[**heres the first & second chapters please tell me what you think! i wrote a third chapter too so i wanna put it up if this one's good:) oh! and please dont mind the spelling and gammar mistakes;)<
[***Enjoy!! ^_^]
Prologue
"Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe."
― Neil Gaiman.
We tried to run, tried to hide. We were searching - but there was no escape. I had to leave them behind. We were fighting a failing battle.
I have no regrets if it meant I could save one. I trust that he will take good care of her other half in my absence.
But in the end, this escape was only temporary relief. A futile attempt from the very beginning. They have found us, they are coming. And they're going to kill everyone in sight. No mercy on the young or the meek.
We must find a solution. Time is running out, but I must protect her. She is not ready, not now.
They're getting closer, we are surrounded. I must protect her, for she is part of our unique gift that separates us from the others. We must cherish her and her other half. They will be the glue that holds worlds together.
Our world is deteriorating; any chances of survival are slim. Very slim.
But I must have faith in the choices we made. And I must keep faith so that our escape was not in vain. There is no turning back from here. We can only go forward from this point on. For she will, someday, lead us out of this war.
So for those reasons, I must protect her even if it will cost me my life...
Chapter One
Omg she won't shut up.
"THAT is so frigging ridiculous! In what way am I a... what was it?" Raven demanded angrily, for the ninth time, sitting on the rusty park swings.
"A cougar," I sighed seeing how hard I could roll my eyes without getting them stuck in my brain. Although I loved this girl like she was my sister, which would be a tremendous replacement for the one I have now, she kept asking this same question over and over again for three months straight. It was annoying the frigging crap out of me. I hate repetition. And more importantly, I had a more pressing matter to talk about, but since I let it regretfully slip, she wouldn't get off this subject.
"Yeah that. How am I a 'cougar?' " She sneered the word with dramatic air quotes.
"Because... 'for the thousandth time'," Jake stressed the last four words, mocking Raven's tone. He was sitting on the swings opposite her, drooling all over her with a mixed expression of affection and amusement. Though he was just as annoyed by her questions as I was, he still couldn't help but admire her. Raven had that type of effect on people. "You're dating me and I'm a year younger than you."
"But I don't get how I look like a cougar, I'm Japanese! If anybody looks like some sort of black cat it's you Lee, you have big eyes and dark skin." Raven said confused. I didn't personally take any offence to that racial comment, Raven isn't racist intentionally; she was just the type of person who says whatever's on their mind. She had no filter, which usually got us both into a lot of trouble at school. "And we're not dating." She added lamely. There was no point in saying that; we all knew they clearly were. Shoot, the whole school knew! Someone saw the two of them making googly eyes at each other across the Caf and spread the rumour that Raven liked to prowl on younger men.
Jake and I sighed in unison; we both were now tired of her onslaught repetitive questions. They've had this on-again-off-again relationship over the entire summer; it was about time she had just admitted to it. Poor Jake loved her so much yet she denied ever having feelings for him. I personally was fed up so I said, "Would you just give it a rest! You guys are so dating, and you totally like him so stop denying it. You're only hurting yourself and Jake with your constant 'break ups'." I paused to look at Jake to see if he was okay that I said that last part out load, his cheeks were flushed but he only nodded for me to continue. Coward, I thought as I sucked in a breath to finish lecturing Raven, "And being a cougar doesn't mean you look like one - oh, and they aren't even black btw- that's jaguars or panthers. Also the term 'cougar', is used to describe older women who only prefer to date men who are younger then themselves. Like twenty years younger. So you're not one okay? There's nothing wrong with dating a guy younger than you by a year or so, especially if all the boys our age are a bunch of losers." I mean seriously, all the guys in grade ten that went to our school were buckets. Well not all but indeed most. And plus there was just something about dating a guy that went to your school that automatically made him a loser.
Raven just blinked at me, red-faced from the embarrassment of my outburst, she refused to look in Jake's direction. Jake's expression was one of relief, he was glad he didn't have to say any of that to his beloved. It would have been too awkward. I just shrugged my shoulders at them; moment passed, and continued to climb up the children's slide the wrong way. I have my moments of smartitude. And they both know there's only so much bull I could take before I go up the wall.
Having witnessed the two them struggle to have a decent relationship was exactly why I felt I didn't need one, a boyfriend that is. Actually getting serious and perusing crushes it's too hard. It was too much unnecessary drama, excess baggage sort of thing. Well there was that and the fact our school was filled with guys who seemed to think wearing their pants around their ankles and addressing every girl that attended our school as 'bitch' or 'hoe' was the perfect way to appeal to the opposite sex.
