Abeyance

Chapter 4. Postmortem.

Chapter 4. Postmortem.

Kalen reopened his eyes to find that he was still on the ground in the same position he was left in before- well- he didn't know what to call what just happened. It was just "before." Was it a dream? Maybe he had a concussion, since he obviously wasn't in the hospital. In fact, he noticed as he looked around, nobody seemed to care that two teens were laying face down, possibly dead, on the hot asphalt.

Wait. Kalen scrambled to his feet, against his better judgment, seeing as he may or may not have had a serious head injury, in a desperate attempt to find that red headed girl he tried to save. He stood up clumsily and found her lying only inches away in the same position he woke up in. Her fiery hair was matted to her face, which looked completely disheveled and unkempt, just as he imagined his own did.

He noticed her eyelids flutter. Once, twice, ever so gently. He just wanted her to wake up and tell him that he wasn't crazy; that she saw the large, deranged man, too. Oh, God, Kalen thought for a moment. What's her name?

"Hey," he whispered quietly at first as he poked at Callie. "Hey," he whispered a bit more assertively. "Are you okay?" She didn't seem to hear him. Kalen's brow furrowed as he decided to be a bit more aggressive. "Hey, wake up. Come on. Please, wake up," he hissed as he grabbed her by the arm, shaking her shoulder slightly, but being very careful to not hurt the poor, unconscious girl.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" Callie grumbled irritably as she finally started to wake up, trying to refrain from smacking Kalen across the face.

"Thank God you're awake," Kalen sighed with relief, now taking a few steps back to give her space as he watched the girl pull herself off the ground. He was still a little intimidated by her, though he would never openly admit it. He decided it was best, physically and mentally, to keep his distance.

"No, seriously, that wasn't a rhetorical question," Callie growled. "Why the hell were you shaking me?"

"Uh. Uh, well... Um... Don't you...remember?" Kalen stuttered, feeling more and more idiotic with each and every passing second. Of course she didn't remember, nothing happened! Great. Now there's yet another person who thinks you're a freak, Kalen thought. As if there weren't enough already.

"No. I don't know what you're talking about. The only thing I remember is you tackling me to the ground like a crazy person." Callie began dusting herself off and attempted to smooth out her hair, not even bothering to look at Kalen.

"I saved your life!" Kalen yelled in anger, but then thought about it, and then added timidly, "I think."

He studied Callie for a moment. Something didn't seem quite right to him. Kalen wanted to give up, finding this whole thing ridiculous, but he found that he just couldn't. Something, somewhere, told him not to stop trying. "You're seriously telling me you don't remember a thing?" His tone was defeated, but he definitely wasn't prepared to give up just yet.

"That's what I told you, right?" She became defensive, shooting a glare his way.

"Then why aren't there ambulances? Why isn't anyone trying to help us? Take a look around. People are crossing the streets, they aren't paying us any attention. Can you really just stand there and tell me, honestly, that nothing is wrong?"

"People aren't looking because nothing happened," Callie huffed in an irritated and, dare she think it, sad voice. She mentally cursed herself for not covering it up better. Damn. This was stupid. Nothing happened, she thought as she rolled her eyes and pushed past Kalen, trying to get away. "That's it. Plain and simple."

Kalen grabbed her by the shoulder in a weak attempt to stop her from leaving. In return he received yet another angry glower, yet she didn't say anything else. He removed his hand quickly and put both hands up as a means to call a truce. He quickly persisted in trying to force the stubborn girl to listen to his words while he still held her attention.

"Look at me. Look at yourself! You can't honestly believe that," he pleaded, waving his arms in the air to further emphasize his point. Kalen thought that for a moment he noticed a look of worry flash across Callie's face. A moment passed and she nervously lifted her eyes to meet his. As their eyes met, the fearful expression vanished and was then replaced by her usual scowl. Kalen rolled his eyes, but had a small sense of relief wash over him. He could see that there was a very, very small chance that he may have been getting through to the girl.

"I'm out of here." With that, Callie started to march away down the street, along with all of Kalen's hope. She squared her shoulders, clenched her fists, and held her chin poised stubbornly in the air, as if to further make a point that she just did not care.

"Wait! No... You. Wait!" Kalen called out, feeling dumb and ignorant that he didn't remember her name. "Stop!"

She stopped, for just a moment, to turn towards him one last time. She angrily pointed a finger in his direction. "Callie. My name is Callie." Then she turned again and continued stomping down the road away from town.

Jeez, I can't catch a freaking break, Kalen sneered to himself. He watched as Callie stormed away, trying to think of what his game plan was now. Something was wrong, that he was one hundred percent certain of. Maybe he should just go home? He supposed that this was his only real option. He could go to the hospital, but what if he really was crazy? They'd lock him in the looney bin for sure. Then again, if he were actually certifiable, wouldn't that be the right thing to do?

He slapped his forehead and took a few deep breaths, suddenly realizing that he didn't feel a thing. Kalen looked down to examine himself. His clothes prove that, yes, he was in some kind of major accident, which was the only explanation. Callie's did, too. The hem of his shirt was torn and dirty, and so were both of the knees of his jeans. Strangely though, he didn't note any sort of bruising or blood on either of them, at least nothing that stood out. He felt fine, better than fine in fact. He wasn't in any pain at all. He wanted to say he was numb but no, that wasn't the way to describe it. That was a feeling. He literally felt nothing.

"Damn," Kalen swore, taking one last look in Callie's direction. He was so close to just giving up and having a full mental break down. He couldn't help but think that he needed Callie to help him sort all of this out, even though that was the absolute last thing he wanted to do at that moment.

Just as Kalen's inner monologue came to an end he noticed that there was something wrong with the wiring in the transformers above Callie in the distance. He was no electrician, but he knew that nothing was supposed to spark like that.

Vaguely remembering of what Cyhay had told him about how their emotions can get the better of them if they weren't careful, and then realizing the consequences, he just started running. His feet registered everything before his brain had the chance to fully process it. The only thing he knew was that Callie was in danger, and he had to help her, whether he wanted to or not.

"Callie!" Kalen screamed, running faster than he had ever run in his life. Callie seemed unphased and continued on walking. "Callie! Turn around!" he tried again, panting slightly.

"What, Kalen?" she asked, feeling on edge. She just wanted to go home and forget everything that may or may not have happened.

"Duck!"