Forty-Three

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ETHAN

I opened my eyes, finding myself in an all too familiar place. It was the yard of my old home again. What was I doing here again? Was I seriously dead again? Last time I was here, my family told me they wouldn't accept me because I was human.

I didn't find anybody outside in the yard, so I decided to go back into the house. As I approached the front porch, I stopped at the door, sighed, and knocked on the door. I waited for about a minute. Nobody was coming. I kind of figured they wouldn't. I'm human now, I'm not their kind, so why would they?

My eyes widened as the door opened. My parents standing at the doorway. Their eyes lighting up and they smiled as they saw me.

"Hello Ethan." Dad told me.

They gestured me inside of the house.

"I-I thought I wasn't a part of your family anymore?" I asked. "I'm human, remember?"
"Well, after much discussion, we thought we would bend the rules for you." Mom responded.

I smiled, immediately hugging both of them. I couldn't help but get emotional again.

"I-I'm so sorry you guys." I said.
"Don't apologize, Ethan." Dad told me. "None of this is your fault."

Hearing that from my parents really made me feel better. Knowing that they now know the truth of everything that has been happening to me. I know I wasn't human anymore, but I was glad to be a part of the family again.

They brought me inside and into the living room. On the table were a plate of cookies. None of my family made cookies before.

"Well since you're now human, we had to sort of leave our comfort zone and make human for you." Dad explained to me.
"Sorry if those cookies look a little weird." Mom said.
"They look fine to me." I said.

I took a cookie from the plate and took a bite. They were actually good. Even though mom had never baked cookies before, I still missed her cooking. It was good to be back. I didn't care whether I was dead or if I was dreaming.

As I continued eating, we heard a knock at the door. I was kind of confused as to who that would be, everybody was here that should be.

My dad walked over and opened the front door. My jaw dropped as I saw Tyler standing at the doorway.

My dad immediately let him in, even though he's never met Tyler before. What was he doing here?

He came over and sat down next to me.

"W-What are you doing here?" I asked.
"It's a long story, that Mark, Amy and Kathryn might tell you." Tyler said.
"So... I'm not dead?" I asked. Tyler shook his head. "But I thought Dr. Carson poisoned me?"
"He did." Tyler said.

At first, I couldn't process what was going on.

Suddenly, it hit me. The realization of everything that Tyler had just told me. The realization of everything that happened before I ended up here. My heart sunk and my stomach became in knots, to the point where I nearly wanted to throw up. Tears began forming in my eyes.

I looked at Tyler, "No..."
Tyler didn't really respond. He just let out a laugh, nearly choking up.
"Tyler... you can't be..."
"Consider it an IOU, since you saved my life." Tyler said.
"And what about Mark, Amy and Kathryn?" I asked.
"They're all okay." Tyler responded.

I leaned over, my hands on my face, wiping away tears.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.
"I wasn't happy with the way I was." Tyler explained. "I would have much rather have died at the hospital as a human. But I can see you as a human, happy and living the best life. With nothing holding you back this time."
"It's going to be so hard without you." I said. "You were there for me the entire time."
"I'll still be there for you." Tyler assured me. "I'll also be here with your family to take care of them, and make sure you don't die a million times again."

For some reason, I couldn't help but laugh at that.

I looked at Tyler and smiled, "Thank you, Tyler."

Tyler patted me on the shoulder and pulled me in for a hug.

"Take care of yourself out there okay?" Tyler asked. "And take care of the others for me too."

I nodded, "I will..."
———
MARK

We were all silent as we waited in the hospital room for Ethan to wake up. For the first time since we got here, we got silence. Ever since we've had to explain everything to the police, everybody has been on our asses trying to learn more. Nobody has bothered to offer help, or offer their condolences to our friend who had just died saving Ethan. Probably because to them, he is a deadly creature, even though he used to be human. The thought of that makes me want to punch a wall.

My thoughts were thankfully interrupted when I noticed Ethan move his head slightly towards us. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey." Amy said giving him a smile. "Welcome back."
"Hey." Ethan mumbled. "What happened?"
"We finally got out of that hellhole." Kathryn explained. "Thanks to Tyler."

Ethan gave a small smile, but it almost instantly turned into a sad frown.

"H-He's gone isn't he?" Ethan asked.
Nobody said anything, but I finally nodded, trying to keep myself from getting emotional, "What gave it away?"
"I... I just had this feeling..." Ethan responded.
"Ethan, Tyler saved all of us, you especially." Amy said. "You were on the verge of death for like... the millionth time and he decided to step in and save you."
"I know..." Ethan said choking up.

I went over and patted him on the shoulder. I could see his face turn red and tears forming in his eyes. Seeing him begin to cry must have triggered a chain reaction because we all started getting emotional around the same time.

We didn't even say or do anything for the next several minutes. All we did was embrace one another and let our emotions out.
~~~~~~~~~~
HI GUYS!!!

So after this chapter, there's going to be one, maybe two more chapters left to this story! I hope you guys enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed making it.

~Jackir30

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