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...

Chapter 8

Scene A

Do you have the fear of dying and not accomplishing all you know you're meant to accomplish?

"Hold on, didn't we just bring in a guy who looked like him?" an EMS worker asked as they wheeled my body into the hospital.

I'm having the fear now.

"N-No, they're twins," Matt stammered as he rushed in, behind the EMS workers.

My name is Coy James. I'm sixteen years old, and for the longest time, I felt like I'd died because my mind had split into two personalities causing a much more dangerous and deadly guy named 'Marco' to appear, and he had been in control of my body for almost six months of my life.

"How are you acquainted with the victim?" an EMS worker asked Matt.

Marco was so much stronger than I am, or so I believed. I felt weak, and I allowed him to take control of my mind, body, and spirit and let him run the show.

"He's my... He's my boyfriend," Matt said looking down at my body.

He destroyed my life. He destroyed my relationship with Matt. He caused drama with my friends. He hurt people.

"How did this happen?" The EMS worker asked Matt.

Right now, I was in control. But I could feel him wanting to burst through for his own freedom. One way or another, one of us was going to be a hundred percent in control.

"Fucking stalker who raped him attacked us, and Coy took the bullet for me," Matt said, as he realized he was crying.

I could feel my control waning but not because of Marco.

"Matt ... I think I'm dying," I whispered softly as I grabbed his hand.

My name is Coy James. I'm afraid of dying and not accomplishing all that I was meant to do. But most of all…

I was afraid of dying….

Scene B 

Carmen sat in front of the Pagan residence. She didn't know why she was there; she didn't mean to come there, but she just found her way there.

"Josh," she said softly to herself.

Her cell rang, starling her slightly. She reached down and saw it was a call from Giselle. She hit ignore because she knew that Giselle would talk her out of talking to him.

"Here goes nothing," she said with a sigh, as she got out of the car and walked toward the door. Nervously, she knocked on the front door and got no response. "Josh?"

She tried the knob and discovered it was unlocked, and she pushed it open to see the house was in a mess.

"Wow, they really need to hire a maid," she muttered to herself as she made her way through.

Josh sat in the middle of the living room with a look that Carmen knew he was strung out on something.

"Josh..." she said softly, not sure of what to say or do.

Josh looked at Carmen, confused, as if he didn't know who she was. He grunted something at her.

"What did you say?" Carmen asked, walking closer.

"Hey," he said as she kneeled in front of him.

"Hey," she said back, sad that he was all alone and strung out. "Where are Anthony and Nick and their father?"

"Anthony and John are at the hospital," he said in a raspy voice. "Ky and Nick had a terrible accident."

"What?" Carmen asked in horror. "Wha… Oh!"

She looked down at her cell and saw urgent texts from Giselle. She read them.

"Oh, my God! Darek is in the hospital as well," she said, getting up. "I gotta go."

"No, please don't leave me alone," Josh pleaded as he grabbed her leg desperately.

"Josh, our friends are in the hospital," she said to him. "I HAVE to go."

"I don't know what I'll do if you leave me alone, too," Josh said, still hugging tightly on her legs. "I think I might kill myself."

Carmen laughed nervously as she was unsure if he was being serious or not. "That's not funny; don't joke like that," she scolded.

He looked her in the eye. She could sense something wasn't right.

"Josh?" she asked nervously.

Josh started laughing maniacally and got up and headed to the bedroom where the scene from an hour ago where had raped me had unfolded. Carmen followed him and placed her hand on his shoulders.

"He wanted to leave me ... for Nate and I wanted to make him love me again," he said in a soft voice. "He loved all the things I would do to him..." His voice trailed off.

Carmen looked in the room and saw blood on the sheets. Torn clothing fabrics and blood drops on the floor.

"Oh, no, Josh ... you didn't," she said covering her mouth and taking a step back.

"I wanted him to love me," he said to her. "He's the only person who understands how I feel. You didn't. You left me and moved on without me. Marco was all I had. He wanted to leave me, too. Now I have nobody."

"Josh, I haven't gone anywhere," Carmen said sadly. "I'm here. I didn't realize that you were this torn up about everything. With your father and all."

"It sucks," he said punching the door, startling her. "Now that my mom isn't around anymore, he was all I had, but he hurt me. Maybe he was right. Maybe I am NOT worthy to be loved."

"Josh, yes you are," Carmen said. "We love you. We want what's the best for you."

"You love me?" Josh asked looking her in the eye. Carmen nodded. "Prove it to me then. I need to feel the truth in your body. Prove it to me, Carmen."

Josh made a move to try to kiss her but she pushed him away.

"Josh, I love you," she said to him, shocked. "But not like that. Not anymore."

"But you ... I thought..."

"You thought wrong," she said, annoyed. "We're finished with that part of our lives. We're just friends, and as your friend, I wanna help you."

"I don't need a fucking friend," he said, grabbing her and shaking her. "I need Marco."

"Josh, you're hurting me," she said, fearful of what he might do.

Josh stopped shaking her and released her. He had a blank look on his face.

"Go," he said to her.

She looked at him. She was afraid to be there, but was more afraid to leave him alone by himself.

"Josh..."

"Just go," he said, walking into the room and closing the door behind him.

Carmen made a move to open it, but it was locked. She banged on the door.

"Josh, open the door," she yelled out.

"No, I didn't mean to hurt you," he said to her. "I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you."

"It's okay," she said to him. "I'm not mad."

"Just please leave," he said as he sat on the other side of the door.

Carmen could hear him crying, and she realized that she, herself, was crying. She realized she'd lied to Josh and to herself. She was still in love with him. No matter what had happened, no matter what words were said, she still loved him. He needed her. He needed somebody to stand by him.

