Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 20:31:20 -0800 (PST) From: Shiloh Creek <tbotsauthor@yahoo.com> Subject: The Boys of Twillingate Shore: Chapter Twelve - Never Fades Away The Boys of Twillingate Shore _____________________________ **DISCLAIMER: This story contains strong sexual content between minors (boy-boy, boy-teen, boy-man), mature language, and strong violence. If you are offended by this sort of material, please do NOT read any further. If you are underage (<18; <21 in some areas), please do NOT read any further. All characters, main setting, and places or people mentioned in this story are completely, 100% fictional. If you find similarities between this story or any characters in this story in comparison to some place or someone in real life or other stories you may have read anywhere else, these circumstances are purely coincidental and do NOT reflect the intentions of the author of this story.** ---------------------------------- Hey everyone. Well, this is it! This is the final chapter for The Boys of Twillingate Shore. I cannot tell you guys how much I've enjoyed writing this story. It's a project I started back in June and now I've finally finished it. I realize I've been quite slow with posting of the chapters and I apologize. Sometimes, being a college student sucks because you can never find time to do the things you truly love. Oh well. That's the name of the game, I guess. To all of you guys who have taken time out to write to me, both comments and criticisms, I just want to say thank you to every single one of you. It's because of the encouragement I've been getting from readers that I was able to keep going. Between work and school, it's hard to keep motivated to write, but I've managed to finish an entire story this time around, which unfortunately has not happened very much. Although, I have started a new project that I'm thoroughly enjoying and I hope you guys will too when I start posting the chapters. Just as a forewarning, it probably won't happen for a little while, so just bear with me and chapters of my new story should be coming out sometime in late spring, possibly earlier if I can help it. Thanks again to all of you for the encouraging words you've sent me during the process of writing this story. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Anyway, that's all I have. I'll talk to you guys sometime this spring. Enjoy! :-) _____________________________ Previously... Cody struggled with all of his might to loosen Gill's grip around his neck. He felt himself growing weaker though as the seconds passed. His breathing was slowly but surely diminishing as Gill had his arm wrapped tighter than ever around his neck. Cody tried to kick Gill from where he was, but he couldn't move his legs very well since he was on his knees. He tried to punch Gill's arm, but nothing was working. "I told you, you little fucker, that you wouldn't be walking out of this house alive," Gill said roughly in Cody ear as he strangled him. "Just so you know how much you've failed your little boyfriend, as soon as you're dead, I'm gonna make a movie of me fucking that boy's brains out so hard that he won't be able to stand it. After that, I'm gonna grab a knife, place it at about the same place on his neck that I have my arm on your neck, and then I'll slice his neck open so hard they'll need a two ton rope to make sure his head stays attached in the casket during his funeral." A few tears escaped Cody's eyes as he was beginning to realize his own fate along with Logan's fate. He now understood that it was all over. Gill would murder him and then he would take great pleasure in raping and then murdering that defenseless little boy in the next room. If only Cody had come up with a better way of dealing with this. If only he had told Ruth what was really going on. Perhaps she would have called the cops and now the story would be closed and Gill would be headed to prison for life. But now, Gill was going to have his final say-so about Cody's life and the life of his younger, innocent cousin. And then all of a sudden, Cody heard a loud, heavy thwack from behind him. Gill's grip around his neck immediately released and Cody turned to see Gill falling to the ground unconscious, his face laying directly on the ground. Cody fell to all fours and placed a hand around his neck. He was coughing horrendously and breathing hard, trying to get air circulating through his lungs again. Cody turned all the way around. His eyes widened in utter shock when he saw a half-naked Logan Henderson standing proudly behind him, the same tree branch from before lodged in his hands, a hug smile draped across his face. "L-Logan..." Cody managed to say. "Cody!" Logan yelled out. Suddenly, Logan allowed the branch to fall to the ground and then he got down on the floor with Cody and immediately wrapped his arms around the older boy's body. Cody weakly wrapped his own arms around Logan's small body, his hands caressing the boy's smooth back. After Cody regained his breath a little bit, Logan brought his face up to Cody and they leaned in for the passionate kiss. Logan and Cody kissed each other for what seemed like forever, both of them feeling as if they had finally won the battle. After the kiss ended, Cody looked deeply into Logan's blue eyes. Logan was crying uncontrollably now, tears streaming down his cheeks in endless gushes. "I... I love you so much, Cody," Logan said through his irrepressible tears, their arms still wrapped loosely around each other's bodies. "Please, Cody, don't ever leave me again," Logan said while crying. "I can't live on this earth without you. I love you too much." With that, Logan embraced the older boy tightly, his whole little body shuddering unmanageably underneath Cody's protecting hands. Cody hugged the younger boy tightly, feeling as if the sun was finally rising again on their lives. "I promise..." Cody said weakly. "I love you more than anything, Logan." They continued hugging one another, neither of them saying another word. On the floor lay the discarded tree branch all by itself. A few feet from the branch lay the limp hand of Gill Craig, who was lying on the floor face-down. Cody and Logan were still hugging one another tightly, both of them believe that the worst was finally over. On the floor lay the discarded tree branch all by itself, with the limp hand of Gill Craig now lying on top of the tree branch, awaiting the right moment. _____________________________ Chapter Twelve "Never Fades Away" The tight embrace between Logan and Cody finally came to an end. Cody still had his arms wrapped loosely around Logan's naked torso. Logan was sitting on Cody's lap, trying not to let all his weight down on Cody's aching lap. They stared into each other's eyes and smiled at one another. Logan's crying had finally subsided and was replaced by that killer smile Cody had originally fallen in love with, the boy's face still flushed with old tears. Cody reached over and wiped the boy's tears off his perfect face. Logan's black eye was beginning to fade, but it was still very noticeable. Cody didn't really want to think about what his face looked like at this moment though. Logan stared at Cody's beaten, bruised face: both of his eyes were busted (the right eye more so than the left), both cheeks bruised and scratched badly enough that minimal white skin was present anymore, a huge gash above his left eye on his forehead that was seeping blood, and drops of blood still on various parts of his face, especially under his nose. "I look pretty bad, huh?" Cody asked weakly. Logan nodded his head negatively. "You look like my knight in shining armor," Logan said simply. Cody suddenly chuckled. Logan rolled his eyes and chuckled as well. With that, Logan stood up from the floor and ever so carefully helped Cody stand up as well. Once Cody was standing in a hunched position, they both looked down at Gill, who was still lying face-down on the floor unconscious. There was a huge gash on the back of his forehead from where Logan smashed him with the tree branch. Dark blood was pooling lightly on Gill's head, running down his neck and falling to the floor on either sides of his neck. "He's not dead, is he?" Logan asked. "Nah, just knocked out cold is all," Cody said. Cody looked over and noticed Logan was still just wearing his white Fruit of the Looms that now had little random smears of blood in places on the white fabric. Cody assumed it was his own blood that he had stained the boy's underwear with. He noticed the boy was also wearing a pair of tattered house shoes. And there was a long, narrow gash across his upper arm that blood was still gushing out of. Cody used to be nervous around blood. After today though, he figured the sight of blood would no longer affect him. "How'd you get that cut?" Cody asked feebly. Logan looked down at the gash on his arm and rolled his eyes. "Eh, cut myself when I crawled out the window," Logan said simply. "So that's how you got in here. Very smooth." "Honestly, there was nothing smooth about it. So... should we like... move him or anything?" "No. Just leave him. Why don't you find your clothes and put them on. We need to get out of here. We'll give a call to the police before we leave." Logan obeyed and walked off to grab his clothes. He thought the clothes were still laying in a heap next to the front door, but they were no longer there. He looked around the living room with a confused expression on his face, wondering where the clothes had disappeared to. Cody happened to look behind the recliner and found Logan's clothes. He leaned down as carefully as he could, still in immense pain, and grabbed the clothes from the floor for Logan. At this point, Logan was on the other side of the living room, still just in his underwear, still looking for the clothes. "Found your clothes," Cody said. "They were behind the recliner here." "Oh okay," Logan said with a grin. "Thanks." Cody tossed the blue soccer shorts, red t-shirt, and flip flops across the small living room over to Logan. The boy caught his clothes and started to put them on, still sniffling slightly after having cried so hard. Gill was still lying on the floor. His hand was still laying limply on top of the tree branch. He lied there perfectly still, awaiting the right moment. Cody carefully staggered into the kitchen towards the phone to call the police. Logan was just finishing putting on his clothes. He had already put his shorts and t-shirt on and now he was slipping into his flip flops. Gill was now the only thing between Logan and Cody and the front door. Logan's back was facing him. Cody was now in the kitchen. Gill stood up. Cody stumbled towards the phone to call the police. When he picked up the phone and put the receiver to his ear, he didn't hear anything coming through. He pressed the buttons on the phone and nothing came through at all. No dial tone. No busy tone. Nothing. Cody quickly looked down and noticed that the phone was still plugged into the jack and the power chord was still plugged into the wall outlet next to the jack. But the service was dead. "Way to pay your damn phone bill, you jass-honkey," Cody whispered softly. Suddenly, Cody heard a strange noise coming from the living room. It sounded like a struggle. A few seconds later, Cody heard the unmistakable sound of Logan screaming through something that was restraining his mouth, like a human hand. Cody quickly stumbled out of the kitchen and into the living room. Gill was no longer on the floor. The tree branch was gone as well. Cody looked around the living room in a panic. Logan was gone too. He and Gill had both simply disappeared. Cody stumbled over to the hallway and quickly scanned the bedrooms. He didn't find them anywhere. "Logan!!" Cody called out, his voice still weak and hoarse. "Gill!! Where did you take Logan!?" Cody stumbled back out into the living room in a panic, noticing the front door was still wide open. Cody quickly made his way out the front door and stopped dead in his tracks once he stepped out onto the front porch. Gill and Logan were standing in front of him out in the huge yard. Logan was standing perfectly still, facing towards Cody's direction. Tears were streaming down his eyes again. Gill was standing a couple of feet away to the side of Logan, the tree branch in his hands, ready to smash the back of young Logan's head in with the tree branch. "I suppose you noticed the phone's dead, huh?" Gill said to Cody, the tree branch already in a swinging position, prepared to smash the young boy's head in. "Gill... please, don't do this," Cody begged. "What, are you afraid I'm gonna bash this little fucker's head in?" Gill asked. "C'mon, you know I wouldn't wanna end it that quick. I may be okay since Logan hit me in the head with this branch. But I'm bigger than he is and to be honest, this little fairy boy should never play baseball. He sucks at hitting. But let's face it, Cody, ol' boy. I bash the boy's head in with this here tree branch hard enough, and he dies almost instantly from severe head trauma. Heh, hey Logan, you think if I pop your head open, a bunch of candy will come pouring out of there?" Logan stayed perfectly still and quiet, not moving a muscle. He looked at Cody pleadingly. But Cody had no idea what to do. He stood motionless as well, still standing on the front porch facing Logan and Gill. He started racking his brain, trying to come up with ideas. Any ideas! He was beginning to think it would have been better to just leave the house when they had the chance, instead of dawdling for so long. But Cody knew he had no time to think about what he could've done differently though. The job now was to figure out a way to save Logan from getting the back of his head smashed in by that tree branch. "Got nothing to say now??" Gill asked tauntingly. "Alright, Gill, what do you want?" Cody asked. "What can I do so that you'll let Logan go now? This isn't about him anymore." "Oh this is so about Logan!" Gill said with an evil grin on his face. Gill reached over with the branch and gently tapped the back of Logan's head with it. "You're just the motherfucker in the way. I can't ever seem to get rid of your ass." "Gill, please, don't do this to him. You're already put him through enough." "This coming from the guy who fucked Logan so hard he walked with a limp for most of this past week? I still remember when you told me all about that." Logan suddenly displayed a confused expression on his face, as if now reconsidering the prospect of whether Cody actually spoke to Gill or not about their relationship. He hadn't even thought about it recently. Surely Gill was lying though. Surely Cody wouldn't go to Gil Craig of all people and blab about their relationship. "I never said a fucking word to you and you know it," Cody said angrily. "I found out exactly how you were able to feed Logan all that bullshit. You spied on us through the window at Ruth's house that night." "You listening to this jackass?" Gill asked