Disclaimer - I do not own DGM

Chapter Seven - Waiting and Watching

As the hours passed there was no visible change in Neah's condition; the child continued to lie motionless on the bed, his breathing so light that if you weren't looking for it then it almost appeared as though the little boy had ceased to breathe. In fact it had grown so difficult to see the slight rise and fall of Neah's chest that Mana had taken to placing his hand on his little brother's chest so that he could feel the slight motion. Needing to constantly reaffirm to himself that his cherished little brother was still alive.

Because he was scared.

Things weren't looking good for the little brother that Mana cherished more than his own life; the child that he had killed for. After having endured so much hardship in a relatively short matter of time it almost appeared as though Neah had lost the will to fight and was simply waiting to die.

A thought that caused tears to appear in Mana's eyes as he gazed down at the motionless form of the child.

"Come on Neah boy," he whispered, removing his hand from the child's chest so that he could run it through his soft hair. There was just the slightest trace of a whimper in the teen's voice as he spoke softly to his little brother. Something that normally would have embarrassed him but that he didn't even think about in this moment. "Please wake up… You have to be okay. It's safe now Neah… you don't have to be afraid anymore so please just wake up. I promise he can't hurt you anymore."

Neah gave no sign that he had heard the words whispered to him by his older brother, his pale features remaining completely motionless. Reaching out Mana brushed a rogue strand of hair from his brother's face before getting to his feet, checking one last time to make sure that his brother was breathing before turning toward the door that led from his room. "I'll be back in a little bit Neah, I promise… there's something I have to take care of."

Of course the thing that Mana was referring to was the disposal of the corpse that was still lying in the foyer of the house. The lifeless and completely unrecognizable form of his father. The teen knew that no one would see it, owing to the heavy curtains that hung in front of all of the windows in the house, but it was only a matter of time before the house would be filled with a foul odor from the decaying remains. And, since he needed to maintain the secret while he was caring for his brother, Mana knew that he would have to do something about it.

Thinking about what he had to do actually made Mana feel decidedly sick to his stomach, almost to the point where he thought he might vomit. He'd gazed upon the corpse of his father right after the murder… as well as when he had returned to the house with a bleeding Neah held clutched in his arms. Neither of those times had affected him, his emotions still significantly raw over what had been done to his innocent little brother.

He wasn't so sure that the same thing could be said at this current moment in time. The teen was numb, having exhausted most of his emotions already, and would most likely be more vulnerable to the sight of what he had done in his moment of rage. After all Mana had never actually intended to kill the man, it being a spur of the moment thing. He had snapped due to the fact that the man had tried to kill Neah and even now, despite his ill feeling, Mana still couldn't bring himself to feel remorse over what he had done.

In fact, though he would never admit this fact to anyone and couldn't even bring himself to really admit it to himself, he felt somewhat better owing to the course of action that he had taken.

"That's… disturbing…" Mana muttered as he made his way down the staircase, an old sheet held clenched in his hands. He wasn't looking forward to what he knew he had to do but, swallowing around the lump that had formed in his throat, resolved to do what he had to do. Because he had arrived at the conclusion that he had to hide this deed so that he could remain with his little brother. Neah needed him so he couldn't take responsibility for what had happened… it would have to remain known only to him.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs Mana took a couple of deep breaths, to steady himself, before making his way over to the spot where his father's corpse had been left lying. Spreading out the sheet on the floor Mana quickly pulled his father's remains onto it, wrapping them up before stopping to take a couple more deeps breaths. Fighting off his gag reflex he sat down for a moment, placing his head between his knees in an effort to keep himself from passing out. He could taste the bile that was rising at the back of his throat and had to swallow several times in order to alleviate this problem.

The teen had known this wouldn't be easy but it was turning out to be even more difficult than even he had imagined. After a couple of moments he got to his feet, steeling his resolve before grabbing the corners of the sheet. Pulling the sheet toward the hallway that led to the backyard Mana could feel beads of sweat appear on his forehead. This was more difficult than he had imagined, the man's dead weight shockingly hard to move. And it didn't help that he had been a rather large man.

When he reached the backdoor Mana used his handkerchief to open the door, so that he didn't get blood all over it. He was already going to have to clean up a terrible mess and didn't really want to add to it. That increased the likelihood that he would miss something and that someone would notice, should they come into the house. A slim chance but not one that Mana was willing to take, his thoughts still focused on Neah and doing everything in his power to keep his brother safe.

Which meant that he would have to bury his father and hope that no one stumbled upon the unmarked grave.