The only person who managed to catch my slightest of interests was a boy named Oliver. Though, he was a year older than us, he was the only guy I'd consider 'to go steady with' at that stupid school. I remember when he moved here, a few streets over, in the third grade. I would try to talk to him every chance I could, but each time would only end with me saying something embarrassing or just mumbling his name, throwing a rock at him, and running away. Since then, the little third grade me decided that the whole situation was too much work, and that romance was a lame Disney movie, I didn't want to watch.
Maybe in like, twenty-years I'd find someone, but as for now I've broadened my horizons. I couldn't blame Raven in doing so too. And while doing so Raven managed to snag an angelfish in a sea of tuna, sardines, and catfish. I'm not kidding. Even though Jake was younger, he did not look like it. He had gotten this whole surfer look going for him. He has blond spiked hair, with baby blue eye, and tanned skin. Basically in a sense he was perfect. But they came across like they were from two different plants when they stood next to each other. And I wasn't saying that out of jealousy mind you. Where Jake's skin was tanned Raven was so pale she was practically translucent. Jake's hair was blond with highlights from the sun, where at the same time Raven's was so dark purple it almost looked black. Where Jake's surfer looks are, there was Raven's punk look. Polar opposites but they looked so cute together. Like surfer Ken meets Japanese j-pop princess.
And that was why her denying him was pissing me off. Not that Jake seemed to care, he insisted upon waiting for her to notice that they were meant to be. It was so cute that it made me want to barf. And that just pissed me off even more. See, all this unnecessary drama! I don't need it. I wasn't even the one in the relationship and I was stressing. I needed to change subjects, fast, -before I felt the need to knock some sense into her - with my fist. But Raven beat me to it.
"Ohmigosh! I just remembered something," Raven exclaimed so loud it caught me off guard. The shock caused me to flinch and slip while I was trying to climb up the slide. As I lost my footing, I banged my chin against the slide and tumbled back down. Jake having witnessed the whole ordeal fell off the swing with laughter. I flipped him the finger and rubbed my chin. Raven just stared at us both on the ground and shook her head. "As I was saying," she went on glaring at us both, waiting to see if there was going to be any more interruptions. Jake immediately stopped laughing to give her his full attention, which she liked. Raven grinned and said, "Yeah I heard from Cassie during sixth period that there was a rumour going around saying a couple of seniors went missing Tuesday night."
That was another thing about Raven. She's a sucker for juicy gossip. I didn't know what it was, but the girl loved to get her hands on dirt. Whether it was celebrities or our peers, it's what she lived for. She would totally make a great journalist one day.
"That's probably a stupid rumour made up by the senior girls just so they could get attention from more guys," Jake said to Raven shaking his head. Raven always believed whatever she heard. If I told her that Big Foot, Elvis, and 2 Pac were going to run through this park naked in thirty seconds, she would have pulled out her cell phone camera and waited on matter how long it took for them to actually get here. The story didn't even need any sort of scientific evidence backing it up. Obviously this Cassie was talking out of her arse and Raven was lapping it up wholeheartedly. "So don't listen to them."
"But she told me it's true!" Raven pointed out defensively. She didn't like it when Jake treated her like she was the younger one; even though the age deference between them was, again for the last frigging time today: only a year. "She told me that they were walking home from Tim Horton's two nights ago and there was this guy dressed in dark colours who was, like, stalking them. And when they got within a block from their houses they disappeared. Poof. Just like that!"
Raven was so animated into her story. Gossiping was one thing, but when horror movie type drama added into the mix and this girl was all over it.
I sat at the bottom of the slide, staring at Raven while she was telling Jake and I more about the story, but my mind was really elsewhere. My thoughts were jumbled up with things that made sitting here at this park suddenly very painful and depressing. I looked from Jake to Raven; they were in deep conversation about whether or not the upperclassmen's statements were true, but none of that really mattered. This is my last night I'll spend here and I have to watch these two flirt. I sighed inwardly at thought that the two of them, my best friends, becoming nothing but a faded memory because - yes you guessed it - I was fricking moving!
This was a result of a horrible proposition my mother came up with after my sister had threatened to run away from home if she didn't leave this one horsed town anytime soon.
I liked my life just the way it was, I had friends - I wasn't miss popular but people liked me - , good grades -okay I wouldn't say good seeing as some people don't think barely meeting the provincial standard was a good thing. But I did have a system. I was planning on just coasting through high school... I know that's not a very creative or the most original system, and probably many people have done this successfully before me too, but it was better to do while you had friends to distract you. I don't know why people say high school will be the best four years of your life? It's not that interesting and if it's not interesting then it was just four years of life wasted, while your peers secretly judge and critique' everything you say, do, and wear. I didn't want to start that all over again. But now all my hard work, effort, and planning had gone to waste thanks to my mother suddenly deciding to pack us up and ship us away.
