Sometime in the past in a different universe...
November 2009
An eight-year-old boy sat on his little bed with his puffed-up cheeks resting on his cupped hands. He was sulking because his parents had given him a good lecture about what he had done in school today.
Liu Chen's actions may have been violent but he had good intentions behind them.
His ears perked up as soon as heard soft knocks against his windows. His room was on the first floor of his house. The only one who would climb up his window at this hour was his one and only best friend.
The boy stumbled out of his bed and quickly ran to the window to open it. A little girl with a head full of wild brown locks and a missing tooth stared at him with a guilty smile. He offered her his hand which she took gratefully and jumped inside the room.
She sat on the messy bed and gestured for her friend to sit beside her.
"Chen, I told you not to hit him. Now you are grounded," Leo scolded her friend.
"They deserved it! They were calling you stupid names," Chen protested still looking angry.
His lower lip was swollen with dried blood. He also had a black eye. His knuckles were raw from punching the bullies.
"Then you could have called me. I wanted to punch them too," Leo exclaimed while shaking her head in disappointment.
That made Chen giggle, "Then you would be grounded too."
"I love staying at home," Leo pointed out.
"Chen! Who are you talking to? Is it Leona?!" Chen's mother screamed from downstairs.
The kids gasped in horror.
"Quick! HIDE!" Chen pulled Leo out of his bed and shoved her inside the closet.
January 2013.
"Are you sure about this?" Chen asked with his voice barely above a whisper.
Leo nodded confidently. She didn't bother to look at him. She was rather busy tying a pretty bow with the blue string on the main door of their school. It was nearly time for the teachers to arrive and Chen was growing anxious.
"Why are we doing this again?" He mumbled nervously.
Leo admired her work with a proud smile and stood up straight. The hallways were filled with crisscrossed strings. She made sure to swap every board marker with permanent markers. She used plastic wrap to cover all the doors to the classrooms. And lastly, she took out two screws from each and every teacher's desk.
"We are doing this because we are finally leaving this town and I hate humans in general," Leo explained.
Chen stared at her thinking why he was even friends with the weird girl.
"We should leave," he said with a sigh.
Leo send him a salute and the kids ran back to their houses, one laughing like the little devil she was and another praying to god that they would not get caught. At that moment none of them knew what was waiting for them at home.
Chen offered to walk Leo home. Although she insisted she could go alone, Chen wanted to make sure she was safe. He had always been the overprotective kind. Not that Leo would ever admit it out loud, but she appreciated his efforts. Chen was a kind boy and Leo was glad to have him as her friend.
As soon as they reached their home, they were met with Leo's parents who were standing in front of the car looking a bit dazed. Their dresses were dishevelled and her mother's eyes were red. Leo immediately knew that something was wrong.
She grabbed Chen's hand and started dragging him forcefully making the boy stumble in his steps. Leo's heart started beating faster and faster, so fast that it started to sting.
As soon as they were close enough, both her parents eyed each other with unreadable looks. It was as if they were shocked to see Chen with Leo.
"Mom, what's wrong? Where are you heading to looking like that?" Leo asked in a hurry, still panting from running so fast.
"I...we..." her mother struggled to form words.
Her father placed a hand on the lady's shoulder and gestured for Chen to come closer. Leo still couldn't understand what was going on and why her chest hurt so much. Leo placed a hand on her chest to soothe the pain but it didn't work.
Her ears started to ring and she could barely make out what her father was saying to Chen. The last thing she could remember was Chen's horrified face and tear-stained cheeks before blacking out. The next thing she knew, she was at Chen's parents' funeral with the boy sitting in one corner of his room with a blank look.
February 2015.
Since Chen's parents had died in that mysterious fire, not a day went by when Leo was not with the boy. He had become heavily dependent on her. He would get frequent panic attacks and horrible nightmares. For two years straight, Chen practically lived with Leo instead of staying with his aunt.
As much as Leo knew they had to maintain a bit of distance, she had seen how the Chen had spent countless nights staring at the ceiling blankly afraid of seeing another nightmare. She pitied the boy. But her presence was consuming him. They shared their deepest secrets and had shown their most vulnerable side to each other.
But they were just fourteen. Who could have known that Chen would mistake her sympathy and friendship for love?
For a change of weather, Leo's family had decided to get a change of weather. After a long time, both the kids were excited to finally go on a trip. It was like they were cooped up in an unknown city without anywhere to go except to school. Settling down in a completely new place was hard enough, but being seen as the quiet kids, the outcasts and dealing with Chen's trauma at the same time affected Leo's emotional balance as well.
