I do not own the Patriot. I only own Cori, Brandon, and their grandparents.

Story Start

"Cori, get up, it's time to go on the tour," Brandon whined as he shook his sister's shoulder. His patience level for a nine year old was not high at all. His eighteen-year-old sister sleeping away in the backseat of the car was not helping either. Their grandparents were already outside buying tickets for the four of them. He narrowed his hazel eyes before he pinched his sister's arm.

"Brandon, don't pinch your sister," his grandma scolded him before telling him to get out of the car. "It's not nice to do that. You wouldn't want your sister to do that to you now would you?" his grandma continued while his grandpa walked over to the backseat where Cori was starting to wake up.

"No, because she's trained in martial arts since she was little and it'll hurt if she pinches me," Brandon said. He grabbed his grandma's hand before pulling her towards the tour group.

"We're in South Carolina, sleepyhead," Cori's grandpa said softly with a chuckle as her dark grey eyes met his. Her dark red hair framed her face before flowing past her shoulders. "If you don't wake up now, you'll miss the tour," he said as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

"I'm awake, Papaw," Cori said softly. She unbuckled and got out of the car. Her grandpa shut the door behind her, and then he locked the doors. "So where are we again specifically?" she asked while straightening her black blazer, red t-shirt, and her khaki skinny jeans. Her black boots caught the sunlight as she focused on her attire.

"We're at one of the battlegrounds for the revolutionary war. There used to be houses all along this area, which you can guess were ransacked by soldiers or burned down by soldiers," her grandfather explained as they walked together to catch up to the rest of the tour group.

"Brandon is excited," Cori said with a smile as she watched her brother's eyes shine with wonder. The soft breeze blew his hair and the sun's rays made him squint. However, nothing could deter him from experiencing everything this tour had to offer.

The vacation was a fun historical trip for Brandon, who could never get enough of history, especially the Revolutionary War. Cori just came on the trip as a fun little graduation trip from high school. She and her brother lived with their grandparents. They have lived with their grandparents for five years after their parents lost their lives in a plane crash. Brandon did not miss their parents too much because he was so young during their death, but Cori missed them every now and then. The pain of loss had withered throughout the years.

"Cori, papaw, get up here, you're missing the best parts," Brandon said and waved them closer to him while their grandma laughed quietly behind her hand.

"We are? Well then I guess we'd better hurry up," Cori said in a surprised manner, which made her brother's smile grow.

"You're bored to tears aren't you?" her grandma whispered to her when they joined the large tour group.

"It's a beautiful place, but yeah, I'm bored, but this trip is about Brandon, not me," Cori whispered back. She made sure to turn away before she saw her grandma's sad expression. She had grown up a lot after her parents' death. She also did not allow herself to have too much fun. She had college to worry about, her brother staying a kid for as long as he could, and helping her grandparents out as much as she could. Her grandparents were great people, but after retiring, they did not have enough money to take care of two children, their house, and everything else.

"Mamaw, I'm hungry," Brandon said after they had been walking through the battlegrounds for a few hours. The sun was starting to descend in the horizon. The tour had ended two hours ago, but Brandon wanted to run around more and take pictures. He took so many pictures before he grew bored, and then he told Cori to take more pictures. He wanted to make a new collage for his picture wall in his room.

"All right, well let's head back to the car and we'll get you some dinner," his grandma said. She was about to walk to the car, but Brandon would not move. He was staring at Cori.

"What's wrong?" Cori asked her little brother as she squatted down to be eye level with him.

"Will you go take some pictures of the entire battleground from the top of that hill?" Brandon asked giving his puppy dog pout, and the tired droop to his eyes made it even cuter.

"Brandon, I don't think that's a good idea, it'll be dark soon," their grandpa said, but Brandon just would not move until Cori gently took the camera from his grip.

"I'll be fine. You guys head back to the car and I'll be there as soon as I'm done, but Brandon you owe me some French fries from your dinner in a little while," Cori said and poked her brother's nose, which made him giggle.

"Deal," Brandon said before ran towards the car with their grandma following him.

"Be careful," their grandpa said to Cori before walking towards the car as well.

"It's just a small hill, I'll be fine," Cori thought as she walked towards the hill closest to her. She had her cell phone with her in case she needed some type of flashlight. She pulled her blazer tighter together as the breeze rushed past her. The chill of the night was arriving sooner than she thought it would.

Once reaching the top of the hill, she took a few pictures of the field. All of the pictures were turning out all right until she saw some type of blur rush past. She stopped taking pictures to check the film database. Her brows furrowed when she saw a large blur on one of the pictures.

"It looks almost like smoke," she whispered before lifting her camera to take another picture. The wind started to pick up as she took another picture. Her breath caught in her throat when she even smelled smoke now. The picture blew her mind though when she saw flashes of red, grey, and blue appear amongst the new multiple splotches of black on each picture she took.

"What's going on?" she thought fearfully as the wind brought sounds of horses neighing in fright, gun shots sounding, large thumps pounding across the ground, and trees splintering. She looked all around her, but she did not see anything. Coughs choked her as the smoke smell started to become too much.

"This is crazy," she thought before stumbling down the hill. She just needed to get back to the car. She must be hallucinating because of all of the stress lately and lack of sleep. "This cannot be real," she screamed when a quick rush of air ran past her and she thought she even heard the sound of a horse's deep breathing and the sound of its powerful legs racing across the ground beside her. Shouts of men whether full of pain or adrenaline echoed around her and in her head, and her world started spinning as the smoke inhalation was becoming too much.

A faint cry on the wind of "Charge" was the last thing she heard before her mind delved into darkness and she knew no more.

"Oh my head," Cori thought as she slowly sat up. Her body felt dizzy and her throat felt raw. A cough escaped her and that started the fit that felt as if it would not quit. Thirst was her first priority until she noticed the area she had been lying in for who knows how long. Trees surrounded her. A beautiful night sky made her gasp as she caught sight of it through the tree canopy. She had never seen so many stars in her life, and she had always seen more than most because she lived far away from any cities. However, the stars decorating the sky almost left no room for the night sky to show.

As she stood up trying to get her bearings, she could see a small field, which was much smaller than the field from the battleground tour area. "Somebody must have moved me as a joke, one of the park rangers," she whispered trying to reason with herself.

Shaky steps led her to the tree line, but she paused at what she found in the field. Houses from the revolutionary era style were spaced throughout the field and beyond. Her eyes flickered from house to house, but she did not see any power lines, telephone poles, satellite dishes, or a vehicle.

"This field used to full of houses before the battle that took place here," her grandpa's words floated to the surface of her mind as she stared at the unbelievable.