Here's another new story. This is probably a bad idea, but I'm going to do it anyway.
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Chapter 1
Leo knelt down next to his brother's bed as he slept restlessly. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving him alone, not in this state. His little brother had become mentally and emotionally fragile over the past few years and he only seemed to get more detached from his family and even from reality as time went on. Now all Leo can try to do is protect his brother from the heartache he was already suffering from. Other than that, there isn't much he can do. Leo covered up his little brother with a blanket and sighed.
"Go away, Leo." Leo flinched when he heard his brother's voice. He was just sleeping a couple minutes ago. And his voice, Leo could never get used to it sounding so weak and gravelly. "Just let me be alone. I deserve to be alone."
Leo shook his head quickly. "Don't say that, bro. It's not true."
He sat up in bed, letting the blanket fall off his shoulders and stared directly into his older brother's grey eyes. "I couldn't protect them. What kind of person can't protect their own family?"
"You did all you could." Leo tried comforting him with a gentle hand on his shoulder.
He pushed his hand off of his shoulder and broke eye contact, choosing to look at the floor instead. "And it wasn't enough. I would give anything to have them back, to hold them again, but that will never happen because I failed to protect them. " He laid back down and hid his face in his pillow. His shaking body was the only indication that he was sobbing. "I...I miss them, Leo."
"I know," Leo spoke softly, ignoring his own tears rolling down his cheeks. "I know you do." he sniffled. "... now get some rest. I'll be in the next room if you need me, okay?" The younger brother didn't respond. Leo sighed again and stood up as his brother tried drifting off to sleep.
Leo forced himself to leave the room before he actually broke down at the sight of his brother. He left the door open a crack in case a nightmare took hold of him, which they usually did. There's no stopping them, but at least he could be there for him. Even if he didn't want Leo there. Leo leaned up against the wall next to the door and slid to the floor as he sobbed silently. Remembering some of the good times he had once had, when his family was whole.
"Hi Uncle Leo!" a little boy came up to him smiling brightly.
"Hey, what's going on buddy?"
"Do you think I'll be a good fighter like you and Dad?"
Leo knelt down to meet the boy at eye level. "You sure can, but it's going to take practice."
"Yeah, we'll fight all the bad guys." another boy looking exactly like the first came bounding toward them, pouncing on his twin brother.
Leo quickly corrected them. "Hey now, remember this doesn't mean you go out looking for someone to fight. You use your martial arts ability for self defense only, understand."
"Yes, Uncle Leo." they replied in unison.
"Good, now go play." he gave them both an affectionate pat on the head before they ran off to go find their cousins.
Leo leaned his head back against the wall and shut his eyes, wishing that things would go back to the way they were and knowing full well that it wouldn't happen. He stayed there for what felt like hours, until he finally heard someone fiddling with the lock on the front door. It was most likely his wife and kids so he quickly got up off the floor and wiped the remainder of his tears away. Once the door opened he immediately greeted his family.
"Hey guys, how was school?" he said with a smile. A smile that everyone in the room knew wasn't real at this point. His family knew that most of the time it was forced.
"It was great. I got an A on my math test." Leo's eleven year old daughter, Kayla, answered as sincerely as possible. She had long black hair surrounding the fair complexion of her face. Freckles dotted her cheeks and sat underneath her blue eyes. She pushed a strand of her long black hair behind an ear and averted her eyes to the floor to keep from looking her father in the eye. She would never admit to it out loud, but she hated seeing him like this.
"That's great, sweetie." Leo responded.
Leo's thirteen year old son, Jayden, had fairly pale skin and smoky grey eyes that matched his father. Like his sister, he had black hair, but it was shorter and shaggier. He had his eyes locked on the door to his Uncle's room and wasn't paying much attention to the conversation going on. "How about you, Jayden?" Leo said bringing his attention back to him.
"Huh? Oh... yeah, it was fine." he answered quickly, fiddling with strands of his black hair that hung loosely in front of his face. "I'm gonna do my homework now." he grabbed his backpack and went to the coffee table. Kayla followed suit only she ran upstairs to her room.
Jenna sighed heavily, grabbed her husband by the hand and led him to their bedroom. Leo was kind of confused by the sudden actions, but followed her anyway. "What's wrong, hon?" Jenna asked once she shut the door behind them. She let her hair down from it's hair clip, letting the dark curls fall over her shoulders.
Leo turned away and said "Nothing."
Jenna dropped her hair clip on the vanity, walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his muscular frame in a comforting embrace. "I know something must've happened. I could see it in your eyes. Is he okay?"
He gave a sad chuckle and shook his head. "No, he's not." he raked his hand through his graying black hair and sighed again. It took all of his energy not to start crying again. "He's getting worse. I wish there was more I could do for him."
"You're doing all you can, my love, but don't worry," she moved around so her icy blue eyes met his his grey ones. "We'll get him through this... somehow." she tried.
"No," Leo shook his head sadly. He held her pale hands in his. "unless you can somehow bring back the dead. Then there's no mending his broken heart."
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First chapter done.
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