"Why do you always believe such stupid crap?" Jake said still shaking his head disapprovingly at something else Raven had said. "Pssh! People disappearing and being stalked? That smells like complete B.S."
"Shut up Jake!" She shot back. "Why would they just make that up?"
At this point I'd usually step in to break up the fight, but I just don't have the energy for it anymore.
"Duh! For attention. Think about it: that makes no sense, how was Cassie able to describe this so called 'attacker'? Was she a witness? And how come the school hasn't mentioned anything about these disappearances, hmm?" He paused waiting to see if Raven had any answers from her key witness, but she just gapped at him. At that moment I knew he was taking his rant too far, but I said nothing. "Because its horse spit. Those girls are desperate to be the center of attention, and you gossiping about them just adds more fuel to their flame." He finished, and then blushed. Oh snap, Jake you said that to your beloved... LOL! Actually, I tried to cover my laugh with a cough but same shiz.
"Just shut up Jake." She said, now angry with him.
Jake opened his mouth but only sighed, acknowledging his defeat. Smart boy - he knew there's no point in arguing with her. Raven's stubborn but sensitive.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Whatever." He stammered out then tried to make a hasty retreat. "I'm heading home; this is a school night and nine's way past my curfew." He said as he got up to dust his pants off. Then he turned to me with a sad expression. "I'm gunna miss you, Lee."
I got up from the slide and gave him a huge brother bear hug. I was gunna miss him too.
"Wait, what's happening?" Raven said eyeing us suspiciously, jealous of our spontaneous affection.
"Well because she's moving on Friday." Jake said quickly breaking the hug but couldn't resist the urge to ruffle my hair. "Didn't you know that?"
"What?!" Raven cried just realizing this - though I swear we had this same conversation in the summer.
Jake shot me a panicked look. I shook my head and pushed him to continue leaving. I can handle Raven on my own. I needed to talk to her anyway. As Jake walked past Raven he gave her shoulders an affectionate squeeze, waved me a salute and went on his marry way. Smart boy, but still a coward.
"Ohmyfrigginggosh!" Raven screamed at me in one long breath. She was still dangling on the old rusty park swings. Her face was flushed from anger and not breathing in between her words. "You're frigging moving? I'm not gunna let you!"
That's was another weird habit of hers; she loves to add the word frigging to emphasize every sentence possible. She says frigging is one of those frigging words you can put any-frigging-where in a sentence and still have it make sense...Frig. Now that she was mad it was going to show up even more.
"Yeah well, how do you think I feel?" I huffed folding my arms equally outraged. Finally we were on to the more important subject matter.
Besides myself, Raven and Jake were the only other people I knew who were not looking forward to my moving. My mother was always saying we are going to leave, but none of us actually took her seriously. "My stupid- ass sister is so excited for this. You know she's always hated Toronto."
"Yeah, I still can't believe you're the younger sister. She's the one that acts like a child! Remember that time you wore her shoes to school so she tripped you in front of everyone in the auditorium and you chipped your tooth. Why can't she just live on her own - since she hates the world so much? Forcing your whole family to leave just because of one person... " She said as she pulled on her dark purple hair, an action she always does when she's upset or frustrated. I swear she's going to go bald one day. "That's so unfair!"
See. That. That right there, was why I loved Raven, she's understood my trials and tribulations better than anyone else and could sum it up in so few words.
"I know, eh? But you know my mom..." She's obsessed with the unity of family, so if one person's upset than we all must put aside our selfish needs to make them happy again. Because at the end of the day, it is your family that -blah - blah - balls to that! In other words she basically saying that my older sister, Crystal, was her favourite. Well she would never actually say that but, Crystal pretty much got whatever she wanted.
Here's a rough draft of the way things went in my house: Crystal: Yo mom! Get me a blah, blah, and a blah. Mom: Oh, sure thing honey! I'll pick it up on my way home. Do you want the shirt off my back too? Shall I bend over backwards to please your every whim? Why thank you, 'tis an honour, Crystal my Queen. I only live to serve thee. Now here's what it was like from my point of view: Me: Mom, if you're not too busy, I'm ever so desperately in need of a - Mom: Yeah, yeah in a minute. Actually let me back to you on that later. Ciao!
The sad thing was that I was only exaggerating a little bit.
I thought this as I attempted to climb up the parks slide the wrong way again and failed, again. "Anyway, I tried to talk my mom out of this but she said our crappy house was already sold and she needed to get away from this town for a while." Until now, my mother had told us to keep our move a secret until the very last moment. I never questioned why but it was always tugging on my mind.
