Jigsaw’s Legacy

The rain pattered on the windows, the sound filling the room with a melancholy and gloomy atmosphere. Damien sat alone in his college dorm room, a sense of sadness and grief weighing heavy on his heart. As he looked out the window at the dreary weather outside, he felt a wave of regret and guilt wash over him. His eyes welled up with tears again as the death of his closest friend replayed.

Damien could still feel the blood on his hands and the urge to wash them even after having done so for nearly an hour the night it happened. He wiped the tears from his eyes on his jacket sleeve. "I can't be doing this. Eli wouldn't have wanted to see me like this." If only it were that easy.

The pain weighed him down and followed him throughout the day like a parasite. It was impossible to focus on classes when all he wanted to do was cry. His entire world had shattered. A part of him had been ripped away and all that was left was an empty void that could not be filled. Damien's body ached, his chest feeling constricted, making it difficult to breathe.

The world lost its vibrancy in his eyes and the joy he once found in his daily activities seemed dull and insignificant. Even after the funeral, nothing changed over the months that followed. Damien couldn't make peace with it and resorted to alcohol and self harm to get through the day. His grief was literally killing him.

His friends, twins named Clyde and Isaiah Oakes, had noticed the drastic change in him. Both weren't exactly close with Eli themselves but they knew how much he had meant to Damien.

"What else can we do?" Isaiah whispered to his brother. "He hasn't gotten any better and I'm scared that he may just.. not come back one day."

Clyde fidgeted with his hands. He was worried that if they went about approaching their friend directly it would come off as insensitive and make him push them away. They had known Damien since freshman year in high school and understood him quite well. However, neither of them had the best communication skills, Clyde being too timid around everyone and Isaiah being too forward which came off as too intense.

"Clyde," Isaiah tapped his brothers' shoulder. "We aren't going to get anywhere like this. If you won't do it then I will."

He stood up, ignoring Clyde's quiet protest, while the professor had her back turned and sat down in the empty seat next to Damien. "Hey, let's go for a walk after class. It'll get you out of the stuffy dormitory."

He nodded. Not that he wanted to go but because he knew he was worried about him. It wasn't difficult to read him and Clyde or other people for that matter. However, Damien understood how off-putting it was to most so always chose his words carefully. He could see the way they looked at him like a younger brother, even if they were only about three months apart, and he found it endearing.

He didn't have older siblings but was going to have a younger brother in at least a month. That alone gave him something to look forward to if nothing else.

The bell signaled the end of the lecture and students began pouring out of the hall. Damien stopped by his dorm room to drop his backpack off before going to meet Clyde and Isaiah out front. The day was overcast, making it look like a grey storm was about to burst into life above them. His mood did not improve much in this gloomy weather and he could only hope that Clyde and Isaiah would take his mind off his troubles. At least for a little while.

The cool October breeze was soothing as they walked side by side and talked, though Isaiah was doing most of the talking. The other two were just nodding in response or interjecting comments from time to time. "So... you like it here?" Clyde asked Damien for the second time and added, "Enough to stay after graduating college I mean."

He shrugged. "It's pretty nice but I'd imagine I won't stay here forever." His answer was partly true though if he were to leave he didn't have an idea of where to go. "What about you two? Do you guys like being here?"

"We're a lot better off than we used to be back in Columbus, though there are still some problems that don't seem to go away." Isaiahs' answer was nonchalant but sounded like he was purposely leaving out specific details.

Damien didn't bother pressing for details. With what he knew about the two it was probably the usual juvenile delinquency or family issues. "Now that I think about it... I've never met their dad or heard them mention him."

"Are we going anywhere in particular?" Clyde said as he zipped his jacket up.

"We could go find an abandoned warehouse to explore." Isaiah looked over at Damien. "It's always fun when we do."

"If by fun you mean having to run away from the police then yes." He lightly shoved his arm.

Clyde didn't look enthused by the thought of that but he kept his mouth shut while Isaiah and Damien bickered back and forth. He pulled his hood over his head when a cool breeze hit the back of his neck.

Around a half hour of walking led them to downtown. The sun was starting to set and the cold weather was making not just Clyde uncomfortable but the rest of them as well.

"Hey let's stop, I have to run in there and check my work schedule." Clyde didn't wait for them to answer and fast walked in to get out of the frigid air.

Damien hung back for a few seconds, watching a guy stumble out of the alleyway. He almost wanted to ask if he was okay but hastily walked into the pizza place when they made eye contact. "Fuck that shit—" He stepped away from the glass door and glanced around until he spotted Isaiah who waved him over.

"I got us a pizza." He held up the ticket with his order number on it. "If nothing else, pizza makes everything better."

Damien was going to say something but gave him a nod. "I can't argue with that."

They found an empty booth to sit down in but waited for Clyde to come back so he could join them. Damien debated telling them about the guy in the alleyway but decided against it. "He was probably just some homeless guy... or drug addict." 

The sun was long since gone by the time they left and the streetlights that lined the road had flickered to life. A few cars passed them on either side of the road as they walked in silence. There was no other sound besides the soft thud of their shoes hitting the pavement.

Damien couldn't shake the feeling of being followed but also couldn't bring himself to look behind them. "You're being paranoid... that's all—"

"Who the fuck are you?" Isaiah's voice broke the silence.

