When You Can't Sleep At Night(A Jeff The Killer Short)

Snow....cold....white...

Everything is white; the ground below and the tops of buildings covered. Most days these old rags don't keep me warm, but what else do I have? ...that is a good question.

The bench I was sitting on was old, but familiar. I've been here, but I don't know where...'here' is exactly. I double over and wrap my arms around myself in an attempt to stay warm against the brisk winter wind.

Something whispered my name in a nonverbal manner. It was like a beckoning without sound, more like an instinct. Perhaps it was the strange familiarity this place possessed. I looked up across the path way to see a cemetery. I want to go there.

I stand and shuffle my feet against the snow, the white blanket covering my old beat up boots. The wind blew against me, sending breath-taking cold air through the rips and tears of my pants.

When I reached the cemetery's entrance, I looked up at the old iron sign, now I know why this place was familiar. I haven't been here in years, I was thirteen the last time; I am now 22...I think. I don't remember my birthday, so I just try to keep up with the years that pass.

I didn't want to go in but...I had to. So I did. I entered the old cemetery and kept walking until I came upon a small plot. It had been a long time, but the this place was burned into my mind forever.

I stopped when I saw the grave stones. My parents' grave stones were...gone. It was like they were never there. But one gravestone was still there, but with a chip out of the side. It read:

Liu Woods
Loving son and brother.
1990-2006

As I read it, memories flooded through my head, memories I haven't thought of in a really long time. I thought of when we were kids and we went to the zoo together. Dad had me on his shoulders an Liu was holding Mom's hand. The sun was bright and we all had a smile on our faces. Another came up right after that, it was of my tenth birthday. Me and Liu were horse playing in the house and accidentally knocked over Dad's new T.V and busted it. Our parents were so mad at us. I smiled at this, and something happened for the first time in 8 years. I cried.

Hot, thick crocodile tears poured down my face in rivers. Eight years of sadness, of anger, poured out and brought me to my knees with its power. I brought my hands up to my eyes and tried my best to stop the tears but they kept coming. The wetness of my face and now clothes made me all the more colder but my body didn't care, it was coming.

I felt my face with my hand, feeling the rough, leathery texture of it. I, then, traced a finger along the scar of my split cheeks. They never healed properly, so some of my mouth is too wide to be normal. I did this to myself. I am beautiful. But this did not stop the tears. I hadn't made a sound until I forced out in a very dry, rough voice: "I'm so sorry, Liu."

Everything came out then, all I could say, however was 'I'm sorry' over, and over, and over,...and over. "I'm so sorry I did this to you, brother. You were the only person that meant anything. I didn't mean to do it, I-I-I was out of control...but I'm better now...I can..I can control it. But, that doesn't bring you back to me, does it?" My voice faded on the last word, the tears finally slowing.

I felt tired suddenly, but sleep was nearly impossible for me nowadays. It takes a while for your brain to shut down when your eyes are constantly open. I laid down anyways on the snow atop his grave. It was cold but I will soon feel numb to it. I thought of Liu and how life would be if things were different..if I were different. Despite my previous sleeping problems, I threw my arm over my eyes and was soon asleep.

-

Sunlight, I love the sun. It feels so warm and it makes everything look nice. I looked out over the green field, it must be the beginning of Summer.

I looked down at myself. I was wearing an old pair of blue jeans and white t-shirt. It was normal, like what I used to where.

"Jeff!" I heard a deep voice shout out. The voice sounded familiar, but as if a grown up version of a voice I once heard. I turned to see a boy with dark brown hair and green eyes run up to me. "Hey, bro." He said once he got up to me.

"Uh, hi." My voice came out...normal, not rough or husky.

"What's the matter? Don't you know who I am?" The boy sounded hurt.

"Uh, I. uh." I was panicking. why couldn't I remember his name?!

"Ah, it's okay. Ever since your accident its effected your brain, but just to remind you; I'm Liu, I'm your brother." Liu smiled.

My....accident? Why couldn't I remember...? Oh, yeah! I was...burned. My first reaction was to touch my face, and...it was smooth and soft. "What happened to my skin?! Why doesn't it feel like leather?!"

"Dude, remember, after a few years of you taking your meds like you were supposed to, your body was healthy enough to undergo major surgery that 'fixed' you. Remember?" He smiled again, but something flashed in his eyes.

I grabbed my head. "Uh. Yeah. Um, what about Mom and Dad?" I asked.

His face twisted and his eyes glared at me. "They died Jeff."

"H-How?"

"You killed them."

I sucked in my breath.

"And you killed me, too." Liu's face contorted into complete hate and disgust for me. He reached behind his back and pulled out a knife.

I tried to move but I couldn't, I was stuck. "Liu!"

"I'm going to kill you the way you killed me you son-of-a-BITCH!" Liu ran at me with the knife and plunged it into my stomach, stabbing and ripping into my organs over and over..and over...and over...and over and eventually started to chant. "Get up, kid! Get up!"

-

"Get up, kid! Get up!" An fragile, old man was kicking me in the stomach trying to wake me up. He must have been the graveyard attendant. Oh well, he disturbed the wrong person.

I sprung up quick as lightening, pulling my knife from my hoodie's front pocket and slammed in right into the old man's heart. He fell off my knife. Dead. I wiped his blood off on my sleeve and put the knife back into my pocket. God, that felt good.

I turned around and looked at Liu's Grave. "See you around, brother." And walked off and out of the cemetery.