Personally, I didn't think our house was that bad. Sure, we had huge holes in the walls from the times my little brother slid down the stairs in his pillowcase and crashed into it. Sure none of our rooms had any doorknobs because they would get jammed all the time. (I accidentally locked my grandmother -God rest her soul- in my room for three days once.) And only one out of the four bathrooms in that house worked but, we've been here our whole lives. Been living in Toronto for as long as I could remember - which was why my family moving was very strange, suspicious, and not to mention depressing. It's not right to take someone away from their home and natural habitat! Ecological displacement was against the law.
"This frigging sucks so much!" Raven screamed again, her legs flailed back and forth. The movement caused her to sway side to side on the decaying swings, "What are we gunna do? You're just going to leave me here by myself?"
"Well technically you won't be alone." I said sitting at the bottom of slide in defeat. My lighthearted tone was a little forced. Raven's face showed she could easily tell I was just trying to cheer her up, because her shoulders shook like she was about to cry. I went behind my mother's wishes and told her I was moving for the thrid time two weeks ago but, as per Raven, she forgot the whole thing until the subject was brought up again. "You'll still have Jake."
To that, she blushed a little at hearing Jake's name. I swear If didn't make themselves official after I left I was going to drop-kick them both.
"You know it won't be the same without you Lee!" She said dramatically. If she didn't become a journalist in the future she could become an actress, easy. Her dramatics was one of the things I loved most about her. "Who else is going to laugh at my 'Yo Mamma' jokes?"
"Hey! Just because I'm black doesn't mean that I think all your stupid 'Yo Mamma' jokes are funny." I said pretending to sound offended. Some of her stupid jokes are so stupid they're funny, but if I were to tell her that she'd just search for even stupider ones. "And besides, it's not like I'm moving tonight." I tried to shrug all indifferently and shit, but just ended up hunching my shoulders.
"But you're moving on Friday! Dude, that's tomorrow," she wailed, her big eyes welled with tears. Raven's actually a very good-looking girl. At five foot four she's not too tall; and with nice curves that make anything she wears looks nice- yet, she doesn't like dressing up. She wanted to go with a Punk or 'Scene' look for the second year of high school. In my opinion it made her look like an anime character. She has nice thick wavy purple hair that flows well past her shoulders. She's from Japan so she has a very creamy yet pale complexion. And to top it off she has big brown eyes framed by long lashes. And thus, to sum her up, Raven was like the total package- the perfect match for Jake, but she completely thinks otherwise. She was always complaining that since her skin was so pale that whenever she wore cover up she looked like a ghost. She thought since she's Asian, whenever she wore make-up she'd look like the main character from Memoirs of a Geisha.
"Well," I sighed wearily tugging the loose curls that escaped my ponytail behind my ears. I've given on up trying to be brave, seeing her cry just reminded me of how much more I was going to miss her. "I'll email and call, you know, when I can."
Raven and I have been friends since the fourth grade, even though in the grades before that we had hated each other for no good reason - it was something to do I guess. But once I gave her that piece of my bologna sandwich during lunch recess, we've been best friends ever since.
"Okay," she breathed as she wiped her tears with her orange shirtsleeve, smudging her heavy black eyeliner. "You call me if there's anybody giving you any problems, ya' hear me? I'll zip down there so quick, give them the ole' one-two before they knew what hit them." She said as she jabbed the air with her tiny fists.
"I hold you to it," I laughed then sighed again - I couldn't stop freaking sighing, "...I think I've got to start heading home now. You know how my mother hates it when I hang out at the park so late." Though it was only nine o'clock and my curfew was ten, I know she wanted continue our conversation. But us - being friends for so long - she could sense I didn't want to talk about this current subject anymore and decided keep it in and just call it a night too.
"Okay, then see you tomorrow!" She called after me as I turned around and to start my last journey home. She sounded as though all the air has been sucked out of her. I didn't want to turn back around because I knew if I did, she and I both would have started crying our mascara off. "I'll try'n see if anyone from school wants to chip in and buy you a going away present!"
"Sure, thanks Ray!" I struggled to yell over my shoulder. It felt like there's a huge hole in my chest. I didn't want to think about what I will soon be leaving behind and what I'll soon be missing. I never wanted to move! I honestly thought I'd live in Toronto for the rest of my life, since I've been here forever. It was just too weird and sudden to move now- like school was already well into the first semester - everything was perfect the way it was.
"This does frigging suck," I grumbled to myself as I kicked an innocent pop can standing in my path on my walk home. It was especially dark for some reason tonight, but the park was not very far from my house. It was just past a little wooded area where everyone loves to play manhunt in, behind the convince store - that way while kids are playing they can have sweets too, and then down two streets. I know this town like the back of my hand. I knew that two blocks a head lived this old war veteran who loved running outside his house shouting "the time is now!" at the top of his lungs in nothing but a zebra print Speedo - trust me seeing him in that thing you'll never be able to watch Madagascar sane again. There was so many other little stories formulated in every inch this place, you could write a twelve act play and still have ten deleted scenes.