As luck would have it the Walker house was positioned in front of a wooded area and it was toward this wooded area that Mana dragged the sheet that contained his father's body. He tried to ignore the sickening 'thud' as he pulled the sheet down the stairs, reminding himself that he was only doing what had to be done and that it was all for Neah.

A vision of the pale and nearly lifeless form of his brother helped to steel Mana's resolve and a grim expression appeared on his face as he stopped at the shed to retrieve a shovel. "You brought this on yourself you unimaginable bastard," the teen muttered as he stowed the shovel under his arm and continued toward the wooded area. After a moderate hike Mana released his grip on the sheet and removed the shovel from beneath his arm.

Raising the shovel the teen began to dig, the only sounds around him the sound of the shovel striking dirt and the singing of the birds who had no idea of the grim task that the boy was occupied with. Working at a steady pace, pausing only a few times to wipe beads of sweat from his brow, it didn't take Mana long to dig a fairly decent sized grave. After taking a moment to catch his breath Mana walked back over to the spot where he had left the sheet, once again gripping the edges and pulling it along on the ground.

Once Mana had the body positioned on the edge of the grave he used his foot to push it over the edge. His eyes widened slightly as he heard the 'thud' of the body hitting the bottom of the grave, sickened by the sound. At this point the teen had to go over to a large tree, sitting down and pressing his back against the trunk, needing the support in this moment.

He felt completely alone in this moment, his mind once again replaying the murder of his father. He shuddered against the vision for a moment before clenching his hands into fists. No! He absolutely refused to feel bad over what he had done.

As far as he was concerned the man had gotten off lightly.

With this thought in mind Mana once again got to his feet, grabbing the shovel and beginning to fill in the grave. He had to hurry and get this over with so that he could return to the house and check on Neah. His brother was counting on him at this point and he refused to let the child down.

Once Mana had buried the battered corpse of the man that he had once called father he quickly returned to the house. Making a detour to his room he made sure that Neah was still alive before moving to the bathroom. After what he had just done he desperately needed a shower, which would at least get rid of the physical signs of what he had done.

The mental ones were just something that he was stuck with. Nothing would ever be able to erase the images that occasionally flitted into his mind, against his will.

And yet he still felt no remorse.

Taking a quick shower, to remove the blood and dirt from his body, Mana dressed in plain cotton trousers and a white shirt, his hair spiking up slightly as he dried it with the towel. With the towel still draped over his shoulder Mana quickly made his way back down the hall to his room. Stepping in he made his way over to the bed, sitting down beside Neah and placing a hand on his chest. For a moment his heart leapt in his chest but this feeling subsided slightly as he felt the boy's chest rise and then fall.

"Don't scare me like that Neah," Mana chastised in a quiet and somewhat choked voice, despite the fact that the boy couldn't hear his words. Sighing he sat down on the edge of the bed, once again running a hand through his brother's hair. He wanted to make sure that Neah knew that he was there… and that he was safe. "I promise I won't let anyone hurt you again Neah so please… just wake up."

Gazing down at his little brother Mana actually gasped as he heard the child utter a soft whimper. This was the first sign of life that Neah had given, aside from his light breathing, and gave Mana hope that perhaps the little boy truly would recover from this most recent trauma. Reaching over he carefully grasped Neah's right hand, holding it in his own and giving it a comforting squeeze. "Shh, it's alright Neah. I know it hurts little brother and I wish that there was something I could do for the pain but I couldn't find the doctor."

A couple of seconds passed and then Mana felt a slight pressure on his hand… Neah was actually squeezing his hand back. This was a great sign and a small smile appeared on the face of the older sibling. "Neah…" he called out hopefully, thinking that perhaps his brother was going to wake up. "Come on Neah, open your eyes for me little brother."

Neah's face twitched slightly, as though the little boy were trying to obey his brother and open his eyes, but he seemed unable to do so. After a couple of moments the child went still once more, seeming to have exhausted what little strength he still had.

"It's alright Neah," Mana whispered in a soothing voice, leaning so that he was lying beside his brother. Being careful not to further aggravate Neah's injuries, Mana pulled his brother into a comforting embrace. His hope was that his presence would help Neah with his battle, help him to know that he wasn't alone. "I know that you're trying kiddo… just keep fighting for me alright little brother?"

Another weak squeeze of his hand.

"That's good Neah," Mana said, taking his free hand to brush back the boy's hair, which had once again fallen in front of his face. Not surprising really since Neah's hair had always been pretty much impossible to tame. His voice held a note of pride as he spoke to his little brother, finding it had to believe that such a small child had actually managed to survive everything that Neah had endured. "I'm so proud of you little brother… you're so strong. Just keep moving forward… never stop."

