EverDark

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: bound souls

“James... James!... Wake up, please!” James heard a familiar voice call out to him.

“Please! You have to wake up!”

Half asleep, It took a moment for him to realize what exactly was happening. “Wait, thats Miracle’s voice” He thought to himself. He attempted to open his eyes, but couldn’t. It felt as if glue held his eyelids together..

“Hold on, I can’t open my eyes” James replied. He tried again to open his eyes. He managed to pry them open with his fingers. There was an immediate chill which ran along his spine after feeling the cold air hit his eyes. After a moment he made out Miracle’s face.

“Are you… Crying?” James asked. Tears filled, then dripped from her eyes in rapid succession. “Yes! Yes, I’m crying. You could have been hurt!” after she had said that, he realized that she was holding him in her arms. He felt his face fill with blood, blushing. The warmth of the blood filling his face was temporarily comforting. “You can’t go to sleep when it is this cold. You will get hypothermia.” She said.

James looked around. He noticed that he was still at the bus station.  “Well I’m okay now, right?” He replied.

With a sudden whip of her arm, Miracle hit him, open handed, across his cheek. “Did you not hear me? You could have died... What would I do then, huh? What then!?” Tears still flowed from her face. James’s cheek became numb.

“Im sorry Miracle, I guess I overreacted back there. If I hadn’t we wouldn’t be here right now.” She shook her head. “No… You didn’t overreact James. I did. I laughed and I shouldn’t have. Mr. Robbins needed someone to serve him properly after treating his students like he does. And you gave it to him on a silver platter.”

He looked up at her, not knowing what to say with her bright green eyes looking back. They were glassy from the tears, but still beautiful.

Completely ignoring the severity of the situation, James cracked a smile.

Miracle couldn’t help herself but to smile back, tears beginning to stop.

“Well Miracle. If you let me go for a moment, I might be able to get up.” Her expression immediately changed.

“You're blushing” he said, half realizing that he is doing the same.

“uhhh… erm… I’ll let you go.” She removed her arms from around his body and stood. She then immediately turned in the other direction.

He slowly straightened his legs, standing him up as well. He then wiped the ice from around his eyes. “Sh… should we walk home? The city buses aren’t running today due to the snow.” Miracle said, trying to speak normally.

As James regained his stability, he replied “Yeah. Sure. So the city bus wasn’t going to come anyway then… hmmm, well lets get a move on. The clouds are blocking the sun enough as it is and if we wait for too long, there won’t be enough sunlight passing through to see.”

He began walking ahead of Miracle, the snow crunching beneath his feet. She soon began to follow…

They have been walking for about five minutes, but neither one has said a word. The only sound emerged from the wind and their feet hitting the snow as they walked.

“Where does Miracle live anyway? I can’t believe I've known her for all these years and yet, I still don’t know where she lives.” He thought. “Hey Miracle. Where do you live?” James asked.

For a few seconds there was no reply. “I don’t have a home. I have been staying with a friend for the past couple of weeks. You see My parents recently died.” Once again, there was no reply, this time from James. The crunching of the snow is becoming more of a repetitive annoyance than anything else to the two of them.

“Well Miracle, I know this may sound strange…” He paused for a moment, his head still facing forward. He thought about whether or not it was appropriate to say. “But my parents died as well. A long time ago, they died in a car accident. I was about half a year old, so I couldn’t comprehend what it felt like. I don’t quite know what a pain that is. Im sorry.” He stopped walking. Miracle, not paying attention to her movement, ran into his back.

“I’m so…”

James cut her off. “Miracle. How would you like to live with me?” He stands, still facing forward, waiting for a reply. The light of the day began to fade, as evening caught up with dusk.

“I… I don’t know.”

James turned to face her. “Miracle, I understand that things happen. More than anyone else, I know how to deal with these things. after all, I’ve been completely alone for many years. I have been going to school for the sole purpose of making friends. Even so, everyone has rejected me. Everyone either shuns me, gangs up on me, or laughs at the sight of me. I have endured this for many years, alone. I may not know what it feels like to lose your parents, but I know what it feels like to be without them. I don’t ever want you to go through that.”

The snow that fell from the sky slowly began to stop. The air filled with silence and motionlessness. Snow was covering their ankles, but the cold eluded them, for at least this moment. Miracle stared at the ground, swimming in her thoughts. A few more moments passed by when she answered.

“I will.”

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend"

                                                                                    -Albert Camus