Halo III
Marco

By: Micah Diablo
(© 2010-2011 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Author’s Note: All Flashbacks/Past Experiences will be in italics to differentiate between the present and past.

Chapter 1

Scene A

I sighed as I walked out the front door of the psychologist's office where I had my weekly counseling. The people who, I learned not too long ago, were my parents, followed behind me.

"Coy..."

"For the last time, please stop calling me that, woman," I yelled at my mom. "Look; I know I look like the son that you put in this institution, but that boy is dead. My name is Marco."

"I still can't believe that we let this happen," My dad said as we piled into the car. "My son has changed into an entirely different person."

Mom turned and looked at me in the back seat of the car. "Coy ... Marco ... I know that you hate us..."

"I don't know you well enough TO hate you," I said to her with a sideways glance. "Look; can we just cut the family talk and head to somewhere to get some dinner? I am craving some McDonalds."

Mom looked at Dad and sighed. "Right," she said with a small smile. "McDonald's it is, then." 

Scene B - One month earlier...

Matt sat outside the waiting room as Carmen, Nick, and Anthony all sat beside him.

"His parents finally took him out of there," Matt said with a small smile. "He's been trapped in there for literally five months ... I ... I've been writing to him like every week since we left him there. At first, I would get replies from him but for the last month, I've gotten nothing. I thought he... But his mom and dad called me last night and said that he was here at this hospital, the same hospital that..."

Matt stopped and looked at Nick who was in the same clothes as he had been wearing for the past two days. "How is Ky?"

Nick smiled weakly. "Well ... no change ... Luckily, he's still breathing and alive," he said, sadly. "Just stuck in that coma."

Matt grabbed his hand and pressed it lightly. "I know how it feels not to know what the future holds for the one you love. Keep the faith, as they say ... That's all you can do, is keep faith."

Nick smiled softly and begin to tear up. Anthony rolled his eyes. It had been almost five months, but he still hadn't forgiven his brother.

"Well, perhaps Ky prefers to stay unconscious as a way to escape the backstabbing you put people through," he said to his brother. "Or do you sell your own twin out and do something so reckless as to help the guy he hates get with the guy your bro loves?"

Nick rolled his eyes and noticed Giselle walking toward them. Carmen and Matt tensed up.

"What is she doing here?" Carmen asked, shooting daggers at her former friend.

"I invited her here," Nick said with a determined look. "I know Giselle did some shady shit, but I realized that she's hurt. Matt, you broke her heart and left her for a guy. She depended on you to be the one she could love. Then I come along and pretty much do the same. I don't think she really means harm. She makes mistakes ... just like the rest of us."

"Except our mistakes have never put somebody's life in danger," Carmen said, and Giselle sighed.

"Maybe I should go," she said, looking at Nick with a disappointed look.

"Maybe you should," Anthony said with a dark look on his face. "If you would have just spoken up, Coy might not be in this situation. Fuck Ky!"

"Watch it," Nick said to his brother. "And she stays. If you don't want her here, fine. But I want her here, and you have to deal with it."

Matt was about to say something but noticed the doctor walking out with my parents. He jumped up and headed toward the three.

Anthony made a move to get up, but Carmen grabbed his arm.

"Let Matt go," she said with a firm but sweet tone. "Then we'll find out from Matt."

Anthony sighed and sat back down in his seat. He still couldn't believe that he'd lost the one person he loved to the one person he hated.

"Mr. and Mrs. James ... Can I please see him?" Matt asked and they had a disturbed look on their face. "What ... What's wrong?"

Mom looked down trying to hold her tears back. "We had no idea..."

"We just wanted to help them," Dad said remorsefully. "When Ky was stabbed, they released him to us. We asked to have Coy released as well, but we had signed a contract that said that they had utter control over Coy for at least four months. We couldn't go to the police because we would've incriminated ourselves."

"I want to see him," Matt said, starting to get worried.

