So Kane muse came home. :D Here's an update! Quick shout out to Dark Kaneanite, Divine Arion, and Princess K...thank you for the reviews!

Chapter 10

It is August but the air outside is still hot and heavy with the last remains of summer. I am in a very somber mood, one equal to the famous ones my older brother can be found in often. He has even been reluctant to bother me which just goes to show. My brother is okay to me, but lots of times he's a really big meanie and he teases and bosses. Sometimes we team up though if we have a common threat or a hankering for some mischief. Behind our house, which a lot of the kids think is haunted, is a small graveyard. It is really old, I can tell because many of the tombstones are sinking and the once raised letters that tell who lies beneath the ground and when they took that resting place has been weathered away till I couldn't even read them if I knew how to read. This is where I am right now. This is a common stomping ground for The Undertaker, as he is called by the children. I can often look out my window or from between the slats of the back porch railing and see him drift betwixt and between the slumping gravestones. He is like a wandering, bodiless, spirit that floats among the tombstones.

Just now I am perched atop a large chunk of stone that was a tall spire of a headstone. Earlier this summer we had a huge storm and it was struck by lightening. Now it is just a crag, like a broken molar poking up from the ground, leaving the body it guards nameless and ageless. I am lost in my own thoughts. Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow, I start school.

I gulp as I consider. Kids do not usually venture close to our house but the times I have ran in to others of my age I have been stared at, pointed at, whispered about, or blatantly made fun of by a few brave souls. But school must be way worse. Mark has told me about when the kids used to tease him, but he put a quick end to it. A smile creeps across my face. Mark has never had to sit in the principal's office for beating someone to a pulp, he didn't have to take it to that direction. All he had to do was be really creepy and dark and he could keep kids quiet just out of fear. But me? Well gee, I'm only four years old. I can get pretty mad and do some damage for my age but…I'm scared. I don't like to be teased, it makes me feel sad and small and afraid that something is wrong with me. Mark could care less what people say about him. Sometimes when kids forget to keep quiet and start up their taunts at him he just ignores them rather than taking the time and effort to remind them of his creepiness and make them pee their pants (as I would do if I could). I am big for my age so I guess I could get brave and result to violence. Mostly I would rather not go to school at all and instead just crawl into one of the caskets and let Paul Bearer and Dad lower me six feet under where no one would bother me. But then I would have to worry about worms eating me.

"Hey." I am so startled I topple backwards off the broken headstone and crack the back of my head on another older one. I just caused it to lean even more than it was before. I sit up rubbing my head. Damn him… "Sorry Big Red." He apologizes. I grunt at him and pick myself up. "What are you doin' out here anyways? This is my spot." He looks around at the tombstones lovingly with a slight smile on his face as though these stones are his old and dear friends. I guess I kind of know how he feels, he has the same look I feel on my face when I sneak matches and watch the flames burn from their red little tips. He is drawn to darkness, I am drawn to light. "It's okay." He turns to me and his face grows serious. "School tomorrow, don't worry. They won't mess with ya 'cause you're my brother."

"I don't need ya to take up for me…" I glare at him. "A'sides I'm not goin'."

He raises an auburn eyebrow at me.

"How come? Mom knows when you fake sick, I tried before."

I pick myself up and shake my head. I weave in and out of the tombstones and he follows close behind.

"I'm runnin' away."

He bursts out laughing and I turn on him so sudden that he bumps into me and we both tumble to the ground. He gets up and following this pulls me up too.

"You ain't runnin' away, that's dumb." He gives me a grin and slants his gaze. "Besides, who would wanna take in a weird-o kid like you!" He shoves me playfully and I step back into a hole and wrench my ankle. A few tears spring to my eyes and I quickly wipe them away.

"Ooow!" I rub at my hurt ankle. "You dumb butthead!"

"I'm not dumb." He squats down and presses his small fingers to my ankle.

"Stop touchin'!" I slap his hand and he growls at me.

"You ain't hurt, get up baby."

"You made me hurted my ankle…I can't run no where now!" I wail. I am now upset at him for thwarting my plans. It is almost like he intended for this to happen and now I am doomed to go to the depths of hell tomorrow—school. The Undertaker helps me up and looks toward the house where Mom has just stepped onto the back porch. She calls our names.

"Supper, yay!" Mark shouts and runs off hoping a couple gravestones as he does so. One minute he is lumbering around slow like a zombie lost in the swirling darkness of his thoughts the next he is off like lightening. I can never figure my brother out so I just watch him sprint toward the house and I lag behind limping. Maybe if I exaggerate my twisted ankle Mom will let me miss school tomorrow. Maybe if I'm lucky it will turn purple and even swell.