"I'm not leaving," Carmen said as she sat on the floor and pressed her ear to the door. "I'm not leaving you, Josh. I'm gonna stay right here till you open the door."

Even though she could never forgive Josh for the hell he put her through, and date him again, her heart would always love him, and she was going to help him with his demons.

Somehow....... 

Scene C 

I opened my eyes to see that I was no longer in the hospital room. I was in a pure white place. All white was around me.

"No ... No," I said as I looked around and all I could see was white. "No! I can't be dead."

"You're not," a voice said from behind me.

I wheeled around to see Marco walking toward me, a black light around him.

"Where are we?" I asked him.

He laughed at me and stood right in my face.

"We're inside your head, Coy," he said to me. "You're unconscious."

"Why aren't you in control? Why didn't you use that as a chance to escape?" I asked him curiously. Something didn't feel right.

"Because what is wrong with you is not mental, it's physical," he explained simply. "If you die physically, I die as well."

"Oh," I said simply.

Something seriously felt wrong. I just got this vibe in my heart and chest that something dreadful was about to happen.

"You know something, Coy?" he asked, circling around me. "You really should've just stayed in the bathroom."

I circled around as he walked around me. He eyed me like a lion eyeing its prey.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Because if you would've stayed there, you wouldn't be here ... trapped with me," he said with a smile that was seriously giving me the creeps.

How could a guy—who virtually was me—scare me so much?

"Tony was a danger, and he was hurting Matt," I said to him. "I couldn't allow him to kill him."

"Well, I'm going to have to kill you," Marco said to me.

I took a step back.

"I don't want to fight you," I said to him nervously.

He was so much stronger than I was, and I didn't think I had the energy or fight in me, to fight him.

"One way or another…if you survive this shooting, only one of us will leave here," he said as he headbutted me hard.

I fell back on the … the ground … the floor … the cloud … the gray-matter … the … WHATEVER, wherever we were … and I could feel him kicking me hard in my side.

This night was far from over. 

Scene D 

"I can't believe this," Giselle said as she paced around the waiting room of the hospital. "Coy, Ky, Nick, Darek, and Nate all in the hospital on the same day? Four of them are in life-and-death situations. My God! Who's next?"

Matt sighed loudly. "Giselle, will you sit down and shut up," he asked, annoyed. "Nobody's going to die."

"How do you know that?" she asked him. "Your boyfriend was shot, and so was mine. They found Darek unconscious in a park. Apparently, somebody tried to mug him. And Tony is back..."

"Tony is dead," Matt corrected. "I took care of it, and he's dead."

John Pagan sighed loudly. "Well, I blame that nigger he was with?"

"Dad!" Anthony said, shocked at his father's outburst.

"I'm serious," John said. "Nothing but trouble comes along with fucking niggers and fucking illegal spicks and fucking wetback Puerto Ricans."

"HEY!" Giselle flared up, getting offended.

"Not you honey, you're very beautiful," he said to her. "Very, very beautiful."

Giselle smiled at him and went back to pacing around the floor.

"It's bad enough that he is a fag…" John continued but Matt jumped up.

"Look, Mr. Pagan, no disrespect," he said angrily. "But yo, dude, you need to shut the fuck up."

"Who are you talking to like that?" John asked suddenly standing up.

Anthony growled annoyed and stood up behind his dad.

"Dad, just sit down," he said, trying to grab his father, but John pushed him back in the chair.

"Look, this is a fucking hospital," Matt said to him. "People I care about are in there fighting for their lives. People I hate are fighting for their lives, but they don't deserve to be in this situation, and they don't deserve this shit that you're saying. My boyfriend is black and his brother is black and none of us are fags. Ky cares a great deal for your son. It's no wonder they moved out four months ago because you're an ignorant bigot."

John seethed with an anger. "I'm sure Ky probably somehow convinced Nick to choose..."

"Dad, Nick didn't choose to be gay," Anthony said, jumping up. "And neither did I."

Matt and Giselle glanced at each other and back at the father and son.

"Wha... What are you talking about, Anthony?" John asked his son.

Anthony folded his arms. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Dad. I know you don't have a major issue with gays, but when it's your own kids ... it's hard for you to understand. But congratulations—you have two faggots." 

John looked at Anthony unsure of what to say. He was shocked that his other son admitted that he was gay as well. This was not what he wanted to hear, and was not what he was hoping to accomplish. He wanted his sons to become rich—just like he was—and marry a gorgeous woman and have gorgeous kids.

"Congratulations, again," Anthony continued. "Both of your white sons have things for a set of black twins. Whew! I'm glad that is out in the open."

Matt, John, and Giselle looked at Anthony with a speechless look on their face.

"I can't deal with this now," John said, shaking his head. "I'll be in the cafeteria. Giselle, find me if there is something different about Nick."

He walked off leaving a very annoyed Anthony, sitting there, frowning.

"Miss Santos," a doctor said, walking up behind Giselle.

"Yes, Doctor?" she asked him hopefully. "How is he?"

"I was just speaking with his parents..."

"His parents? They're here?" she asked him, confused.

"Yes, the Bouzakis' are over talking with the other doctor," he said. "I'm Dr. Whitman, and I'm handling Coy and Darek's case. There is really nothing I can tell you except that Darek is stable, but still unconscious, but we were able to stop the bleeding and make sure that everything is fine there."

"Oh, thank God," Giselle said with a joyful sob.

"Would you like to talk to his parents?" Dr. Whitman asked her.

Giselle looked past him and at Darek's family before shaking her head. "Um, maybe later."

