Jack looked down at his family as they sat around the camp fire, his mother, Catlin, his father, Dalton and his 10 year old brother, Devin. It had been 3 years since Jack's disappearance, Jack may no longer be human and he may not look like he did when they last saw him but he still watched over them, protected them. Jack missed his life but he wouldn't change his new one to get his old one back.
Devin had lost his only brother at the age of 7 but had never given up hope that his brother still lived. Jack was interrupted from his thoughts by his father's voice. "We're gonna go to bed Devin, don't put anymore wood on the fire unless you're sure you'll be up to watch it." Devin nodded and sunk back into his chair happily as his parents went into their tent.
After an hour or so Jack could see Devin fall asleep but the camp fire was still going. Jack shook his head at his brother and climbed down from the tree he was perched in and silently walked over to the fire. He picked up a water bottle and poured it over the fire; he flinched at the loud sizzling sound it caused but Devin didn't move. Once the fire was out Jack draped a blanket over Devin and Devin gripped it tightly curling into a ball in his chair before Jack climbed back into the tree and fell asleep himself.
A bit later Jack woke to the sound of heavy breathing. He looked down to see his brother was no longer in his chair. He followed the sound to see his Devin a few feet down on the tree. Devin had the same love for climbing trees as Jack but Jack was better and had more practice. Devin wore a head lamp to see the tree but it didn't help enough. "Al…most…got…it." Devin whispered to himself as he reached for the nearest branch which was well within Jack's reach; thankfully Devin was too busy to notice Jack. Devin grabbed the branch and pulled himself up to Jack's branch but Jack hand darted to the other side of the tree making sure his brother wouldn't see him. Devin rested on the branch Jack previously occupied and looked out over the beach the forest stopped at. "Hey Jack I know it's been a while but…if you can hear me I just wanted to say hi…again and I miss you, so do mom and dad though they never talk about you anymore unless I bring you up and when I do, they do their best to change the subject as fast as possible. I think it's because they want to save me from the pain of remembering you but talking about you makes me feel better." Devin sighed "I wish you were here with us camping just like it was before, I know you're still alive and I know you watch over me I find little things you leave for me. I wish you would talk to me just say hi something." Jack opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it. If he confirmed Devin's suspicions that Jack was indeed still alive then he would want to prove it to others leaving him to be bullied or put in therapy, that or he'd look for Jack and that could be dangerous for the both of them. "I really miss you. I…I hope you know that, but…hey my birthday is tomorrow maybe you could leave me something? You know me best so get what you think I'd like. Ok?" Jack smirked under his mask he already had something for him he'd made it himself. Jack pulled the little wooden token from his pocket he had made it to look like his mask and had added a long cloth string to it so Devin could wear it as a necklace.
Devin climbed down from the tree and Jack took back his spot to watch over them as they slept.
The next morning Devin was the first up and he wrote something down on some paper placed a rock on it and began walking away from the camp site heading deeper into the woods. Jack followed him hopping from tree top to tree top making little noise. Devin stopped at a large tree far from the camp and began climbing. Jack shook his head at him playfully. "Spider monkey." Jack said to himself as he perched himself in a nearby tree just out of Devin's sight. Once Devin found the right branch he stopped but didn't sit down. "I thought about it Jack, and I know, I'm sure you're watching over me, protecting me. So the only way to get you back is to do something stupid." Jack's hear began to pound as Devin looked down from the branch. "At this height if I fall right I'll die once I hit the ground so you have two choices, save me or watch me die." Jack froze as Devin closed his eyes "heh dying on my birthday how ironic." Devin leaned forward and began falling but Jack jumped from his tree catching Devin out of the air but not giving himself enough time to grab branch. Jack turned mid air so Devin would land on top of him before slamming into the ground and sliding a foot or two.
Jack coughed and sputtered heavily the weight of his bother and the force of the impact had shattered his ribs. He would be fine they would heal quickly but it still hurt like hell. "You…" Jack couch rolling over onto his hands and knees gripping his side in pain with one hand "idiot." Jack tried to stand but fell his ribs would take a bit to heal along with his punctured lung. "I knew it! You're alive!"
"Shut up! Someone will hear you." Jack wheezed out his words as he felt air return to his lung. "You just had to know didn't you? What if I weren't there!? What if I was really dead!? You be lying at the bottom of that tree your bones shatters and you head in pieces for mom and dad to find! They lost one son they don't need to lose the other!" Jack stood his ribs now healed enough he would walk. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace he'd made for Devin. "Happy birthday you little shit." He tossed it to him before walking away. "You're just gonna leave!?"
"That's the plan." Jack leaned against a tree having miss judged on how healed he was. "Don't go you're hurt." Jack chuckled "what? You want me to go back to the camp site and things will go back to the way they were? Don't be stupid Devin. I have my reasons for staying away."
