Early Dawn

Chapter I

The crash echoed for miles on and on. The black early morning sky suddenly beamed to life when the lightning bolt hit him. I fell backward, maybe blew backward, I'm not entirely sure. Everything felt like a blur. All I could hear were screams, then the deafening ringing in my ears. I remember lying on my back, the heavy rain pounding against my cheeks. My back aches after being scratched from the paved road. I was breathing heavily, everything seemed to slow down. Then I remembered. Him.

"Holy shit!" My voice stuttered as I jolted up. The oozing crimson liquid on my hands began to wash away from the rain. My clothes were soaked in my blood and water, "Edwin!" My voice rang out. Lightning struck the ground, but this time it didn't hit him. I saw him lying on the ground for the split second. The image stuck in my head of him lying face down, not moving at all, "Oh shit!" I stumbled over to where he was, lying on the sidewalk. Suddenly, the harsh lightning struck the ground again... no, not the ground... it struck him again... It should have been impossible. My body collapsed to the ground again with a heave. We had a better chance of winning the lottery twice than lightning striking his body twice. I crawled across the ground, almost dragging the weight of my legs behind me. I felt his soft arm and grabbed a hold of it, "Edwin!" I shouted, my voice being drowned out by the rain. There was no response. "This is my fault... Holy shit..." I stuttered, squeezing a hold of his arm. Lighting struck the earth with a deafening crash. His body was free of any injury, but he wasn't talking... or breathing, no pulse was beating in his chest, "Buddy, come on!" I shouted louder, desperate for him to hear, "Please..." We have plunged into darkness once again. I felt warm tears and cold raindrops drip down my cheeks. I held his body close to my chest, my heart pounding out of my ribs.

The rain began to die down. Only a slight drizzle remained and the chill of the night air flooded through my skin. The moon shone dimly and menacingly through the cloudy early morning. I shivered while I held the lifeless human close to my chest. Warmth began to die out of my soul and out of my blood. I could have been dying... But I thought he was already gone. The pitch blackness felt unwelcoming and overbearing. I wanted to get away... not get ourselves killed.

"Evaline?" Edwin suddenly muttered. I thought it was the wind whispering in my ear, but it was like my silent prayers had been answered. He pushed himself up, wincing slightly from the pain that he was in.

"Holy shit!" I said, "You're not dead!?" The tears dripping from my eyes were now tears of joy. I hugged him tighter. His body felt warm... hot... against mine. It was weird, but I kept my mouth shut. Then I let go to look at him. In the dim morning light, he looked just fine, like nothing ever happened to him.

"Woah, what the hell happened to you!?" Edwin jolted, he was wide-eyed with horror at my blood-soaked clothes, "You're freezing! And bloody..."

"It was the, the lightning..." I stuttered, "And, and I tripped, I-"

"What lightning?" Edwin looked at me, completely dumbfounded. He looked at the pavement were there were trails of blood from my hand and my black from sliding across the pavement after the force of the lightning struck Edwin and the edgy dark, black marks from the lightning hitting the pavements and the cracks that now dove deep into the ground, but he couldn't seem to remember. And besides, he looked like he was in better condition than I was!

"The lightning," I stated, "The lightning that, that you know... hit you? Like, like twice?" I stared at him. He was still looking at the blood on the pavement, "Do you know anything!?"

A look jolted across his face, he remembered something, "Holy shit..." He muttered quietly, "I got hit... twice." He looked at me like a confused five year old, "How the fuck am I alive?" Edwin sat down, staring at the bloody pavement. He checked his own hands and limbs and he only found that all of his blood stayed inside his body. He looked at me, his eyes filled with sympathy.