Logan. "Who you gonna believe? Someone who obviously just wants to fuck you senseless and blame others for it? Or someone like me who would rather see you become famous and successful? I can offer you that, Logan." Logan suddenly came to his conclusion after hearing Gill's question. He knew the truth now. He knew the truth beyond the shadow of a doubt. He asked himself how he could have been so blind in the first place. How could he believe something like that? How could he allow himself to simply turn his back on the truth? He had once heard that the truth will set a person free. In this moment, he now believed that saying with all of his heart. "You're a fucking liar, Cody!" Logan yelled. Cody's eyes widened in disbelief. Gill turned his head and glared at the younger boy in complete surprise. He hadn't expected such an outcome whatsoever. "What??" Cody asked in total shock. "You've lied to me about everything, Cody!" Logan screamed. "Here Gill's actually got proof that you're lying to me, and now I'm supposed to believe Gill was actually spying on us?? You're so full shit your eyes are turning brown!" Gill smiled in surprise and then dropped the branch down to the ground. He reached over and placed his hand on Logan's shoulder, and then stood behind the boy facing Cody. Cody just couldn't believe what he was hearing. After everything he had just gone through, Logan was still playing sides against him? Cody stood with his mouth hanging open, still facing Logan and Gill. He felt as if everything he had just endured was now in vain. "I'm sorry, Cody," Logan said finally. "But I need to be with someone who loves me for me. And not as a piece of meat." Cody stared at the boy in unutterable disbelief, not understanding how this could have happened all of a sudden. Gill had just tried to kill him and he threatened to kill Logan too! How could Logan even think about siding with Gill once again? All because Gill happened to know a few things about that one Sunday night they had together? Darlene had told him earlier that day that Gill was there at the house spying on them. That's how he knew. But Logan wouldn't accept that notion either! "I think we'll be going now, muffins," Gill said almost happily. "Logan, let's go." Gill gave Cody one final glare, turned around and started stumbling towards the motorcycle. As soon as Gill looked away, Logan stared deeply into Cody's eyes, as if signaling that something was about to happen. Cody looked at the boy, displaying a expression of perplexity. All of a sudden, Logan bent over, grabbed the tree branch and then ran over to Gill. Without a moment's reluctance, Logan swung the branch low and smashed Gill's legs as hard as he could, knocking the older guy off his feet and sending him straight to the ground. Cody watched intently with his eyes wide open along with his mouth. He couldn't believe what he was witnessing in front of him. As soon as Gill landed on his back on the ground, Logan lifted the branch over his head and then swung it down with all the force he had in him, hitting Gill directly in the stomach with the end of the branch. Gill shrieked in pain and hunched his whole body over. Just for good measure, Logan swung again with the branch, hitting Gill on the same side of his body that Gill had kicked him a couple of days before. Cody gawked in total astonishment. "Cody, c'mon!! Let's go!!" Logan called out suddenly after having hit Gill with the branch three times as hard as he could. Cody immediately hurried down the porch steps and joined Logan as they ran together towards the end of the front yard. Cody ran as quick as he could, stumbling the whole time and striving not to fall. Logan ran over to Cody, grabbed his hand, and led him towards the front gate. Once they exited the front gate, they turned and sprinted quickly towards Cody's truck, which was still parked on the side of the road next to the large hedges blocking Gill's yard from the road. Gill got up as fast as he could from where he lay on the ground in pain, pressing his hand against his stomach and his side. He started off towards the front gate, hobbling uncontrollably. He thought better of it though and then halted. He suddenly thought of a better idea. With that, he turned around and staggered back inside the house as fast as possible. Cody and Logan jumped into the truck as fast as they could. Cody was relieved that he had chosen to leave his keys in the ignition. Immediately after shutting the driver's side door, he turned the key in the ignition. Logan wrapped the seat belt around him on the passenger's seat and locked it quickly. The truck fired up right away. Without further delay, Cody put the truck in the right gear and sped off down the dirt road as fast as he could. As he drove down the narrow country road, Cody was trying to remember the directions to the main road. Logan turned around and looked behind them, making sure they weren't being followed. All he could really see was dust being flung out from underneath the rapidly spinning truck tires, but he figured he would be able to see if Gill was following them or not. The younger boy continued gazing out the back window for about a minute, until he was sure they weren't being followed. He noticed Cody's cowboy hat sitting next to him. He picked it up and placed it on his lap. "You don't see him anywhere?" Cody asked, keeping his focus on the road. "I think we're clear for now," Logan said as he turned around to face forward. "Logan..." Cody started. "What?" Logan asked, looking over at Cody. "Very nice hit!" Cody said enthusiastically. "You just totally wailed on that psycho!" "What can I say? He pissed me off when he said I'd suck at baseball." "You played that whole thing off perfectly! How'd you know he would give in so quickly like that?" "Like you said Gill's a psycho. One advantage we have over someone crazy like that is they'll usually believe anything you say, especially if you're the person he's obsessed with. I probably could've told him I was a born a girl and he'd believe it." "You think he's that insane?" "He is now. I think all this crap's knocked him over the edge though. That's usually what it takes. A person usually borders towards `crazy' or `insane' after something upsetting happens, like you busting into the house and beating the shit out of him. That probably helped push him over the edge a lot." "How do you know so much about this stuff, Logan?" "I watch a lot of courtroom dramas," Logan said. "They can be rather educational." Cody drove at about fifty miles an hour down the dirt roads until he finally came up to the main road. He stopped at the stop sign, trying to remember where he was. Cody couldn't remember if he was supposed to take a left hand turn or a right from this point. His sense of direction was severely messed up now. He looked to his left. Nothing out that way but forests and distant mountains. He looked to his right. More forests and more mountains. Cody felt totally disoriented. "You don't know which way we're supposed to go, do you?" Cody asked the boy. "Uhmm..." Logan started. "I think home is to the left." "Okay." Cody turned left onto the main road and sped up. The speed limit was sixty-five miles an hour, so Cody sped up to eighty miles an hour. Logan checked behind them sporadically, making sure Gill wasn't following them. Cody kept checking his rearview mirror, nervous that Gill would pop up behind them at any second. "So... you don't..." Cody started. "What?" Logan asked. "You don't think I told Gill about us?" Cody asked. "I did at first," Logan admitted. "But I don't anymore. I know there's a lot I haven't been told yet, but I don't believe anything Gill told me anymore." "Good. And as soon as we get a moment of peace together, I'll explain everything to you. The it'll all make sense." "I'm gonna hold you to that." All of a sudden, Logan and Cody heard the piercing fire of a gunshot from behind them followed by the unmistakable sound of glass cracking. Logan screamed in shock as he and Cody quickly dropped their heads below the back window, realizing that someone had just shot the back window with a gun. Logan looked up and saw that the entire back window of the truck was fractured into hundreds of jagged edges. Cody kept his head lowered as far as he could, but poked his head over the steering wheel ever so slightly so he could still watch the road. The truck began swerving from side to side on the main road as Cody strived quickly to regain control of the wheel. His whole body began quaking as he tried to keep control of the vehicle. "Keep your head down, Logan, no matter what happens!!" Cody demanded. Logan nodded his head in panic. Logan kept his head down as low as he could, breathing hard, scared to death now since a bullet had just been fired at them from behind. His young heart was pounding so hard within his chest. He felt as if he might break down into a seizure. He heard the unique rumbling sound of a motorcycle from behind them. He instantly knew who was behind them and who was carrying the gun. He glanced at the side view mirror and saw his cousin Gill trialing up behind them quickly on his red and black motorcycle, wielding a handgun in his right hand as he drove the motorcycle directly behind them at a swift speed. Logan noticed as Gill's motorcycle began to appear bigger in the mirror. He was speeding up towards them now! "He's catching up to us!!" Cody yelled. ""Go faster, Cody!!" "Hold on tight, Logan!! Do NOT lift your head up!! You hear!?" "I won't!!" Cody pressed down on the gas pedal as hard as he could, feeling the truck beginning to shake frantically and push them further into their seats as it sped up, much like what happens during takeoff on an airplane. Rain began to fall from the sky, hitting the windshield so quickly Cody couldn't see through the window. He turned the windshield wipers on as fast as they would go and then he sat back up in his seat again, realizing he would never be able to control the truck at this sort of speed with his head lowered down as much as it was and rain now falling so heavily. He tried to keep his head to the side and lowered a little bit as he drove, so he could still remain out of view from the back window and keep from wrecking. Cody looked down at his speedometer as he drove down the straight road 103 miles per hour and climbing rapidly. He kept his foot pressed down on the gas pedal, trying ever so hard to outrun Gill on the motorcycle. His face was clenched in determination as the truck sped up faster and faster. On the passenger's side of the truck, Logan peeked in the side view mirror again. Gill was now pointing the gun towards the truck again, preparing to shoot. "Cody, he's about to shoot again!!" Logan warned Cody, his voice panicked. Gill fired another bullet at the truck. The tiny bullet hit the metal frame that housed the back window, making an obnoxious `ping' sound when the bullet collided with the metal. Logan curled up in a tight ball in the corner of his seat in utter fear, his arms draped tightly over his head. He felt like crying. He felt like screaming. But he couldn't do anything but curl up into a ball, hoping this would all be over soon. He felt his whole body being pressed up against his seat as Cody's truck sped up. Cody's heart was racing harder than ever as he sped the truck up even more, striving to outrun the lunatic behind them. Gill was directly behind them, catching up with them without even trying. Cody's mind was brainstorming ideas like never before as he kept his hands firmly glued to the steering wheel and his right foot pressed all the way down onto the gas pedal. He was thinking of everything possible to get himself and Logan out of this mess. He had never felt this afraid in his entire life. He had seen things like this on television before, but he had no clue how terrifying this experience was in reality. He looked down at his speedometer again 119 miles an hour. He glanced out of his side mirror. Everything was zooming past him in a indistinguishable blur: the trees, the road, the grass, everything. He was driving so fast that he felt as if he and Logan were traveling through a time warp. Nothing had form at this moment. Everything was passing them by so quickly that it was all blurred. He had never driven this fast before. He looked in his side view mirror and watched in horror as Gill effortlessly sped the motorcycle up and then drove to the side of Cody's Chevy. As soon as Gill was trailing beside Cody on the road, Cody immediately swerved his truck over towards Gill, trying to knock him off his path. Gill easily resisted by swerving around himself. Cody grunted angrily and then straightened the truck up on the road, trying to regain control of the vehicle. As Gill chased Cody on his motorcycle with his handgun, they passed an intersection where an Oregon state trooper in a jeep was sitting at the stop sign, taking a sip of cola from a white styrofoam cup. The police officer dropped the cup of cola all over himself accidentally and his mouth dropped in complete disbelief as he watched the old Chevy truck and the guy on the motorcycle with a gun in his hand pass the intersection at over 115 miles per hour a piece. His speed radar went off like crazy inside his patrol car. The officer automatically turned on his red and blue flashing lights and veered onto the road to follow them, not caring that his pants and police uniform shirt were now soaked in his cola. He sped his jeep up as fast as he could, trying to catch up to the Chevy and the crazy gunman on the motorcycle. The police officer strapped on his seat belt in a hurry and called for immediate backup over his walky-talky. After yelling into his walky-talky, demanding backup at once, he stepped on the gas pedal as hard as he could, now realizing he would have to drive as fast as possible to catch these guys. The sirens were on and the lights were flashing wildly, but this didn't seem to hinder the drivers ahead of him whatsoever. Cody suddenly heard the proverbial sound of police sirens going off from behind him, having already guessed before that something like this would probably happen. After all, it was simply inevitable to run into a policeman even in the middle of nowhere if you were driving at 120 miles per hour. He looked in his rearview mirror and saw the vividly colored flashing lights atop the state trooper's jeep. The shrill humming of the sirens was masked by the sound of terror in Cody's mind as he tried harder than ever to outrun Gill. He glanced over and saw Gill driving directly beside him, parallel with the driver's side window. Gill smiled and then pointed the gun at the window. Cody's eyes widened as he saw the barrel of Gill's gun pointed directly at his window. At that moment, Gill shot the gun and the bullet immediately crashed through Cody's window, shattering the glass into thousands of pieces. Cody felt the glass pebbles hit his skin as the truck began to swerve out of control, feeling thankful that the windows were made