This is my first story on , so please don't flame. I love feedback and critiques, but flames are a no-no. :)
Warm. That was the first thing Jack felt. Which was odd. The last thing he remembered was the cold…No, a gunfight…Yeah, there was definately some gunman that came to the house, he remember hearing gunshots. Did he get shot? He couldn't remember, it was all fuzzy. Where were Bobby and Angel?
"Angel? Bobby? Jerry?" He called out, sitting up. He was in the house. Wasn't he lying in the snow? They must've moved him.
"They aren't here, Jackie." Freezing in place, Jack knew he hadn't heard that. He couldn't have. "…Ma?" He asked, turning around slowly. In the doorway stood Evelyn Mercer. Leaping up in an instant, he ran over to her and hugged her as hard as he could.
"Ma! How're you alive?" He asked, eyes shining. Sighing to herself, Evelyn knew he hadn't remember, hadn't realized. She was the same way the first day or so. Telling him now would be best.
"Honey, I'm not alive." She said gently. Jack simply gave her a confused look. "What? But, you're here! In the house!" Shaking her head, she quietly continued.
"Jackie, I'm not alive, and…neither are you." The look of shock and sadness on her now deceased son's face tore at her heartstrings, but she continued on.
"Do you remember what happened?" She asked him, sitting down on the couch. He sat down numbly and nodded, the memories back in an instant.
"Yeah. Gunman came to the house. Couldn't get to me in time…" He mumbled to her. If only the memories hadn't come back to him; the pain, the cold, the blood…the blood, choking him… Bobby telling him to keep breathing…His life flashing before his eyes. God, that was the worst part of it. He saw him and his brothers, his whole life go by during the fight…
"Well, we're just gonna wait up here until your brothers join us." He heard his mother say. Glancing over at her, he shook his head, snapping out of his daze.
"How the- how did I get, y'know, upstairs?" He asked her, the 'how the hell' he meant to say not coming out. Maybe that's how things worked in Heaven? She simply smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. "You are a nice boy, Jack. Just a bit…rough around the edges." She said, choosing her words carefully. "And all of your brothers are coming 'upstairs' too. I know it." Shrugging, he glanced away.
"Well, they better not be up here too- too soon." The 'fucking' he attempted wouldn't come out either. Yeah, that must be how Heaven works. His mother smiled again, this time sadder.
"I really am worried about them now, Jackie. You kept them more tame, they wanted to shelter you, in a way. Now…"
"Now they're gonna kill the-the people who…yeah…"The curse fell away from him, but so did the words 'killed us'. He just…couldn't say them. He couldn't be dead. Sighing, he looked over at his mom. "One thing, though."
"What's that?"
"No halos? No harps? No magical clouds?" He asked. Chuckling, Evelyn responded, "No halos. This is where I wanted to wait. This is where you wanted to wait." Shrugging half-heartedly, he mumbled, "Well, I hope it's a long wait…"