He stopped and turned around to see the same guy from earlier holding a knife to Isaiah. "Trying to rob three people by yourself isn't the brightest idea." He watched as Clyde did his best to put up a tough guy demeanor but shifted his attention to Isaiah who was yelling at the guy.

"Leave!" He stood his ground and shoved the guy back. "I won't tell you again—" Isaiah jolted back when the man took a jab at him with the blade. That was all it took for him to go at him.

Damien got behind the guy to attempt to disarm him. He managed to restrain one of his arms and almost had the second until Isaiah stepped back, reaching into his waistband. A sharp pain spread through his hand making him pull his arm away and put distance between them. He gritted his teeth as blood trickled down his hand and onto the sidewalk.

A loud bang cut the yelling short and made Damien cover his ears. He looked up to see the guy running away and Isaiah still having the gun aimed at him.

"Put that away!" Clyde grabbed his brother's wrist forcing him to lower the firearm. "Now!"

"Ok ok." He relented and urged them to leave. "Someone'll most likely call the cops. Split up." Isaiah took off down an alleyway.

Damien watched Clyde panic for a moment before following his brother. He sighed and cursed under his breath before going in the opposite direction towards home though had no plans of visiting. "As long as I stay in a place I know well I won't get lost..."

He nearly ran face first into a stop sign but grabbed the cold metal pole with his hand. The freezing air burned his throat and lungs causing him to cough and gasp. Damien kept a tight grip even with the cold steel burning his hand and fingers. "Maybe stopping at home isn't such a bad idea..."  He let go and glanced at his hand which was still dripping blood. It was deep enough to scar and likely need stitches, but Damien didn't want to go to the hospital. Not now at least.

He took the black bandana he kept in his pocket that he used to cover his face while exploring abandoned buildings and tied it around his hand. It was good enough for now, though his mom would have a fit about it being unhygienic— and she'd be right— but Damien didn't have the same amount of medical knowledge as her. He slowly walked towards home. "Surely they won't mind if I stopped by... they haven't seen me in months."

The street wasn't as well-lit as before. Damien had to find his way through the light that came from the house's windows. "Wish they'd fix the streetlights down here." He sighed. "Who am I kidding? The kids would just shoot them out again with their BB guns or whatever else they have..."

It was far more quiet without Isaiah and Clyde. Part of Damien was relieved for the silence but that silence didn't come with the peace he hoped it would. "Just get home... just get home." He raised his hand to knock on the door but it opened before he could.

"Damien!" Jill smiled and hugged her son, "I'm so happy you stopped by."

"Didn't even give me a chance to knock." He halfheartedly laughed. "Did you see me?"

"No, I was about to leave for work. Someone called out so I have to go cover their shift."

"Are you sure it's safe to be out this late or to be working in the clinic at all cause-"

Jill cut him off. "Damien, you sound like your father." She smiled and patted his shoulder, saying as she walked to the car that was waiting for her in the street, "I'll be ok and my patients need me."

He sighed as he watched his mother leave. "Cause I'm sure he's told you the exact same thing—"

"Damien." John's voice called out from inside the house. "We need to talk."

"Uh oh." He took a deep breath and walked into the house. Even as an adult those four words still invoked fear in him. He took his jacket off and sat down at the kitchen table across from John both nervous and curious. "Did he know about Isaiah almost shooting a guy— no, he couldn't. Is it cause I skipped a few lectures— wait no, colleges don't call your parents like in high school—"

"Damien." John sighed, "Are you listening?"

"Y-yeah?" He lied.

He shook his head. "Clyde stopped by a couple of days ago. He was worried about you because you weren't showing up to classes and were around the... 'shady people' as he put it."

He looked down at his hands hoping to think of an explanation that didn't make it sound like it already did. "Damnit Clyde..."

"I don't want to see anything bad happen to you, Damien. You've got your whole life ahead of you and Eli wouldn't have wanted to see you like this." He stood up and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "And don't do that again."

He looked down at the red-lined scars on his wrist and used his other hand to cover them. "I won't..."

"Thank you and take care of your hand."

Damien nodded as John walked to the basement of the house where his workshop was. He covered his face with his good hand. "I couldn't stand to look at it then but now I really can't." He sighed heavily and laid his head down on the table. "I'll get it covered with a tattoo tomorrow. Even though mom will probably have a fit about it... it's better than the scars."

He got up from the chair and went to his old room. In the corner was his acoustic guitar that he hadn't played since he left for college. He picked it up and sat down on his bed, leaning his back against the wall as he strung a couple of the strings. "I forgot how much I loved playing.. maybe I should go back to doing little shows. Just have to see if Isaiah is up for it."

Damien set his guitar down by his bed and looked up when he heard a knock on the doorframe.

"Your mom said she got someone to cover the night shift so I'm going to pick her up." John seemed relieved about it.

"Good, do you want me to come with you?" He started to get up.

"No, you stay here." He said, firmly.

Damien nodded and watched him leave. "He worries so much about her and Gideon." He laid down and closed his eyes, hoping to see his parents happier and less stressed than they were now. Slowly, he drifted to sleep for a couple of hours.

[~~~~~~~~~]

Damien stirred awake, albeit startled at first, from John shaking him. Even in the dimly lit room, he could see the look of sadness and anguish. "Dad, what's wrong?"

"She lost Gideon."