so that shattered glass wouldn't cut through everything in sight. The glass pebbles landed all over the place inside the truck. Cody glanced over and noticed that Logan had pebbles of glass laying on top of his curled up body. The rain water was now entering the truck through the glassless window, wetting Cody's clothes and his hair. Cody quickly regained control of the steering wheel and straightened the truck out as best as he could. Feeling furious and ready to get rid of Gill for good, Cody suddenly drove over into Gill's lane, trying seriously to knock the man off the road. Without even being phased by Cody's attempts, Gill just fell back behind Cody's truck at that moment to prevent being hit by Cody's truck or being forced off the side of the road. He then sped back up, trying to catch up to Cody again. Gill held onto the handlebars of his motorcycle tightly as he sped up, his handgun lodged securely between the palm of his right hand and the handlebar of the bike. Within a matter of seconds, Cody looked over and saw Gill driving directly beside Logan's window, an atrocious grin draped across the guy's face. Cody already understood Gill's intentions. He was planning to shoot Logan if at all possible. Cody saw a huge hole in the passenger side door. The last bullet had actually shot right through the passenger side door, missing Logan's small body by only a few short inches. Had Gill shot any closer than that, Logan would have been hit with that last bullet. Cody couldn't allow this to continue any longer. If he was going to be in a gun chase, he wasn't about to allow Logan to become the victim of a bullet. "LOGAN, GET DOWN ON THE FLOORBOARD!!! NOW!!" Cody demanded. Without asking any questions, Logan quickly slinked down onto the floorboard of truck and curled up into a ball again. He was so scared he felt as if his whole body would shake out of his skin. The pounding of his young heart was ringing in his ears as he kept his hands draped over his ears tightly, trying to block out as much of the deafening noise around him as possible. All of a sudden, Cody remembered something important. The .38 special his father had taken with him the last time they went camping. They had driven Cody's truck that time because his father's truck was in the shop for that particular weekend. Jack mentioned a few weeks later that he couldn't find his gun; that he was pretty sure he'd left the gun in Cody's truck. After that though, nothing else had been said about it. He was quite positive that his father hadn't gone out to his truck to retrieve his gun. He would have ordered him or Katherine to get it for him. Perhaps this was Cody's way out. "Logan, look in the glove compartment real quick!" Cody said to the boy. "I think there's a gun in there!" "What!?!?" Logan asked in shock. "Just do it!!" Cody barked. Logan sat back quickly and opened the glove compartment a little ways, his hands shaking like crazy still. He reached inside and felt around for a gun or anything that felt remotely like a gun. He couldn't find anything though. All of a sudden, Gill shot another bullet into the side Cody's truck, hitting the metal frame right behind the passenger door. The pinging of the bullet against the side of the truck caused Logan to jump and screech in terror. His hands were shaking wildly inside the glove compartment as he felt around for the gun Cody had talked about. Still nothing. "I can't find it, Cody!!" Logan yelled. Cody looked in the rearview mirror again. There were now two police vehicles behind them, each of the vehicles with their flashing red and blue lights on and the sirens going off madly. Cody couldn't believe what this whole fiasco had developed into. He realized he couldn't think about that now. He began to focus again on where the gun was. Logan had just said he couldn't find it. If it wasn't in the glove compartment, where would it be? He tried to retrace his steps from the last camping trip he had taken with his dad. When they were on the way home from the camping trip, his dad was sitting in the passenger seat and he said he was going to take a nap. Cody remembered seeing the .38 special sitting on the dashboard as he drove the truck. He remembered asking his dad whether it would be smarter to put the gun away where it couldn't be potentially seen by a police officer. That seemed a bit ironic to Cody now as he thought about where the gun might be. Had his father actually placed the gun in his bag? He couldn't have. The bag was in the bed of the truck at that time. Surely Jack put the gun in the glove compartment. Wait! No he didn't! Jack placed the gun on the risen floorboard in the middle for some odd reason. He must have been a little drunk that day as well as exhausted. So since then, the gun had probably fall off the risen floorboard and was now hidden under... "Under the seat!!" Cody said excitedly. "Logan, look under your seat!! I think the gun's under there!!" Logan swiftly dropped his head all the way down to the floorboard and glanced under the seat for the gun. It was far too dark under the seat to locate anything though. He really couldn't see anything under there. He reached his hand under the seat as far as he could. He began to glide his hand around on the floorboard underneath the seat, trying to feel for anything that felt like the shape of a gun. Suddenly, he felt something hard against his fingertips. Cold, hard metal. He couldn't reach very well. He struggled to reach under a little ways more, trying to grab hold of whatever his fingers were touching. Finally, he was able to get a good grip on the metal contraption. He moved his hands around on the metal device, trying to determine whether or not it was the gun. There was a handle. There was a trigger. There was a barrel. Logan had found the gun. He wrapped his hand around the barrel of the handgun and pulled it out from underneath the seat. He brought it up and held it out in front of him for Cody to see. "I found it!!" Logan said seriously. "Oh, you're the best, Logan," Cody said, trying to make light of the situation even for just a few moments. "Check and see if the gun's loaded." Logan did what he was told without question. He glanced inside to see if there were any bullets left. Just four bullets inside the gun. Suddenly, there was another bullet strike on the side of the truck. Gill had shot the truck again, this time hitting the metal directly above the right-front tire, missing the tire altogether thankfully. Cody suddenly swerved over towards Gill, trying once again to knock him off the road. Gill just fell behind once more and then sped up to catch Cody's truck again. Cody watched through the rearview mirror as Gill steadied himself on the motorcycle, leaned over the handlebars, and then sped up once more towards the truck, driving up on Cody's side of the truck. He noticed the two police vehicles were gaining on them. The flashes of light were growing brighter. Cody could see through the window of one of the police vehicles; the cop inside the jeep had a walky-talky up to his mouth, as if calling fore more backup. Just what Cody needed. The rain was now falling harder. Cody could barely see anything in front of him now. He was so afraid a sharp turn would come and he would miss it since he was going too fast. "Just four bullets left, Cody," Logan said in a hopeless tone of voice. "Good enough," Cody said suddenly. "Hand it over." Logan looked at the older boy with a concerned look on his face. He could hear the police sirens behind them and he could see the blue and red flashes of light reflecting off the glass of the back window from where he sat hidden on the floorboard. He handed the gun over to Cody reluctantly, wishing Cody wouldn't do this. He watched as Cody steered the wheel with one hand and positioned the gun in his other hand, preparing to shoot at Gill through the window opening where a window used to be. Cody's hair was soaked now. The rain was still coming through the window. "Cody!" Logan called out. "Stay down on the floorboard, Logan!" Cody yelled out. "Please don't do this, Cody!" Logan begged. "What?" "Don't shoot at Gill!" "Why the hell not??" "Because you'll get in trouble! We have cops behind us! If they see you shooting, you'll get in as much trouble as Gill!" Cody thought seriously about what Logan had just said. All of a sudden, another bullet hit the already-cracked back window, this time causing the whole window to shatter into a thousand glass pebbles. At the shattering of the glass, Logan quickly draped his arms over his head to keep from being hit in the face. Cody felt glass pebbles land all over him and hit the nape of his neck as he continued driving with full force down the road. The truck swerved all over the place as Cody strived to gain control of the vehicle once again. He thought again about what Logan had just said to him. Logan was suggesting he take the high road, even in a situation like this where they were being shot at by a crazy man on a motorcycle. Cody suddenly had an idea. He could still use the gun on Gill without ever pulling the trigger. What happened in the next thirty seconds took place in a period of time that felt like an eternity to end. Cody and Gill had both topped off at about 120 miles per hour on the two-lane road on the side of a hill. The two police jeeps were following closely behind, the sirens sounding louder than ever, the lights flashing brilliantly. The rain was pounding the windshield wildly and coming in through the driver's side window which had been shot out a few minutes before and now through the back window which had just been shot out. Cody was soaked and Logan was getting wet too. Gill took one final shot at Cody's truck. The bullet hit straight through the front-left tire, immediately popping the tire as easily as a needle would pop a balloon. All of a sudden, the whole front-left area of the truck plopped onto the pavement at 120 miles an hour. In the blink of an eye, Cody lost complete control of the truck. The truck immediately began swerving out of the control. Cody slammed his foot on the break, but it was too late. The truck swerved all the way around. In a matter of moments, Gill drove straight into the side of the truck with his motorcycle at 120 miles an hour. The impact flung Gill off his bike quicker than a bullet. Gill was thrown over Cody's truck and he landed on the pavement at about the same speed his bike had been going. At the moment of collision, Cody's truck swerved over and drove straight into the metal railing at such a fantastic speed that the railing was knocked over, sending the truck down the hill. At the impact of the railing, Cody's head was jerked and his head hit the steering wheel, immediately knocking him unconscious. Logan held onto the seat, aware now that the truck was being sent over the edge of the hill. The truck rolled down the wet, slippery hill so fast that it couldn't stay on its wheels. All of a sudden, the truck lost control, turned over on its side while trailing down the rather steep hill, and then began flipping on its side, over and over and over. Logan held on as tightly as he could, knowing the truck was flipping all the way down the hill. He felt himself being shoved and slammed against the glove compartment, the seat, the door. Suddenly, the passenger side door gave way and was flung off the truck. Logan held on as tight as he could. The truck rolled on its side like an obnoxious kid rolls down a hill on his side. The sounds and crashes were deafening to Logan as the truck flipped all the way down the hill. Logan tried to see Cody, but he couldn't see him anywhere. Really, he couldn't distinguish anything though. He could see dizzying blurs as the truck rolled down the hill, but nothing else. He felt his whole body being slammed and hit in every way possible. At one point, his body was flipped all the way over and he could feel his nose break when his face was slammed into the hard plastic of the glove compartment. He wanted to scream in agony, but he couldn't. He held onto anything he could grab a hold of. He held on for dear life. All of a sudden, Logan felt something hit the back of his head and he blacked out immediately. The truck flipped halfway down the hill and was finally halted when the truck slammed into the thick trunk of a tree. The truck's bed hit the trunk of the tree with enough force to crack the huge trunk and the truck itself wrapped around the tree. The truck landed upright on its wheels, but the bed of the truck was wrapped around the trunk of the large tree. Logan opened his eyes for a split second and then shut them again. The noise had ceased. The rain was still falling hard. He weakly opened his eyes again. He looked over at the driver's side. Cody was gone. The steering wheel was missing. The ceiling of the truck was almost touching the driver's seat. Logan was still on the floorboard. He couldn't think of anything. He felt nothing at all. A numbness had taken over his body. He felt weaker than he had ever felt in his entire life. He could no longer keep his eyes open. He shut his eyes again. He opened them a few seconds later. He could hear himself breathing. His breaths were short and raspy, like a dying canine. His heart was pounding in his ears. He opened his eyes again and looked at the driver's seat. "C-Cody..." Logan whispered weakly, hearing his words echoed in his head. He closed his eyes again and everything went dark. ---------------------------------- "This is Patricia Newman reporting to you from Duggard Lewis Memorial Hospital in Duggard, Oregon for a story that has been the talk of everyone today. Sixteen year old Cody Haynes rescued twelve year old Logan Henderson during a private shooting of a kiddie-porn film, which was being produced by Henderson's twenty-two year old cousin Gill Craig. After managing to escape the Craig home with the young boy in his 1987 Chevy, Haynes was chased down OR-97E by Craig, who followed them on his motorcycle with a loaded handgun. What started out as a chase turned into a shoot-out. Police report having seen Craig shoot the truck about six times while Haynes and Craig were driving at 120 miles an hour during this rainstorm. Craig shot the front tire on the driver's side, causing Haynes to lose control of the vehicle. Apparently, after this happened, the truck swerved over and Craig collided with the vehicle, which flung him off his motorcycle. Craig was killed instantly after having hit the pavement. Haynes' vehicle was sent over a sixty foot hill and rammed into a tree about halfway down and..." "...Michael Cooke reporting from Duggard Lewis Memorial. We're still waiting patiently to hear about the conditions of sixteen year old Cody Haynes and twelve year old Logan Henderson. Haynes had been thrown out of his truck sometime during the fall down the sixty foot hill off of OR-97E. From what we've gathered, Haynes is still in very critical condition and the doctors have disclosed that they have not been able to receive any kind of