"Matthew, I understand that you are his partner," the doctor said. "I am Dr. Felix Monroe. I am the chief physician on Coy's case. Apparently, he has been through some intense stuff at this institution. He had been raped repeatedly by another male and ... he has suffered a psychotic breakdown. It seems that … in order to gain strength and block out his pain … he somehow created a completely different personality … by the name of Marco..."

"Wha...What?" Matt asked confused. "Let me see him..."

"Matthew, I don't know if that's such a good idea," Dad said, but Matt pushed past him and into the room I was in.

"Coy," Matt said as he saw me lying on the bed with my arm's folded across my chest, and with a frown on my face.

"Are you the hospital staff bringing me my French fries?" I asked, looking at him with an annoyed look. "I asked for those fucking fries an hour ago."

"Coy ... it's me ... Matt," he said with a confused look. "You ... don't know me?"

"Should I?" I asked him, with a sideways glance.

"I'm your boyfriend," he said, walking toward the bed.

I laughed hard at that. "Boyfriend? You? Look, I really am not into the whole beefy, muscular, steroid look," I said with a laugh. "Of course I know who you are. You're Coy's boyfriend."

"But aren't you..."

"Coy? No, sorry to disappoint you; I am not," I said sticking my hand out. "Marco. Nice to meet you."

Matt shook my hand awkwardly. "I don't understand," he said, confused.

"Neither do I," I said with a sigh. "Apparently, I am not who I think I am. My name is Marco but they're telling me I am Coy."

"Marco ... From the story," Matt said to him. "Oh my god! You're the same person from the story?"

"What story?" I asked him with a confused look. "Look, all I know is that I have these dreams of me hanging with people I don't think I know and doing things with you. But this is my first time meeting you."

"What kind of dreams?" Matt asked sitting on my bed. "Like ... sex dreams?"

"Well, those too," I said with a small laugh. "You can fuck like crazy."

Matt looked at me with a sad look. "You're right. You aren't Coy," he said to me sadly. "He doesn't cuss like that."

"You're right," I said to him. "I'm not. But I feel the emotions he feels. It's like I'm sharing my body with somebody else. I remember things he experienced. I remember pains he felt. But they aren't mine. Dude, Coy seems weak as hell. Highly sensitive and emotional. Too emotional for my tastes."

Matt looked at me. The boy sitting in front of him looked like the boy he loved, talked like the boy he loved, but wasn't the boy he loved.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Make it quick," I said to him. "I started watching this show called Hannah Montana. I kinda like it."

"Coy didn't," Matt said softly. "You said you can feel the emotions he feels? Does that mean you can feel if he still loves me?"

I looked at him with a evil look on my face. "No, he doesn't," I said to him. "You were supposed to rescue him ... us … from that hell. You were supposed to save him, and yet you chickened out."

"They had guns to our heads," Matt said angrily. "How the hell was I supposed to take on armed guards?"

"Coy saw you through the window of his room," I said with a sigh. "He had just gotten raped by his worst nightmare. Yet ... he didn't see Armed guards. He saw your retreating back heading toward your car. He gave up on you. He stopped loving you. I don't love you."

Matt looked crushed and I smiled, reveling in his pain that he was feeling.

"But that doesn't mean I can't learn to love you," I said reaching over and grabbing his arm and pulling him toward me. "What do you say we recreate my dreams and make them a reality. I want to feel how Coy felt. All of the pleasure you gave him."

I leaned in and kissed Matt with pure lust. Matt was kissing me back with love.

'This isn't right,' Matt thought to himself. Kisses that were once full of passion and softness that matched the love in his heart were now purely sex driven.

He pulled away and got up and headed toward the door.

"Oh, come on, baby don't leave," I said to him with a smile. "You don't kiss me like that and leave me like this?"

Matt turned and looked sadly at me. "You're not Coy," he said with a sigh.

"You're right," I said with a naughty smile. "I'm better."

Matt walked out into the hallway and headed down toward the group.

"How is he?" Carmen asked as she shot up from her chair. Matt looked down.

"He's dead," he said simply. "That boy in there is not Coy. Our Coy is dead."