"You said you are handling Coy's case?" Matt asked, hopeful for the same good news as Giselle.

Dr. Whitman's face had a serious look on it. "Um ... are you a part of his family?"

"His parents are away on vacation," Matt explained. "I've tried to contact them. I'm his boyfriend, though."

Although nothing was certain, he refused to let go of his love this time around, and he kicked himself for letting go.

"Well, maybe we should talk in private," Dr. Whitman said, guiding Matt over to the side.

"We need to hear something about Nick," Anthony said, annoyed. "Everybody is hearing something except me. This can't be good."

"You can't think like that," Giselle said to him. "Like Matt said, nobody's going to die. Look, Darek isn't out of the woods quite yet. Anything can happen, but I am gonna think positively because negative thoughts bring negative things."

Anthony looked down at his feet and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said to her. "Wow; first time I actually said that to you."

"I don't get it very often, either," She said with a small laugh. "Look, I know we kinda have this love-hate relationship, but you know I'm here with you, holding your hand because I love to hate you, and I hate to love you, but you're my friend."

Anthony looked up and smiled at her and grabbed her hand. "Likewise," he said to her. "Likewise."

"We should go see Nate and see how he is doing," Giselle offered to him. "I don't know where Carmen is. I've been trying her cell for the longest."

"I don't even like Nate," Anthony said.

Giselle grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "It beats sitting here like basket cases worrying about everybody else. Besides, it's times like these that show you all that petty bullshit is just that ... PETTY BULLSHIT!"

Anthony sighed and allowed himself to be pulled along by Giselle to Nate's room. 

Scene E 

Matt stood with the doctor and looked at him expectantly. "So how is he?"

"Well, Coy is a … a … special case," Dr. Whitman said, unsure of how, exactly, to say it.

"Special case? He's a gun shot victim," Matt said with a nervous chuckle. "Nothing special about that."

"Well, they are working on trying to stop the bleeding and everything along with that," Dr. Whitman continued. "But there's a lot of activity inside of Coy's brain. We are noticing it on the scanners and we're unsure what that means. His blood pressure is through the roof, and while they were doing surgery on him, he begin experiencing a nose bleed."

"What are you saying?" Matt asked, as a growing feeling in his stomach begin to make him feel light-headed.

He took a seat in a chair and Dr. Whitman took a seat beside him.

"I'm not quite sure what I am saying," Dr. Whitman said honestly. "True, gun shot victims are nothing special; I see them on a daily basis, but there is something going on inside of Coy's head. Something psychological."

"Marco," Matt whispered to himself. 

Scene F

I was curled up into the fetal position trying to shield my body from the painful blows Marco was ensuing into me.

"Oh, kicking your ass is gonna be so much fun," he yelled as he kicked me in the stomach.

I cried out in pain and was waiting for the next blow to come, but nothing happened. After a few moments of lying there, I opened my eyes to see Marco was nowhere around. In fact, it was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. For all I knew, he could be waiting to attack me from the darkness.

"Coy!" a voice called out from behind me.

I wheeled around because I knew that voice. I knew that voice very well.

"Coy!" Ky's voice came from the darkness. Suddenly, the darkness became light and I could see a familiar scene. A memory of something that had happened in my past. A memory of something I didn't want to remember.

"Our tenth birthday," I said to myself.

I saw ten-year-old Ky running over to me and hitting me in the head. I touched the same spot on my head that ten-year-old me rubbed, and I flashed Ky a painful look.

"Ow!" ten-year-old me said. "What did you do that for?"

"You weren't paying attention, and you allowed Carmen's team to get that point," ten-year-old Ky said, annoyed. "Stop dreaming of the cake. We'll get some soon enough. You gotta pay attention. For us to be twins, you really suck at sports."

He was right; I hadn't been paying attention. This was the very moment that I think I realized I was gay, although I didn't know what it was called at that time. It was when I realized I liked Josh more than a best friend, or even more than a brother.

Ten-year-old me rolled his eyes at Ky and went to the base to prepare to kick the ball.

I remembered the very words that I'd said as I stood at base, awaiting the oncoming ball to be rolled to me.

"I can do this," ten-year-old me said as he stretched and readied to kick it. He glanced over and saw Josh talking to some pretty girl that he knew from school and that I knew he liked.

I saw that angry look on my younger self's face and I knew what was about to happen.

"Coy don't!" I yelled out to myself, but I knew he couldn't hear me. I knew what Marco was trying to do to me. He was going to weaken me even more by throwing every painful memory I had at me, and then inevitably destroy me.

Ten-year-old Coy kicked the ball hard but he kicked it directly at the girl Josh was talking to. The girl cried out in pain and started crying hard, and all the parents and everybody rushed over to her aid to see what was wrong.

"UGH! COY!" Ky yelled, annoyed as he rushed over to her.

My ten-year-old self started laughing loudly at that, and Josh noticed it, and that made him angry because he realized I did it on purpose.

He rushed over and tackled me hard and began beating the shit out of me.

"Our first fight," I said, as I watched myself being beaten up. Nobody had noticed at the moment.

It was in that very moment, not only did I realize I was gay, but I realized I felt weaker than my brother ... weaker than my friends.

I closed my eyes as I remembered that painful memory, but then I began feeling pain almost as if it were me, myself, being hit.

Opening my eyes, Marco kicked me back onto the ground. Looking past him I could see that finally somebody noticed the fight going on and rushed to pull Josh off of me as the scene disappeared entirely.

"Wow, so you were a pussy even back then," Marco said with a laugh. "It's a shame that you are so pathetic. You really give Ky and me a bad name by looking like us."

