All Chapters of May You Be Safe... And Out of My Life: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

"Don't cry, Tommy," I heard Mom say, trying to comfort Thomas. "I'll talk to Marc when he's back and make him give up his spot for you."Carol spotted me and pressed her lips into a thin line. Meanwhile, Dad set down his coffee mug heavily on the table and said, "Marcus. Come here and explain yourself."I still had bandages around my head, and I walked into the center of the living room with a pale face.Four pairs of eyes were suddenly all on me, and they were all cold and hateful.Nobody asked me how I felt or how I was doing. Nobody seemed to even care that I'd just been discharged from the hospital.Thomas' eyes were reddened. He held the acceptance letter in his hand and demanded, "Marc, you already have everything you ever wanted! Why must you still steal the only spot to study abroad from me?"I echoed his words lightly. "I have everything I ever wanted?"I had nothing.Mom and Dad favored only him. Carol was in love with him. Even the best room in the house facing the s

However, it was impossible for me to make it far with a very drunk Thomas lagging behind me. We were caught and apprehended immediately by the gang of men.I picked up a brick from the ground and tried to hit them, but they punched me first in the face and pushed me to the ground.Meanwhile, Thomas seemed to have finally woken up from his drunken stupor. He shook and shivered in fright and quickly fled.I was held down on the ground, their knees digging painfully into my back. I could also feel sharp glass shards stabbing into my back, and it hurt so much that I could only grit my teeth in agony."I've really called the police on you! They'll be here in a few minutes! You can still run if you leave now!"However, that only earned me two more slaps to my face. I was so dizzy from their hits that my ears began to ring. I heard them calling me a meddling nuisance, and they even threatened to teach me a good lesson.Then, I heard the wailing of the police siren in the distance."Dam

I was waiting in the VIP lounge at the airport when a message flashed on the screen.It was the final confirmation letter of my deployment to a war-torn country."Dear Mr. Marcus Shaffer, according to the International Peacekeeping Forces Special Regulation, clause 17 of the Non-Disclosure Act, you have agreed to join the body disposal team's "Net Zero Action Plan"."Flight CE1316 will be involved in a staged flight disaster, and you will forever lose your citizenship in your home country. Do you agree to proceed?"I signed my name on the letter with so much determination that the pen tore through the paper."I agree."The small light above the boarding gate that led to Flight CE1315 flashed continuously. By the time I boarded the plane bound for the war-torn country, Carol and Thomas' wedding would have started. And by the time Carol said "I do" to Thomas, my name, along with my identity, and the aircraft's black box, would forever be buried at the bottom of the ocean.The

Dad immediately rushed up to grab Thomas."Marcus was your brother!" Carol roared angrily. "He nearly died in the alley behind the bar because of you! And yet, you're still calling him names!"Thomas struggled away from Dad and screamed at the top of his lungs, "He deserved it! He deserved everything for trying to steal all I had from me! The spot belongs to me! You also belong to me!"Carol suddenly laughed. Yet, her smile never reached her eyes. Instead, it was sharp and cold."Thomas Shaffer," she said, her voice light and nonchalant despite the gravity of the situation. "Listen carefully. I, Carol Lockhart, have never belonged to you."And your brother, Marcus Shaffer, has never said a single bad thing about you until his death."She lifted her hand and threw the diary in Thomas' face. The pages fell open as the book fluttered to the ground, landing exactly on a page that read, "Carol, I hope that you and Thomas will spend the rest of your lives happily together. Please be ha

The nurse continued, "Last week, some stray bullets found their way into the refugee camp area, and he immediately threw himself in front of the children to protect them with his life. "Several bullets nicked him in the back, and he had to have 12 stitches because of that. And yet, he still went back to work the next day like nothing happened to him."Carol could feel her heart squeezing in pain."Did he… Did he ever say why he came here?" she asked quietly.The nurse sighed and said, "He said that the living needed to be treated, and the dead needed to be remembered. He's in charge of recording the details of everybody we come across. He said that their bodies were merely a vessel for their poor, dead souls to reach heaven."Just then, there was a loud explosion nearby, followed by the sound of frequent gunshots and whizzing bullets."The enemies are attacking! Find cover!"The refugee camp was thrown into chaos. Carol saw me rushing out of a tent with a child in my arms while