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The Threads of Uncertainty:
Eternal
By Shawn "Kyosoe" Livengood
The ocean was vast and beautiful
The skies were endless
So full of that vivid color
A Sky of Red and an Ocean of Blood.
"Where am I..?"
Thoughts of death filled the teens mind; he had killed himself to escape Raster, so where is he now? All Brandon could feel was numbness he couldn't move any of his body, he wasn't' sure if he was still in his body. He was surrounded in black a cold and unwelcomed darkness. Was he still in Raster's clutches? Was he still in the other realm? His eyes, where they open? He tried to open them but failed but he kept trying and slowly the slide open and a white light cut through the darkness.
His truck was running hot, his tired squealed on the pavement as he sped up the winding roads of the hills. He had been driving these roads for the last twenty minutes and going on the third loop around them. Brian and stopped at the lookout point to see if Brand was there but there was no one, not even fresh tire tracks in the moist ground. He was panicking Brandon was his brother he'd give his life for him as he would for him, they shared no blood tie, no family member connecting them but they were as close if not closer than any siblings he knew. He picked up his phone and tried to call him again but nothing just his voice mail, he tossed the phone in his truck and it bounced to the floor.
"Where are you Brand? This is some fucked up joke! Damnit! This had better be a joke!" He screamed at no one, he was driving back down the road on his second time back down the winding roads, he thought about giving up his work had called four times he ignored each call even Erica had called and he ignored it. He could barely concentrate on the road he was more worried about his brother. It was then he saw it, a huge dent in a guard rail and a red scrape to match. He slammed on the brakes and his truck slid to a halt nearly clipping the railing.
With a quick motion he unfastened his safety belt and jumped out of his truck he ran to the railing and looked off the cliff and he saw the bottom of a small car he knew to be Brand's hanging in the tree limbs, how it stayed up there he had no idea, it was nearly a one twenty five foot drop from the road to the tree tops below, was Brandon still in the car? He ran to his phone to call 911 but he pulled it out and dialed the number but it wouldn't' go through, he tried again, and again. Filled with anger he tossed the metal phone on the pavement sending pieces of it in all directions. He didn't have time to get help or get signal it didn't matter now his phone was gone he had to save him; HE had to rescue his brother.
Brian pulled a rope out of the bed of his truck; he was supposed to bring this to his grandpa's farm, good thing he forgot. Quickly he tied it to the hitch of his truck and threw it over the side of the cliff, he knew it wouldn't reach the ground but it would get him close enough, it had to. Without much thought for his own safety he quickly tugged on the rope and then started down the rope, he used the rocky cliff face to slow his decent he went as fast as he could without hurting himself or tiring himself out too much he'd need all his energy to get Brand back up this wall.
As he descended he tried to figure out how this could happen, how Brand's car could be in a tree, upside down. How Brand would put himself in a situation where it would be possible. Maybe something was really wrong with him that morning. And was this really lour wey? The two words neither of them really wanted to hear. "Brandon, what could have brought you to this?" Brian was at the end of the rope and there was still another ten foot to the ground. He turned and looked around to see if he could find Brand was he still in his car? No, he could see in the busted window. He scanned the ground for his brother and saw a bloody trail on the ground along with a multitude of upturned leaves and broken sticks then saw a blood covered object against a tree. He let go of the rope and pushed off the rocks and landed on the solid ground with a slight grunt then darted to his brother.
"Brand…"
His eyes slowly adjusted to the light and what he saw amazed him in some strange way. He saw an ocean that was vast and beautiful, and endless sky that shared the same beauty. But to anyone that would be normal this ocean and sky were different, the sky was crimson red and so was the ocean beneath him. Beneath him? How could it be beneath him. It was then Brand realized that he was not on ground but floating of sorts in the middle of the endless red. Where was his body? It was like his eyes were just floating there. Maybe he was dead, and maybe he could finally escape these visions and this pain. Maybe he could finally escape Raster. There was something though he was forgetting something urging him to turn around and live. It didn't' matter now, he was dead and over. He could sleep and let everything slip away. His vision jerked once, then it was calm, then once more.