But going to a lake house for a small vacation was the last thing that Leo had in mind. She didn't know about others but those places were dark, broody and depressing. There were way too many bugs and most of the horror movies take place in lake houses. Although bugs were on top of the list of things Leo hated, ghosts were not far behind either.
The lake house was not that bad. It was open and had a forest around it. Chen looked quite happy and her parents were content as well. They all were smiling so widely. But there was where her memory got blurry.
Unlike others, Leo did not feel as happy. She felt unsettled. A bad feeling kept prickling at the back of her mind. Just when Chen would start laughing at how her father chewed food or her mother would start sharing a happy memory, Leo's heart would start beating faster. She felt like they were not supposed to have fun at that moment.
She feared that if she expressed even a little bit of happiness, everything would go wrong. There was no way everything would be perfect after all those years of misery and darkness. The last time they laughed out loud, Chen's parents ended up dying. Whatever happened, Leo promised herself that she would not laugh.
"Hey, Leo."
The girl snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at Chen.
"You wanna go check out the lake? Maybe we could go for a swim," Chen smiled at her hopefully.
Leo raised her eyebrows, "That lake could be infested with alligators or worse, diseases."
Chen waved her off, "Just say you are scared."
"I am not!" Leo glared at him.
Chen suddenly leaned closer with a mischievous smirk, "Then prove it. Prove that Leona Hart is not a coward."
Before Leo could protest, her friend was already running towards the lake. She looked back to see her parents were not there. She could have sworn that they were sitting at the picnic table and chatting just a second ago.
Thunder rumbled at a distance making her glance up at the sky. Dark, angry clouds were advancing towards them from the west. It was spring break. It was not supposed to rain during this time.
Leo shook off the doubt and started running after Chen. When she was close enough, she could see the boy was already floating on the dark water. the dark clouds made the water look mysterious. It was so dark that it almost looked like a mirror.
Leo found herself inching towards the water. She looked down to see her face smiling at her. She lifted her hand and touched her face to feel her lips pulled into a smile. She could not remember smiling.
"What are you waiting for, you scaredy cat?" Chen called out.
Leo smiled at the boy forgetting what she was thinking about. She jumped into the lake and burst on the surface after a few seconds.
"I am not a coward, Chen," Leo shouted back and swam closer to the boy.
Chen splashed water at her making her sputter. She splashed some water back and soon both the teenagers were laughing their heads off.
"Okay, I'm cold now. Let's head back," Leo started swimming towards the wooden dock.
"You are no fun," Chen huffed but followed her anyways.
"Fun.." Leo mumbled as the smile on her face slowly melted away.
The sky was so dark. It was in the middle of the day but it felt like it was past dawn. Le climbed up on the dock and squeezed the hem of her shirt to dry it out a little bit. She shivered as a harsh wind blew past her. Her heart skipped a beat.
She jumped when Chen placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned back with a frown. Chen stared down at her with an unreadable expression. Leo blinked as she felt him lean closer. His lips nearly touched hers when another thunder clapped above their head.
"What are you doing, Chen? We should head back," Leo said and was surprised at how monotonous her voice sounded.
Chen backed off but grabbed her elbow so that she could not move, "Leo, please, for once. Hear me out."
Leo yanked her arms out of his grip, "Hear you for once? Chen, I have been listening to you since we became friends! But what you are about to do does not feel right. Not to me at least."
"Leo, please. I love you! And it's not just some teenage crush. It's like I can't breathe without you. I can't feel anything except your presence. I need you near me all the time. You are supposed to be mine."
Leo stared at the boy in disbelief, "Chen are you even listening to what you are saying? You have grown an obsession. You don't need me, you need help."
She gave him one last look of disappointment and started walking off. But Chen didn't give up. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her back trying to force a kiss on her lips. Out of reflex, Leo pushed the boy hard making him fall into the lake once again. Chen started falling back but not before dragging Leo with him.
They were under the dark water once again. Leo struggled to break the surface at the air suddenly picked up. Small droplets of rain fell on the water creating ripples. She pushed her head up the surface but fell once again.
"HE- HELP!"
She tried to swim up once again but went under the water. She could not see and soon she was gulping down water. She didn't know where Chen was but she could hear him struggling as well. She kept screaming for help and praying that her friend was keeping up. If something would happen to Chen, she would never be able to forgive herself.
Just when she knew that she was about to die, her body was pulled to the surface. She gasped for air as her throat and lungs burned. She had never felt so much pain all at once. Her ears were ringing and her head felt like it was about to burst.