"Maybe I should just runaway or something?" I thought out loud but not really meaning it. Again kicking the dented pop can even further down the street. As if making the company of Fanta feel my wrath was the answer to my problems. I continued to play 'kick the can' until I got to the little forest beside my house and it flew into a bush.
"Ah what the hell," I sighed reaching down to pick it up. I might as well recycle it, seeing as I kicked it all the way here.
As I bent down to retrieve the disfigured can, I heard the soft tapping of quiet footsteps up the road. Strange, I thought as goose bumps danced across my skin. It just occurred to me that the street was empty - like completely empty. Even though it was late, this was a school zone; kids, neighbourhood watch, and couples walking their dogs were usually found on every corner.
What if that was the same guy who Raven was gabbing about, I thought then instantly disregarded it. No, stop thinking that. No good would come from me, freaking myself out. My heart was already thumping hard in my ears. Calming myself down, I was still knelt down searching for the stupid can when I heard the footsteps again, only louder and closer this time.
Alright, I need to stop listening to Raven's stories because they were giving me some weird hallucinations. I thought trying to rationalize my fear. Finding the pop can and shoving it deep in my red jacket pocket, I scanned the area in my peripheral vision as I started my walk home. Just around the corner, I think quickening my pace. I should just stick to--
The thought was cut short by a blast of sharp burning pain digging into the back of my skull. "Ouch! What the hell?!" I shrieked dropping to the cold ground as the sharpness drove deeper into my head. Last time I checked nobody was behind me, yet it felt as though I was being stabbed with a flaming screw driver. The burning sensation began to feel as if someone was trying to grill my brain like a juicy burger on a barbeque. My whole body was spasming and twitching from the unbearable pain. What the hell was happening to me? I tried to think through the chaos in my head as tears pooled in my eyes.
In the distance, standing in the shadow of a pale-yellow street light, I could vaguely see the silhouette of a tall man standing with his legs spread wide and his arms in the air. I could hear the faint whispers of someone chanting, barely audible beyond the ringing in my ears. The words didn't sound like English, yet each spoken syllable seemed to twist and drive the iron deeper and deeper into my skull.
I couldn't believe it. Here was me, on the ground, practically on my deathbed and this dick was just standing there. "Dude, help me!" I tried to scream to the man only to have the words come out in a gargle of blood and spit. The chanting grew louder and faster; my body spasming to its rhythm. On the damp ground in the fetal position the world began to blur together. Colours of this black-cold autumn night, were bleeding into one another.
Is this how I'm going to die? The thought crept through my boiled consciousness. I clenched teeth as I attempted to repel my deconstructive thoughts; they were sending my already pumping heart into a panicked frenzy. The stupid-effing-good-for-nothing pop can was digging deep into my side. Seconds passed by as each sharp-scorching ache shot like daggers into my skull when suddenly, my body grew very heavy - like I was trying to move through molasses - and my vision went tunnel. A sharp violet coloured glow materialized from somewhere behind me, yet if I turned to see I couldn't find the source. All my other senses felt muddled as my world shrunk to nothing but the pain, now too intense, that was hammering my brain. It felt like time stood still as the world went in and out of focus. Oh God, am I at the crossroads? I thought panicked. I didn't want to die yet! At least not like this, not because I saved a can of nasty-ass cream soda Fanta. On my hip, the side where the tin was borrowing, my skin started to tingle, itch and then burn. It felt like I had a deep cut there.
There was something out there, something powerfully dangerous.
It took all my willpower to fight the urge to just let this attack run its course. Awkwardly and painfully I rose up to see the tall man still standing off into distance. The faint chanting was still whispering in the distance, only this time it had no effect on me. But underneath that came another underlying feeling like a sixth sense telling me that I wasn't dead, but not to run blindly at my attacker for immediate revenge - like I wanted to. Because despite the fact that the strange man was standing so far away I knew that he saw me on the ground and was somehow responsible for the pain I was in. I was so stupid. The story that Raven said could've had actually became true to some extent. I should have been more careful. I should have giving up on trying to save the planet from one tiny speck of pollution. Ironic how that could've killed me. And who would've thought that her gossiping would ever come in handy?
Terrified yet pissed, I ignored my senses and tried to take a step toward him - my side screamed in protest - when the world suddenly snapped like a rubber-band back into place and time started again.
I froze instantly as the fiery heat slowly subsided. Measuring everything I gradually became more aware of my surroundings. Okay it's still night, I'm alive - unfortunately, seeing as my head was pounding - and my house was just around the corner. I was taking deep shaky breaths as the weird purple glow lazily dimmed. After what seemed like decades I tried to take another step toward the abnormal man. I was so angry my mind wasn't thinking rationally.