response from the young teenager. Henderson is still in a rather unstable condition as of now, but we're waiting to hear whether he has yet gained consciousness..." "...Craig died instantly after having been thrown off his motorcycle when it collided with Haynes' vehicle, which was out of control on the primary highway OR-97E. The vehicle, a 1987 Chevy, drove off the side of a steep hill and flipped multiple times down the hill until it slammed into the trunk of a large tree. During the vehicle's descent down the hill, Haynes was at some point thrown from the vehicle. He was found unconscious and in critical condition about halfway between the truck and the top of the hill. Henderson was found on the passenger side of the vehicle on the floorboard. He too was unconscious. So far, neither of them have gained consciousness and doctors are still trying to determine whether or not Haynes will survive. Henderson is in an unstable condition as of now and we do not know much about his condition otherwise..." ---------------------------------- Logan sat next to Jesse on a porch swing that hung from a lone pergola atop a large hill, his head leaning up against his older brother's shoulder. The day was very bright. The sun was shining with an intensity Logan had never seen before. The blue of the sky was more vivid than the color of a sapphire. He felt at peace next to his brother. He looked out into the field beyond them: grand horses were racing around the pasture relishing in their freedom, butterflies of all colors and sizes were fluttering around gracefully, gorgeous white doves were flying everywhere and making their angelic sounds, and little children were playing and laughing at the base of the hill. "It's a beautiful day, huh?" Jesse declared. "I hope it never ends," Logan declared. "It has to end though." Logan sat up on the swing and turned around to face his older brother. Jesse had an almost pained expression on his face. "Why?" "Days always end, little brother. The night comes when the day ends. The night is different than day. You can't live in day forever." "But I want to." "You have other things to take care of, buddy." "I just want to stay here. I've missed you since you left." "I never left you. I've been with you every step of the way," Jesse said. Logan looked up and saw that the sun was already setting behind the distant mountains, turning the sky a vivid purple color. The sun was shining its golden rays of last day's light. The horses were still running free. Logan looked down at his hand. The pocket watch was in his hand for a few seconds and then it disappeared. "I have too much to do," Logan declared regrettably. "You'll pass with flying colors, Logan. It's like a hard test. Pass or fail." "I hope the teacher doesn't grade too harshly." "You need to go back. There's just so much to do." "Can't I stay here a little longer?" "Neither one of us can stay here. You need to go back. And I need to go back to my place too." Logan glanced over. The sun was gone now. The night had overtaken this land. The moon was shining brightly. The night sky was dark. Logan looked back at his brother's face. Jesse was grinning slightly at his little brother, his face still very discernible even in dark. "I can't travel in the dark." "The day will start again soon. It's like a vapor. Here one minute, gone the next." "I can see my breath during winter. It fades away fast." "You'll never fade away, little brother," Jesse said confidently. "I wish you didn't." "I never did. I travel to new places." "Why can't I go?" "You have too much to do right now. We'll travel someday. Just me and you, brother. We'll go everywhere." "Even the pinwheel?" "You name it..." Logan noticed the sky begin to brighten up. The sky had morphed into a pinkish color. The horses were cheering gleefully in the field. The children were laughing and playing at the bottom of the hill. A little, cute brown-headed boy was blowing bubbles from a huge, yellow sunflower. A little blonde girl was twisting around and dancing in the glowing morning light, the skirt of her pink and yellow sundress blowing around in the soft breeze. The sun came up from the same horizon in which is had disappeared. The light was blinding. "The sun's bright," Logan said. "It's your time, Logan. You need to take care of things." Logan looked at his older brother. Jesse's face was brightening vividly. The light was getting brighter and brighter, illuminating everything in sight. The porch swing disappeared in the light. Logan looked around him. The mountains had vanished in light. The horses were gone. The butterflies were gone. The children were bathed in a white light and then vanished as fast, their laughing and cackling voices still echoing within every fiber of Logan's being. He turned around to face Jesse again. His big brother's face was the only thing visible now. "You'll never fade away." Suddenly, Jesse's face disappeared in the blinding light, leaving Logan alone in the sunlight. The lights became brighter and brighter. There was a sound of beeping coming closer and closer to him. The beeping got louder and the lights became brighter. Suddenly, the light disappeared and everything went black. ---------------------------------- "We got him, we got him!!" came an unrecognizable voice. His eyes fluttered opened ever so slowly. There were faces above him. Faces draped in masks. A man with glasses, his face hung above Logan's. The light of the room was bright. There were people dressed in light blue robes. The man with the glasses had white latex gloves on. He was holding two pancake-shaped metal objects in his hands. There were twisty chords going from those metal objects to somewhere else. Logan felt confused. "Logan? Logan? Can you hear me?" the man with the glasses asked. Logan stared at the man in confusion, wondering what was happening. Where was he? Who was this man with the glasses? What were those pancake-shaped things in his hands? People were talking very loudly. Everyone seemed relieved that he had opened his eyes. What were these people doing to him?' "Logan, if you can hear me, blink your eyes two times," the man with the glasses said again as he placed the two metal objects down on a cloth-covered table. Logan blinked his eyes twice, hoping the man with the glasses would go away. "Okay, he's responding to directions so far." Logan closed his eyes, feeling very tired and very weak. ---------------------------------- TWENTY-EIGHT HOURS LATER Richard Henderson and his mother Ruth were in Logan's private room. Richard was sitting in a chair next to Logan's bed, holding his sleeping boy's hand. The boy was hooked up to numerous vinyl chords. His little body looked completely beaten up. Ruth was napping on the small sofa next to the window. She had been at Logan's side since he arrived at the hospital the day before. Richard had just flown in from Romania five hours before and he had been sitting at his twelve year old boy's bedside since he made it to the hospital just three hours ago. Ruth had been exhausted and said she was going to take a nap. As he sat next to the hospital bed, he thought about how just six months before he had been doing this with Jesse. He couldn't believe this had happened a second time and with his second son. He had found out everything that happened to Logan by watching the news. He had no idea about anything like that. He couldn't believe what his little boy had had to endure within the past six months. The doctor had just told him an hour before that Logan's condition was in fact stable and they expected him to wake up soon. Logan had a broken leg, two broken rib bones, a fractured wrist, a severe head wound that was now covered with a large bandage, too many gashes and bruises to count, and the remnants of lip marks on his neck that Richard assumed had taken place long before the wreck. He sat on the chair holding the boy's hand, wishing he would just go ahead and wake up. Richard had spoken to Cody Haynes' father and mother in the waiting room just a couple of hours before. They were both in miserable emotional conditions now. Cody was still unconscious and Jack Haynes said that the boy had fallen into a deep coma. No one was sure yet if he would pull through or not. Richard looked down at his wristwatch 1:34 in the morning. He decided there was no reason for him to stay up any longer. He slouched down in the chair and got comfortable, hoping sleep would take over him soon enough. Within minutes, he was out. ---------------------------------- SEVEN HOURS LATER Sunday, August 9th, 1998 Sophia walked into Logan's room carrying a basket of flowers, some candy, and a couple of "Get Well" balloons tied onto the woven handle of the basket. Ruth was watching television on the sofa across the room. Richard was sleeping soundly in the chair next to the bed, his tie at half mast, his jacket hanging over the edge of the chair, his white sleeves rolled up casually. She took a good look at Logan when she walked in. He didn't even look like the same boy she had said goodbye to in Baton Rouge at the beginning of the summer. He was all beaten up and broken and his hair was short and colored dark brown. When Ruth noticed Sophia enter the room, she quietly got up from the sofa and walked towards her. "Hey Sophia," Ruth said softly as they embraced one another casually. "Thank you so much for coming." "Oh you know I couldn't stay in Louisiana right now," Sophia said. "Not while my boy's hurt like that." "We almost lost him the other night," Ruth informed her. "His condition got worse all of a sudden and they had to resuscitate him." "Oh my word," Sophia said in disbelief. "Thankfully the Lord was watching over him." "I know. It liked to have scared me to death," Ruth said. "Richard just got here last night. He had to catch a plane here from Romania." "I declare, that man's been through too much here lately." "I know. I'm feeling kinda hungry, Sophia. You wanna join me for breakfast?" "That sounds fine. I'm feeling quite famished myself." "We'll bring Richard something back up. Surely he'll be awake when we get back." With that, Sophia and Ruth exited the room quietly. They walked downstairs to the large hospital cafeteria for breakfast together, discussing the situation about Logan and Cody's conditions and what had all transpired. ---------------------------------- TWELVE HOURS LATER Richard and Ruth were sitting next to a weak and exhausted Linda Haynes on the sofa in Cody's private hospital room. Jack was sitting in a chair close to the bed in front of the sofa. Katherine was leaning against a nearby wall listening to their conversation. Cody was hooked up to even more vinyl tubes than Logan was. And his overall appearance seemed way worse. Linda and Jack had explained to Ruth and Richard that Cody was now in a very deep coma and the doctors were still very unsure of whether he would ever regain consciousness due to the head trauma alone. After they spoke about Cody's condition and after Richard explained Logan's current condition, they all knew it was time to talk about everything that had happened. Linda sent Katherine out of the room to join Darlene and some of the others in the waiting room down the hallway. There had been numerous people from church, school, and town stop by to see the family. Darlene and Josh and some other friends of Cody's were still in the waiting room. "I guess we all know what needs to be discussed now," Richard said softly. "Yep. We know," Jack said simply. "Before we talk about this, I think I should say something now," Ruth spoke up. "First off, I don't blame Cody for anything that's happened. What Gill did to Logan was just deplorable. I haven't even spoken to my daughter since all of this took place. And when it comes to Cody, I just want you all to know that I don't believe he's done anything wrong." "Ruth, did you ever notice what Cody's relationship was like with your grandson?" Linda asked carefully. "Of course, I noticed a lot of things," Ruth said simply. "But Ruth, why didn't you come to us about it?" Linda asked. "I just wasn't sure about their relationship, Linda," Ruth said honestly. "I mean, towards the end there, I was pretty sure about what was really going on between them, but neither of them would say a word about it." "The point is, he saved Logan from something far worse," Richard butted in. "That's true," Jack said. "Man, I knew that Gill kid was a piece of work, but I had no idea he was dabbling into shit like that." "None of us did, Jack," Ruth said. "It took me by total surprise too. When Cody came to my door the other day, it was like he knew something bad was happening. I just assumed it was something stupid, like what teenagers tend to get themselves into, so I just let Cody go on after Logan, not even imagining that it could be something like that. I feel like this whole thing's my fault. I should've never let Cody go after Logan like that. I should've been much smarter than that." "Well, don't go blaming yourself, Ruth," Jack said. "I think we've all made mistakes in this one here. We've all seen things we could've done differently, but let's not focus on that shit. We've got us some decisions to make now." "Mom and I have been discussing our next move already," Richard said suddenly. "About what we'll do once Logan wakes up." "What's that?" Jack asked. Richard glanced over at Ruth, giving her the floor to speak now. "Umm..." Ruth started. "Well, I've decided to go ahead and sell my land, along with the house and the boats." "What?" Linda asked. "Well, where are you gonna go?" "I'm moving in with Richard and Logan," Ruth explained. "I can't keep that place up and running anymore. Not with Paul gone. And now that Gill's gone, I have a feeling my daughter and son-in-law will want nothing to do with me anymore." "You gonna move to Portland with Richard then?" Linda asked. "No," Richard butted in. "We're moving back down to Louisiana. Logan really likes it there and I can go back to my old office in New Orleans." "But Ruth, you love it here in Oregon," Linda argued. "There's nothing left for me here, Linda," Ruth explained. "This way I can be with the family that loves me and I love them. I can take care of Logan while he's healing up so Richard doesn't have to worry about anything. It just makes sense." The four of them sat in silence for several long seconds. "Well, when're you putting your house on the market?" Jack asked. "First thing tomorrow hopefully," Ruth said. "We both agreed that this is for the best," Richard said. "For all of us and for the boys. We may not know for sure what was going on between Logan and Cody, but whatever it was, it's probably better that we put a stop to it now." "You're right," Jack said. "You're absolutely right." "I just hope Cody wakes up," Linda said weakly. Ruth reached over and placed her hand on Linda's, a sympathetic grin draped across her face. "He's a very strong boy, Linda," Ruth said. "I know he'll pull through this." "I guess all we can do is pray," Linda said. The