Your Tragic Fate

Damien’s POV (That Night)

I was sitting in a chair in a corner of the living room with my parents and Stephanie. I was trying not to ease drop on their conversation so I was thinking about what Owen and Daryk were talking about in the kitchen. It was big. I heard a footsteps coming from the kitchen. I looked up expecting to see Owen or Daryk or both but I saw Brian instead. Alex was behind him. I froze when I saw Lexie come out after her mother. I waved hi to Brian and Alex. Lexie just glared at me. Brian, Alex, and Lexie all hugged Stephanie.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” Lexie said to her mother, who nodded in response. I watched her walk out of the room. I remember the day that started our fights; I remember how Daryk wouldn’t get out of bed.

*Flashback*(one week and a half after Jimmy’s death)

Daryk’s POV

“Mom?” I asked wiping the tears of off my face.

“Yes, honey?” my mom said, her voice sweet.

“I miss them,” I said looking down at my blanket. It was the blanket dad had made when I was born.

“Oh, Daryk, I miss them too,” My mom said, her hand was hovering over the Sapphire name on my blanket.

“Why did the have to leave?” I asked.

“I don’t know sweetie, Stephanie didn’t tell me. I think Jimmy’s Death was too much for her to handle, Owen too,” A tear dropped on my mom’s hand. I looked up at her. She was crying to.

“Why did he have to get killed?” I asked furrowing my eyebrows.

“Jimmy was a good man, he got stabbed because he defending what he believed in,” Mom said her fingers were tracing the names on the blanket.

“So does that mean we should be bad?” I said.

“No, we should always be good Daryk; it was a bad man who killed Jimmy. You don’t want to be a bad man do you?” Mom said looking at me concerned.

“I hate that man, he hurt Owen, and now I don’t have Owen anymore,” I said trying to stop the tears from running down my face.

“Daryk, they’ll come back, we’re their family,” My mom said. She was right, we are their family. I laid my head down as my mom walked out of my bedroom.

Damien’s POV (Flashback Continued)

I quietly open my brother’s door to see if he was in the spot he has been for the past week and a half. There was no change. I closed the door and started toward the staircase. As I was going down it, I heard my mother’s voice and stopped. I sat down as I listened to her.

“Zacky, he’s so sad. He’s so confused why someone like Jimmy was killed. He knows Jimmy didn’t deserve to die. I don’t know what we’re going to do,” My mom said crying harder.

“Damien’s not reacting, he’s trying to be tough, he’s trying to be a good brother and take care of Daryk. Daryk is going to be okay because we’re going to find them,” My dad said. He was holding her.

“He’s always protecting Daryk,” My mom said drying the tears from her face. “How are we going to find them?”

“I think Brian knows where they are,” my dad said.

“Why?” My mom asked.

“If Stephanie was going to tell anyone but you who would she tell?” My dad said. I could hear the quiver in his voice.

“Brian,” My mom whispered. I didn’t understand their logic but I didn’t have too. My mom was crying too much lately and that was all I needed. My family was hurting too much. I stood up and didn’t care if they heard me. I was going to solve this problem. I grabbed my bike that was on the side of the house. I got on it and started pedaling in the direction of Brian’s house. Luckily we all live in the same neighborhood. I got to Brian’s house and started pounding on the door. Brian’s sad sunken face opened the door. He looked exhausted.

“I need to know where they are,” I said calmly.

“Who?” He asked rubbing his eyes.

“You know who!” I screamed. “Owen, Stephanie! Daryk isn’t getting out of bed. My mother won’t stop crying. Dads trying to help my mother and doesn’t know what to feel. You and Alex are getting no sleep with all of this and the baby. Lexie is trying to cope but is having no luck. Johnny is feeling empty and extra short. Tricia is burying herself in her work, which isn’t good for her or that baby inside of her. Matt feels protective and Val, I don’t even know how she feels. God only know what Stephanie and Owen are going through. I need to protect my family, which includes them. They need to be here with us, so no one else gets hurt. I wasn’t protecting everyone before and look what happened, Jimmy’s dead. I need to know where they are,” I said breathing hard. I noticed the tears coming down my face and dropping off of my chin. Brian pulled me in the house and into a hug. “I just want everything to go back to normal,”

Brian’s face was more awake and he had wide eyes. Alex had baby Brian in her arms. Brian Elwin Haner the Third. He was one month old. She came over and hugged me, as she did baby Bri pulled my hair. I was told we all did that as a baby. Lexie was sitting on the staircase, apparently she was listening in on their conversation like I had with my parents. I waved hi.

“Well?” I said looking up at Brian.

“Okay, but I’m only telling you, you can’t tell your mom, your dad, or Daryk, no one, got it?” He said seriously, “For some reason Owen doesn’t want anyone around right now,” I thought about it before nodding.