'Something… what is it…" Another jolt blurred his sight. Then something entered his mind in a whisper.
"Brand.. wake up... Your heavy.."
'Who's there?'
"If you die on me.. I'm going to kill you.."
There was another rough shake and his vision completely blurred then reopened in a completely different scene.
When Brian had finally reached Brand he wanted to just wake up from the nightmare. He couldn't picture his brother like that even though he was right in front of him. Blood soaked and broken, he clothes were torn to shreds and it looked as if the car was dropped on his left hand. If it wasn't for the blood soaked cigarette in his mouth he wouldn't' have known it was even Brand. Brian had though he was too late, he thought it was all over for him, but he was wrong.
Tregair was ready to just curl up into a ball and let the world slip away when he heard three words come out of his beaten brother's mouth. "Must" "Save" "Her" were the words he spoke and they brought hope back into Brian, if he could still save whoever she way, then he could save Brand. He picked up his brother and managed to climb the rocks up to the rope which was hanging limp from his truck he had manage to get roughly ten foot from the top when it happened, Brand jolted in his unconscious state making Brian loose what little grip he have and they started to fall.
Now here they were Brian struggling to hold onto the rock face and the bloody arm he held tightly.
"I'm sorry Brand, it seems as if there is no answer here. I can't choose between our lives. It's me or neither. And if I have to choose, I choose neither!"
Brian nearly let go when he felt a movement from his brother and a tight grip on his forearm. He looked down to see Brand's "good" arm grasping tightly to his and his feet standing on a small ledge. Two blood filled eyes opened and looked directly at Tregair then a mouth opened and spoke causing more blood to pour out.
"Climb.. Live.."
Brand's eyes closed once more but his strength did not fade and some of the load was lifted from Brian. He used this breather to find a footing in the cliff and put Brand back to his previous position on his back. Brian spoke softly to himself but halfway toward his brother. "Let's get going." And slowly he began to climb again until finally Brian pulled himself onto the guard rail above and pulling Brand over it as well. The older one fell down next to the bloody body on the ground from exhaustion, his adrenaline was gone, he could barely even stay awake but he had to, he had to muster up strength and get his brother to safety.
Halfway dragging Brand he had made it to his truck and put his brother in the passenger seat. As Brian walked to the driver side he undid the rope tied to his truck then got into his truck, he looked over to Brandon like it was just another day, music blaring and the air conditioner on when it was cold outside. "Just hang in there a bit more Brandon, just a bit more and you'll be okay."
The truck started and when it did it was in motion, jerking as the transmission shifted each gear. He never sped really just a little over the speed limit, but not now. His engine could be heard over the radio and the tachometer was nearly red lining, he didn't care. He swerved around cars and was nearly hit on several occasions, his little truck doing all it could to keep running at this speed.
"We're almost there Brandon. This is like that time we had to take Vincent home then rushed to see that movie and you made the hour trip in forty minutes. It was perfect, missed all the commercials and sat down with full soda's right at the previews. That was a great night you know. Just like all the other nights.. Like the night you hooked me up with Erica even though you liked her. I have never really thanked you fully so.. just wait a bit more and I will okay? Brand? Okay?"
Tears ran down his face as his knuckles turned white from the strain he was putting them through on the steering wheel. It was almost over now though, he could see the hospital. Just a little bit more he kept telling himself through the tears.
An older man sat outside the hospital on a bench with a cigarette hanging out of mouth. His hair was shaggy and his face was covered in a short dark beard. He stood and watched as the tall teenager pulled the bloody body of another out of his truck and towards the emergency doors at the hospital, faculty running towards him to help. The man brushed off his black clothing then removed the cigarette from his mouth blowing a nearly perfect smoke ring before the wind destroyed it.
"You did good Brand. Glad to have you with us."
