Sparkling Blue

Chapter 1- Sawyer

Bright flashes.

Gunshots.

Screams.

Soldiers charging.

Explosions.

Run. Keep going, don't look back, fight back.

Sawyer tossed and turned in his bed.

Another gunshot. Pain.

Marcus looked at him in a panicked frenzy when he saw the bullet hole on Sawyer's shoulder, "Shit! Sawyer we need to keep going. Those soldiers are fast approaching!"

His brother wrapped Sawyer's unharmed arm around him and began to take off again. Sawyer struggled to talk as his breathing ragged and his bleeding became heavier by the minute, "Marcus, just go! Leave me here, you need to get somewhere safe!"

"Hell no! I'm staying with you til the end. We're brothers and brothers stick together! So, where ever you go, I go. No turning back."

Sawyer began breathing heavily in his sleep.

They were almost to the safety of the trees, when all of the sudden Sawyer heard a gunshot. It didn't make sense at first. He didn't feel the pain of the new bullet so, who could have taken the shot? Then it clicked in Sawyer's head, his blood ran cold when he realized who took the bullet. There on Marcus' chest was a small puncture wound where the bullet entered his heart.  Sawyer looked at his brother slowing down to a stop with eyes wide open and a trembling mouth.

Sawyer shoots out of bed yelling, "Noooo!"

With his heart pounding, Sawyer looks around confused.The bed sheets were a mess around his ankles, his t-shirt clung to his chest with sweat and his mouth ran dry with panic. Seeing the bed sheets and wide glass windows, Sawyer realized he was in his room and that it was only a dream.

Trying to control his erratic breathing, Sawyer slouches, "Fuck."

Except, it wasn't just a dream. It was a reality he lived with everyday.  His brother, Marcus, gave up his life to save Sawyer's while enlisted overseas with him.

At the time, Sawyer and Marcus were almost to safety, but with the slow speed the two were going at, they were bound to never arrive there without being harmed.

Sawyer ran a hand through his hair as he got out of bed and went to the bathroom. He was wide awake now. Nowadays, he never gets sleep.

His mental stability seemed to be getting worse and worse, if it wasn't the nightmares about his brother being killed, it was the flashbacks he got from previous battles. If it wasn't the flashbacks, it was the fear of losing another loved one that kept clenching his heart. 

Sawyer's family seemed to be getting more and more worried about his well being. His mother suggested moving back home with her in Tennessee, but Sawyer couldn't stand to be back home quite yet. The memories were too raw, everywhere he looked when he went back home, he saw Marcus' face. He knew he had to go back some day, but he just wasn't ready to do so yet. 

Sawyer shook his head sighing as he looked at the bathroom mirror. He looked a lot like his father: dark brown hair reaching right above his eyes; dimples on his cheeks when he smiles;  the same strong jaw and cheekbones, but the difference between him and his father was the eyes. While his father had light green eyes, he got his eyes from his mother which were a golden hazel color. Sawyer was pretty tall too with a lean build, about 6'3. He also had toned arms and equally toned legs. No, he didn't have a 6-pack, but his stomach was  lean as well with a tribal tattoo that extended from his left shoulder, across his chest and upper stomach and finally down his back. Sawyer got it to hide the many scars he received from fighting for his country, but even then it doesn't cover all of them.