With a rush of irritated adrenaline I advanced three more steps. The chanting growing louder and quicker the closer I got. I could almost see the man's face - he had big pitch black eyes that stood out from the rest his face. Almost coming into full view the chanting abruptly stopped. Confused, I gazed at the man just as he spun around on the tip of his toe and fled, leaving behind the delicate scent of fresh pine needles and something sweet but I couldn't name.
"What the hell just happened?" I gasped clutching my chest. My brain felt like it was finally grilled to perfection. The lower half of my body had gone numb from pain. My hip was hurting like hell. Frightened, mad, and now even more confused, I knew that following the man would be foolish. Suicide even. I spun around on the tip of my toe like the mysterious man had just done and dashed the rest of the way home.
Chapter Two
I SCARMBLED into my house slamming the door behind me. Am I dreaming right now? I thought as I hastily locked the deadbolt then shrugged off my light brown UGG boots. Running into the kitchen I headed straight for the refrigerator. Food usually calms me in crisis situations.
"Wow look who's home early," my mother called out sarcastically, sitting at breakfast bar looking up from her romance novel. Ignoring her, I poured a shaky glass of orange juice, droplets of the orange liquid spilling between my fingers. "You know you really should start coming home earlier, you never know what's out there lurking in the dark."
My body went rigid, you're telling me. I thought as I pictured what had just happened outside. My skin was still prickled with goose bumps.
"Well, once we get out of here we'll have to have a talk about your curfew." she continued as if everything was perfectly fine. "You never listen to me but it's for your own good. Young girls like you should-" Her lecturing broke off once she took in full my frightened expression. Her pretty face instinctively turned to stone.
"Honey, you look like you've just seen a ghost, what happened?"
"Nothing," I replied too fast, causing her to narrow her dark knowing eyes and purse her thick lips. I pressed against the counter top to steady myself.
"Sure doesn't look like nothing," she said as she leaned forward to get a better look at me. Her dark chocolate brown skin glowing with suspicion. "And your jacket collar is covered in blood! Tell me what happened. Now. Before I start calling the police."
I forgotten that I had spat up blood and it would stain my clothes, I thought then shuddered. Oh. Gross! I was so going to burn this jacket. No more thinking about this tonight. My stomach lurched, I felt like I was going to hurl. My mother pulled me closer and attacked the stain on my coat. Her face looked grim. Whatever little chance we had of staying here was long gone now.
"It's okay mom," I said trying to tear my self away from her surprisingly strong grasp." It was just," my voice faded as I fail to think of an explanation for what happened outside not too long ago.
Really what the hell was that? My teeth gritted together, my brain still hurt where that sharp pain had dug in and my side felt like I was going to get some type of rash soon.
I remember when reading novels where something traumatic happens and thinking, 'why don't they just tell their parents, or guardian, or whatever?' So maybe I should tell my mom what had happened out there? I debated this as I tried to steady the cup of orange juice in my quivering hands.
"It's just what? Were you fighting those hoodrat boys again? Is your sister okay?" she pressed further, through a tense tight line that were once her full lips a few seconds ago, as if she's expecting that something horrible has happened. Funny thing was, she wasn't that far off.
"It was nothing mom, stop henpecking me!" I said with more bitterness then I had meant to. "I just tripped over this stupid pop can and um... l-landed on my nose- thus the blood." I lied casually gesturing to the stained collar of my jacket. I took the mashed up piece of metal out of my pocket for evidence and toss it in the recycling bin. Without the pressure of the can my side felt raw and itchy.
Usually our outbursts just made matters worse with my mother (she'll just yell back even louder to get her point across). But this time my mother kept her mouth shut and just patted my head then smoothed my hair back like how she used to when I was younger and had nightmares.
"Okay, honey, I understand you don't want to have this conversation now. Why don't you head upstairs, wash up, and get some rest?" She suggested though I can tell she didn't believe my lie. Still patting my head, I let myself rest my head against her shoulder, she always smelled like whatever food she just finished baking. Today's scent was chocolate and banana bread. "And then we'll continue talking once you wake up and don't look so disgusting."
I swear sometimes my mother is slightly bipolar. Or maybe had a multiple personality disorder. But something was up with her. This I knew. Because there are five versions of my mother that appear from time to time. There's the one where she's mad or depressed for whatever reason and she'll pull her already thinning hair from her head. She'll yell, throw hissy fits whenever we misbehave or make another hole in the wall, asking the heavens' what did she do to deserve such terrible children; but then there are other times- like this- when she's calm, supportive, patient, and understanding.
