Fake Your Death

“Come on Gerard!” My brother shouts. I’m sitting at my desk while Mikey put my bags in the car. Ray and Frank came to see me off. A soft knock at the door makes me jump out of my skin. I slowly stand up and stride towards the door. I open it a crack to see who was knocking. Frank stands on the other side with his head bowed, but looks up when I pull the door open. His hazel eyes are glassy, as mine probably are as well. He holds out a fist with chain hanging from what he was holding. I place my hand beneath his for him to drop whatever he was holding. He lets go and a pair of military dog tags fall into my palm. Both were inscribed. One reading, ‘Vampires will never hurt you’ and he other simply saying ‘xo Frnk.’ Vampires, as in my addictions. This was his way of saying he believed in me. He then lifts a chain from under his shirt, holding a similar pair of tags. The only difference being, instead of ‘xo Frnk’ his said ‘xo Gee’ was inscribed on the second one. ‘Gee’ was the pet name he’d made up for me. I string the chain around my neck and immediately hug my best friend. He was much shorter than me, so his face was buried in my shoulder.

“Thanks Frankie,” I say, my voice cracking. “I’ll miss you.” He pulls away to speak.

“You’re only going for two weeks.” He smiles as tears start to steam down both of our faces. “We figured that would be long enough for you to get your head straight. If it starts up again later on, we’ll be able to take care of it.”

“Come on guys.” Ray calls from the top of the stair case. I pull my jacket on and climb the stairs to the kitchen with Frank in tow. I hop in the passenger seat of my brother’s van as he starts the engine. The drive is excruciatingly silent, every one of the forty five minutes adding to my splitting headache. Mikey pulls into a small parking lot and cuts the engine near the front door. Everyone steps out and silently glances at one another while my brother retrieves my bags. He packed for me, so I didn’t know what exactly they contained. I hug both Ray and Frank goodbye, Frank’s hug lasting a little bit longer. I was always a little bit closer to Frank, though I never quite understood why. I guess it must have been a subconscious thing. I follow my brother inside and he checks me in at the desk and leads me to my room. He carefully sets my bags down beside my closet and tucks his hands into his pockets.

“You shouldn’t be taking care of me. I’m supposed to be the strong one. I’m supposed to be the brave one.” I mumble, my voice cracking as I start to cry.

“No you don’t. It’s okay to need help.” He coos, pulling me into his arms and stroking my hair like I had always done when he was little. “These two weeks are going to fly by and you’ll be home before you know it.”

“I love you Mikes.” I sob into his shirt. “You’re the best brother someone could ever ask for.”

“Love you too.” He replies. He stays until I’ve stopped crying and am able to speak without my voice cracking. “I have to go. Call if you need anything, okay?”

“Sure thing.” I nod. He leaves after a hug and kiss goodbye and I’m left by myself. I sit down on the floor and look through the things he’d packed me. One suitcase was full of clothes and toiletries, and the other was full of my sketchpads and notebooks along with my drawing pens. No pencils were included because I’d need a sharpener too.

I sit down on my premade bed and work on a few sketches I’d made for a comic book I was working on. I stop when I notice the sun starting to dip below the horizon. I sigh.

“One down, thirteen more days to go.”

Notes