"Then why have you been protecting me? Why didn't you just leave that life behind and leave us alone?"
"I… because I-."
"Because you want things to go back to how they were! And you know it!" Jack pushed himself off the tree and began walking again. "Yeah, at first but once I got passed that? I found I like my life now and I can't get my old one back, I can't go back to school, I can't get my friends back I can't even go to the movies with you."
"Why not!? What is so bad that you can't come home?!"
"I'm not going to tell you that, I want you to remember how I was not how I am now. I'm a monster to people like you now."
"You're not a monster you're my brother!" Jack growled whipping around to his brother "Devin! I just fell from 50 ft up! On my back with you in my arms and lived! On impact I shattered my ribs and damaged a lung but now I'm fine, get away from me!" Jack gripped his side in pain cause by his yelling "well almost fine." Jack flinched at the sound of his name being called "E.J.! where are you!? E.J.!"
"Damn it." Jack cursed under his breath. "Who's E.J.?"
"Me." Jack said turning back and following the voice. "What does it mean? E-J?"
"Doesn't matter." Devin scoffed "I'm not leaving you so you might as well tell me."
"Go back to camping Dev."
"No! Tell me why you won't come-!" Devin froze in his spot and Jack turned to see what cut him off, a grizzly bear. "Shit." Jack cursed under his breath the bear had noticed them and wasn't happy to see them. "Devin, get back please."
"Wh-what are you gonna do?"
"what I do best, protect you."
"that's a bear!"
"I noticed." Jack stretched his ribs had healed enough where he'd have a chance to take down the bear. "Hey!" the bear whipped its head at Jack. "Yeah, you! Come and get it!" The bear growled at Jack before standing on its hind legs "big bear! Very big bear!" the bear roared at him and Jack roared back just as loud. The bear slammed back down and ran at Jack but Jack jumped up and landed on the bears back turned and wrapped his arms around the bear's enormous neck. "hold still!" Jack squeezed as tightly as he could and the bear stood bashing Jack against a tree. Jack screamed in pain as his ribs were again broken. Jack placed his feet against the bear's back and pushed with his feet while pulling with his arms. "come on! break!" Jack was rewarded with a quiet snap and the bear falling to the ground.
Jack rolled off the bear breathing heavily. "oh god worst day ever." Jack said curling into a ball gripping his sides in pain "That was awesome! You just fought a bear! And won!" Devin said excitedly "E.J.! call out!" Devin without thinking called out for him. "Over here!"
"No!" but it was too late Devin had sealed Jack's fate. "I swear to god you have a death wish." Jack sat up and looked over at the approaching figure; Devin froze at the sight of the red and black dog with the evil human smile approaching them. "Hey Smile." Jack said weakly. "what is that thing!?" Devin screamed scooting back. "Dev my dog Smile, Smile my little brother Devin." Smile barked not wanting to speak in front of the young boy before running over. "I'm ok Smile." Smile whimpered sniffing her masters sides "that's a dog!?"
"Sort of." Smile laid down next to Jack helping him heal faster. "she won't hurt you don't worry about it."
"Did you dye its fur that color?! Did you give it human teeth!?"
"No she came that way."
"then I'm gonna worry about it!"
"Dev, there are things about the world that people will tell you don't exist but they do. For example demons and demon hounds. Smile is a demon hound and she follows me a demon." Devin scoffed "You can be a jerk but you're not a demon." Jack chuckled "Don't think so?" Jack sighed. "You wanna know why I can't go back to the way things were?" Jack sat up now fully healed and pushed down his hood; he pulled off his gloves and held them out to Devin. "The day I went missing I…well we don't need to discuss the details but in short what happened that day turned my skin gray."
"well that's easy to cover it up." Jack scoffed "what did they tell you about the scene where they say I went missing?"
"Not much just that it was in a cave in the woods near your collage campus, they said you killed people." Jack nodded "I suppose that wouldn't tell a kid the nastier details. That day I did indeed kill them but…they…they pulled out my eyes and did some other stuff."
"They pulled out your eyes? How can you see me?" Devin asked doubtfully, Jack sighed pulling off his mask. "I wish I knew the answer to that." Devin stiffened at the sight of his brother's face. Jack gave his brother a weak grin exposing his sharp shark like teeth. "I told you I'm a monster now, I can't go back. My dog has a better time of fitting in than I do." Jack snapped his fingers and Smile shook and the red in her fur turned to a reddish-brown and her teeth turned to look more like a normal dog. "See? I would come back if I could but I just can't I-."
"Devin!? Where are you? Breakfast is ready."
"Go back to your life leave the demons out of it." Devin forced his brother into a hug. "Thanks for saving me…twice." Jack chuckled hugging him back. "Goodbye eyeless Jack."