Chapter 9
Gannix
“Hey, man.” My brother’s voice comes over the line.
“Hey. What’s up?”
“Just checking in on you. Why do you sound so damn tired?” he chuckles.
“I am tired. The last few nights have been a little rough.”
“The dreams?” I sigh.
“Yeah. That shit doesn’t stop, Gary.”
“Not even talking to the therapist?” he asks.
“Not even that. All they want to do is drug me.”
“Drugs aren’t bad. Did you try them?” he asks.
“I did a few times. They made me drowsy, so I stopped taking them.”
“You have to take them anyway, Nix. That’s the point. Let your body get used to them,” he reminds me of shit I already know.
“I’m not much into taking medicine. You know that.”
“How’s everything else been?”
“Such as?”
“Such as are you ready for the hunt?” I close my eyes and wish to God I didn’t feel as though I had to do that. I don’t want to be that way. I never have, but this is what they made me into. This is how they, our parents, fucked us up. Gary isn’t sane, either. We both have issues we need to fix. We’re not normal and never will be. I press my fingers into my eyes as I shake my head, knowing he can’t see me.
“I don’t know, Gary.”
“What don’t you know? This is what we do, Nix.”
“I know it is, but fuck, man. Why are we like this?” I ask him.
“They did this to us, Gannix. Them. They’re to blame for the way we are,” he snarls, sounding angrier than me. Hell, he may be.
“But why? What is the fucking point in doing that to us?”
“We’ll never know,” he nearly whispers into the line.
“It’s fucked up. You know that, right?”
“I’m man enough to admit it’s not normal, but it’s our normal,” he says, and he’s right. It is our normal. This is what we’ve done for years since we were just kids. The bows and arrows were placed into our hands at a young age, and we learned to hunt.
“Fuck, Gary.”
“I get it, you know? There are days when I wonder what the hell we do it for.”
“And you still want to do it?” I ask him seriously.
“Don’t you?”
“A part of me does. Another part of me just … wonders.”
“That’s normal too for us, Nix. We wonder what the real world would do or how they’d react. We’re not the normal world, though, brother.” Fuck, he’s right. He’s right.
“I know. You said you had something special planned for my birthday. What is it?” Now he laughs.
“You think I’d ruin the surprise? Not a chance in hell.”
“Does it have to do with the hunt?”
“Partially. You’re going to love it. That much I can promise you.” I smile. The only person who’s ever had my back was Gary. He’s the only one I can truly lean on.
“I hope so. This year has been shit,” I remind him.
“Yeah. It hasn’t been my finest, either,” he adds.
“I’m flying out a week before. Is that good with you?”
“Hell yeah. We can go out and cause some trouble,” he laughs.
“Sounds good to me. This city life is killing me, Gary.”
“I told you it would. You need to be a country boy like me. It’s not as bad as you think it is.”
“Sitting out in the woods all the time? That’s not for me either.”
“What is for you?”
“I don’t fucking know. When I find it, I’ll let you know,” I chuckle.
“Yeah, let me know. Maybe we’ll go together.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Yeah. Okay. I’ll call you in a few days,” he says before hanging up. I set my phone down on my desk and close my eyes, feeling a headache coming on. I’ve had them since we were kids, and they only get worse with time.
I hear the door open but don’t bother to look up to see who it is until he speaks up.
“Are you okay?” Ren asks.
“No. I have a fucking headache,” I reply. He knows about my headaches since we work together so much.
“Shit. You want to go to the hospital?”
“No. I’ll be fine. I just need to go home,” I tell him.
“Want me to drive?”
“Yeah, I think that’s the best,” I agree as I shove out of the chair and move around my desk. Ren walks out first, and I follow as we climb into the elevator and ride it down. I follow him out to his car and climb in the passenger seat while he gets into the driver’s side.
He doesn’t speak as he drives me home. Once we arrive, he offers to help me in, but I shake my head and climb out, making my way up the sidewalk. I shove the key in and open my door, making my way inside and straight to my room, where I crash. I fall onto the bed, cradling my head in my hands. I keep my eyes closed praying the sunlight goes away soon.
The doctors never figured out what caused the headaches or why I got them. They aren’t a daily occurrence, but when I do get them, they usually take me out for a few days. They’ve given me medicine to try and help relieve some of the pain, but nothing truly takes it away. I just have to wait it out.
Forcing myself off the bed, I walk over and pull the curtains closed, slipping my shoes off and tugging my pants down. I reach over my shoulder and grab my t-shirt, pulling it over my head and tossing it to the side before pulling my blankets back and climbing into bed. This is going to be the only place I’m going to be for the next couple of days. At least the hunt is coming up, and I’ll get to see my brother. While I live in New York, he lives in Georgia. He wanted nothing to do with the city after our childhood but wanted to be in the country. I was the opposite although I still go down for the hunt.
But for now, I’m going to try and get some sleep until this headache clears up.