I stood up nervously as I awaited his assault. He was right. I was pathetic. I was afraid to fight back because I really hated conflict. I've only initiated one fight, and that was with Josh when he had first come to school in Atlantic city. I really didn't want to fight him, but I thought maybe if I did fight him, I wouldn't feel as pathetic. But after the fight, I realized I still felt second rate.

"Do your worse," I said to him. "I don't care anymore."

I couldn't fight Josh then. I couldn't fight anybody. Especially Marco, he was too strong for me. I would just let him fight me and let him win.

"Trust me, I AM going to do my worse," Marco said with a sly grin. "Times ten."

He kicked me backwards, and I fell to the ground and closed my eyes as I could feel the tears were falling down my face.

Back in the real world, outside of my mind, I could feel something was wrong with me. I was dying. Because here, I felt weaker than normal. I could barely move and I realized that every passing second was one second closer to me dying.

"Let's see what else I can find in your memories," Marco said, and the darkness ensued around us again before he disappeared.

I lay there awaiting the next memory to attack me and hurt me. 

Scene G 

"Josh, you still there?" Carmen asked, knocking on the door.

They had been making small talk for about twenty, minutes and Josh got quiet for a few moments.

"Yeah ... Yeah, I'm here," he said softly as he rested his head against the door. "Why are you still here, though?"

"Because you need me," she said with a small sigh. "I'm not leaving here till you get out of there, and come give me a hug. Are you ready to come out?"

"No," Josh said simply.

Carmen nodded to herself and cleared her throat. "Well, that's fine. We can sit here and continue talking. It's kind of cool doing it this way. I don't have to worry about losing my appetite looking at your ugly face."

She could hear Josh laughing softly at that and she smiled. At least she'd made him laugh.

"I heard somebody laugh," Carmen said with a laugh of her own.

"Yeah, because we both know that I am not ugly," Josh said back to her.

Carmen smiled at the thought of Josh's face, the Josh she fell in love with before his downward spiral. He was always so handsome to her. Even now, with the drugs, he still had that handsome look.

"What are you thinking about?" Josh asked her.

"Nothing," she said, not wanting to discuss it.

"Carmen, I know when you're thinking about something," he said to her. "I can still feel our connection."

"Me, too," she said to him. "I just try to ignore it."

"Me, too," Josh agreed. "It's better this way … that we aren't together."

Carmen looked up with a sigh as she was trying to block out the thoughts of her love for Josh, but she couldn't. "Why is it better this way?"

"Because at least now you're with a boyfriend who loves and cares for you the way you should be loved and cared for," Josh said.

"Ex-boyfriend," Carmen corrected. "In case you don't remember, he was sleeping with my best friend who happens to be your boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend," Josh corrected her.

They both laughed at that for a few moments.

"I miss that laugh," she said to him after they got quiet for a moment. "Ya know you sound like a wounded seal, right?"

"Funny," Josh said with a smile. "Real funny. Ya know what I miss?"

"What's that?"

"This," Josh said to her. "This right here. This feeling of calmness. When I came in here, I needed to get the drugs, but for right now, I don't want them. I just want to talk."

"Live for the right now," she said to him. "You gonna open the door?"

"Not yet," he said to her. "Okay?"

"It's okay," she replied. "We can just sit here and talk." 

Scene H 

Giselle cleared her throat, trying to make some type of noise as she and Anthony sat in Nate's room. The tension was thick as she could see the two eyeing each other like they wanted to fight.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," she said, throwing her hands up. "This is fucking gay as hell. No offense to gay people. Except you, Anthony."

"I'm bi," Anthony said not taking his eyes off of Nate.

It had been like this for a while with the two staring each other down.

"Whatever," Giselle said, getting up and standing between the two. "You know I hate you both." She began to start crying as she took a seat beside Nate's bed.

"Why?" Nate asked her, finally breaking the gaze with Anthony.

"Because I came here hoping to take my mind off everything that's going on," she said to him. "But I can't help but think that Coy, Darek, Ky, and Nick are all here in the hospital fighting for their lives."

"What happened to them?" Nate asked, concerned.

Anthony sighed. "Well, somehow these stalkers that had it in with Coy, and Ky shot Coy earlier this evening, and they—the stalkers— ran Ky's car off the road with Nick in the passenger seat, and they went over the railing into the embankment. Darek was shot earlier in the park, we're thinking, because of some robbery."

"Yet you two are being childish and stupid," Giselle said to the both of them. "Grow up and realize we should be praying and thinking positively, not hating each other."

Anthony looked at Nate who looked at him with the same ashamed expression. Both nodded in a silent agreement, they would at least try to squash their rivalry for Giselle's sake.

"So ... What happened to you?" Anthony asked Nate.

"Josh happened," Nate replied with an annoyed look.

"Josh?" Giselle and Anthony echoed with a confused look.

Nate nodded. "Yep, the bastard saw Coy and me together, and shoved me off the steps and I hit my head on the pavement."

"Ouch,' Anthony said to him. "Josh is seriously messed up on those damn drugs."

"But why would he..." Giselle began, but stopped for a moment.

"Giselle?" Anthony asked her, noticing her frowning face. "What's wrong?"

Giselle got up in Nate's face. "Coy and you have a tendency to disappear at the same time a lot during school and I do remember Josh having an issue with you always being around him, and Darek told me once that you had a thing for Coy, but I always figured that was just a rumor of some sort, but now … Carmen isn't here. You are fucking Coy?"

"You got that from all of that?" Anthony asked her, not sure if she was reaching a little too far with that one.

Giselle ignored him and eyed Nate strongly. "If it isn't true, deny it then," she demanded, with a serious look on her face. "I want to hear you deny it."