No luck. By morning the pain is almost non-existent and Mark was right. Mom can tell when I was faking and all I did was make her mad. Mark and I walk to school and I make sure to stick close to him, my head down, occasionally I sneak a look around at the other kids who make their way to class rooms.

"Here's your class." Mark says. I look up at him my eyes wide. I had forgotten about this…I'm on my own. Mark is two years older than me so of course he is in a different class. I groan and step into the room. Eyes roam over me and children turn to whisper. I glare at the stupid little faces around the room. I feel this is going to be a long, bad, day.

At least Mark and I meet up again on the playground. I find him under that dome jungle-gym thing that you can climb all over. However, no one is climbing on it because he is sitting under it cross-legged. His presence is enough to keep everyone away just like a troll under a bridge, no one dares cross that bridge, and no one dares climb on the jungle gym when Mark sits under it. He stares coldly at a little boy who starts to approach, hoping to have fun climbing over this thing, but he stops seeing my brother and rethinks his recess plans and instead of this jungle-gym dome he turns and heads for the swings. I don't know when I have been so glad to see my brother. I run over to the jungle gym, my ankle forgotten and working fine, and I duck under the bars and sit next to him in the gravel. He has not twitched or moved or changed his facial expression. Sometimes he looks like the paralyzed corpses that I have sneaked in to see in the embalming room before. Mom would skin me if she knew I ever went back there. It was off limits.

"Kane." His face is still like a stone and his gaze remains unbroken as he says my name.

"I'm walkin' home. I ain't goin' back in there." I look back to the school and send daggers at it with my eyes. I hope it burns…maybe I could see to it that it does.

"Are they makin' fun?" He asks and now he turns to me.

"Well…sorta…it's just this one kid…Robby. I'd punch him in the nose but he's bigger an' older than me…even than you!" I scoop some pebbles in my small hand and then watch them leak through my parted fingers and fall back into the ocean of dusty little stones that cover the ground. Just as I am about to explain to Mark how this little hellion has been picking on me, my teacher blows her whistle, signaling that we have to go back to class and do something dumb like learn letters or numbers. School, who needs it anyway? Before I scurry back to the teacher Mark leans over and whispers in my ear that he has a plan for Robby. I smile as he tells me just what his plan entails.

After school I find Robby and walk past him on purpose. Mark said this way he would follow me and he was right. Robby follows behind me and steps on my heels, pulls my hair, spits at me, and anything else mean he can think of. Finally I stop and turn to him when we are under a big tree. Little does Robby know that Mark is perched on a branch waiting for us.

"I'm sick of you pickin' on me, leave me alone!" I shout at the older boy. He just laughs and sticks his nose in my face and says:

"Or what?" He punctuates it by giving me a shove. I can't believe that Mark could predict things so well, because this is exactly what he said Robby would say once I told him to stop his pestering. So, I answer the way Mark told me to.

"Or I'll set you on fire!"

Robby cocks his head at me and starts to laugh. I just deepen my scowl and wait for Mark. Mark is sitting up in the tree with a long, slender, branch in his hand. He takes a shiny silver lighter from his pocket and holds the flame to the tip of the branch until it catches fire. Once the orange flame is dancing there, Mark carefully lowers the branch downward. He looks intently serious as he does this, me on the other hand, I trade my scowl for an evils smirk because I know what is about to come.

"Yeah right, you can't set me on fire!" Robby shouts. He moves forward and for a moment I think the plan might fail, but Undertaker is able to keep it under control and he moves the branch and barely touches it to Robby's hair which begins to flame.

"Yeah I can! I'm gonna start at the top of your stupid head and work down to your toes and all you'll be is a buncha ashes!" I feel proud of myself because Mark didn't give me anything else to say, this is just me improvising.

"You and your brother are both crazy you--" Robby stops mid sentence and his eyes grow wide as he suddenly realizes he is on fire. He let's out a comical wail and runs around in circles banging his hands on his head in efforts to smack out the fire in his hair. Just to make sure it is out he hops down from the curb and pokes the top of his head into a mud puddle. By now I'm rolling on the sidewalk laughing. I'm sure Mark will give up the plot by laughing himself out of the tree but I manage to sneak a peak up and he is doing no such thing. He just sits in the crux of the tree smiling down at Robby who doesn't even know he's there. Once again, Mark amazes me with his level head. I pick myself up and wipe some tears from my eyes. Robby shuffles over to me looking down right terrified and he digs in his pocket and holds out his hand.

