Astray

Prolouge

It all started after Luca Chang, a pure fourteen year old, witnessed an event that stole his innocence from him and opened the door to the cruel world that no teenager should walk through.

Ivan Maheras decided to skip school with Luca that day. Luca had texted Ivan on his phone in math class, bored out of his mind, asking Ivan if he was up for a trip to the gas station near Luca's house. Ivan had eagerly agreed after he woke up from his nap in math class.

Ivan and Luca, with the addition of his brother Adrian, who was two years younger than the two of them, were inseparable. They had known each other since birth, the reason being that their dads had been close since childhood and their mothers were also good friends.

"Hey, what about Adrian?" Luca asked Ivan as he strode down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. His uniform was all messy, with his tie loosened, his jacket missing, and the first two buttons of his uniform opened.

"He said he had a major Math quiz that he didn't wanna miss out on," Ivan, the fourteen year old rebel who resembled Luca more than Adrian when it came to school habits, muttered.

Luca shook his head, "nerd" he snorted. For Luca, everything came naturally to him, whether it's sports or academics. Sure, his marks were not the best but for someone who who didn't try at all, he was doing pretty well. Adrian, on the other hand, studied endlessly and his marks were close to perfect. For some reason, his father had always expected only the best from Adrian while he didn't care that Luca wasn't working as hard as the other. This was the reason that Luca was much more reckless and Adrian was more determined when it came to school. Ivan, like Luca, did not care enough to waste his time on studying except he didn't have the brains to be able to pass, resulting in him failing most of his classes.

Luca and Ivan walked, crossing the road while chatting and laughing. As they came close to the gas station, Luca remembered that he forgot his wallet at home and currently only had a quarter in his pocket.

"Dude, I totally forgot to bring my wallet. Hey, I'm gonna run home and grab it real quick" he told Ivan as he pointed behind him to his street which was nearby the gas station.

Ivan was about to offer him some of his money but realized he only had enough to buy one candy bar, so he nodded and uttered a quick, "Okay, come quick."

Luca was about to run home but was stopped when Ivan asked if his parents were gonna be home or not. If his parents caught him, he would have been in grave trouble, but thankfully, Luca knew that his parents wouldn't get off work till a few hours after school ended.

Luca reassured Ivan and sprinted to his three story mansion. His house was on the richer side of town, for his dad was a politician and his mother was a doctor. Ivan's dad was also a politician, making Ivan quite well off too. There were many perks to being rich; Luca and Adrian attended a private school for the wealthiest and most prestigious kids in the country and never had to worry about money.

The male stealthily sneaked into his house, attempting to be as quiet as possible although he knew the house would be empty as it usually was at this time. Once entering his room, he spotted his wallet on his dresser. He reached out to grab it before heading back out. Before he reached the door, however, he heard something. The sound of low murmurs, coming from the room next to his, reached his ears. He froze, his heartbeat increasing; was someone home? It couldn't be, everyone was gone. What if it was a ghost? Was their house haunted? It couldn't have been a maid as his father dismissed them all for the day. He was lost in his thoughts until the voices got louder, snapping him out of his trance.

He debated whether or not he should investigate. He could just leave with his wallet and go back to Ivan but his curiosity got the best of him. He wasn't the type to get scared anyway.

Tiptoeing closer to the sounds, which were coming from his parents' bedroom, the words became easier to comprehend.

"It was 11 years ago! Why are you bringing this up now, huh?!" He heard his fathers deep voice boom through the adjacent door and as he neared it, he spotted his dad's back faced towards him. Luca's mother, Suzie, had fear and anger mixed in her glare. Her fists were clenched as if she was trying her hardest to keep them at her side and not swing them across her husband's face; it must have been the fear inside of her that was preventing her from doing it.

She scoffed and said, "Just because it was awhile ago does NOT make what you did okay! I am going to reveal this to the media! I am going to expose you for your true self and tell everyone the truth! To show everyone how sick you are! And I have evidence to prove it all!" She ended her speech with a twisted smile, her eyes changing from frightened to overpowering, as if she realized that she had upper hand in this argument.

Luca's father, Xin, stood still for a good three seconds. His back was turned to Luca so he couldn't see his expressions, which didn't allow him to analyze what he was feeling, but judging from his posture, clenched fists and a still body, he must have felt defeat. Xin then looked to the ground and sighed. Luca got a short glimpse of his fathers face and just from that split second look, he knew that what he saw in his dad's eye hinted that there was nothing good to come.

"That's right, I can ruin y-" Suzie's words were cut off by a loud sound as she fell to the ground. Her head hit the table, resulting in a vase falling to the ground, shattering to pieces. Her hair was tangled and messy, and strands covered her face after she dropped with a loud thud.

Luca took a sharp breath in and stiffened as he tried to comprehend what had happened; his father had just slapped his mother. Luca took a two steps back and released the breath that he was holding in, but realized that the horror that came next was even worse then what he had just witnessed.

Xin grabbed Suzie like a child grabbing a forgotten Barbie doll off the floor. Suzie was screaming and shouting, trying her hardest to break away from his grip. He raised her up, grabbed a shard of the broken vase laying on the floor, and stabbed her in the chest with his weapon. Suzie's eyes were wide and stricken with fear, her body shaking and gasping with pain. Xin took the long shard out of his wife's chest, letting her fall out of his arms. She collapsed to the ground with a louder thud than before, her body limp and lifeless, her eyes still stuck with the same look of shock and fear.

Xin stood over his wife, his body had evidently calmed down from the anger he felt, his shoulders had dropped down along with his weapon and his loud breathing. Xin slowly took a few steps back, eyes never wavering from his wife's body, now surrounded by a pool of blood, and muttered a breathy and quiet, "shit."

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HELLO YALL! This is my first story so I'm kinda new at this. I won't be updating too frequently because I have school and homework (ugh) but please do give me some feedback because it gives me motivation! Anyway thanks for reading so far!