“They live over on East Third Street. That apartment build called ‘Sunny Nights’ their up on floor 9. Apartment D. The door will say 9d on it.” He told me.

“Okay,” I said and was heading toward the door.

“Just don’t cause any trouble, okay?” He said. I nodded. I shut the door behind me. I sat on my bike deciding if I should go or not when Lexie came out.

“Do you want me to come?” She asked.

“No, I think I have to do this on my own,” I said. She nodded and began walking away.

“How do you cope?” She asked turning around. I didn’t answer her. “You don’t, and you criticize me about coping! How the hell do you expect me to cope if you don’t?” Lexie said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I hissed.

“Don’t act like you don’t know,” She snapped before running towards the house. I pushed off on my bike. I arrived outside ‘Sunny Nights’ apartments ten minutes later. I pushed the elevator button to go up after I walked through the lobby. When the elevator finally got here I pushed the 9 button. I took deep breaths and closed my eyes. The ding sounds and I opened them slowly.

“Damien?” I knew that voice.

“Stephanie?” I said running up and hugging her. “I’ve missed you so much,” I cried into her shoulder.

“I miss you too buddy,” she said. I smiled at her old nickname for me. “But what are you doing here?” I repeated everything I told Brian to her. She understood my feelings immediately.

“Sometimes, I think you hang out with Matt too much,” she said.

“Mom says the same thing,” I said smiling a little. I took in her appearance. Her eyes were red and puffy. She also seemed to be thinner.

“I’m here to know why you left,” I said.

“I’m sorry but you have to ask Owen that question,” She said.

“Okay, I’m going to go see him then,” I said then gave her another hug. When I got to the door, I knocked softly. It took a couple minutes before Owen opened it. Then immediately tried to shut it but, as cliché as it is, I put my foot in the way.

“Ouch,” I mumbled.

“What do you want?” Owen’s voice was hard and hoarse.

“To talk,” I said calmly.

“About what?”

“Why you left?”

“Why don’t you ask your brother why I don’t think straight first,” He hissed before pushing me and slamming shut the door. Then locking it to sure I don’t get in, again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bike ride home was quiet and irritating. Why Owen doesn’t think straight? There is only one reason I could think of but that couldn’t be it. I pulled up to the side of the house and put my bike back in its place. I opened the house door and walked in. I took off my converse and headed for the stairs.

“Where were you Damien?” My dad said.

“I just went for a ride,” I said continuing my way upstairs.

“A ride,” His voice was hard. I knew he was ticked because I just disappeared but he wasn’t that mad.

“Yup,” I said.

“Damien,” He said.

“Dad,” I said stopping and turning around.

“You can’t just run off anymore,” He told me. He had tears in his eyes.

“Okay, I won’t do it again,” I said to him going back down the stairs.

“Damien,” He said.

“Dad, I’m okay, it’s okay, everything is going to be okay,” I said.

He hugged me, wrapped his arms around me and hugged me as the tears came out. I let him cry on me. He needed it. He just lost his best friend and he was being so strong, for mom, for Daryk, even for me. He was the one that needed a shoulder to cry on the most.

“I love you dad,” I said. He smiled at me as he wiped his eyes.

“I love you too Damien,” He said giving me another hug.

“I’m going to go get Daryk out of bed now, okay?” I said.

“How ever you’re going to manage that,” he said.

“You’re okay right now?” I said. He nodded. I ran up the stairs and opened Daryk’s door.

“Daryk?” I said. He was lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling. “Can I talk to you?”

“Yeah,” He mumbled. I sat on the edge of his bed.

“Daryk, you need to get out of this bed,” I said.

“So,” He muttered.

“When are you going to?”

“Never”

“Fine, I’ll do this the hard way,” I said. “Why doesn’t Owen think straight?” Outright, the best way. Daryk sat up quickly and looked at me with wide eyes.

“What?” Daryk said his voice weak.

“Why doesn’t Owen think straight?” I said putting force into my words.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He said fingering his blanket.

“Of course you don’t, fine, you don’t want to talk to me about it then don’t, but get out of this room, or I will force you out.” I said then got up and walked out. I went into my room and played the self-titled Avenged Sevenfold album. ‘Almost Easy’ rang throughout my room.

*End of Flashback* -xloser4lyfx6

I stood up and walked down the hallway. Lexie was leaning against the wall.

“That’s not the bathroom,” I said. She jumped.

“I know that,” She hissed.

“What are you doing then?” I asked.

“Trying to get away from you,” She said glaring at me.

“Lexie, I don’t want to do this anymore, I miss you,” I said.

“No, you don’t,” She said looking away from me. “Don’t you remember the last time we were near each other?” Actually I remembered it very clearly.