"It's true," he said to her sadly.

"Wow," Anthony said, not sure of what to say.

Giselle slapped Nate hard across the face.

"Ow! Guy with concussion here in the hospital," Nate announced, annoyed that she slapped him.

"No wonder she isn't answering my calls," Giselle said, throwing her hands up in the air. "Oh, my God, Nate, you little dwarf. How could you do that to Carmen? She loves you."

"I love her, but I ... I don't know. Coy just seems to entice me, and..."

"That's not even the real Coy," she said to him. "The guy you've been having sex with, may LOOK like Coy, but honestly that is not him."

Nate looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Anthony took the next fifteen minutes to explain the whole past year and a half to Nate, and Nate sat there speechless.

"Um ... wow ... I don't know what to say," Nate said after a few moments. "I'm confused."

"What's to be confused about? You threw your relationship away for a fuck with somebody who is having a 'Jean' from the X-men moment," Giselle said, annoyed. "Coy is like Jean. All nice and sweet, but Marco, his other personality, is like Phoenix and Coy can't control him which is why Marco has been the one in control. Not Coy, who you think is the one you been with."

Nate felt ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry," he said sadly.

"Yeah, you are," Giselle said before she stormed out of the room.

Anthony sucked in some air. "Well ... you fucked yourself royally."

Nate just looked at the wall, unsure of exactly what would be happening now. 

Scene I 

"Going in?" A woman asked startling Matt as he stood in the entrance of the hospital chapel.

"Um ... Yeah," he said to her as they walked inside the swinging, stained-glass doors.

The woman took a seat in the front pew, while Matt still stood in the back. She looked back at him. "You okay, hon?"

Matt blushed slightly. "Um, I don't know how this works."

"Why don't you come up here and sit," she said to him.

Uneasy, Matt walked toward her and took a seat beside her on the pew. "So..."

"What's your name, hon?" she asked with a warm smile.

"Matthew," he said nervously. "What's yours?"

"Julie," She replied. "Why are you nervous?"

"Because I'm not exactly the most religious person," Matt said to her. "I don't really know how to pray."

Julie laughed at that. "Praying is a lot like talking," she explained. "The way I see it, you talk to God about your problem and ask for his help."

"I see," Matt said nodding his head. "Although, I'm not sure what I want to pray for is a good thing according to God. Because ...well, I'm gay."

"Really? Oh, that's nice," Julie said pleasantly. "I don't think God hates homosexuals. Because homosexuals are still his children."

"Really?" Matt asked her. "Well, it's not just that. I don't know; I just don't have as much faith in God or religious officials as I should, probably."

"Why is that?" she asked.

Matt told her the story about Reverend Taylor and how he had come to destroy Matt and those he cared truly about, in a matter of a short time.

"Gee, that's awful," Julie said shaking her head. "There are sick and twisted people in the world. But don't mistake those people for people of God. Because people of God don't have to hurt other people to get His word across, and they don't pass judgment on anybody like this man has on you and your friends, because only God can judge me, you, or anybody else on this earth."

Matt nodded as he listened to her talk. He was really taking all this in and trying to analyze and comprehend it.

"But I don't know if God is real, though," he said to her. "I don't mean to diss the Bible or anything, but I've read it and heard stories. Like for instance, a man talking to a burning bush and claiming God spoke to him. Had that been today and somebody said that, he would be committed in one of those crazy houses."

"Well, there are a lot of ... interesting stories in the Bible," Julie said. "But I think, honestly, that some of those stories in the Bible are there to make a confusing topic a little more interesting. Remember, everybody's perception is different. You can interpret something differently than I do. It's all about what the word says to you. How it speaks to you."

Matt just thought for a little while longer, not sure of what to say anymore.

"I really don't know what brought me here," he said sadly. "I'm really scared because nothing I can think of can help Coy. I need a miracle and I figured this was the place to come looking for one."

"Well, you wanted to know how to pray, so how about I help you?" she asked with a warm smile.

She stuck her hand out and Matt looked at it. He was nervous but he wanted a miracle to happen. He grabbed her hand and sighed.

"Now just say what you want, Matt," she said to him. "It's just that simple. Say what you want. What you need. Let Him hear the need in your voice. What do you want?"

Matt looked at the statue of the Virgin Mary sitting in front of him and all the pictures of Jesus.

"I want Coy to come back to me," he said, as he realized he was crying. "I want, I need, I beg you to bring Coy back to me ... please. Please, God … bring Coy back to me."

Julie grabbed him in a hug and allowed him to sob into her shoulder for a while. Once Matt had stopped crying, he just sat there cradled in her arms. For so long he had tried to be strong; he was tired of being strong. Tired of being tough; right now he wanted to be weak and feel emotions that he'd spent so long trying to close himself off from. He needed his heart back to being the way he loved it and how it made him feel when he thought about spending his life with somebody special.

"Julie," A nurse said, popping her head inside the chapel. "Two more minutes, honey."

Matt looked down at Julie's arm and saw a hospital bracelet around her wrist and he looked at her.

"You're a patient?" he asked, confused. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take up your time so much. I'm sure you had some stuff of your own to pray for."

"I think I found it," she said to him. "Look, Matthew. I'm dying. I have cancer and my prayer was to know if there WAS a such thing as True Love. I used to believe I had that for twenty years she said. I loved my husband dearly, and to this day, I still do. But when he discovered I had cancer and the sex would be gone ... he divorced me and left me for a woman half my age."

"Wow," Matt said rubbing her hand. "What a dick." 

"You know, my wish was that somehow I would find True Love and be able to see it with my own eyes before I died," she said to him. "I think I found it."

