Creation began on 10-04-09

Creation ended on 11-30-19

Thir13en Ghosts

There's no Need to feel this Pain: The First Born Son's Survival

A/N: Ever since I saw this horror movie, which was a remake of the older film, of which I have never seen, I always had trouble sleeping at night in the dark. The Black Zodiac ghosts were, visually, very disturbing and their separate profiles can spook anybody with highly-active imaginations. One thing that had occurred to me recently was a 'what if' possibility. I'm really gonna enjoy this. More so because of my Brother Correction character. He's such a good character to me because of his drive to ensure that the right thing is done to preserve balance and because he believes that good people deserve second chances.

Profile One: The First Born Son's Survival

Are you the one called Billy Michaels? A voiced asked the little boy obsessed with cowboys.

Billy Michaels looked around his bedroom, full of cowboy posters and toys, and saw a apparition of a tall, dark man sitting on his dresser, holding one of his action figures.

Please, don't fear me, he told the boy. I mean you no harm. I'm here to warn you of danger.

Setting his toy cowboy gun down, Billy asked the man, "Who are you?"

I am Brother Correction, here to prevent your premature end. I hope that by telling you of what lies ahead if you stay in your world of Cowboys and Indians, I can save your life. Brother Correction told him. I'm always driven by the belief that a person can change fate and have a second chance at life. I've foreseen your future, two days from now, and I don't like what will happen to you unless you stop with your obsession.

"What do you mean? Will… Will I die?" Billy asked him.

More than die, Billy Michaels: You will become part of a game that will decide the fate of every other child in existence that ever loved to play with their dreams and fantasies. One of your neighbors will challenge you to a duel with a steel-tipped arrow that he will find in his parents' closet, with you using your prized possession as the opposing weapon, your cowboy gun, which will be useless…and the arrow will end you in the head. I shall show you the future that will be if you stay on this road.

Brother Correction used his powers to shroud the boy's room in darkness, showing visions of the future in the form of television to best get the interests of this child, and each scene made Billy's eyes widen: He saw an arrow impale him in the back of his head, ending his life, an apparition of himself in a glass cage, with his cowboy suit and holding a real-looking tomahawk as his weapon of choice, and a sadistic smile on his face as dried blood fell from the hole the arrow made onto his nose and cheeks as he moved along the walls and disappeared and reappeared everywhere, whispering, "I want to play" or "I don't want to play".

"Oh, God," he gasped, unable to get the images out of his head as he looked at Brother Correction. "Is this really to be my fate?"

Yes, but I believe you can avoid it…because you deserve the right to live out your life, and because the future can change for the better. We all have the power to deny a dark destiny. It's just a matter of how we use that power. Please, Billy Michaels, don't let your passion for the fun and games of make believe be your downfall. Do the right thing, that's all I'm begging of you to do. Do the right thing.

Then, he vanished, leaving the boy alone in his room, and Billy knew what he had to do.

Looking at his toy gun, he took a deep breath and got up to leave his room, find his mother and tell her of his newfound drive.

-x-

Epilogue

"Hey, Billy," went one of his neighbors to him, two days later, "you won't believe what I found in my parents' closet the other day… Why are you dressed like that?"

Billy, wearing regular clothes, free of any cowboy motif, answered, "I've had some time to think about a lot of things, and I've decided that I'm done with Cowboys and Indians. I told my mother and she helped me clean my room out of the stuff. We're sending them to the thrift store later today."

"You're done with being a cowboy? Wow, man, and I thought you would live with that forever. I found a real bow and arrow in my parents' closet and wanted to challenge you to a duel with it." He told Billy.

"No thanks. I don't want to get an arrow stuck up my head." Billy responded, and walked away, leaving his neighbor confused about that last line of words.

And with that, Billy had switched to a new type of fun: Sports. He signed up for baseball at his school to get away from his old life of cowboys, and eventually lived to be a great player of the game.

His mother was immensely proud of him, not just because he was skilled at the game, but because he gave up on the old films and motif of the Old West. And she wasn't the only one that was proud of him.

A/N: I initially wanted to make one story comprised of all the alternate outcomes, but after looking at the in-progress work of mine that needed to be worked on, I decided to break the outcomes into individual chapters for each member of the Black Zodiac. Here's the first one. I apologize for taking so long just to get to. I hope it impresses you until I post the next chapters after separating them all.