Soul Unlockers

Chapter 1: The Pigeon's Silver Key

WARNING: This might be gruesome if you can't handle a car-crash in the making. Also, if you are confused with anything in this, just message me. Otherwise, I hope you like it!

A/N: This one's just for fun :) Tell me if I should continue this, 'cause I'm not so sure on it :/

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Chapter 1: The Pigeon's Silver Key

Everything was supposed to be better for me. I left that damnation of a house, I did everything HE asked me when I left.

So why do I feel like something's wrong?

I held my locket in the palm of my hand, rubbing the surface with a tentative thumb, the feel of its smooth and etched surface calming my nerves. "This isn't right." I said, concentrated on a particular pigeon in the middle of the busy street. I stared at it as I sat on an advertisement bench, watching it as its head flicked in different directions and its body jumping and flying up and off the pavement, avoiding the fast and furious taxi cars zipping by swiftly.

As the bird flew down and dropped to touch the asphalt, I narrowed my eyes on its claws, particularity its small talons. Something was wrong, I knew that much, but what? What was wrong? That tugging feeling in my heart and mind was screaming out to me, yelling "Alert! Alert!", but I knew nothing.

Nothing was wrong, so far. Society was still the same, still ignoring me and many other average joes. People passed by me, looking straight ahead towards their destination and ignoring their surroundings.

But there it was.

As I narrowed my eyes and focused in on the pigeon's claws, a black smoke was seeping through the tips of each claw. The sight was faint, but still visible to my eyes. The smoke then swirled at the ends of its claws and slowly slithered up the bird's body, wrapping around the head particularly. As the pigeon was being wrapped by the onyx smoke, the pigeon itself was paralyzed. Not a single movement was made; no flicks of its head, nor any flaps of its wings.

The sight captivated me, it intrigued me. Black smoke emitting from claws and wrapping around a pigeon? Who's ever seen or heard of that?

Finally, the smoke stopped its mantra of wrapping and slithering. The pigeon stayed in its still position, like it was a frozen statue. Then it was set aflame, squawks and squeals being the loudest noise out of everything else. Time seemed to stop for me as the birds form disintegrated into nothing but glowing ashes and embers of orange and gold. I was shocked at the sight, my eyes widening. Half of my mind was wondering how it just bursted into flames by itself and the other wondering how no one was startled by the bird that was just set on fire in the middle of the street. Wouldn't that attract attention and maybe the media's as well?

A boy around my age saw the sight, across the street from me. He was leaning against an apartment complex siding, the red bricks contrasting with his all-black choice of clothing attire. The only other color that I could see from here was the whites of his soft dark blue eyes, his chocolate brown hair with golden highlights and his sun-kissed tan skin. He stared at me with blank and bored eyes, his arms crossed over his chest, acting like it was an everyday occurrence that bored him, and he pushed himself off the building.

The wind picked up for a bit, moving my hair. Thinking that the bird's ashes would blow away and fly up into the atmosphere, I ignored the embers and resumed to staring at the boy. He walked into the street, ignoring all of his surroundings and more concentrated at the remains of the dead-and-ash pigeon. He crouched down, squatting, and took his hand out of his pocket. Reaching for the gray ash, he dipped his hand in the ashes, looking like he was searching something.

I was about to protest and yell at the boy to respect the dead, even if it was an animal, when something else caught my attention; a mustard-yellow taxi quickly speeding its merry way towards the boy's location from the end of the street. At the rate the taxi was going, it didn't look like it was gonna stop anytime soon. "Kid! Get out of the road!" I yelled frantically, quickly standing up from the bench. The boy looked at me for a moment before back to searching the remains of the pigeon dust, ignoring my shouts and tuned me out. I wanted to run and shove him out of harm's way, but my conscience was telling me "no."

There it was again, the tugging feeling. In the back of my mind, I felt that I would be more help if I just stood there and watch what happen, but it almost felt as if an outside voice and body was tugging me and holding me back instead.

When the taxi sped up closer and closer to the boy, I was waiting if he would actually listen to me and move out of the way. What was so important about that pigeon's ashes?

No, he still ignored me, too busy in whatever he was doing. Once the taxi was close enough for an accident to happen, I fumbled out my cellphone, just in case I needed to call 911. I was sure that I had to call 911.

The taxi excruciatingly zipped by like a flash. I cringed and had to turn away when the taxi was close enough to hit the boy and probably kill him. I closed my eyes, biting my lower lip in frustration and in fear. The boy was dead, a corpse's now in the middle of the street, I thought. Why didn't he listen to my cries of help and just leave that damn bird?!

I needed to calm down, I thought. This was getting to my head. I didn't even know the boy and yet I felt the many tears cascade down my cheeks and collect at the tip of my chin. I rubbed my locket again, trying to calm my frazzled and freaked out nerves.

I expected to hear at least a loud THUNK! or a scream from another passer-by or at least a long blare from the taxi but no such noises came. Instead, the sound of a fast car passing by me was heard. Just that.

I opened my eyes and turned around. No blood. No corpse. No scream or blare. The boy was still in the middle of the road, searching through the gray ashes.

I smiled and relieved a huge weight off my shoulders. Thank god he wasn't dead. But wait . . .

Wasn't he SUPPOSED to be dead?

All new and rather positive thoughts escaped through my mind as a new panic settled throughout my entire body. I felt my face pale in color and cold sweat form on the temples of my head. The boy was still intact but the taxi didn't even land a scratch on the boy's body. That was inhuman.

"Aha!" The boy chirped softly, his eyes widening for a slight moment then returning to its normal size. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked to the boy. He stopped searching and looked like he was grabbing something from the ashes, judging from the way his hand was clumped into a fist. Looking more closely, he pulled his fist out of the ashes, holding in his hand a silver key.

I blinked, rubbing my eyes. I looked at him once more, seeing a silver key in his hand. The boy noticed that I was still in his presence and looked up towards me. Our eyes met for a brief moment, and in that brief moment, I noticed a fire in his eyes. It was more of a set determination, but fire was how it looked to me.

Not breaking eye contact, he stood up straight. I took in his clothing attire once more, noticing that he was wearing a black t-shirt while a black jacket was over. He wore black jeans with black converses and a belt with varied knives and bottles containing colorful mystery liquids. A worn-out satchel was thrown over his shoulder and fingerless black leather gloves were on his hands. I wondered why he had all of these things.

Silently, he smiled a small smile and using his fingers , he whistled loud. I cringed and held my ears and at the same time looked around me. Why did no one react? No one was stopping or looking, they just minded their own businesses.

I turned back to the boy, who held up his hand in the air, the other still clutching onto the silver key. In a flash, he was swooped up by something so fast, my eyes couldn't keep up with the speed. I watched him in the distance fly away, his form gradually getting smaller and smaller until he was just a dot in my vision.

"What was that?" I wondered aloud, still in awe of the events that occurred earlier. Other people turned to my direction, looking at me like I was crazy. Okay, they didn't hear that loud whistle but they heard my stupid remark?

I scowled, ignoring the questionable stares glaring at the back of my head. There was only one thing I focused solely on; the mysterious boy and the pigeon's key.