Matt smiled at her and gave her a hug. "And I think you restored my faith in something greater out there, that I can't see with my own. Something greater that I can just feel."

"Ah, I better go," she said after a few moments of hugging. "But remember … life is short, and enjoy every moment that you have with Coy. Because you never know how much longer you have, or when the end is coming?"

She walked out of the chapel leaving Matt sitting there, lost in his thoughts about his future.

He sighed heavily. "But what if the end is already here?" 

Scene J 

Excitedly, Giselle walked up to the door of Darek's room. She had just gotten the good news that he had pulled through and would be fine.

His parents were sitting in there around the bed, and a boy who looked like his brother was talking happily with Darek.

"Wow," she said happily as she looked at the family.

She had heard about his family and how screwed up they were but now ... they were appearing to be the perfect family. She knew Darek had to be happy to see the three most important people in his life all around him as a united front.

Darek looked toward the door and saw Giselle and motioned for her to come in, but Giselle panicked and rushed away from the door.

"Giselle!" A woman's voice called out to her. She tried to ignore it because she knew it was Darek's mom. "Giselle!"

She stopped before she reached the end of the hall, and sighed and turned around and walked back toward his mom.

"Why were you running, sweetie?" She asked Giselle curiously. "Darek saw you and wanted you to come in and hang with us."

Giselle blushed. "I … I ... uh ... I don't think that's a good idea."

"Of course it is honey," she said, guiding Giselle back to the room.

Giselle forced a fake smile as she walked into the room behind his mom. Giselle was never to good with parents. She remembered the debacle of when she had met Matt's. She accidentally set fire to their home by knocking over a candle because she had gotten scared by the dog his little brother owned.

"Hey ... Dar," she said, looking at her boyfriend. "You feelin' okay?"

He smiled weakly at her. "Well, I'm a little tired."

"Well, I won't take up much of your time," Giselle said, taking that as a way to get out of the room. "I'm glad you're okay, and I'll come visit tomorrow."

Darek knew his girlfriend was Giselle and he smiled. "It's okay; just stay for a few minutes," he said to her. "Dad, this is the girl I was telling you about."

"Your girlfriend, huh?" he asked, looking at Giselle with a warm grin.

"Girlfriend?" Damien echoed. "Gee, I find out everything last in this family."

"I didn't know it either," Mrs. Bouzakis said. "Caroline Bouzakis."

"Giselle Santos," she said, extending her hand and shaking it.

"Bradley Bouzakis," Mr. Bouzakis said, introducing himself and shaking her hand.

"I'm Damien, and I'm more of a hugger," Damien said, grabbing Giselle into a hug.

"Oh … that's nice," she said, as she struggled to breathe.

"So how did you two meet?" Caroline asked curiously. "How did this become a relationship?"

"Blackmail," Giselle said, without thinking about it. She covered her mouth and blushed slightly.

"Um ... She's a jokester," Darek said with a nervous laugh. "Honestly, she's just beautiful, and I knew I wanted her to be mine. But we didn't have the best of beginnings in our past, but I'm glad she's still here in my present, and hopefully, in my future."

Giselle smiled at her boyfriend lovingly. "Of course I'll be here."

"Well, you had it right, son," Bradley said. "She is truly beautiful, and IF you are in love, then I gladly welcome her to the family."

"I second that," Caroline said giving Giselle a hug.

For some reason, she wasn't nervous around his parents anymore. She knew Darek had a rocky relationship with his family, but it was almost like all was forgotten and everybody had such a good energy around them.

"Well, I think I should try and get a little sleep," Darek said to everybody. "I'm kinda feeling beat."

"Okay, sweetie, we'll see you tomorrow," Caroline said, kissing her son.

Bradley bumped fists with him. "Take care, Dar."

"Who knows? I might get hurt, myself, just so I can get that hunky doctor," Damien said out loud. Giselle, Darek, Caroline, and Bradley looked at him with a speechless look. "Oh, my bad. Sorry ... Hospital Fantasy with a hunky doctor ... Never mind; I'll be outside. See you, bro."

"Okay," Darek said, shaking his head, laughing.

"I still can't believe you got mugged, Dar bear," Caroline said. "You can't go anywhere in the world now-a-days."

Darek thought about the events of the Park and how he knew that he had gotten what he deserved. He also knew that his life had been spared.

"It's whatever," he said with a deep sigh. "I'm okay. Just a bit of pain but I'm all right."

"Okay; well, honey, I guess we'll be going now," Caroline said, kissing him again.

"Giselle ... can you stay for a minute?" Darek asked her.

She nodded and said her good-byes to Caroline and Bradley. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to tell you that I love you, and that I'm sorry for everything in our past," he said to her. "You're the one for me."

Giselle bent down and kissed him softly on the lips. "You got that right."

They kissed for a few moments as Darek tried to feel Giselle up.

"Gee, even slightly medicated and post surgery, you're still a horndog," she said with a giggle. "Relax, there will be plenty of time for that."

Darek groaned softly. "Yea, and I'm too sore to even consider jacking off."

Giselle giggled and kissed her boyfriend on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you, too, baby," he said, looking in her eyes.

This was a new beginning for him, and he was willing to take it for all it was worth. 

Scene K 

Anthony looked into Nick's room, lost in thought. He was thinking of a life without his brother. He was thinking about being alone. Nick was the only one who ever truly understood him, as they were so much alike and yet so different. Without Nick, he would be the ass that people would think he was, when he was far from that.

He looked to the lobby to see Matt sitting there with Giselle, talking. It was true; he was friends with Matt, now, but it didn't bother him that Matt was still one-step ahead of him and had something he wanted.