Anthony noticed Matt buckling and for some reason reached out and grabbed him. Matt sobbed into his shoulder. It was true, they both shared an intense hatred for one another. But one thing they held in common was the love they felt for one boy. Anthony didn't know what happened in that room, but from the reaction of Matt sobbing ... he knew that nothing good would soon be coming from this situation.

Scene C - Present Day

Ky opened his eyes softly and blinked a few times as he saw me sitting across from his bed.

"Coy?" he asked with surprise. He shot up in bed but winced in pain and laid back down. "Coy ... I knew you couldn't be dead ... Even in my dreams, I could sense you were still here."

"No, he's not here," I said. "Coy is dead."

Ky looked at me with a fierce look. It was almost as if he were looking deep into my soul.

"What am I thinking?" he asked me, after being quiet for so long.

I shrugged. "How the hell am I supposed to know what you're thinking?" I asked him with an annoyed sigh. "What are we supposed to be? Twins? Oh ... I knew that."

Ky eased his way up into a sitting position on his bed. "Coy would be able to guess what I was thinking," he said, as he finally got it, that the boy in front of him wasn't the brother he knew. "What's your name?"

"Marco," I said to him. "This is weird. We are twins and yet the only way I know you is via somebody else's memories."

"Coy is still in there ... somewhere?" He asked curiously.

"I don't know," I said to him, "I just know all the memories that I have of me ... well … Coy … are ... painful ... regretful."

"Some of which are directed toward me?" Ky asked, looking away.

"Yep, you're an ass from what I see," I said standing up. "Screwing us over like that for your own mental issues is fucked up, bruh. But, hey, gotta say Coy and me are different. Tell you the truth, I think you and I are very much alike, Ky. We like pain and discord, don't we?"

"I am not like that," Ky said softly. "Not anymore. I learned my lesson. Almost ying does that to you."

I stood up. "I had to put a face with a bad memory," I said. "Gotta say, Coy and I are the better looking twins. Hospital looks really don't do you much justice."

"Thanks, asshole," Ky said as he watched me walk out the door.

"Hey weird white boy," I said to Nick as he sat with my parents in the lobby area. "Ky's awake."

"For real?" Nick asked me.

"Nah, for fake," I said sarcastically. "God, white people are so weird. I'm going outside for a walk. Hit me up on the cell when it's time to go."

Mom, Dad, and Nick all rushed toward Ky's room, and I headed toward the elevator. 

Scene D  

Carmen ran on the treadmill as she watched her afternoon soap operas.

"God, I am so sick of this Kendall & Ryan on again, off again thing," she said, turning from All My Children to Cartoon Network. "OOH! Chowder."

A knock at her door surprised her. She leapt off the treadmill and headed toward the door.

"You got it, honey?" her mom asked from upstairs.

"Yeah," Carmen yelled back.

"If it's Jehovah's Witness tell them to stop coming; we aren't trying to convert to another religion," her mom said. "Not that we have a religion anyway."

Carmen rolled her eyes and opened the door to see a face she hadn't seen in what felt like forever. "Josh?"

"Hey, CG," he said with a smile. "Do I get a hug?"

"Oh, you get more than a hug," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "Oh! You're back?"

"Yeah," Josh said as he followed her inside. "I'm back."

"So what happened to you?" she asked as they took a seat on the couch. "We tried to find you at the hospital after we heard about what happened to you, and they said you were no longer there. Tried to see your father but..."

"Yeah, he doesn't know what happened, either," Josh said with a dark look. "Anyway, I was sent to the hospital, and I got there and they did surgery on me. But they also discovered a lot of drugs in my system so they decided to send me to a rehab center in Phoenix."

"Wow," Carmen said in awe. "Really?"

"Yep," Josh said with a smile. "They helped me out so much there, CG. I realized that I was using the drugs to block out the pain that my father caused and losing my mother. Once I dealt with that, I realized that I didn't need the drugs anymore."