"He-here…it's the lunch money I stole off ya earlier…I-I'm sorry!" He drops the coins in my hand and bolts. Mark hops down from his post and claps me on the back.

"See?" He says simply as we begin the trek towards home. He pulls out the silvery lighter and turns it over in his hands. I can't help but be mesmerized by it. He flips open the lid and flicks the flame to life and I watch it wiggle and dance so beautifully. Mark turns to me reading me with his cool green eyes. "Like it?" He closes the top distinguishing the flame. "It's yours. Don't say I never gave you anything." He adds and punches my arm playfully. "Race you home!" He takes off before I can respond. I'm too busy gazing at the precious object in my hand. I look up at my brother's disappearing form as he books it towards home. Mark really does like me. I think to myself and feel a smile cross my face. Sometimes I wonder what he thinks of me, he can be mean, but I guess this proves it. I shove the lighter in my pocket and run after him hoping to make up for lost time.

By the time I get home Mark is already there. He stands out on the porch with Mom. Her hands are on her hips and her lips are pressed together in a tight line. I stop huffing and puffing on the steps. I look up at her and find this expression on her face and know immediately what it means: she's angry. But why? I look to Mark as if for an answer and the only thing I see on his face is a hint of guilt.

"Kane, I got a phone call from Mrs. Wells. She says you set fire to her son." She turns her eyes on me and they are so harsh they make me squirm as if I am in real physical pain.

"I…Mark…" I fumble for words, not sure what I should tell her.

"Mark told me everything. I'm ashamed of you, cruel, evil, child! You have to learn how to behave Kane." She shoves her hands into my pockets and retrieves the object Mark had just gifted me with earlier. She slams it down onto the porch railing. "I can't believe you, what do I have to do to teach you how to behave!" Her hand wraps around the back of my neck and grips hard and painful. She drags me off into the house and in to her room where she takes out Dad's belt. It is the first time I have seen it, but it won't be the last. Anger wells inside as I realize my brother has betrayed me. He knew we would get caught so he purposefully gave me that lighter. But as with the leather strap, this will not be the last time for such betrayal.

I can feel myself trying to swim up from sleep. As I flounder in the purgatory between wakefulness and sleep my muddled brain manages a thought on the heels of the dream I just had. So, that's what memory the lighter holds. A lot of firsts there, the first time I "set someone on fire", first beating by dear mom, first time my brother fucks me over… I bring my hand to my face and rub my eyes. What am I thinking? Wake up Glen before you really do lose your mind. That's when I realize something out in the real world is causing quite the banging racket. I crack open an eye and look toward the source of the thumping. It is the door on my motel room. I grumble and roll off the bed and lumber blearily toward the door.

"Keep your pants on, I'm coming!" I open the door to find a small man scowling. When he realizes he is looking at my chest his glare crumbles away into an uncertain frown and he tilts his head up.

"You only paid for one night sir, it was check out time three hours ago. You must have been dead to the world! I've been down here on and off trying to raise someone. Almost thought I may have to call the authorities for some help." He finishes with a nervous laugh. What? That means it is about three o'clock by now and I got this room around five or so yesterday. I really was out. I guess I just shut down due to all the things piled on as of late. I apologize to him and grab my keys from the stand I had dumped them on when dragging my feet into this place yesterday. All else I have with me are the clothes on my back because originally I had planned to make the trip and be home the same day. I look down at my feet, even they are still encased in my shoes. I hadn't even had the wits or energy about me to take my shoes off yesterday before collapsing onto the groaning bed. I make my way to my truck and climb in. In the passengers seat is the photo album. Why me? I wonder to myself. I reach for my phone intent on calling Jenna and let her know where I am and what I'm doing…but more than that I just have a need to hear her voice. It sounds corny but it seems to give me strength. I flip open the phone and begin to push the 'call' button something inside me shifts. I know who it is, it's Kane. It's as though he doesn't want me to call because Jenna helps me stay sane. My hand begins to tremble. I don't need this right now. All I want to do is go home to my wife and get back to my life. Well, I can do the going home part, but obviously I'll have to wait to get back to my life as it used to be, because this isn't over yet. No Glen, it isn't over until I, Kane, say it is.

Feels good to be back updating this fic. :) Please leave me some reviews and let me know what you think, your comments and advice are much appreciated.