Carter Laws D12 (Done)

Carter Laws is just a name.

A name that he’s proudly flaunted off time and time again before.

That wasn’t how it was anymore. The days of being a child were over.

The childhood he had tried to stay in ended the day that Mitchell Laws was put in a grave ten feet under.

The engraving upon the tombstone only makes his heartache with every letter. Mitchell Laws, Tribute of the Seventy Fourth. A man whose story ends with grief, but lives on with greatness in his soul. A legacy created long before his own death. A legacy that Carter Laws had to fulfill for his older brother. A legacy that was attached to his name, since Jack wouldn’t be following him. Promises long forgotten by his lips when Carter and Mitchell spoke.

“Everything will be alright Carter.”

Nothing would ever be alright. The purgatory that the precious god, that Ansgar Todd praised, had created just for Carter Laws pulled at his heart. The hole that would never be filled with the love and happiness that he once had. The smiles that had grown to be a comfort upon his face fade from existence like the positivity in the world. Without Mitchell, the world wasn’t a place he wanted to be in. Jack was a silent giant with nothing but hollowed eyes and broken cries.

All that was left from the mess that Mitchell had left was himself. Mother and father had broken to tears multiple times. The house was in ruins as the warfare began between may of the others. Father and Jack had broken into argument over dinner multiple times, but all he could do was shove the food around to the sides as his stomach was filled with emotions. A better supplement than the nourishment of food. As the youngest of the three that had been together since the beginning, Carter wasn’t expected to do anything brash. His heart aches at the words of his father, mother, and brother. They always have a mask in front of him. A mask to hide the scars that are clear in front of him.

They all had lost a light within their life, even if he didn’t believe that they cared as much as him. As his brother speaks, he can feel the sorrows within his throat, “Carter, we’ll be okay.” All he wants to do is punch him. Punch him so hard that Jack’s teeth clatter to the floor with so much pain that Carter feels better, but he couldn’t. He could never do that to someone he cares about. His voice cuts through like a venom, “Don’t lie to yourself. I won’t ever be okay.” Jack sobs then, broken cries for the hollowed eyed man. Never once had Carter seen him cry. Mitchell was the one he entrusted with the emotions, not himself. Jack and Mitchell didn’t get along, but they were the anchors that held each other up. Carter could see behind the angry looks and broken hearts.

As the night fades, he lays in bed staring at the ceiling. The reflection of the moon shines upon his pale skin. The smooth skin glowing within the light of the moon that is a comfort to himself. His blue eyes filled with a coldness that had never been there before stares out the window as sleep doesn’t come to him until he feels his body cry for sleep. Pink plump lips turned down in a frown as he imagines the days of the past. Brown hair messily pushed to one side as he falls to his side, sheets thrown about in a sorrow filled rampage. Words a whisper upon his lips, “Why… Why did it have to be you…”

Sheets fall to the floor as he stands. His hair a disheveled mess from the sleep that he tried to get. Sorrows and anger flows through his veins like a poison that can never be cured. A fist full of bruises from the walls that he’s punched out of anger. Innocence was once a word that was used to describe him, but that period was dead, just like the old Carter Laws that would flaunt his name and play games. Muscles now define his arms, legs, and body. A creation of the time spent with helping Mitchell with the weights they kept at home. All he could do was feel himself let go of all the worries in the past.

Violence wasn’t something he enjoyed. He still never did, but the rough housing at home filled him with good memories. Mitchell’s laugh. Mitchell’s smile. The way that Carter appreciated everything Mitchell had done for him. The games of cards that they had learned to play at a young age. The way that their father had showed them how to toss the card like a blade, but less lethal and too little blood compared to a blade. The laughs they once shared were now a memory within confines of his mind.

Secrets were kept from each other. Never once had he learned of Mitchell’s skills in stealing. A secret that he hadn’t been entrusted with. A secret that neither of his brother wanted him to get into. As Carter played with games at home. A deck of cards in his hand, his brothers would be out robbing some poor soul of their goods. Never once did they tell him of the art. Never will he want to learn it. Carter Laws wasn’t meant to steal.

Silence throughout the day as school becomes a ground of devil children to play. Words of the games echo upon their lips, questions of Mitchell and Hyacinth exiting their cursed tongues, and all he can do is suffer through it. The disaster known as the Hunger Games were almost over and he could survive just a few more days within the walls of devil children. School used to be a place where he happily talked along with the people. Excitement upon his tongue as he spoke of whatever he wanted. “I learned a new card trick” he would say in excitement as students surround his desk. Showing them all the cool thing that he learned. In that moment, Carter was happy to be able to show something to them all to take their minds off of things, but now, now he couldn’t bother with tricks.

The cards are hidden in a box, somewhere in his room, collecting dust. Dropping the art had been easy when he heard his brother coughing up the blood on the screen. The past was dead. The present was suffering. The future would be painful. They were all a house of cards waiting to crash down and never become fixed. A mess of cards with random emotions and feelings. They weren’t meant to stand forever. They were meant to be toppled down. His father had shown his how to make a house of cards, but in the end all that happened was a failure of a pile of cards and a frustrated father. This was what they were meant to be. A house of cards that was never meant to be built, but to be created to fall down.

Happiness used to fill his veins, but sorrows lay in wake now. Eating up the soul within his body. A constant ache of the hart heart. Carter Laws was a happy and innocent boy, until Mitchell Laws died. His warm eyes turned cold with every look at the beast that cut his brother’s throat open. A voice lost to the world that he wished would never have left. The boy who used to play cards, rough house, and train with for fun. They would never see each other until another life and his heart aches for the day when it’ll become a reality. The innocent Carter Laws who used to play games with his family was dead.

There was a time when Carter Laws was born to the world happy and alive inside. Jokes and games a second nature that Mitchell and their father had inserted into Carter’s brain. A happy child with a happy family that seemed to grow and grow. Jack becoming a brother from a different family, but still his brother. The three would play games of cards, hide and seek, tag, and so many more. Even at an older age, they followed his game to the last moment. Mitchell was made to play one last game that put Mitchell’s life on the line and Carter’s innocence.

Mitchell Laws was born to die.

Carter Laws was born to live.

Even if he didn’t want to live with the grief and pain of Mitchell. Carter will suffer through it all to keep the memories he has of Mitchell close to his empty heart. The words that echo in his head of a phrase that Mitchell had once told him gives him motivation to keep himself steady and broken, “One day, I won’t be here. When that day comes Carter, you’ll become stronger. Stronger than I’ve ever seen you. I’ll always be with you though.” And he is always with him. Even if Carter can’t feel him there, he knows he has to be there for him. Carter Laws was the legacy created long ago to keep Mitchell Laws alive within his mind. Carter Laws was born to live.

His heart breaks with every memory of Mitchell, but as he continues through dinner. His heart aches with sorrows that will stay with him for the rest of his life, short or long. The boy that Carter Laws was is dead. Mitchell Laws didn’t exist with him, even if Mitchell had wanted him to believe that. There was no god that watched over them. Only a devil who wanted to create anger and sadness within the world. Carter Laws was alone and broken. A box of cards laying ripped and shredded like his happiness. There was no joy in his world anymore. He was born to live, but living meant suffering forever. And he didn’t want to suffer forever. No one did. Everyone would.

Carter Laws was born to live.

But at what cost.