*Flashback*(14 year old Damien’s POV)

I was riding my bike throughout town. This was the only way I could get away from everything these days. My iPod blared Slipknot through my headphones. Things had changed majorly in the past year. Daryk was living but he was dead inside. My parents were making progress. Stephanie and Owen refuse to come back, well at least Owen does. I stopped by a bench, sat down and got a Gatorade out of my bag and took a big gulp. I heard wheels screech to a stop behind me and someone sit on the bench next to me at the end. I looked up to see if I knew the person. I smiled when I saw Lexie sitting next to me.

“Hey Lex,” I said grinning.

“Oh, Hi Dam, I didn’t see you sitting there,” She smiled.

“Yeah, just getting away from the house,” I said.

“Me too, Bri is taking a toll on me,” She said wiping of her forehead.

“I’ve missed hanging out, Lex,” I said.

“Me too, it was fun, we haven’t hung out since…” Her sentence hung there in the air for a second.

“Jimmy,” I said quietly.

“Yeah,” She muttered. We were quiet for a couple seconds.

“Hey Damien?” She said.

“Yeah Lexie?” I said.

“Do you want to ride to the beach with me?” She asked. I looked over at her.

“That would be fun,” I said standing up. We got on our bikes and started heading in the direction of the beach. Ten minutes later we were there. We locked up our bikes and went and sat in the sand.

“Do you want to go swimming?” I asked.

“I didn’t bring any clothes,” She said.

“Just wear what you have on, it’ll dry by the time we get back to the house,” I said.

“Okay,” She said. I took off my shorts and stripped down to my boxers. I looked down and caught her staring at me.

“Are you ready, Lex?” I said. She blushed, which was so cute.

“Yeah,” She said hiding her face. We stood up and started walking toward the water. I smiled to myself.

“I’ll race you,” I said.

“You’re on,” She said before running off. I ran up behind her. She was pretty fast but I caught up. I picked her and bridal style. She screamed in surprise. I kept running toward the water.

“Put me down,” She said slapping my chest.

“Okay,” I said. When I was deep enough in the water I dropped us both under the water. When I came up, she did too. She was glaring at me.

“It’s cold,” She said.

“Not that cold,” I laughed. She swam after me in the water. I swam out further. I started looking around for her. Then I felt my legs being pulled. My head went under the water. She was grinning when I came out of the water. I smiled sweetly at her.

“Lexie, Oh Lexie,” I smiled.

“No, oh no, Damien!” She screamed. I pushed her head under water. When she came back up her face ended up extra close to mine. She was breathing hard when she opened her eyes. They went from cool and relaxed to wide and surprised.

“Lexie?” I asked. She shivered as my breath hit her lips.

“Hmm?” she hummed.

“What would you do if I kissed you?” I asked.

“What would you do if I kissed you?” She said back.

“Kiss back,” I said.

“Me too,” She mumbled right before my lips softly attached to hers. It was a sweet innocent kiss, which was supposed to be savored but it was magical. She removed her lips from mine.

“Damien?” She muttered, her eyes still closed, “Is this really happening?”

“No, it’s not, tomorrow is going to be a normal day, this never happened,” I said walking away like it was nothing. She followed me.

“What?” She said confused.

“You heard me,” I said putting my clothes back on.

“So you’re going to walk away like nothing happened?” She said in disbelief.

“Lex, we can’t do this to our families, one thing I’ve learned is that change isn’t good,” I said walking toward my bike.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She hissed.

“You know what it means Lex,” I said, looking at the tears on her face before pushing off on my bike in the direction of my home.

*End of Flashback*

I looked at Lexie.

“Of course I do,” I said clearly.

“Change isn’t good remember,” The tears were coming down her face.

“That was then, this is now,” I said.

“It’s still the same, you’re still the same,” She hissed.

“No, I’m not,” I said getting mad.

“Damien, you don’t want to upset our families, now do you?” She said mocking me.

“Lexie,” I said. I started to hear screaming coming from upstairs.

“It wasn’t the first time you left me there to cry as you rode away on your bike,” She said.

“Lexie,” I said louder. The screaming was becoming more frequent upstairs.

“How do you cope Damien? Oh that’s right. You don’t.” She said.

I walked over to her.

“Lexie, we have to finish this conversation later,” I said holding her shoulders.

“There won’t be a later,” I heard her mutter as I ran up the stairs to see Daryk coming out of Owen’s room.

“Is everything alright?” I asked. “I heard a lot of screaming.”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I knew Daryk was lying but I also knew not to push the subject. I watched as my little brother sunk down against the wall and just stared. I was again reminded of those first few days after Jimmy’s death. I reached out my hand for him to stand up and followed him as he went downstairs. I noticed how Lexie had disappeared. Daryk asked mom and dad if we could go home and I was fine with it. I really needed to go to bed.