Only Me

Prologue

"And just like that, everything was suddenly different..."

"Stay close, kids! We don't want you to get lost," his mom called out to him and his little sister, Scarlett. Quinn looked at his mom and nodded. 

After walking through the mall for what felt like ages, they finally reached their destination. Or at least the only reason why Quinn had wanted to come. As a six-year-old he only cared about a few things. First, his family. Second, candy. And last, but definitely not the least, toys. 

He and his three-year-old sister ogled the giant teddy-bear behind the large glass window of the toys store. It was a light brown colour, with a big red bow around it's fluffy neck. This bear had been on top of their shared Christmas wishlist all year.

"It is so fluffy," Scarlett exclaimed, her blue eyes sparkling in adoration. Quinn just nodded again, too busy looking at the bear.

Their mother sat down next to Scarlett, whispering something in her ear. Quinn looked at them, wanting to know what his mother had said. He knew his mother wasn't going to tell him though. He had tried asking her that more than once. 

All of a sudden, everyone in the mall started running and screaming. It was complete chaos. People were running in different directions, mothers were looking for their kids, who were lost in the mayhem. Everyone was pushing everyone to get away.

His mom was somehow separated from him and Scarlett, so Quinn quickly grabbed his sister's hand and shoved her behind him for protection, not knowing what on earth was going on. 

They stood there for a while, frozen in their place, while people ran past them. They were screaming something at them, but he couldn't make out their words. There was just too much noise. 

Then a man screamed even louder than everyone else. 

"Take cover, take cover. They have a BOMB!"

"RUN!"

Quinn was just confused. What was a bomb? Who were they? Why was everyone running away? He was starting to panic now, hopelessly searching the crowds with his eyes for his parents, not daring to leave his place. "Mom, dad! Where are you?"

"MOM?!"

"DAD?!"  

"Please?"

He tried to keep himself from crying, biting his bottom lip. An irony taste filled his mouth.

At that moment, his eyes finally connected with someone he recognized. His dad. His dad didn't give him the comforting look he had hoped to find though. His dad's eyes widened as he looked at Quinn and Scarlett, a look of pure horror lay in them. He started running towards him and his sister, but it was too late. 

A bright flash blinded Quinn, just a mere second before it hit him. A wave of pure destruction threw him and his sister back, followed by the sound of an enormous explosion. 

Smoke faded his vision. 

He was laying on his back, feeling a little dazed. His sister's hand had slipped out of his own. His ears were ringing from the deafening bang. He started clawing the ground around him, not being able to stand up. His hand was cut several times by glass shards, spread everywhere around him. He couldn't find her. He tried to stand up to find her, but at that moment it struck him. A piercing pain shot through his left side, spreading right around the rest of his body. 

He whined in pain and tried to lift his head to see why he was hurting so much, his eyesight starting to go blurry. A large piece of glass was sticking out of the left side of his body, it was about one and a half feet long. His white shirt was already drenched in red blood. 

His blood.

He could make out the shards of broken glass from the edges of the shopping window, spread around him in a thousand little pieces, before his vision started to fade away even more.

He could faintly hear one last thing, before it all went black.  

"Quinn..."