They shared the same love interest and he'd tried to close it off for the past few months and accept that the person he loved and cared about was gone, because it hurt to know that not just Matt, but Josh, also, had experienced something he had dreamt about so many times, and now Nate had, too.

He didn't mean to feel jealous, but everyone had somebody except him. Nick had Ky. Giselle had Darek. Nate ... well, he wasn't sure of what Nate had, but for the longest time, he had Carmen. Josh had Marco.

"I want Coy," he said softly to himself.

"Do you, now?" John Pagan asked, scaring Anthony out of his thoughts.

"How long have you been standing there?" Anthony asked, folding his arms.

"Long enough to hear that my son is in love with somebody else's boyfriend," John said, standing beside him. "I take it he doesn't know." John glanced over at Matt.

"Yeah, he thinks I'm over it, though," Anthony said to him. "I thought I was, too. But I'm sitting here thinking that what if Nick dies? Nick is my best friend, and so is Coy, and if I lose both of them tonight? I'll have nothing ... Just be alone."

"You will never be alone, Anthony," John said to him. "Look, I know I reacted bad, earlier and I know I didn't handle Kyle and Nick's relationship very well, but I ... I just reacted with my first instinct, which was to forbid it. But if Nick wakes up, I'll tell him to come back home, because I want him there. I want to be in both my boys' lives more, because it's times like these when I realize that life is way too short, and I want to experience so much more with you guys before I let you go. But I'm not going anywhere, son. You will NOT be alone."

Anthony hugged his father tightly. "It doesn't bother you anymore that you have one gay and one bi son?"

"Well, as long as one of you is bisexual, then there's hope that I will have biological grandchildren and not some Asian child you adopted," John joked.

Anthony chuckled at that as the two of them watched Nick. According to what the doctor had said, Nick had slipped into a coma and nobody knew if he would wake up from it.

"NICK!" a voice yelled from down the hall.

Anthony looked to see Ky hobbling toward Nick's room. He fell to the floor.

"Oh, God," Matt said, rushing over as he and Anthony helped Ky up. "Ky, what are you doing out of your room? You have fractured ribs and a broken leg. How the hell did you get out?"

"Paid … doctor ... help me," Ky panted. "I gotta see him. He can't die without me saying, 'I love you'."

"No, you need to go back to your room, Ky," Giselle said sternly as she looked around for the nurses who were apparently turning a blind-eye. "Damn, how many people did you pay off? Guys! Help me get him back to his room."

"Wait," John said looking directly into Ky's eyes. Ky was nervous and didn't know if John wanted to hit him.

"Look, can this wait until I'm healed and I can defend myself?" Ky asked as he winced in pain.

"One question," John said to Ky. "Is this true love?"

Ky looked at Nick, lying in the bed, and his heart was killing him, thinking his mistake with believing Reverend Taylor caused this. "It's that and so much more. So much more."

John nodded his head. "I believe you. I really believe you."

"Excuse me, what the hell is going on out here?" Dr. Whitman asked as he saw the group in the hall. "I just came from Coy's room to check on him, and went to Ky's to let him know there wasn't a change, and he wasn't in there. What are you doing enabling an injured patient to be wondering around? What kind of staff do I have employed here?"

"Apparently a staff that Ky James paid off," Giselle muttered to herself.

"I need to see Nick," Ky said desperately. "I have to tell him I love him. I have to tell him I'm sorry."

"Absolutely not," Dr. Whitman said to him. "You need to be back to your room before you cause more damage and pain to yourself."

"N-No!" Ky said adamantly. He was being propped up by Matt and Anthony.

John noticed the desperate look on Ky's face. "Let him go see my son."

"I'm sorry but hospital policy..."

"Fuck hospital policy," Ky said as he hobbled to the door and opened it. He winced in pain as he hopped to the bed.

Ky looked down at Nick's pale face with scratches and bruising. "Ha, even if you are hurt you still look hot."

He grabbed Nick's limp hand and held it in his. He thought about all the good times he had with Nick. All the inside jokes. All the things he hated that Nick loved, and somehow he'd come to love it.

"Oh, God, if you wake up I'll so buy fifty million Britney Spears CD's," Ky said sadly. "That ‘if you seek amy’ song is kinda hot ... in a she-can't-sing-but-I want-my-boyfriend-to-wake-up-and-I-will-suffer-through-it kinda way."

Ky laughed, hoping to get a reaction from Nick.

No response. No Anything. Just limpness. Almost like he really was dead.

"Listen, I just wanted to say that we make such a crazy couple, Nick," Ky continued. "We've been through so much, and I thought we were finally in the clear, and thought we had such an amazing future ahead of us ... But ... God, I fucked us royally when I joined that group. This is my fault. I'm so sorry, baby. I don't want to lose you. I just need you to wake-up. Please … just wake-up."

Again, no response. Nothing at all.

"You are so, so, so good for me," he said sadly. "I'm sorry that I wasn't good enough for you. I want you to be with me forever….then some. As cheesy as that sounds."

He closed his eyes to block out the tears he knew were trying to seep out. He gasped as he felt a tight grip on his hand.

"Ky..." Nick's raspy voice said.

Ky opened his eyes to see Nick groggily looking at him.

"You're good enough for me," he said softly. "Our story isn't over yet."

Ky began to sob hard, as he was so relieved that Nick was awake and not dead.

"Bro?" Anthony asked walking into the room.

John, Dr. Whitman, and Giselle walked into the room. Everybody was happy and excited to see Nick was awake.

Matt hung back at the door with a bittersweet look, envious of his friends.

