The Attic

Chapter 26: What If

Thank you all for being so kind and patient. My family is doing well, but we're still having trouble rebuilding.

A huge thank you to everyone on the discord server. Y'all kept me sane these past five months, and beyond. 

That's all :)

Raiden's POV

Warmth. Safety. I can't tell where my skin ends and the air begins. This existence has such a soft hold on me. I merely lay back and let everything wash over me.

Nothingness fills my mind. A calm fills my soul.

I don't know how much time passes with me like this, but I'm slowly pulled from my trance and into my surroundings.

Voices slowly trickle in through my ears, overwhelming, yet I can't focus enough to understand what they're saying. I take a step (I'm standing?) forward, hoping the noise will clear itself if only I can find one source.

"-o..?"

I freeze. Am I going in the right direction? I spin, slowly. Once I reach my first position again, (was it?) a child figure stands before me.

"Hello..?" he repeats while leaning closer.

The features of his face come into focus as I notice the other figures around me. I take a step towards him; I feel a sense of trust with him that I lack with the others.

"Do you have friends yet?"

I try to find a face in the crowd, but nothing focuses. "I don't think so."

"That's okay. I'll be friends with you!"

Temperatures drop quickly, as if each faceless figure sucks the heat straight from my bones. I find myself closer to my new friend (did I move?) and bathe in his warmth. I need to be closer. The cold is too hard to bear alone.

His smile widens as he tells me, "I'll protect you," and holds out his hand to me. "Nothing bad will come to you, Raiden. Do you trust me?"

I reach out, pulled in by his presence, and take his outstretched hand. Every good feeling comes flooding back to me and I grab tighter to make sure it doesn't escape.

"Yes, Adam."

I blink, and time flies by. I never left his side and he kept his word. I can't see it happen, but I feel it throughout me.

Months and years pass, one glimpse of a memory at a time. I reach out to them, making out moments every time my fingertips graze over one.

I'm on the ground, bully with a face just out of my field of vision towering over me. But then he's not. I'm not. Suddenly, the bully's gone, and Adam stands above me, hand outstretched. Well, suddenly, but at the same time it feels so very natural.

And it's gone as quick as it came.

Valentine's Day. I don't have as many cards as everyone else. They've broken the rules, given everyone else one but me. And then I have too many. I try to hide a smile as I hide the cards within my desk. Adam gives me cover, shoving the last of his stolen gifts to me.

And lunch swaps. He always brings the best snacks, and always sneaks extras into his bag when his parents aren't looking.

As grade school slips into middle school before me, I find myself wading in the deeper ends of our memories, everything becoming clearer and clearer. I drift aimlessly. These memories aren't from that long ago, it seems. When they start to stray from their original path, I take notice again.