Chapter Two: Bolts, Graves, and beady Red Eyes.

Let me first begin by saying, that there are very few things that scare me.

Anton hurt? Terrifies the crap out of me. I'd been stuck with the blond for so long, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if he wasn't ever by my side.

Rap hurt? While it doesn't make my heart quiver as much as it would if Anton was knocking on death's door, I will admit that I would be hurt, even worried if it was somehow my fault. I adored the old man, but he had enough people to worry bout his well being. He didn't need some orphaned criminal to add to that list.

Annette and the rest of the world? Doesn't scare me at all. The world could burn to ashes for all I cared. As long as me and Anton survived it, well, that was all that mattered. Massive lightening tornado rolling towards my best friend and me, had me trembling like a leaf.

 

Anton squirmed uncomfortably beside me. "Jaks! Jaks did you hear me?"

Yes, yes Anton I heard you. My ears do still work, which was more than I could say about my body because I was rooted to the spot like a freaking tree. The tornado of bolts was rocking the earth as it dragged towards us, and a hard jab to my ribs caused me to look away from the oncoming disaster to a highly bothered Anton. Brows furrowed and brown eyes glinting with annoyance, he pursed his lips. "Are you hearing me at all?"

 

I sighed loudly. "Yes Anton I hear you, but I'm kind of preoccupied right now." I said hurriedly.

"By what?"

I swallowed thickly and grabbed his face, forcing him to look at the oncoming twister of doom.

His eyes widened and he sucked in a deep breath . "We...we're gonna die, aren't we?"

"Yep." I agreed cheerfully.

 

The boy started shaking and looked at me. "Ho...how can you be so calm about this?"

Calm? Me? I was anything but calm. My heart sank to my stomach and my legs were twitching slowly. The urge to tuck my tail between my legs and run was really strong, but I ignored it in favor of putting on a brave front. If Anton so much as saw me with the slightest bit of fear on my face, the boy would lose all sense of his self and go insane. I was keeping it together for him.

 

How noble of me, right? I thought about the boy even before thinking of myself, and people still thought I was a bad person.

 

I plastered a smile for the blond and threw an arm around his shoulder. "Because dear," I began, "if we're to die, then I'd rather mother nature take us out herself. Death by lightning must be better than a bullet to the head, or worse yet, rotting in jail." Anton and I both shivered. I guess he came to the same conclusion that I had. "It's probably gonna hurt a lot, all those bolts streaking through our bodies and rendering our hearts useless, but it'll be over before you know it. Split second of pain, then death."

 

Anton swallowed and squeezed my fingers on his shoulder. "Then heaven? Think we'll go to heaven J?"

I smiled. "Yeah." Anton would definitely go to heaven, but me? I wasn't so sure. I'd been a bad girl all my life, I doubt the Big Guy would want someone like me spoiling his party. I didn't tell Anton though, didn't want to burst his little fantasy bubble.

 

All around the cemetery bolts of lightning struck, demolishing trees and graves that had been on this land for more years than I'd been alive, and now half of it was wiped clean. At least Rap couldn't blame me for this mess, it wasn't my fault that mother nature was approaching that time of the month.

 

"We...we have to go." the words were out my mouth before I knew it, and I raised up on my elbows and willed the rest of my body to move.

 

"Go? Go where? We're gonna die J! Do you see that thing? Huh, do you? We can't outrun that!" Anton shouted frantically and pointed to the lightning tornado that was drilling scars into the earth to get to us. Angry cracks sounded and long threads of sparks was emanating off the mother lode, and Anton and I were directly in it's path.

 

There ain't gonna be anything of us left for the cops to identify! I took my eyes off the tornado and snuck a quick glance at the mausoleum, and chewed my lip. "Maybe we might not have to." Forcing my body to move, I pushed off the ground, grabbing hold of Anton and pulling him with me. Still gripping him, I ran to the stone door and banged on them like there was no tomorrow, frantic for a way inside.

 

"C'mon, there has to be a way in!"

Anton pushed with me, but nothing was happening. My heart thumped loudly in my chest and quickened when I looked behind me and noticed that the tornado was rapidly approaching. I backed up, ran at the wall and pushed it with my shoulder, ignoring the twinge of pain that shot through my flesh. I was strong, I could take it. I had to get us out of trouble, I didn't want to die, and I sure as hell didn't want Anton to die either. We were too young to leave just yet, I had...things I still wanted to do!

 

But to no avail.

 

"It's hopeless." Anton whispered brokenly. He looked at me with sad eyes and forced a smile. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "Jaks. I think you should know that..." he paused and bit his lip, "I...I lo--"

 

There was a crack that traveled down the stone door, and the sound of stone scrapping eerily against wood. I took my eyes off Anton who--looked angry at being interrupted--to feast them on the welcoming doors. I blinked rapidly before breaking out into a grin.

