's just going to kill you next." Justin punched him in the side of his temple, causing Sam to fall to his side.
"No... no he promised he wouldn't kill me if I helped him out."
Sam chuckled as he lied on the ground. "You must be insane if you believe that... you remember what he said about those who are of no more use to him?"
Justin's eyes widened. His breathing became sporadic as he noticed that Mark was approaching them, gun in hand.
Sam looked over to Jet. His eyes were now open wide again. "Get out of here Jet..." He hoped that Jet would somehow get his message.
Mark stood over Sam. "It seems you can't go on..." Mark smirked. He aimed the gun at Sam's face. "I'll do the humane thing and put you out of your misery." His finger slowly tightened on the trigger.
"Leave Sam alone!" Jet shouted. He slowly got to his feet.
"What the hell!? It can talk!?" Mark shouted.
"Let Sam go! Take me instead..."
"Interesting... why the hell should I care about something like you!?"
"Because I'm the one who killed Keith!" Sam, Justin, and Mark's eyes went wide.
"What are you talking about, Jet!?" Sam shouted.
"It's what I've been trying to tell you Sam... I killed all of those boys on the mountain that day." Jet started crying. "It's the memory I can't get out of my head!"
"Back up!" Mark shouted. "You're the one who pushed Keith off the mountain!?"
"No..." Jet sobbed.
"You just said-"
"I ripped his throat out!" Jet cried harder as that graphic scene kept playing in his mind. All of the boys were speechless. Sam was in disbelief. He couldn't believe that Jet was capable of doing something like. He shook his head.
Mark's silence was slowly turning into rage. "You disgusting creature! You're the one who did all of that to him!?"
"Yes... now let Sam go."
"You really care for Sam, huh?" Jet shook his head. "Well let's see how you feel about this!" In a flash Mark moved the gun to Sam's abdomen and fired a shot. The bullet passed completely through Sam before it registered in his mind what had happened. Time seemed to slow down for Jet as he watched the event. He watched as Sam yelled in pain, clutching his front as he lay on the ground. "See how much pain he's in!?" Mark laughed. "How does this make you feel!?" Mark kicked Sam in the side of his chest repeatedly.
Jet was no longer crying. His eyes narrowed as he watched what Mark was doing to Sam. The memory that was repeating in his head stopped and rewound itself further than Jet had ever seen. It showed what he saw a few minutes prior to that.
He remembered faintly hearing Sam's voice. He got excited and walked out of the cave to see Sam facing a bunch of people he didn't know. He didn't understand what was going on at the time. He watched as the other boys attacked Sam only to be knocked out by him. He then watched as the boy named Keith threw another boy and caused the path to collapse. The picture froze when he saw the smile the boy had on his face as he watched Sam fall.
Keith's face slowly faded and was replaced by Mark's. Jet started to growl as his pupils grew larger and larger until his entire eyes were completely black. "Leave Sam alone!" Jet growled. His teeth were bared and his eyes were glaring at Mark.
"Acting tough now, huh?" Mark turned his back to Sam and aimed the gun at Jet. "Let's see how tough you act when-" He was cut off as he felt someone tackle him from behind. "What the hell are you doing Justin!?"
"Getting you before you get me!"
"I applaud you for your sudden intelligence growth, but I don't have time to deal with you right now!" Mark swung his fist into Justin's face. He tried to fire a shot into Justin, but the extra length from the silencer made it harder to move it between them. Justin saw what Mark was trying to do and smacked the gun out of his hand. Mark dived for the gun. Justin dived on top of him. Mark threw his head back and slammed into Justin's face. He grabbed the gun and slammed it into Justin's head, knocking him out. "I'll deal with you later... After I deal with-" Mark screamed from surprise as he was violently lifted off the ground by his neck. He came face to face with Jet's black eyes. He screamed in pain as Jet squeezed his right wrist, causing the gun to drop to the ground.
"Look at me!" Jet growled. These eyes were the last thing Keith saw before I killed him. They'll be the last thing you ever see as well!" Jet showed his sharp teeth to Mark. He went for Mark's neck.
"Don't do it Jet!" Jet froze. "This isn't you."
"Yes it is Sam!" Jet growled. "I killed all of those boys and I... I enjoyed it." Sam was silent. "It felt so good killing the ones who brought harm to you." Jet started shivering. "I'm filled with excitement just from the thought of killing this one." Jet was silent. "I guess that makes me a monster, huh?" Sam didn't respond. "I see... I can't blame you... I care more about killing this bastard than helping you..." Jet's eyes returned to normal as he realized what he had just said. He quickly looked to Sam who was lying still in the pool of blood that was slowly growing. "Sam!" He threw Mark to the side so hard it caused him to lose consciousness.
Jet dashed towards Sam in his feral form. His eyes went black again as he merged with Sam. They were merged for only a few seconds before Jet separated from Sam, taking all of his wounds with him.