With a small sigh Neah's grip on his brother's hand, already weak and difficult to discern, slackened. His small reserve of strength had been depleted and he once again slipped into a deeper state of unconsciousness.

Tears appeared in Mana's eyes as the small hand that he held within his own grew slack but he refused to release it. Despite the fact that Neah was no longer gripping back Mana still wanted to reassure him that he wasn't alone. "It's alright Neah, I know that you're tired. Just rest now little brother. I promise I'll be here with you…"

Laying his head down on the pillow, and continuing to hold his little brother protectively in his arms, Mana finally allowed exhaustion to overcome him. With a sigh he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep… a sleep that was plagued by bloody visions of what he had done to his father. To the man who had given him life. Small whimpering noises escaped his lips as he tossed his head side to side in a listless manner. He instinctively knew that he couldn't thrash about, since he held his brother in his arms, but Mana couldn't keep himself from all movement despite this knowledge.

The teen fully realized that he was dreaming and yet, despite his frantic attempts to wake himself up, he was trapped. The visions wouldn't retreat no matter how forcefully he tried to banish them. Nor could he turn them into something more pleasant.

All he could see was blood.

Blood everywhere.

As the bloody visions grew worse Mana could almost swear that he heard the sound of someone humming, even within this dream world in which he seemed trapped. The sound was soft and soothing and Mana watched as the bloody visions seemed to melt away into blessed darkness. The teen sighed as he slipped into a deeper state of sleep, one that was blissfully free of all dreams.

He had no idea from where the humming had originated, not recognizing the tune, but the fact that it brought him comfort couldn't be denied.

Mana awoke after several hours, feeling surprisingly rested given the fact that at first his sleep had been plagued by nightmares. Releasing his grip on Neah, he sat up and stretched his arms up over his head. His muscles were aching, most likely a result of the previous day's trauma, and all he wanted to do was soak in hot water. This wasn't something that he had time for at the moment unfortunately and Mana got to his feet and made his way across the room.

"I'll be back in a few minutes Neah," he called out from the doorway.

Leaving the room Mana made his way downstairs toward the kitchen. Passing through the foyer on his way to this particular room Mana was once again reminded of what he had done by the large pool of congealed blood that still decorated the hardwood floor. There were also blood splattered on the walls and the teen knew that he would need to clean up as much of this as possible. But that unpleasant task would just have to wait. Hurrying into the kitchen Mana poured a glass of water before turning around and making his way back upstairs to his room.

Hurrying past the foyer and taking the steps two at a time Mana returned to his room. Walking across the room he sat down on the edge of the bed and gently pulled Neah into his arms. "Come on Neah boy… I brought you some water."

There was no response from the younger child.

Mana sighed as he held the glass to his brother's lips. "I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way then." This said Mana gently pried the boy's lips apart before pouring a small amount of the water into his mouth. Tilting Neah's head back so that the water would trickle down his throat Mana painstakingly gave his brother half the glass of water. He didn't want the boy to become dehydrated after all. Neah already had enough to battle against without that added hurdle.

The boy whimpered once again as Mana placed the glass on the small table that was positioned by the bed. Feeling guilty despite not really knowing what had elicited the whimper from his brother Mana felt the need to apologize, just incase it was him that was causing it. "I'm sorry Neah… I'm not trying to torture you I promise."

In response to this Neah twitched slightly before growing still once more. It appeared as though he still hadn't regained enough strength to be able to move around much but at least he showed signs of being slightly coherent.

"Tell you what kiddo," Mana said, gazing down at his brother, whom he was still holding in his arms. "When you wake up you can yell at me all you want over this. How does that sound?"

There was no response from Neah, not that Mana had really been looking for one at this point.

"Well you just keep that in mind Neah boy," he said quietly as he once again positioned his little brother carefully on the bed. Picking up the child's left arm he began to unwrap the bandages, knowing that he should probably change them. He flinched as his gaze once again fell on the grievous injury that their father had given Neah before Mana grabbed a clean wash cloth and began to carefully dab at the dried blood. Then, once this task was complete, the teen carefully wrapped Neah's arm in clean bandages.

"There," he said once the task was complete, a small and somewhat forced smile on his face as he gazed down at his little brother. "Now that we have that taken care of all that's left is for you to wake up Neah."

A/N - end of another chapter, hope that you enjoyed. I went back and changed the 14th's name in this one, since we know what it is now.