"Please someone listen to my prayers," he thought to himself. 

Scene L 

Carmen opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on the floor beside the open door of the bedroom Josh was in. She didn't remember falling asleep but she got up to see the room was empty.

She walked inside to see the ransacked room had been cleaned up and it looked like the clean house she was so used to seeing.

Walking over to the night-stand, she saw a picture from way back when of Josh and her, at her twelfth birthday party. She smiled as she remembered the day. Josh had tried to show off and impress her, and she dared him to ride this water ride. Not knowing Josh couldn't swim, she watched as he got on it and then watched as he nearly drowned just to prove to Carmen he wasn't afraid of anything.

"God, I miss that Josh," she said to him. "That innocent Josh."

She placed the picture on the night-stand and saw a piece of paper with his hand-writing.

Carmen,

I'm writing you this letter to let you know how special you are to me. You're probably the coolest girl around. Somebody that I can play football with and at the same time just chill and cuddle with. I don't care what has happened; you are and always will be the one person that I truly fell in love with. You are my first love and I wish that I could've become hooked on you and not the other addictions I developed, because you're my angel. I don't want the drugs anymore. I don't want to hurt anymore. I just want to be at peace. I don't think I can be at peace anymore knowing that I not only hurt you but I hurt my best friend. Please tell Coy that I'm sorry for what I've done, and I hope you both can find it in your good hearts to forgive me.

I love you, Carmen Crishnaya Gianni. Not just as my true love. Not just as my best friend. As my everything. You are my angel from heaven.

Always & Forever,

Joshua Davis Jackson

"Josh," Carmen whispered before she rushed out of the room and out the door. She noticed her car was gone and that the garage that was open before was now closed.

Rushing back inside the house, she rushed to the kitchen and opened the garage door to see Josh in the car with the windows rolled up.

"No," she said as she rushed to open the door which was locked. "JOSH!"

She banged on the window but no response.

"Oh, God, no," She said as she looked around for something to break the window with.

Grabbing a brick, she broke the window of her backseat and unlocked the door and pulled Josh out of the car.

Josh started coughing loudly as he now had clean air moving in and out of his lungs.

"Carmen..."

He was cut off by a slap to the face.

"What the hell?" she asked him. "Suicide?"

"I didn't want to hurt you or anyone else again," he said to her.

"Yeah, because killing yourself wasn't going to hurt me?" she asked sarcastically. "God, Josh ... What am I gonna do with you?"

"Just hug me ... Please, just hug me," he begged.

She grabbed him into a hug, and they just sat there … hugging each other.

Carmen felt things were different this time around. Maybe they weren't meant to be a couple ever again because so much had happened. But she was going to make sure he got the help he needed.

She was going to be his guardian angel. 

Scene M 

I wheezed as I could feel Marco's hand gripping around my throat. He was using so many memories against me that they hurt so bad. It was torture, because I knew that with each memory I was reliving—every painful memory—I was one step closer to dying.

"Well ... Let's bring you to your most painful memories to date," Marco said as he released his grip around my throat.

I coughed loudly and struggled to see through my blurry vision. I didn't see Marco anymore. I saw an apartment that I was all too familiar with.

It was the first night that I had met Tony. The first time he raped me. The first time I felt true pain.

I tried to run away from the scene I was seeing, but I was running into an endless void. I could hear Tony grunting loudly and I could feel the same suffocation and constriction of that very night.

I fell to the ground as I began to realize that this was it. The end was coming.

The scene changed and it became the scene where Ryan and Tony had me tied up and how Ryan forced himself on me and was trying to hurt me.

I tried screaming out for help but I had no voice. Who would hear me? I was trapped inside my own mind.

The scene changed again and I knew what was coming next. Freedom Hospital. The birth of Marco. Terror.

I winced in pain as I could feel the fear and pain that I had felt when Tony had raped me the first time at Freedom.

"I don't wanna die," I said to myself. "No. I don't want to die."

"Well, I'm afraid that you will be dead in the next few minutes," Marco's voice echoed as he walked toward me. I saw thousands and thousands of Tony's behind him, circling around me.

He was using Tony to kill me. He knew that I wasn't able to fight off and block out any of that pain that I felt ... The fear of Tony and what he did to me.

"Even in your dreams, I'm still here," the Tony's echoed, and I clutched my head as I could hear their echoes, and it was nearly killing me. "Remember the way I fucked you. You screamed like a bitch. But took it like a G."

"No ... Stop," I cried out.

Marco laughed as he watched me on the floor, as I began to spasm uncontrollably.

"That right there, Coy ... that's you dying and me winning," he said with a laugh. The echoes of all the Tony's laughing was like multiplying the pain of the rape by fifty thousand.

'I don't want to die,' I thought to myself.  

Scene N 

"He's flat lining," Dr. Whitman yelled out as the doctors rushed to save me.

"But I ... I prayed," Matt said as he watched the doctors rushed to save me.

"Come on, Coy," Ky said holding Matt's hand tightly.

Carmen, Josh, Anthony, and Giselle stood around the two of them, watching the doctors do their work.

"Oh, my God," Giselle said as Matt just fainted back into Josh's arms. "Is he..."

"He just fainted," Carmen said checking Matt's pulse. "This can't be happening. Coy can't die."

"He's having a seizure," Giselle said, covering her mouth.

Matt was coming-to, just when they heard the monotone beep.

"No," Matt screamed out. "No!"

Matt tried to rush into the room, but Josh and Carmen stopped him. He fell back into their arms and began to sob.

"Oh, my God," Matt said. "He ... He's dead."

The End. 

Author's Note:

This is the end of Halo: Marco.