It's like she some short of magical switch where she can go from a crazy take no prisoners' mom, to the scarily depressed mom where she's mute; refusing to talk to anyone like it would be painful to wake us up in the morning or something. When she's in that mood at times she'll lock herself up in her room for days - and won't even leave for work. Those two are the worst because you never know what it was that set her off. But sometimes she's happy too, like extremely happy, and she's contented by the strangest things: like sight of me brushing my hair, or Crystal watching T.V, or my brother asleep on the couch with his socks bundled in the cushions. And lastly there's this lovable caring mom I can barely describe because we get to see her once in a blue moon.
"Okay," I struggled to say, my teeth were still gritted together. Maybe a piping hot shower would help thaw out the toes that had gone numb. I leaned over to pour the still full glass of orange juice down the drain. I've completely lost my appetite. I broke away from her tight grip and started to climb our squeaky steps.
"Oh, and Klee?" My mother called my full name from the kitchen softly and cautiously, seeing if I wanted to respond or not. I stalled at the bottom step and waited for her to continue. "If it's something that happened to your sister don't hesitate to tell me, okay? You know how she gets when you - blah blah blah."
I stopped listening the second she mentioned my sister. Why would anything happen to my perfect sister Crystal, I thought but didn't say. When I didn't respond, she paused as if to say something else then went back to escape in her sappy romance novel.
Wow for a second there I actually thought she was worried about me, I stomped up the steps toward our ugly bathroom. My mother had no interior designing skills what so ever. Looking at our stained, stinky, blue carpets and our mustard yellow walls (that she horribly painted herself) how the heck did this house get sold anyway?
I should've known what she really cared about. Telling her what happened would've just been a waste of time. If my scatter-brained seventeen-year-old sister was in any kind of trouble she'd heir the damn S.W.A.T team. But if anything were happening to the little fifteen-year-old me, she's just: 'Oh go wash up and get some rest honey you look distgusting.' Psssh! I felt like I wanted to add another hole to the wall.
So I did. Then, just 'cause I'm that nice, I put two more.
I could hear my mother call out a warning from downstairs, but I didn't care. Our house's insides were like swiss cheese. So what was the point in caring over another hole? Plus, we were moving tomorrow - so let the new home owner deal with it. I regained feeling in my hands - because my knuckles were bleeding. This was such a nice outlet for the feelings boiling inside of me.
Finally reaching the second floor I dragged myself straight to the bathroom. Inside I examined myself in the mirror. My once neat ponytail was sticking up in weird places. Most of my curls had escaped the rubber-band and was matted to my face. There were small rocks and specks of dirt lodged in there.
"Wow, you look so ugly right now." I bitterly told my reflection, only to have its ugly face scold me in return.
I have huge puffy rings around eyes, so huge; you can barely see the colour of them. Which I was perfectly fine with, since the colour of my eyes was just a dull gray. Nothing special about them. I wish I had richness of my mom's chocolate skin, but when it mixed with whatever colour my dad's skin tone was - I came out with a sort of toasted almond complexion. But today my face was drained of all colour, it was pretty pale, well as pale as a black person's complexion can get anyway. I was poking my cheek with my index finger and watching the spot turn from yellow to brown as some color returned to my skin.
But then my hands shook and I dropped them from my face. As soon as I thought about everything that's happened earlier. All the repressed terrorized emotions I had experienced a few measly moments ago came flooding to surface. It felt as though there was a fat lump in my throat which made it nearly impossible for me to breathe.
What if whatever happened out there had killed me? I silently asked myself as I remembered the sharp-burning sensation that was digging into the back of my head. And how was it a burning sensation? And how was that man able to hurt me from so far away? What the heck have I ever done to him?
"Ugh! This is so confusing!" I yelled to the ceiling of the bathroom. My side was aching from the where the can dug in. Okay a hot shower would be prefect right now. The numbness has spread to the tips of my fingers.
Undressing in front of the mirror I noticed that the weird birthmark I had on my side had changed colours and there was a purple burse in the shape of the pop can lid around it. The birthmark used to be lighter than my skin but now it was slightly darker almost brown.
"Weird" I thought out loud, staring at it, and at the ring around it. "It looks like a nipple."
Forgetting my anger by focusing on something else, I curiously touched it. "Shit." I winced, and then sniffled. Bad idea, it hurt where I poked. It felt as if I had severe rug burn over that patch of skin. The birthmark is shaped like half a moth or maybe a butterfly? But with only the one set of wings. I always wondered why it looked like half an insect, like is there's supposed to be another half somewhere out there that'll make it look complete.
"Maybe I'll get a tattoo or something to make it look like a whole one" I wondered out loud again hopping into the shower.
It's not like I hated the birthmark, although I do hate butterflies and moths. It was just whenever I look at it; it felt incomplete. As if there's actually another half to it on someone roaming the world somewhere.
