Dominions

Chapter 3: Jayden

"Excellence, Jayden! You require excellence! Keep pushing, son! Keep moving!"

That was all Jayden Moore was used to hearing. Be the best he could be. It didn't matter if it was school, sports, or even his friend groups. Everything in his life had to be superb, and if he didn't live up to the high standards his parents set before him Jayden was left miserable. 

Every time he messed up, the consequence had to be worse than the last time. His father always worked to make his son strive for perfection. For Mr. Moore, his punishments were about discipline. He never concerned himself with being too harsh. Jayden knew that his dad saw him as one thing, a star, and to be a star you had to overcome the odds. 

I'm only doing this to help your future son. Jayden mocked his father in his head. The last time he got in trouble his father used those exact words. How many times had he heard that before? He rolled his eyes. 

He lived the life of a star athlete in public, but Jayden felt as if he lived in a prison.

You're a Moore son! Jayden thought, mocking his father in his head. The same speech since he was a kid was used time after time to motivate him. We don't settle for less!

And that was the truth.

Jayden's older sister, Jessica, graduated valedictorian from their local high school. She went on to graduate with honors from Harvard School of Law and was now working at a high-profile law firm.

His older brother Malcolm dropped out of college and created an app that became a national sensation. It was a form of tindr that matched you based on the shows you watch on your streaming services. He incorporated a complicated algorithm that took things like time watched and time spent binging to help make the matches more successful.

It was safe to say Jayden had big shoes to fill.

He was never great at school. He was always in some sort of tutoring, but while he suffered academically, Jayden excelled in sports. His grandpa used to take Jayden to baseball games at a young age. Jayden's happiest memories were talking to his grandfather about how players like Jackie Robinson paved the way so people that looked like him could one day do the same thing. Baseball became an obsession. A secret hideaway that only he and his grandfather were able to access.

After his grandfather died when he was eleven, baseball didn't feel the same.  There was nothing like smacking the bat into a ball and watching it fly. The crowd's roar, while he ran around the bases, was one of his favorite noises. He still loved the game, but what was once a great way to blow off steam quickly turned sour when his dad realized Jayden's potential.

Every weekend turned into a training weekend. Hanging out with friends came far and few between as he couldn't give up his time to work out for just any event. His father was Jayden's drill sergeant, and with each scream or yell, Jayden grew to hate him more and more.

"You call that running, you sissy?! I said MOVE!"

Jayden picked up speed but made a face at his father as he did so. He knew it would probably earn him a comment after this morning's workout, but he didn't care. He'd been up since 6:00 am on a Saturday, and that was his father allowing him to sleep past his normal 5:00 am wake-up on weekdays.

With quaking breaths, Jayden ran to the last yard of the football field he'd grown ever familiar with and collapsed into the touchdown zone. He took several deep breaths as his father came running over to him, squirting his water at Jayden's face.

"You picked it up that last little sprint, Jay," his father said. "You're still two seconds slower than you have been running it though. What's got your mind this week, son?"

It would be shorter for Jayden to answer what wasn't on his mind. Sometimes, it felt like his thoughts were moving faster than he had just run. He jumped from scenario to scenario, and each one was worse than he thought before. It didn't matter what the situation was. Could be he was with friends and had to choose a movie, or if he did his school work correctly that day. The only time he felt like he could breathe was when he was asleep, but even then, Jayden had nightmares.

He dreamed of old, wrinkly, dried-out hands reaching up from the ground to grab at his ankles. They were calling to him, telling him to join them. He would try to run, but more hands would stick out of the ground and grab ahold of him. He had this dream a few times a month, and it always ended the same way.

His grandpa would appear like a burst of light and tell him that it wasn't his time. Jayden always wanted the dream to last longer. He longed to hear his grandpa's laugh one more time. His grandpa had a laugh that would fill the room. It was one of those booming laughs that left everyone staring at the person who produced it.

But instead, Jayden was left with his father.

And his mind never turned off as he wanted it to. 

"I'm just stressed from school, dad."

His dad frowned and sat down next to his son. Jayden hated when he tried to pretend to get on his level of understanding. The truth was his dad didn't care about Jayden, only that his star athlete continued to produce the star athlete abilities. It was a painfully forced relationship, and both father and son knew it.

"Well, if you ever need to talk, you know that I'm here, right?" asked his dad. Jayden looked at the man who gave him life and saw a look of pure terror. Heaven forbid his son took him up on some of his offers.

"Naw, dad," said Jayden, putting on the familiar fake smile. "I'll figure it out."

"You're so much stronger than you think you are." 

Jayden turned around expecting to see a woman behind him. The voice sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure where he heard it before. To his surprise, his dad and he were the only people on the field at this time. 

That was weird. He thought shaking it off. I must be pushing it too hard.