"I'm proud of you, Joshie," she said, giving him a hug. "So good to see you, especially with every thing that's going on around here."

"Like what?" he asked curiously. "Trouble with Coy and Matt? As usual, haha. Or is he with Anthony now? Such a crazy love triangle those three are."

"Coy is ... well … Coy has changed," Carmen said, not sure how to go about it. "How much time you got?"

"Well, I want to go see Anthony and Nick, but I can do that later," Josh replied. "I want to spend some time with my favorite girl for now. Maybe talk about possibly starting over. Because I'm on the path of a new beginning."

Carmen smiled softly at him. She had spent the last five months of her life trying to focus on school and not realize how lonely she felt without her best friend and the guy she'd grown to love.

"I'd like that," she said blushing slightly. "Here, watch some television. I'm gonna take a quick shower and change."

"Okay," he said with a smile.

Josh watched as she ran upstairs. He had not been completely honest with her. Truth was, the whole time he was in rehab. He still found ways to get drugs and also passed a drug test. He wasn't stupid. But he realized that he was wanting his old life back, and that included the drugs. The first step was ... getting Carmen back. 

Scene E  

I walked around a park near a hospital enjoying the sights and scenery. I didn't even realize somebody had crept up on me.

"Yo, give me all your money, dog," a voice said, surprising me. I turned and faced the masked robber.

"You're kidding right?" I asked him with a scoff.

"Does it look like I'm kidding?" the robber asked me.

"Do you seriously think I am going to give you my money?" I asked him. "Although, I will give you a few dollars for a breath mint, 'cause your breath is hot, my dude."

"You got a lot of mouth for a guy with a gun pointed at him," he said, growing impatient. "Most people would be scared. Maybe when I pull this trigger, you'll be scared."

"I'm not most people," I said, kicking the dude in the balls. I head-butted him and elbowed him in the face. "I don't scare easily. Try again next year, little boy."

I walked off leaving the dazed robber lying on the grass.

"HEY!" A voice yelled out from behind me.

"Oh, come on," I said, stopping. "Did I not just whoop your ass?" I turned to see a guy walking toward me.

"Nah, man, but I saw you beat the hell out of that guy," he said to me with a laugh. "I'm over there washing my Lamborghini, and next I know, I look up and see some skinny black dude beating the shit out of some guy. From the looks of it, a hot, skinny black dude."

"Are you hitting on me?" I asked with an amused look.

"Depends," the guy said to me. "Are ya interested?"

"In a guy trying to pick me up in a park?" I asked with a laugh. "Should I be?"

"You look like you might be the wild-and-trouble-seeking type," he said to me. "If I'm right, then you should be interested."

"How much trouble we talking here ... still don't know your name," I said, folding my arms.

"Nate Soto," he replied with a mischievous grin. "And I think I got enough trouble in mind that will blow your mind."

"I'm Marco … but most people call me Coy and … trust me," I said to him; "play your cards right, and I just might blow more than your mind."

Nate flashed me a smile.

"Lead the way," I said interested in seeing where this night would go from here. 

To be continued...

Okay, I did a brief introduction to the Marco installment of Halo. This introduces Marco, Coy's alter ego, and as you can see, he differs greatly from Coy. Of course, I can't kill off Josh and Ky. Josh still is using ... sadly. Ky is awake from a coma he's been in for five months. Anthony is still harboring resentment to his brother, Nick, while Matt is trying to figure out where to go from here after discovering that Coy isn't exactly Coy. Giselle seems to be hoping to get back into her inner circle.

In Episode Two, Coy tries to make his move on Matt again and is further denied, but when Matt discovers Nate is taking a genuine interest in Coy, he begins to entertain the thought of dating the new Coy. Meanwhile, Coy and Ky clash when they both have ideas concerning the future of the Rainbow Soldiers. Josh tries out for Lacrosse but things are different when he discovers Anthony is now the coach. Ky begins to grow jealous of Nick's rekindled friendship with Giselle. Darek makes a reappearance at the start of the new college year.