four of them continued to discuss the new arrangements. After they were finished with their conversation, Richard and Ruth left the room and headed down the hallway to the waiting room to fellowship with the friends and church members that were there in support of Logan and Cody. ---------------------------------- THE NEXT MORNING Monday, August 10th, 1998 Logan finally woke up on the bright Monday morning. He had been sleeping for well over two full days. When he awoke, he saw his dad sitting next to him in a chair sleeping. He looked on the other side and saw Sophia and his grandmother sitting beside each other on the sofa watching television. No one had noticed him wake up yet. He looked down at himself. His right arm and his left leg were both in huge casts. There were bruises and scratches all over him. He felt like he couldn't move. The sun was shining brightly through the window of the hospital bedroom. Logan immediately began to reflect back on everything that had happened. He was beginning to remember certain things. The wreck. Cody was gone when the truck stopped rolling down the hill. The windows had been shot out. It all came back to Logan clearly. "G-Grandma..." Logan whispered weakly. Suddenly, Ruth's and Sophia's heads turned to face Logan's. They immediately jumped from their seats in excitement when they saw that he had woken up. The commotion awoke Logan's father. Richard shook his head tiredly and realized that his son had finally woken up. All three of them gathered around the bed, rejoicing in the waking up of Logan, who had been sleeping for nearly three days now. They all took turns kissing him carefully on the cheek and telling him that they loved him. Logan felt as if he had just stepped into someone else's life. He was in so much pain right now, but he felt good about himself as he realized how much he was really loved. ---------------------------------- The next few days were excruciating for Logan. He had been told about Cody's condition and he had been informed that Cody may never wake up, but he hadn't been allowed to go seen him yet. After finding out Cody may never wake up, Logan had broken down so hard that he felt like he would never stop crying. He cried for hours on end, sometimes believing he would never stop again. He had to force himself to stop crying though every time someone came in to visit him. He had received visits from Darlene, Josh, Luke, Cody's parents and sister, and many other people in town and church that Logan didn't know very well. The whole time, Sophia, Richard or Ruth stayed in the room with him. There was never a moment in which Logan was alone. He couldn't walk anymore because his left leg was broken and casted up. The doctors told him he would have to go through some physical therapy before they'd let him go home. Once Logan had been up and moving around for a few days, Richard decided it was time to have the serious conversation with him, something he had been dreading for days. Richard cleared Ruth and Sophia out of the room, leaving the two of them alone in the hospital room. Richard told Logan that he knew about everything that had happened that day of the wreck. Richard further explained that Gill was killed instantly during that wreck and would be laid to rest in the Vernon cemetery on the coming Saturday afternoon. Logan didn't seem too shaken up about Gill's death. Richard persuaded Logan to talk about what all happened that day. The doctor had said it would do the boy good to speak about it to someone he loved and trusted. Logan confessed to being forced into doing the kiddie porn film with Gill. He further told Richard about how Cody snuck over there, saw what was going on in the bedroom, and then got into a huge fight with Gill. Logan talked about how he broke out of the house through the window and then smashed Gill's head with a large branch. He talked about being shot at while in the truck. He then talked about the wreck. At the end of it all, Logan began to talk about the dream he had about Jesse and himself shortly after the wreck. After Logan told the story, Richard admitted to Logan that he had actually almost died the day of the wreck, but the doctors were able to bring him back. Logan remembered the doctor with the glasses and the two metal objects he had in his hands. He remembered the dream he had had right before that the dream in which he was swinging on a porch swing next to Jesse in a beautiful place. He was beginning to wonder if it was in fact a dream, but he didn't talk about it any longer to his father. Some things are better left unsaid, Logan thought to himself. "Logan, you have no idea how much it hurts to think of losing you too," Richard said. "I know," Logan said. "It was close. Very close. Just a few more seconds and I would've lost you too." "I know, Dad." "Buddy, we need to talk about something important." "You mean more important than the talk we just had?" "Good to see your smartness doesn't go away even in times like this." Logan rolled his eyes slightly, which actually hurt his bruised face to do so. "Your grandmother and I have decided that we're all moving away from here," Richard said. "Your grandmother put the house for sell the other day." Logan turned to face his dad quickly, an expression of horror draped on his face. "What!?" Logan asked. "We're going down to New Orleans, buddy, and Grandma coming with us." "Why do we have to leave!?" Logan asked pleadingly. "I think this'll be better for you, son. After everything that's happened here, there's no way you can stay. Even if your grandmother wasn't moving, I had already decided you would be coming with me one way or another." "But why, Dad!? Gill's not around anymore to cause trouble. Why do I have to leave now? There's nothing bad anymore!" "Logan, I wasn't going to say anything yet, but you need to know," Richard started. "All of us know about your relationship with Cody." Logan became quiet, just staring at his father blankly. After a few seconds, Logan looked away and stared out the window without saying a word. "As soon as you're better, we're going back to Louisiana," Richard said affirmatively. Richard stood up from the chair next to the bed and walked out of the room, leaving Logan by himself. Once he was alone, which was the first time since he had arrived at the hospital nearly a week ago, Logan started crying again. He tried to control himself, to be strong, but he couldn't. He decided to let himself cry some more. ---------------------------------- Saturday, August 15th, 1998 Logan's wrist was beginning to heal finally. His left leg was still broken, but he would be able to get around on crutches soon enough now that his wrist was beginning to heal. He had been able to visit Cody in his wheelchair once a day. Cody was still in a coma and the doctors still weren't sure if he would survive or not. Logan had spent so much time crying in the past few days. There was hardly an hour that could go by without the shedding of tears. He missed Cody so much and he loved him more than anything in his life. Even though he could see Cody, it just wasn't the same. Logan had been going through physical therapy for the past few days and now the hospital was saying he would be able to leave the next morning and go home. Ruth had already sold her house. The house was on the market for less than three days and some random wealthy family from Seattle decided to buy the house, the land, and the houseboat and speedboat all in one big package. Ruth was able to sell all of it for a little over three and a half million dollars. Now as Richard and Logan were in the hospital, Ruth and Sophia were at the house beginning to pack everything up for the move. Richard had already been in contact with New Orleans real estate companies, trying to find a descent home down there. He was pretty sure he had already found one they would all like. Logan was less than thrilled about leaving. He wanted nothing more than to stay by Cody's side forever, even if he never woke up again. If it wasn't for Cody, Logan knew he would be happy to go back to Louisiana, but things were different now. He was in love. On this final evening in the hospital, Richard rolled Logan down to Cody's hospital room on his wheelchair. Logan had finally been able to put human clothes on. He put on his red soccer shorts and the white t-shirt with the red lifeguard cross on the front the clothes he had worn one day during his and Cody's weekend together on the houseboat. That was only a couple of weeks ago, but to Logan it felt like an eternity ago. When they arrived in the private room, Jack and Katherine were the only ones in there. They were watching television. Richard explained that Logan would like to have a little time alone with Cody, since they would be leaving the hospital the next morning and they would be leaving Oregon in a few days. Richard had already decided that this would be Logan's last visit with Cody. He didn't feel that it was healthy for Logan to dwell on Cody like this, since Cody would more than likely not make it through this. Richard was more than thankful towards Cody for saving his son's life. He wished he could tell Cody that to his face, but he knew it wasn't possible now. Cody would most likely pass away in this hospital. After Richard explained to Jack and Katherine that Logan wanted some time alone with Cody, the three of them exited the room and closed the door behind them, giving Logan and Cody their time alone in the hospital room. Logan stared at his beaten boyfriend on his hospital bed, connected to numerous vinyl tubes and the beeping sounds of the machines beginning to ware on his nerves. He reached over and placed his hand on Cody's. He felt like he should start crying. But he couldn't. For once in the past six months since Jesse's death, Logan actually wanted to cry and he couldn't do it. He locked the wheelchair into place and then carefully stood up from the chair, making sure not to put any weight whatsoever on his left leg. He held onto the plastic railing on Cody's bed for support with one hand while keeping his other hand wrapped around Cody's warm, limp fingers. He stared down at his boyfriend's face. Most of the bruises and scratches had disappeared by now. He still looked rather beaten up, but he was certainly beginning to look better now. Even with the tubes, bruises, scrapes, and gashes, Cody was still the most handsome man Logan had ever seen. He looked down at the older boy and allowed a melancholy grin to creep across his lips. "Hey Cody," Logan said softly. He was sure Cody could hear him, even though he wasn't able to give a response. "I have to move away from here, Cody. My dad and grandma says it's for the best." Logan gently caressed Cody's hand with his fingers. "I wish I could cry again. But I can't. I can't do anything anymore." The younger boy grasped Cody's hand a little tighter, just hoping beyond the depths of his own young soul that he would wake up. "I'll think about you all the time... every day," Logan said, his voice soft and weak. "Cody... I love you." Finally, one single tear trailed down Logan's cheek. He reached up and wiped the tear away and then grasped Cody's hand again. He stood by Cody's bedside holding the older boy's hand for a while, just staring down at him, wishing Cody would wake up. After a while, Logan decided it was time to let go. He leaned downward as gently as possible and laid his head on Cody's chest. He could hear Cody's heartbeat soft and slow it was, but his heart was still beating. With that, Logan moved upward and gently placed a kiss on Cody's cheek. Afterward, he straightened back up and let go of Cody's hand. He stared down at the boy for a matter of seconds, seconds that felt like hours. Logan reached inside his pocket and pulled the heavy pocket watch out, the golden chain hanging loosely over the side of his palm. He brought the pocket watch up to his chest and held it there for several long minutes. With a lump in his throat, Logan placed the pocket watch in Cody's open hand. Then he sat back down in his wheelchair. Logan took one final look at the love of his life and then rolled himself towards the door, leaving Cody alone in the hospital room. ---------------------------------- FOUR DAYS LATER Logan sat in his wheelchair on the dock staring out at Twillingate Lake. It was Wednesday morning, the 19th of August. The day was very hot. The humidity was low, but the sun was scorching the earth crazily. Logan looked out at the mountains in the distance barely any snow left on the caps. Logan sat in his wheelchair holding the pocket watch his father had given him several months before. He opened the watch and stared at the semi-nude picture of himself and Jesse as younger kids. As he looked at the picture, he thought about Jesse. And he thought about Cody. He couldn't believe the direction his life had taken in recent months. Everything had changed in him so drastically. He couldn't even look at life the same way as he used to. He thought about the boy he had been the night of Jesse's wreck in Baton Rouge, a boy of eleven and very naοve to the world around him. Now here he was six months later, a boy of twelve with a little more understanding about life and the changes that can transpire in the blink of an eye. He figured if anyone had told him a year before that he'd be sitting in a wheelchair on his grandmother's lake dock with a broken leg and short, brown hair in August of 1998, he would've called them insane. But here he was. Gill was dead now. Cody was in a deep coma, still a chance he could pass away soon. Logan couldn't believe he had survived everything. He couldn't believe he was still alive. He further couldn't understand why he was still alive. He had almost died. But Jesse said he had too much to do now. Logan stared at his brother's smiling young face in the picture, those eyes of understanding and eternal love. He looked at himself in that picture, his eight year old self, that little boy who looked so innocent to the world. He thought about Cody again. What would happen if Cody woke up? What would he say? What would he do? Logan figured he would never know. Cody's parents had decided it would be best for all if the Henderson's and the Haynes' cut off any ties and avoided contact with one another from now on. Everyone had been tiptoeing around the subject of Cody's and Logan's love for one another. Logan had managed to keep the details to himself. No one had even really asked for details. His father had just told him that he knew about the relationship. His grandmother said the same thing basically, but she wasn't asking for details about it. Even Linda Haynes had approached him about it a few days before in the hospital. She just said she wished things could have been different. What that truly meant to her was something Logan was in the dark about, but he didn't really care to be honest. He just wished personally that he and Cody could be together again, to be able to kiss one another, to love one