Through her blurry eyes, she tried her best if anyone was saving Chen. He was still struggling to stay afloat. She saw her father swimming towards Chen as fast as he could. He was screaming something but Leo could barely make sense of it.
Her father was almost there. Just a few inches and he would grab Chen's hand. But Leo could not relax and pass out. She watched in horror and Chen let out a loud scream. He went under the water once again but it looked like someone had forcefully pulled him down.
She didn't know what had happened or how she reacted. The only thing she could remember after that incident was waking up on the wooden docks with her parents' concerned faces hovering over her. There was no sign of dark clouds or rain. Her clothes were dry and she felt fine. The only pain she felt was in her throat which felt raw from screaming so loudly.
The story that was told to her was completely different from what had actually happened. Apparently, the police thought that Chen and she were only playing and she had pushed him under the water accidentally. When she asked about the storm, the police only gave her odd looks. Her mother also assured her that they never left the picnic table. They had come running as soon as they heard her screaming so loudly.
It cannot possibly rain during spring break.
"And what about his body?"
The policeman only gave her the creepiest smile, "You don't have to worry about that young lady."
✱ ⁕ ❋ ✻ ✽ ❃ ✿ ❊
"I know I'm not crazy!"
Tom gave her a look making Leo roll her eyes, "Okay fine. But I Know what I saw. And he might look a bit older now because back then Chen was only fourteen but I am sure it's him."
Tom pursed his lips and folded his arms above his chest. He looked deep in thought. Leo still could not believe that someone else from her timeline came here. Things could take a turn for the worse. Thinking back to when she had literally pushed him into a lake and he died after that, Chen certainly did not come back to have fun.
"But you still did not tell me who Flynn Rider is," Tom pointed out.
Leo slapped her forehead with an angry grunt, "Merlin!"
Tom waited for her answer patiently.
Leo stared at him with a deadpan look. After a minute of staring contest, Leo gave up and rolled her eyes.
"Fine," she took in a deep breath, "Flynn Rider, also known as Eugene Fitzherbert, is a thief that stole a crown from the royal family. He has a great sense of humour and knows how to treat a girl right. He is charming, daring, and confident. Flynn is the definition of dashing, and he knows it. He can sometimes be a bit arrogant, but beneath it all, he has a sensitive heart. That is why I will always choose him over any other man."
Tom blinked and took a second to process her little speech.
"You would choose him over anyone?" Tom asked.
"Yes."
"Would you choose him over me as well?" Tom asked again to clarify.
"Yes," Leo replied without missing a beat.
Tom inhaled and blinked a couple of fo times. He narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly.
"Very well. I must go back to the dorms now," Tom said and glanced at Leo from the corner of his eyes, "I need to go and finish the blueberry muffins that Malfoy had given me earlier. I have to eat them while they are still fresh."
"Wow, Tom," Leo grabbed his shoulder while looking at him with an impressed look, "Your hair looks absolutely amazing today."
"I know. There is just enough muffin for two people and I don't think I can finish them on my own," Tom feigned worry, "if only there was someone I could share them with."
Leo patted her stomach, "I am suddenly very hungry."
Tom glanced up at the ceiling pretending to think, "Maybe I should Olivia..."
Leo gasped dramatically, "You will not!"
"I don't know. I am considering it," Tom said with a teasing smirk.
"Tom," Leo whined, "Flynn Rider is a fictional character! I would always choose you!"
"Well, I was a fictional character as well," Tom argued back.
Leo opened her mouth but could not argue back. Instead, she kissed Tom's cheek and offered him an apologetic smile.
"Out of all the fictional characters I like, I was chosen to come here. That means I will choose you no matter what, okay?" Leo confessed.
As soon as her words settled in, she started walking towards the edge of the tower to jump off.
"That was a nice talk, good bye, Tom."
The heir of Slytherin rolled his eyes but a small smile tugged at his lips.
"You can jump after eating the muffins," Tom shouted.
Leo made a sharp U-turn and walked past Tom, "I'll do that."
A/N: So, I have never experienced drowning. I am really scared of water and I don't even go in the kid's pool at waterparks.
If anyone is confused, the chapter starts with flashbacks of Leo's previous life and ends with the current one. I hope it was not confusing.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I wrote it and edited it in one sitting and now I can't move my back.
Guys, I am getting oooooolllllldddd. 👵
Okai, Byeeeeeee.
ヾ(￣▽￣) Bye~Bye~