WATCHING YOUR BACK
By Wendy
Terror turned my blood to ice.
'This isn't happening'
I had no warning as Madison abruptly changed tactics, reversing his threat by turning his aim toward my unsuspecting brother.
"Lets see how you live with this one, Ricky boy," he smiled maliciously.
"AJ, Look out!" I shout, my voice scrapping my throat as I jump to my feet and run.
At the sound of my warning, AJ stopped, and turned.
He was yet to see the danger that had caused my panic.
However, to me, it all seems to be happening in slow motion. For as fast as I run the more distance between us there appears to be.
It was all taking too much time.
'Too far away'
My heart misses its beat, knowing that with my human limitations, I will not be able to out run the bullet.
AJ looks puzzled, offering me a confused shrug of his shoulders, as he mouths the silent question. 'What?'
Then suddenly, his body appears to become rigid where he stands. In an instant, his face is exposed, his shock and puzzlement obvious, his mouth opening and closing, as if he is gulping for air. All the while like a chameleon his skin is rapidly changing to a bloodless alabaster before my eyes.
It was only then that I realized that the pounding of my heart in my ears must have muffled the sound of the gun.
'Too late to save him.'
Still, I would not be too late to pulverize that sonofabitch Madison, into dust.
I didn't feel Madison's face break, as it crumbled under my tirade of fists.
Nor did I care when unconsciousness meant that he could no longer feel my raging onslaught.
While on the contrary, my bloody fist was halted instantly mid air by the sound of AJ's distress.
Breathless, I dismiss the bloody mess I leave behind, and move quickly to my brother's side.
He's so pale as I watch him struggle for every breath.
I quickly pull off my shirt, pressing it tightly against the wound that now stains the stomach of his pristine white shirt.
The agony my pressure on his wound causes hurts me more than it hurts my brother.
I want to take his place.
'Damn it, don't you dare take him from me!' I command of the man upstairs, before begging for my brother's life. "Please don't take him. Please.'
At first, I don't hear his pleas, AJ seemed to have no air to find voice. It's wasn't until his bloody hand reaches up to caress my face and I feel the moist trail of blood as his fingers trail down my cheek, that I take note.
"I'm here buddy," I try to sound convincing, even though the blood that seeps from under my fingers refutes my claim. "Don't worry, AJ, you'll be fine. Haven't I always looked out for you?
My words are like acid to my throat, as I stare down at my failure.
"Don't you dare leave me, AJ, ya hear me?" My command seems less effective as my voice chokes in my throat.
"N...not g...going a...any...where. N...need to...t...tell... n...need t...to s...say...somethin'..."
"You need to shut up, that's what you need to do little brother," I attempt a smile.
'God, this looks bad'
I again attempt to stem the flow of blood.
"R...Rick...listen...me." AJ frowns at me, as his bloody fingers clench desperately at my shirt. "N...never...listen..."
My eyesight is obscured with tears. "I was always listening AJ," I choke. "I was always listening."
Continued?