another, to live their lives together in harmony. Logan glanced down at the pocket watch again. He stared at it for a long time, thoughts racing through his mind like a line of horses galloping around a track. ---------------------------------- A few hours later, Logan was still sitting in his wheelchair. He was perched in the living room as his father, grandmother, and Sophia were searching the empty house, making sure everything had been packed and loaded onto the trucks. His father walked into the room carrying a random bag full of stuff. He was all sweaty and there were dark sweat stains on his gray t-shirt. Richard looked at his son and grinned weakly. His son looked so much different now than he had when he dropped him off back in June. Not only was Logan's once long, blond hair cut short and colored a dark brown color, but the boy seemed to have grown. He hadn't grown taller or bigger by any means, but somehow, Logan just appeared more grown up to Richard. It was all in those mysterious blue eyes of his. "You doing okay, buddy?" Richard asked the boy. "All things considered, I guess," Logan said simply. "Well, everything's packed and ready to go. We have a long ride ahead of us." "Okay." Richard nodded and then exited the room without saying another word. Several minutes later, Sophia came into the room and rolled Logan outside on the front porch. She grabbed his crutches from the corner next to the front door and helped him stand up from the wheelchair. He stood up, using his crutches for support and then carefully walked down the porch steps with Sophia's guiding hand on his back. Richard folded the wheelchair up and placed it in one of the trucks. Sophia helped Logan into the first truck, which would be driven by Richard. Once Logan was situated in his seat, he glanced down and noticed Sophia just staring at him with a warm, but awkward grin. "What?" Logan asked softly. "I dunno," Sophia said. "You just seem so... grown up, I guess?" Sophia said. "I haven't grown at all this summer," Logan said. "Well, you don't have look taller to seem grown up, baby." Logan just stared at her knowingly. She leaned up and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. Ruth came up and gave Logan a kiss on the cheek as well. With that, she stepped down out of the truck and closed the passenger side door. She and Sophia headed to the second truck, which they would be driving down to Louisiana. Logan grinned slightly for no apparent reason. He looked at his grandmother's house, which was no longer her house. He thought about this summer and the summers before that in which he stayed in that house. He couldn't believe everything that had happened here. He looked over at the dock and the lake. The houseboat was floating still under it's metal canopy, just awaiting another weekend trip. It would now be taken out by some rich Seattle family on weekend trips. Logan looked around at everything again. He wished he could see Cody one last time, to tell him he loved him, to give him a final kiss, to listen to his heartbeat another few times. It just wasn't so anymore though. He felt a tear crawl down his cheek again. He hated crying like this. He despised feeling so vulnerable, so weak. Perhaps he wasn't any of those things though. Maybe crying was a natural thing. Maybe it was something that helped him deal. Why else would God have created tears? Richard opened the driver's side door and climbed into the truck. He started the ignition, then glanced over at his twelve year old son again. "You ready?" Richard asked. Logan turned to face his father. Logan's expression was one of mystery, an expression that said this boy was knowledgeable of things a normal twelve year boy shouldn't have had to figure out yet. It almost frightened Richard, but he felt some pride that his son had survived so many terrible things and come out of it all in one piece. Logan never replied to his question. The young boy simply shot a melancholy grin, his eyes telling a story that no other human being would ever understand. Richard grinned back at his son and then pressed his foot on the gas pedal. As the truck began to move forward, Logan looked out at the land again for one last time, thinking of the time he had spent with Cody, the many hours and days of enjoyment he had experienced out of simply being able to touch the older boy, of being able to kiss him, to stroke his hair, to dance on the houseboat under the last day's light of the golden sun and the purple sky. The two moving trucks headed down Henderson Road towards the main road Richard and Logan in the first truck, Ruth and Sophia in the second truck. They turned onto the main road and drove through downtown Twillingate Shore for one final time. Richard was filled with a certain amount of melancholy himself. After all, he had grown up in this little town at the Henderson home. Now it was the end of an era. Logan looked at the small buildings of downtown Twillingate Shore. Business was going on as usual. People were at the stores, people were working, some people waved goodbye to them as they passed through town. Everyone already knew the Henderson's were leaving town for good, which honestly came as no shock to anyone. A few minutes later, they passed through Twillingate Shore and headed out towards the horizon, leaving behind their previous lives for once and for all. Logan stared ahead of him, wondering what life would be like for him from now on. Everything had changed so much lately, he was beginning to wonder if anything else would change. He figured the biggest changes had finally come to an end though. He hoped so anyway. He thought about Cody as they drove out of town. He hoped he would someday see the love of his life again. He hoped he would someday be able to dance with him again. Logan reached down to his backpack that was sitting on the floorboard between his legs. He unzipped the bag and pulled out Jesse's stuffed blue monkey from the bag. He placed the monkey on his lap and embraced it tightly, several stray tears gliding down his cheeks as the two moving trucks headed off towards another life, a new life. ---------------------------------- FIVE MONTHS LATER January 25th, 1999 Seventeen year old Cody Haynes was still in a deep coma. A little over five months had passed now since the wreck. All of Cody's broken bones had healed by now. His bruises had completely faded away. All of his gashes and scratches had vanished a while ago, leaving a few scars behind on his skin as subtle reminders of that horrible day. Cody was still sleeping though, completely unprepared to come out and face the world again. Linda and Jack Haynes had been informed months before that Cody would most likely come out of this alive, but it was impossible to determine when or how. They warned Cody's parents that he might wake up and have completely forgotten everything that happened. He might wake up with the mind of a five year old. He might wake up as his normal self and just need to catch up on everything he's missed out on for the past few months. He might wake up as a vegetable, never having the ability to function as he had before. The Haynes' were aware of every possibility and they were prepared to deal with whatever came their way. On this particular day, a cold, snowy day in Twillingate Shore, Linda was sitting in Cody's hospital room eating an apple and watching a daytime talk show. This was her day off work, which she now usually spent at the hospital with her son, rain or shine. She took a chunk out of her apple, chewed it up, and swallowed. Some comedian was making fun of Bill Clinton on this random talk show, like most people were doing these days. Poor man. Suddenly, Linda heard something a groan. Her eyes widened in shock. She immediately turned around to face her seventeen year old son. He was moving! His hands were moving! His eyes were trying to open!! Linda immediately stood up from the sofa and walked over to the bed. She wanted to make sure she was there when he opened his eyes. He was moving! Cody was alive! He was finally waking up! "Cody??" Linda asked with a bright smile on her face, tears now falling freely from her eyes. "Cody?? Can you hear me?" Cody's eyes fluttered open every so slowly. He saw a blurry face up above him. He heard a very recognizable voice speaking his name the voice of his mother, he was sure of that. He couldn't keep his eyes open very well. The room was so bright. He lifted his eyes again, trying to gain some focus on the face above him. The blurriness began to disappear. Everything was becoming more clear. "Cody, my sweet boy!" Linda said excitedly, her eyes filled with tears. "...Mo-Mom..." Cody said softly. "Oh baby, I'm here," Linda said as she grasped Cody's hand tightly in her own. "I'm here for you, sweetheart. I'm here." "M-Mom??" Cody said a little clearer. "Oh my god, Cody, I'm so glad you've come back to us," Linda said. She started crying harder that Cody could ever remember seeing her cry. The woman leaned down and embraced him tightly. Cody felt weaker than he had ever felt before, but he managed to lift his arm up and placed it around his mother's torso. He felt so disoriented. He had no idea what was going on, where he was, why he was here. Nothing was making sense at the moment. Linda hugged her boy tightly for a long time, crying on his shoulder, verbally thanking the Lord above for letting her son come back to her. Cody kept his arm draped around her for a while. ---------------------------------- And so the new story began. After Cody had awoken from his coma, the whole town of Twillingate Shore showed up sporadically, bringing gifts and praising God for letting Cody wake up from his long slumber. The doctors ran multiple tests on the boy, making sure his motor functions were still working, making sure he hadn't forgotten basic learned skills such as math, grammar, and history. The only thing the doctors couldn't get out of Cody was his memory about what caused him to end up in the hospital in the first place. Nothing about Logan Henderson, the wreck, anything like that was ever brought up by Cody. It was as if those several summer months had simply vanished from Cody's memory, as if nothing like that ever took place to begin with. And Cody didn't ask about it yet. Cody's parents and his little sister were staying at the hospital with him constantly, making sure he never had to be alone. After several weeks of physical therapy and tests, Cody began to walk around the room, first with help from the nurses and his mother, then finally by himself. It was like he had to relearn how to walk, as if he was only a toddler again. Judging by the tests the doctors ran on him, they could see nothing wrong with Cody's general motor functions whatsoever. He was still sharp and focused and he hadn't forgotten anything that would be considered important for someone his age. The only thing that baffled the doctors and Cody's family was that he evidently had no memory of Logan Henderson or what happened during the past summer with him. No one could understand why though. The doctors had said they shouldn't be surprised that Cody couldn't remember the day of the wreck, but to have lost all memory of that summer and the boy he had spent the summer with seemed almost unreal. They didn't press the subject too much though. Jack and Linda actually thought it better that Cody didn't remember any of that. No one had ever mentioned Logan's name directly or mentioned details about that summer and the day of the wreck. Doctors simply asked him what he remembered if anything and Cody simply responded by telling them he had no idea what happened. They had asked him if he remembered a "particular person he had spent the summer with," and he said he didn't remember anyone else other than his girlfriend and his parents. It also seemed as if Cody had forgotten that he and Darlene Chase broke up. For nearly a month, Cody went through physical therapy and different tests. After a while, it all seemed so redundant and repetitive to Cody. He began to demand the right to go back home. He was tired of being in the hospital and he just wanted to get on with his life again. Eventually, the doctors saw no reason to keep him there. Cody had indeed recovered from his coma quickly and there were no signs that he had lost any of his normal functions. The only thing that had everyone confused was how Cody didn't seem to remember Logan Henderson whatsoever. But at the same time, no one said his name. Jack and Linda had demanded that no one say the boy's name for fear that it might just spark Cody's memory of him. If he figured it out on his own, then they figured they would deal with it then. Not now though. By the end of February, the Haynes' were able to take their son back home with them to Twillingate Shore. ---------------------------------- February 27th, 1999 It was a snowy Saturday morning. Cody was lying in his bed staring out the window, watching as the fluffy, white flakes descended from the grayish sky. This was the first morning he had woken up in his own bed in over six months. It was also the very first time he woke up wearing regular clothes a short-sleeved blue t-shirt and his white Hanes briefs as opposed to the annoying smock he was forced to wear at the hospital all that time. He lied in bed watching the snow fall, thinking of nothing else but Logan. He had managed to play it off pretty well the last few weeks, telling the doctors and his parents that he had no memory of what happened and who he had spent the summer with. He found it interesting that no one so much as mentioned Logan's name, nor what had actually happened the day of the wreck. Cody pretended not to have lost his memory of that summer and that particular day of the wreck, but he remembered everything. He remembered every last detail in fact. What he still hadn't figured out yet was where Logan had gone. He had heard the name Henderson mentioned when his father was talking to the pastor of their church several weeks before. Cody's father had said something to the effect of "the Henderson's agreed not to stay in contact" and "it's best for both boys this way." Cody had overheard those particular words. After gathering that information and having never heard a word from Logan or Ruth or any of the Henderson's, Cody figured that they had left town some time ago. Cody was just satisfied that Logan survived the wreck. He had spent countless hours wondering if Logan was okay, pondering the notion of asking someone if he was okay, but he kept his front up and going. He didn't want anyone knowing that he remembered Logan or that he had any recollection of the day of the wreck. This way he would never be forced to explain everything to his parents. There was one person he knew he could talk to though. The person who had helped him out in the first place. Cody got out of bed slowly and began to dress. He had to move slowly still. He hadn't yet gotten use to moving around on his own. Being asleep for five months really