Sam's eyes opened as they separated. He could already tell that he was healed, and that he needed to help Jet who was groaning on the ground in his anthro form. "Jet, can you stand?"
"I don't think so..." Jet tried to lift himself off the ground, but as he tried his midsection sent jolts of pain through his body.
"Don't push yourself now..." Sam looked over Jet. Blood was already starting to mat the fur around the wound. The small cuts on Jet's face had already healed, but the bullet wound was healing slowly. He had no idea how long it would take for it to heal, but he didn't want Jet to be stuck lying on the roof. Sam got an idea. He turned his back to Jet and knelt down. He looked back at Jet. "Give me your arms." Jet raised his arms towards Sam. Sam took both of them and wrapped them around his neck. "This might be a little painful..." Sam said as he straightened his legs. Jet groaned as his upper body was lifted off the ground as he continued to hold onto Sam.
When Sam was finally standing straight Jet was completely off the ground with his feet barely touching the ground. Sam grabbed Jet's legs and lifted them to his waist. Sam chuckled when he realized that if the circumstances were different it would look like he was giving Jet a piggyback ride. Sam slowly started walking them back.
"Sam?"
"Yes?"
"Are you mad at me?"
"No. Why?"
"I cared more about killing than I did about you... you could have died..." Jet whimpered at that thought. Sam was silent. "Do you hate me for that?"
"No. I don't hate you."
"But why? Don't you remember what I told you? I enjoyed killing those kids and I almost got you killed; I'm a monster! You have every reason to hate me!" Jet was on the verge of tears.
Sam was silent for a moment. "Do you remember what I told you earlier, Jet?" Jet didn't respond. He looked at Sam curiously. "There's nothing you can say or do that will make me hate you. When I look at you and when I listen to you talk I don't think of a monster, and you should stop thinking of yourself as one. I know you regret what you did to all of those boys, but that's all in the past now." Sam stopped walking. He turned his head to face Jet and gave him a smile. "Besides... you chose to save my life instead of killing him. Would a monster do that?"
Jet couldn't help but smile as Sam's words registered in his mind.
"You might want to hold on tighter as we go down the stairs." A second later he felt Jet press more his weight into his back. Jet wrapped more of his arms around Sam's neck. Jet rested his head on Sam's right shoulder. "Thank you Sam." Jet said as he closed his eyes. He slowly fell asleep, not a trace of that horrible memory found its way into his dreams.
When Sam returned Jet to the apartment he laid Jet on his bed and bandaged his wound. He would have to deal with blood stained sheets later. When Jet was bandaged up he let Jet sleep.
Sam called the lobby and informed that he found two boys on the roof, both unconscious and a gun nearby. Security picked up the two. Justin would later testify about Mark's involvement with death of the four boys found dead in the alleyway. He said that Mark was trying to kill him next. Mark had nothing to deny these claims; he only spouted nonsense about black eyes. He was charged with four murders and one attempted murder, and sentenced to life in jail.
Justin was hailed as a hero at the school for bringing down the person that killed four students. He was none the wiser as to what had actually happened after he was knocked unconscious, but that didn't stop him from accepting the glory. Sam was just glad that all of the attention was being directed to Justin rather than him. He didn't see much of Justin after that. Perhaps he was avoiding Sam to forget all that had happened.
At home Sam made sure that Jet couldn't get his hands on any more books that were filled with violence. Jet told him that the memories weren't haunting him anymore, but Sam didn't want to take the chance of Jet having to go through it again.
The rest of junior year passed by uneventfully. It had actually become even more boring than his other high school in the mountains, but that was probably because he still didn't really have any friends at this school. He didn't try to make any either. He knew his reputation wouldn't go away. Even if he tried to make friends with those who didn't know who he was there would always be someone who would exaggerate everything Sam did to them. Sam was better off with just the occasional email and texts from Ryan, Emily, and Jeremy.
Sam soon found himself as a senior. As graduation drew closer and closer he started to think about what he would be doing after high school. Those thoughts were put aside when he received news from his parents in November that his brother had regained consciousness.
As I mentioned before this and chapter three were once going to be one (very long) chapter. I'm glad it worked out this way since it allowed me to change a few things so that I could prolong the series a bit (by how much I'm not sure right now).
I've never used Marijuana and I don't know anyone who uses Marijuana, so I don't know how accurate I was with Lucas' actions. I did a little research and found three symptoms were giggling, paranoia, and short term memory loss (I might have exaggerated this part, but again I don't know). I also found that "Have a blast" is one of many slang terms for smoking a joint (I used this one because of how sneaky it is).
Like before please comment on what you like or what you think needs improvement
I don't know when the next chapter will be out, and I don't want to give an estimate because every time I do I'm always late! Seriously... I said this chapter would be out a week after chapter three... a month ago!
Well anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next one.