One Of The Children

Chapter 2

Present Day

We were hanging out on my roof, passing the blunt back and forth. He was telling me about his time in prison. Everything he had seen. Everything he had done. It surprised me how much someone could change in only a year. Given the circumstances of his circumstances, he didn't have much choice.

"I know a lot of people say that they would go back and change their past, but I wouldn't." He said. I didn't have to question his outlook on his world. Before prison, he was really a handful. O'Shawn had gotten worse before the start of his freshman year. He had been arrested for arson and refused to give up the names of the people who helped. No lives were lost, but someone did lose their business. He wouldn't even tell me who it was.

He grabbed the lighter, flicking its side to ignite the flame. He placed his hand right above the flame, moving his fingers through it. He didn't wince or whine about it burning him. He never did. 

"Still fire proof I see." I said, looking at his unfazed hand.

"Yeah. Still having those dreams?" He asked.

When I first met him, he showed me fire didn't hurt him. No matter how long he held his hand over an open flame, he didn't flinch.

It didn't burn.

He had told me he discovered this when he touched a cast iron skillet that had been on a stove when he was six. His grandmother yelled about it being too hot to touch without a hot pad, but he didn't feel anything. It left no mark as he set it back down, no blister formed the very next day like a normal human being. No one in his family knew why he couldn't be burned, they just knew it wasn't normal and treated him like an outcast. His mother had sent him to live with his older brother when he was nine for setting their kitchen on fire. He's been raising hisself since.

That same day I told him about my dreams and how frequent they were. I never told him about the other incident, just that we were always moving and this was one of those times. We bonded over our "outcast" status, becoming each other's confidant.

"Yeah, but they aren't as frequent anymore. Still coded though." I answered.

The dreams did slow down over the last year. When they first started I was plagued by horrible images every night, over and over again. For the first few months at my new school my grades suffered because of my lack of sleep. I was even forced to see the school counselor because my appearance mirrored that of a sleep deprived zombie. My mother wasn't any help either. Whenever I would try to speak on what was happening to me, she just forced me to repress it, saying it was nothing but nightmares. She was wrong.

This was more.

"And your mom?" He asked.

"Still stubborn."

He shook his head as he looked away. "Yeah, I figured. Especially since I know she doesn't want you hanging around me." He joked.

"Yeah, she really doesn't like you for some reason" I rolled my eyes, "but I don't care." I hit the blunt one more time before passing it back to him.

"I'm glad you didn't move while I was away. I wasn't sure if you would still be here after a year. I remember you saying that y'all always moved."

"Yeah, me either."

The air between us went quiet. My eyes locked on his side profile which was brighter by the moonlight. The boldness of the white moon against his dark skin reminded me how handsome he was. I had always admired him for his looks. Looking at him, you wouldn't think he was a sentimental and thoughtful person, just a very good-looking one. I had always wondered if he liked me in the way that I liked him, but I was too scared to ask. I had never had a boyfriend, and I couldn't let myself do that again. I couldn't repeat that day.

Never.

"Are you gonna keep staring at me or are you gonna give me a compliment?" He teased, turning his head towards me.

I could feel my cheeks becoming warm as I looked away.

"Yeah, not even.." I said, covering one of my cheeks with my hand.

He laughed at me as he stood up stretching. He let out a soft moan before his mouth formed into a yawn. He grabbed the lighter from the roof top, putting it in his pocket.

"I think ima go ahead and head back. Since tomorrow is Saturday, do you want to hang out? We can catch up some more if you're up for it." He asked, staring at me with the puppy eyes.

I nodded my head in agreement, "That's fine, just knock, I'll be here." I said.

I stood up, making sure to have my ground so I wouldn't fall. He dusted the back of his pants off, causing me to mimic the action.

I'm weird like that.

He walked down to the side of the roof where a ladder was posted against. He turned his body around going feet first with his arms to support him as he access the ladder. He turned around and looked at me nodding his head.

"Night Cadence."

"Night Shawny." I snickered back. He hated being called by his childhood name.

"That's a freebie. Next one's a pop." He answered as he descended the ladder.

I put my head down to laugh, noticing the blunt on the ground. I bent down to picked it up and......

A gun.

Lighting striking in the same place twice.

Blood on my hands.

"O'Shawn!!!!"

I dropped the blunt on the ground, a faint trace of light glowing from my fingers. What had just happened? What did I just see? What was that light? I looked at the blunt on the ground. The end was burning as if I had lit it again. I peeked over to the side, looking to see if O'Shawn had witnessed it, but he was nowhere around. I broke back towards my window, climbing through. I walked towards my desk grabbing the notebook and pen from earlier. I wrote everything down as I had remembered it. A gun. Lighting. Blood. And.....O'Shawn? I was screaming his name in my vision. Why? What's was going to happen?

What was going to happen....to him?

I paced back over and over, trying to piece the vision I had together. Nothing made sense to me except this was bad. That was the only conclusion I could come to. The vision was a warning about something, but time had gotten away from me. The sun was creeping up through my window. I looked at my phone and the time was 5:36. I got up, closing the notebook behind me. I took off the remainder of my clothes, throwing them on the floor beside my bed. I jumped onto the soft mattress letting it take me away.........

A few hours ago, far but near.

He stared at Cadence from away, his Adonis Eye  allowing him to see far distances. The glowing of the eye was almost otherworldly.....godly in a way. He witnessed Cadence have his vision and the light of his power.

He had found his target.