messed with him. He walked over to his dresser, grabbed a pair of blue jeans, and then put them on. Afterward, he slipped his t-shirt off and replaced it with a plain white undershirt and a long-sleeved plaid shirt over that. He slipped his cowboy boots on, which was the first time he had worn boots since the day of the wreck. He grabbed his heavy black coat from the closet and put it on. After that, he put his cowboy hat on and then left the bedroom. He was quickly gaining his leg strength back as he trailed down the stairs to the kitchen. His parents were sitting in the living room watching television, each of them in their pajamas and housecoats and drinking coffee. They gave him a confused look and his mother bit. "What're you doing?" Linda asked. "Umm... I was gonna... go see Darlene if that's okay," Cody said. "Boy, you remember us telling you that you and Darlene broke up, right?" Jack asked seriously. "You remember that, right?" "Yeah, I remember," Cody said simply. "I just wanna go talk to her is all." "I dunno, Cody," Linda said with uncertainty. "We just brought you home from the hospital yesterday. I don't really like the idea of you driving yet." "Then I'll walk," Cody said. "I could use the exercise anyway." "It's four degrees and snowing outside, Cody," Linda said. "I really think you should just stay here today and rest." "Mom, that's all I've been doing forever now!" Cody argued. "I'm sick of resting. I'm ready to get on with my life and resting is the not the way to do it." Jack and Linda became quiet suddenly, as if considering Cody's point of view. "I still don't want you out there in the snow, Cody," Linda said. "And to be honest with you, I don't feel comfortable with you driving out there today," Jack added seriously. "I've driven in much worse, Dad," Cody argued. "Boy is that the truth..." Jack admitted. "Jack, I don't want him driving yet," Linda said demandingly. "You guys, I'm not completely screwed up!" Cody said. "I'll take it slow and be very careful. Darlene just lives a couple of miles away from here. It's not like I'm gonna be in a high-speed chase or something." All of a sudden, Jack and Linda looked at him sternly, as if they had just realized something important about Cody. Their expressions were ones that potentially stop traffic. Cody stood still, feeling completely stupid for saying what he had just said to his parents. "Why would you mention something like a high-speed chase, Cody?" Linda asked. "What?" Cody asked, trying to play dumb. "I'm just saying... it's not like I'm gonna be driving fast or anything. I'm just going to Darlene's house." "Yeah, it's just a little odd that you would bring up a high-speed chase like that," Jack said seriously. Cody could have sworn he had never seen his father act so seriously about anything in his life. His father was generally the type of man one might expect a live Homer Simpson to act. "What're ya'll talking about?" Cody asked dumbly. "Cody, have you been lying to us??" Linda asked in a high-pitched voice. "Lying about what!?" Cody asked defensively. "All I said is that it's not like I'm gonna be in a high-speed chase. What the hell's wrong with that?" "Do not curse at us, Cody!" Linda said. "I don't care if you've been asleep for five months or not, you will still treat us with respect. And I swear, boy, if I find out you've been lying to all of us about what you remember and what you don't..." "Linda, calm down a little," Jack said a little lighter. That sounded more like him. "Jack, he's been lying to us!" Linda said angrily. "Mom, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Cody yelled. "Oh don't give me that!" Linda said. The woman slammed her empty mug onto the coffee table and stood up from the couch to face Cody. "Admit it, Cody! You remember everything that happened, don't you. Don't you!!" "Cody, do you remember what happened?" Jack asked calmly, but seriously. Cody stood still, realizing officially that his front had finally took a plunge. He looked at his parents with a grave expression on his face, knowing that this conversation was about to take a whole different direction. Finally, Cody nodded his head affirmatively. Jack and Linda just stared at him in silence, each of them trying to take in the news that Cody actually remembered everything the wreck, Logan Henderson, Gill Craig, everything. Cody took his cowboy hat off and placed it on the coffee table. He took his coat off, laid it on the sofa, and then plopped down on the couch in front of his parents. They each just stared at him. They didn't seem angry now. They most seemed disappointed and confused. "Okay," Cody started. "Yes, I remember everything." Linda sat back down on the love seat next to Jack, as if her legs could no longer support her body enough to allow her to stand up. They just stared at him quietly, waiting for Cody to continue speaking about it. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't say anything," Cody said. "For the first couple of days after I woke up, I honestly didn't remember anything about Logan or the wreck or anything. But after some time... it all just... well, it just came back to me is all." "Why didn't you just tell us, Cody?" Linda asked. "Because of this," Cody said. "I knew you guys would freak out just as soon as I admitted to remembering everything that happened." "That's not fair, Cody," Linda said crossly. "You put up a shield just so we couldn't in all good sense punish you for the other things that happened?" "That's pretty low, Cody," Jack agreed. "Well, you know what guys? It just sucks that you've already been thinking of how to punish me for falling in love with someone." Linda's eyes widened in disbelief. Jack put his fingers up to his mustache and started playing with the hairs. Cody stood in silence. He knew his parents thought he was a freak now. They would inevitably call him all sorts of nasty names and then kick him out of the house for good. After all, Twillingate Shore was no place for a faggot especially a faggot who had fallen for a preteen boy. Cody watched as his parents fidgeted in their seats, taking in the information they had just been given about their son. "What do you mean by falling in love?" Linda asked. "That's what happened, Mom," Cody said. "I... fell in love... with Logan." "He's just a little boy, Cody," Linda said in disgust. "How the hell could a sixteen year old man fall in love with an eleven year old boy? It doesn't make sense." "You're eight years younger than Dad!" Cody said defensively. "That's different and you know it!" Linda yelled. "How's it different!?" Cody asked. "You were like fourteen when you guys started dating. Dad was twenty-two or twenty-three!" "He's a man and I'm a woman, Cody!" Linda said. "You and Logan are both boys. It's unnatural. It's homosexual and it's an abomination in the eyes of God!" "Oh and the affair you had ten years ago wasn't an abomination?" Cody asked. Cody couldn't believe he had just brought that up. His mother had in fact had an affair back when Cody was only seven years old. She had actually said she wanted a divorce from Jack, but after a year or so, the two of them worked things out and stayed married. No one had ever mentioned it again since then. Cody couldn't believe he had just dug that skeleton up like this. He knew he was about to receive hell or it too. "You're right," Linda said simply, as if she had just been beaten. "What?" Cody asked in a confused tone of voice. "You're right, Cody," Linda said. "The affair I had back then is what God would consider an abomination. But you know what, that's something I have to answer for someday and what you're talking about is something you would never feel shame about when you should very feel ashamed." "Why, because you say so?" Cody snapped. "Because God says so, Cody! God says so!" Linda yelled. "You grew up in church, you know the rules!" "Like I could help who I fell in love with..." Cody said. "This is just sick!!" Linda yelled. "A sixteen year old boy is not supposed to do things like that with an eleven year old boy! It's sick and perverted and God will not forgive a sin like that. You know this, Cody!" Cody stayed quiet. He knew there was no way out of this mess. He knew his parents would just come down on him harder if he continued arguing. He understood he'd be lucky to get away from this mess at all now. All three of them sat in silence, each of them thinking about the current predicament. Katherine was sitting on the staircase out of sight, listening to everything that was being said. She had had a crush on Logan herself during the summer. She felt absolutely sick at her stomach, knowing that her older brother had probably had sex with the boy she had a crush on. Cody rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands, feeling completely stressed out now. Jack continued playing with his mustache. "Can I ask you guys something?" Cody asked. "What is it?" Jack asked calmly. "Where is Logan now?" Cody asked bravely. "Ruth sold her house to a family from Seattle and she and Logan moved away with Richard Henderson," Jack explained. "Where?" "The Henderson's do not want you boys talking anymore either, Cody," Linda said harshly. "All of us already had it figured out after the wreck. We haven't said anything about it, because we were under the impression that you didn't remember all of this." "Well, I do remember it, so where is Logan?" Cody asked. "I can't take this!" Linda yelled out as if in pain. She stood up from the sofa and walked off towards the staircase. When she saw Katherine sitting there, she barked at her fiercely, demanding that she go to her room and stay there. Cody listened as two bedroom doors from upstairs slammed. He glanced over and noticed his father staring at him. He had a stern, but calm look on his face. They each stared at one another for a few long, silent moments. Cody was actually glad that his mother left the room. He could rest easy now, knowing that his father would be a whole lot more rational about the situation than she was. Without saying a word, Jack stood up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. Cody wondered what he was doing, but he decided not to say anything. A minute later, Jack came back into the room carrying two cans of Bud Light, one in each hand. Jack sat down on the other side of the small sofa from Cody and then handed him the can of beer. Cody accepted the beer and then glanced at his dad weirdly. "It's just now ten in the morning, Dad," Cody said. "Sometimes, it's never too early to have a cold one," Jack said as he popped the tab and then took a long swig of the drink. Cody shrugged and then followed in his father's footsteps. He opened the can and took a huge sip of beer from the can. He hadn't had a beer in so long that it no longer tasted good to him. He continued drinking it anyway just for the hell of it. "I get what you're saying about falling in love, Cody," Jack said seriously. "Really?" Cody asked. "For real, I do," Jack said. "I mean, I'm an old-fashioned codger here, you know, and... well, this sort of stuff was always something my parents would've pitched a fit over as well. Probably more so back in the day. You know, there was this boy I went to school with. I think we were about twelve or thirteen years old at the time? Hell, I don't even remember his name or anything. But I'll always remember this one time that something happened between me and him. We were both in the school library one time and we happened to sit at the same table for study hall. Well, there was this one time we were sitting next to each other at one of the tables in the back of the library. It was just the two of us there at that table. Anyway, this kid reached over and placed his hand on my crotch and started rubbing. I thought about just going off and slugging him in the face like I was always taught to do if something like that was to ever happen, but I didn't. I just let him rub me like that. After a while, I whispered that we should go to the bathroom down the hall and... well... continue what we were doing, only more so." "Did you?" Cody asked curiously. "Yup. Me and that kid headed off to the bathroom, one after the other, and the bathroom there was empty. We went to the far stall and then we... jerked each other off." Cody wasn't particularly fond of this story considering it involved his dad of all people, but he felt somewhat relieved that his dad could relate to him in some way just based on that one experience he had. "What happened to that kid?" Cody asked. "Oh, he tried doing the same thing to some other kid the next day and got himself punched in the nose," Jack explained. "He was expelled after that and I never saw him again. Point is, I know what you're talking about. I wasn't in love with that kid not by a long shot but I know what you mean anyway." "Dad, I really am in love with Logan," Cody said honestly. "I can't explain it. And it's not something I was looking for. It just... it just happened that way. I know Mom thinks I'm a freak now, but..." "Hey, you're mother doesn't think of you like that. That old crow loves you more than you could ever know. She just doesn't wanna see you get yourself in trouble." "I know. Dad, just so you know, I don't think about other boys or guys the way I think of Logan. I mean, I'm not gonna go off and stalk little kids or anything like that." "I don't believe you'd ever do that, Cody. At least I'd hope you wouldn't. But you're my son, and I love you. I may not agree with some of your decisions, but I think I understand what you mean about falling in love. You really can't help who you fall in love with. I get that." "Thanks. I appreciate that." "One thing we need to talk about though, son. You're gonna need to get over this thing with Logan Henderson. The Henderson's left here because they don't want you and Logan together like that. He is still very young and he's not sure what he wants. You need to try to understand that." Cody pondered this for a moment and then nodded his head affirmatively. "Okay. I understand," Cody said softly and sadly. Jack nodded towards his son. "Good," Jack said. "Now... (Jack suddenly pulled Logan's pocket watch from his back pocket and dangled it in front of Cody) ...Logan left this thing in your hand at the hospital months ago just days after the wreck. I brought it home to keep it safe and don't worry, I never let your mother see it. I didn't even look inside. But I think Logan wanted you to have it." Cody took the pocket from his dad and held it in the palm of his hand, nearly ready to cry again. He couldn't believe Logan had parted with the pocket watch just to give it to him. He felt as if his heart would finally burst: With sadness? With joy? With love? Cody no longer understood his own emotions. "Listen, your mother's gonna be P.O.ed for a while," Jack said. "Maybe it'd be better for both of you if you give each other some space. Take my truck and go out for a while." Jack took his keys from his pocket and held them out for Cody to