* * *
Gawd why is it only midnight! I noticed glaring at the big red numbers of my alarm clock on my dresser. It felt like the damn thing is taunting me saying "Ha! Ha! The bags under your eyes are to get even bigger!" Slamming it down to face the other direction; I closed my eyes, takin two deep breaths in and out. No need to take my frustration out on inanimate objects.
Everything happened in a period of three hours I thought as exhaustion crept over me. I was lying on my tiny bed with my feet dangling slightly off the edge. Staring up at the ceiling thoughts of my current events crept back into my mind. Moving, strangers, new schools, and now stalkers!
"This is all effed up," I think again this time out loud.
My mind wonders into all the possible 'what ifs' and 'how comes'. "How come he just ran away?" I asked myself, getting angry all over again. "What if--"
The thought was intercepted by a soft tap on my door. "Leave me alone!" I yelled hugging myself tightly through the covers. I was too exhausted to bother locking the door behind me after my shower. Not like I have a doorknob to lock anyway, so whoever was knocking didn't take my obvious hint to leave me alone. Opening my door without an invitation, in walked my little brother.
"Lee?" my little brother Jeremiah called cautiously; he knew I could be cranky when I didn't have enough sleep. "Are you tired?" he asked dressed in his Spider-man pajamas fidgeting with his superman action figure.
No shit Sherlock, I think but don't say. What kind of stupid question was that?But I knew why he was here - he always came into my room when he has had a nightmare. So I sighed and said, "Yeah bro I'm tired, now do you want to sleep on ground or on the beanbag chair?" I offered before he could ask. When he was nine I used to offer my bed but now he at age eleven he takes up way too much room.
"The beanbag," he whispered sniffling and rubbing his eyes. Until now I hadn't realized he had been crying. Poor kid I thought giving him one of my pillows as a peace sign. Letting him know I'm not that mad he interrupted my rambling. Wrapping himself in a ball he shivered, I could tell it wasn't from the draft in my room.
"Must have been some dream," I said breaking the silence. It's been three months now since he had a nightmare that scared him enough to sleep in my room. "What was it about this time?"
"This one was so weird," he whispered softly. "It's like one second I'm dreaming that I'm superman flying through the air protecting the universe, doing what supermans' do. And then the next, everything shifts and I get really dizzy 'cause now everything's like a - what's it called?" He paused thinking. "Kaleidoscope? All I know is there's a flash of colours and pictures. Then there's a banging pain in my head and it actually hurt - like for real hurt, not dream hurt. It still hurts actually." His voice got stronger the more he spoke. "Then I'm alone in the middle of the street. It's dark but you're there too. I don't know what you're doing but then I see a strange man following you. So naturally being the only man of the house, I start following him, you know, to make sure you don't get kidnapped or anything." He stopped talking to remember the rest.
"Go on," I pressed shuddering. This was feeling like déjà vu.
"At first it didn't look like he was going to do anything, and then the man lifted his hands and started singing. Then you screamed really loud and dropped to the ground all twitchy like something was hurting you. I was confused because no one was even near you so I ran to the man to ask him to help. But when I saw his face, it was blank, like no nose or lips, except for his eyes - they were pitch black with no whites." He continued as he wrapped himself in an even tighter ball. "And then I saw you glowing, all purplish, and then the man floated away. I was really scared so I woke up and ran to your room."
"Holy shit," I gasped before I could stop myself. We're not supposed to cuss infornt of him - because he'll repeat everything we say. My whole body was shaking. "That's a...b-bizarre dream to have." I struggled to say through my shaky lips. How the hell had this kid dream exactly what happened to me? I silently asked myself. What's up with the glowing and the man with no face? I think then immediately repress. I already had too much on my mind. Freaking myself out right now would so not help me fall asleep.
"What do you think it means?" He questioned yawning, his eyes drooping heavily. His short spiky hair was sticking out all over the place.
"Well, firstly it's just a dream so remember it's not real," I paused sighing unsure of what to say. I didn't even believe that myself. "And I think it means that from now on we need to watch our backs." I uttered the first random thing that came to mind. But it hadn't felt that far off.
"Wash our backs? Why would I dream that we need to bathe thoroughly?" He mumbled then laughed. I could tell he was going to drop asleep in two minutes.
"Sure. Whatever. Get some shut eye kiddo, you're safe with me here." I said rolling over so I don't sleep on my bursed side. I was too exhausted to bother correcting him.
"ThanksLee. G'night." he garbled half asleep. He was drooling already.
Resting on my side, I lie facing the blank wall. All my posters have been stripped down for the move. "Everything was just too frigging weird today," I whispered to myself. Yawning while my eyelids felt heavier and heavier, I couldn't think anymore. It felt like my brain overheated and shutdown for the night. My body had stopped shaking and demanded rest. Maybe a good eight hours of sleep was what I needed right now? I thought as exhaustion finally won its battle and I drifted into a deep sleep.