take. Cody grasped the keys from his dad's fingers with a grin on his face. "Thanks Dad," Cody said sincerely. "I thought you said you weren't comfortable with me driving today." "Just be careful out there, okay?" Jack requested. "I trust you. And you're right. It's not like some psycho's gonna be chasing you on a motorcycle with a gun." Cody stood up and put his coat back on and then put his cowboy hat on. With the keys in hand, he started towards the front door. "Cody?" Jack called out softly. Cody halted and then turned around to face his dad again. "Yeah?" Cody asked. "When I was at the junkyard getting everything out of your truck the stuff that wasn't destroyed anyway I found my .38 special that I forgot I left in there." "I didn't use it, Dad," Cody said honestly. "I thought about it... even had it ready to go... but I didn't use it." Jack just grinned at him with a melancholy expression on his face. "That's my boy," Jack said. The two men stood there and grinned warmly at one another for a few long seconds. Finally, Cody turned around and walked out the front door without saying another word, leaving Jack alone with his thoughts in the Haynes' living room. ---------------------------------- As Cody Haynes drove through the white snow, he realized he had missed his seventeenth birthday. It seemed minor an issue now, but it was worthy of note. He drove down the road past Darlene's house. He drove into downtown Twillingate Shore, which was now completely covered in white, fluffy snow. Twillingate Lake had thin sheets of ice covering the surface. Everything had changed so radically while Cody was sleeping. He couldn't remember much about the coma. He remembered dreaming. To him, five months of sleeping felt like a full night's sleep. To go to sleep in summer and wake up in winter just felt too strange to Cody. He drove on past downtown Twillingate Shore towards the main road. A couple of minutes later, he drove up to Henderson Road. The name hadn't been changed thankfully. He turned onto Henderson Road and drove the mile or so down the little gravel road which was now covered in snow. When he arrived at what used to be the Henderson house, he noticed that almost nothing had changed yet. The house looked the same as it always had. The houseboat was perched under its metal canopy, probably too frozen to operate at all now. Cody parked his dad's truck and then got out. He headed towards the front door, uncertain of why he was doing this at all, and completely unsure of what he'd even say to whoever opened the front door. He walked up onto the front porch and immediately knocked on the front door. He stood for several minutes. No one answered. He rung the doorbell once and then waited patiently. Still no answer. He took a moment to glance around. There were no other vehicles in the gravel driveway. No one was answering the door. Cody decided that no one was home. Saturday morning and no one was there. That probably meant they'd be gone for a while. Perhaps all day long. He figured it was for the better anyway. He wasn't sure at all of what he would say if someone did answer the door. With that, Cody turned around and headed back towards his dad's truck. He got in the truck and then drove a little further down Henderson Road until it dead-ended at the barn, which was mostly covered in snow and appearing rather transparent due to the falling snowflakes. He parked the truck and then got out. He walked over to the barn towards the horse stable. He opened the gate and walked into the horse stable. Ruth Henderson had owned nine horses when she lived here. Now, only two of them were left. The horses were naying and making all sorts of noise when Cody walked in. They immediately recognized the boy with the cowboy hat. Cody walked over to one of the stalls and got in. He quickly saddled the horse, tied the horse up, and then led him out of the stall and out of the barn. He walked the horse over to the pasture and opened the gate. Once they were inside, Cody leaped up onto the horse and then began to ride out towards the horizon. He knew he could get into serious trouble if he was caught doing this by the new owners, but there was a part of Cody that just didn't care anymore. He rode the horse all the way out to the end of the pasture, all the way over to the large tree that he and Logan had sat under together during the summer. When he made it to that tree, he got off the horse, tied him up to a nearby tree and then walked over to his and Logan's tree. He didn't want to sit down, because he knew he'd get wet sitting in the snow. He simply stood in front of the tree, staring down at the spot he and Logan had sat together many times before. It just seemed like forever ago now. It felt as if an eternity of time had passed since those days. It had only been six months now since he and Logan were still together nearly seven months actually. Cody pulled his pocket knife out of his back pocket and then flipped it up. He walked over to the tree and immediately began carving. He carved into the bark carelessly, making sure that anyone who saw this tree would see what he carved. He was careful with each letter, making sure it was carved deep enough into the bark that it would never cover up again. He carved into the bark deep enough that his message would never fade away ever. This would be the immortality of his and Logan's love for one another. No one would ever be able to question his love for Logan not with this carving in the tree. When he was finished a few minutes later, he closed the knife, stuck it back into his pocket, and then stood back to look at the message on the tree. Cody loves Logan. Forever. Underneath the words, Cody had carved a heart. He examined the carving and found that it was good. He stood staring at the carving for a few minutes. Finally, he decided it was time to leave before he got caught trespassing onto what was no longer Ruth Henderson's property. He walked over to the horse, untied him from the tree, and then rode off down the field back towards the barn. When he arrived at the barn, he led the horse back into the stall and then unsaddled him. He cleaned everything up as best as possible, making sure everything was back where he found it. He certainly didn't want to leave a paper trail that someone had broken and entered. Afterward, he left the barn and got back into his dad's truck. He drove back down the road to the house. He stopped the truck and then put it in park again. No one was home yet. The gravel driveway was still completely empty. Cody got out of the truck and then walked over towards the dock where the houseboat and the speedboat were. Once on the dock, he looked at the houseboat and then he glanced out at the lake. It just looked so much different now than it did during the summer. He walked over to the houseboat and tried to open the door, expecting it to be locked. He couldn't believe it. The door opened. It wasn't locked. He looked up and over at the driveway next to the house again, making sure no one had driven up yet. With that, Cody stepped into the houseboat. It was very dark inside. He knew better than to try to start the boat though. It was simply too cold for that and he knew he would already be in serious enough trouble if he was caught here in the first place. He closed the door behind him and then walked over to the nearest window. He opened the blinds slightly, just enough to let the winter day's light inside. The whole downstairs came into light immediately. Cody turned around to face the interior of the houseboat. He saw the piano where he and Logan had made out that night. He stared at the living room floor where he and Logan had swing danced together. He walked over to the backdoor and stared out onto the lower deck where he and Logan danced under the moonlight for hours, where they had shared their very first kiss. He stood still and just stared at the lower deck, wishing beyond his own soul that he could go back to that weekend he and Logan spent together on this very boat. He sighed deeply and then turned around. He walked towards the staircase. He went upstairs onto the second level and then walked down the hallway towards the master bedroom. He opened the door to the master bedroom, which was already lit up well enough because all the blinds in the bedroom were opened widely. He stared at the bed where he and Logan had first made love to one another. All of a sudden, he felt a lump grow in his throat. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold his tears back very long. He walked over and sat down on the edge of the king-sized bed. He placed his hands down on the soft material of the comforter and allowed his hands to glide across the fabric. He let himself fall onto his back on the bed. He stared at the ceiling, remembering that night in this bedroom with Logan, how he had taken the boy's innocence from him, how beautiful Logan looked that night, how many times he received that killer smile of his that would always make Cody's heart leap with excitement. After a few minutes, Cody slid off the bed and smoothed out the comforter he had just messed up by lying down on it. He took the pocket watch out of his jacket pocket and stared at it for what seemed like forever. He sat down on the floor, leaning against the bedside for support. He continued to stare at the pocket watch, paying close attention to the golden carvings on the surface. He had never really looked at it this close before. He had always just been interested on what was on the inside. Finally, he unsnapped the clasp and opened the pocket watch. Lo and behold, a tightly folded piece of paper fell out of the pocket watch and landed on Cody's lap. He picked the folded piece of paper up and unfolded it with caution. Once unfolded, he saw that it was letter. A letter from Logan. His heart quickened instantly as he started to read the words Logan had left behind for him. Dear Cody, If your reading this, then that means youve seen the pocket watch and you know that its now yours to keep. Cody I love you more than anything on this world. The day before I left the hospital I gave you a last kiss on the cheek and I told you that I love you. I hope you heard me then but if not that's ok. I want you to know that you will always be in my heart and I will always think about you and I always will love you. You saved my life that day even after how I treated you. You saved me and risked your own life to keep me from being hurt again. I have cried so much over you. I miss you so very much Cody. I left this letter in the pocket watch, which is yours from now on. And as long as you keep this pocket watch close to you, you and me will always be together. They told me at the hospital that you might not wake up from your coma. I believe you will though. I think you will wake up and you will live your life just as you always wanted to. I hope we can see each other again someday Cody. We are moving to New Orleans. I'm not supposed to tell you that but I don't care. Someday I want to dance with you again. Someday I want you kiss me again. Someday I want us to be together forever. My love for you will never fade away Cody. I will think about you every day for the rest of my life. My heart belongs to you and to you alone and no one can ever take it away from you. Love Always, Logan The tears were flowing uncontrollably once Cody finished reading the letter. He kept rereading the letter, crying harder now than he had cried in years. He picked up the pocket watch from the floor, closed it carefully, and then held it and the letter against his chest tightly, allowing his tears to take over his entire body. He sat on the floor and cried for a long time. He wasn't just crying because he lost Logan. He was crying because of what could have been and what should have been. He was crying because he hadn't allowed his full emotions to take him over like this in so long. He was crying because he didn't know what else to do at this point. He was crying because his love for Logan was stronger now than it had ever been before, and he couldn't even see Logan anymore. He laid down on the floor and cried for a while longer, letting every last tear fall, letting every last damaged emotion flow from his body. About ten minutes later, he finally gained control over himself and stood up from the floor. He straightened up the bed comforter again quickly and then looked down at the bed one more time. So many memories. So little time. Too much loss. Cody looked down at the pocket watch, which was laying in the palm of his hand along with the now refolded letter that Logan had written him. With that, he turned around and left the master bedroom. Cody stood on the dock facing the lake again, the golden pocket watch still laying in the palm of his hand and the letter from Logan folded up and lodged in his jeans pocket. He was glad that he had cried. He felt now that he would be able to go home and face his life head on again. He realized finally that it was time to let go of Logan. He moved away months ago and odds were that he had actually moved on with his life. Having this pocket watch certainly made Cody feel better though. Inside he carried a picture of the two boys in which he had always and would always love dearly, in different ways of course. The two boys in the picture were both with Cody in different ways. He had grown up with Jesse, experimenting with him and learning what love means. He fell in love with Logan this past summer after having found what love means with Jesse. He felt that having this pocket watch with him now would not only give him a means of being able to carry the two loves of his life with him forever, but it would also help him move on with his own life. He could always look at this picture and remember the good times, but also remember that no matter what comes his way, he can face it head on and end up a better person at the end of the road. Cody had learned that life is nothing more than a crazy race. Everyone is running towards the same ultimate goal, but the paths people take are unimaginably different from one another. At the end of the race though, everyone has a story to tell. And best of all, once the race ends, there's plenty of time for everyone to tell their own stories to others who have completed their own races. Jesse had completed his. Cody hoped Jesse was telling his story to everyone around him. He hoped he would someday be able to share the rest of his own story with Jesse. He felt that he would be able to eventually. As for Logan, Cody was hoping beyond his own soul that he would someday be able to face Logan again in person, just to tell him how much he loved him, even if it's the last thing he ever said to the boy. Cody placed the pocket watch into his jeans pocket, looked out at the misty lake one more time, remembering the previous summer with the love of his life. Cody allowed a melancholy grin drift across his lips. Afterward, he turned around and walked away. THE END Written by: Shiloh Creek