"We're saved! C'mon" I pulled Anton into the darkness with me, happy at the prospect of living to see another day.

 

The lightning was upon us now, the doors needed to be shot. "Grab that side!"

Anton did as told and began pushing the other half of the door while I managed the one on my side. We both struggled against time to get it done, those stone doors were seriously heavy, almost too much for us both to bare, but somehow we managed it just as sparks from the funnel sparked dangerously close to the doors. The doors shut just as a stray spark shot inside the confined mausoleum, and a fire erupted.

 

I plastered my back to the stoned door and gulped, watching the fire as it grew into a large flame. I don't see how it was even possible for it to be burning, but it was. I stole a quick peek at Anton, only to find him looking at me.

 

"What do we do?" he asked.

"I don't know." I shrugged and made myself scarce from the stone and strolled towards the fire.

 

On the opposite wall surrounding some sort of strange, circular object, the fire burned freely, and I turned, following the flames as it fanned out along the wall around us. Soon the entire inside had lit up, and Anton and me got our first real glimpse of the cavern we had ventured into.

 

A stone encrusted, rectangular grave stood up from the ground and was just begging me to come closer.

 

So I did. I went closer, even though there was a heavy, pounding in my brain and my gut. I went against my better judgment for what? Curiosity? There was a tornado raging like mad outside, yet here I was trying to discover what secrets were hidden in the place.

Jaksyn, you are one of a kind.

Yep, I sure was. As I took a closer look at the grave, I noticed that there was strange lines fornicating in thousands of small, intricate patterns that spanned ever inch of the stoned resting place.

 

Again, against my better judgment(I was starting to think that I didn't have any. Either that, or judgment was on a long vacation) , I touched the grave and started tracing the patterns with the tips of my fingers, blinking in amazement at the details, and the hard labor that must have been put into carving such a thing. Whoever did this, had a lot of free time on their hands.

 

In the middle of the elaborately decorated death bed stood a square stone as small as my fingernail, but was as black as the night sky. It shined dimly in the light, and...it was so pretty to look at, that I couldn't look away.

 

"An...Anton? Come check this out."

"What is it?"

I pointed to the stone. "Ain't it pretty?"

"It's a stone." he replied dully, and I snapped out of my trance to glare at him.

"I know that captain obvious, what I meant was, who puts such stones on a grave?"

He shrugged his shoulders and looked away, apparently annoyed.

 

"What's your problem?"

"Nothing." he said a little too quickly for my liking. With a determined look I touched his shoulder, wanting to pull him towards me so that I could see his face and try to figure out what the heck was up with him, but he shoved my arm off and pushed me away with a strength I didn't know he had all in a matter of seconds.

 

Stumbling backwards, I braced my hands on the grave to keep from falling over, but....

"Ahhh!" the shout of agony was out my lips before I even had time to figure out what happened. White hot pain was exploding from the palm of my hand, and I had to bit my bottom lip to keep from screaming again and again.

 

Now, let me make this perfectly clear. I've felt pain before, and I'm used to it. Getting whipped with belts and sticks, I'm used to. Taking a beat down from bullies and people who don't like me, I'm used to. Hearing weirdos call me derogatory names just because I look different from the mass throng of people that live in this dump of a city, I'm used to. Having a small stone grow bout ten feet tall just to spear my hand like an animal, I'm not used to.

 

"Jaks! Jaks what's w--"

Anton was suddenly beside me.

"My...my hand." my voice was soft and trembling, and if it wasn't for the pain I was in, I would hit myself for sounding so...girly.

"Your ha---oh god!" he exclaimed.

I ignored him.

 

The yin/yang colored gem I was just admiring had somehow grown in height was now resembling a large, long nail, the tip of which was protruding in centimeters from the palm of my hand. Crimson juice gushed down the stone and stained the grave beneath it, running in rivulets in the creases of the carved designs.

 

"Okay, okay. Don't pull." Anton instructed quickly.

Don't pull? Don't pull? I stared at him incredously, wanting more than anything to just punch him until he was in the same amount of pain I was in. What else was I supposed to do? Stand here and wait till my blood just ran out? I wanted the sharp, monstrous thing as far away from me as possible...with my hand still intact, thank you very much.

 

A crack of thunder rang free outside and I squeezed my eyes shut as the walls of the mausoleum rattled, but opened them as my hand was suddenly released from it's imprisonment.

 

The gem-like nail retracted to the grave slowly, reforming into the flat piece of artwork it was before spearing my hand in half. Suddenly the ground trembled as a mini earthquake rocked the shack, and the gemstone glowed brightly before splitting in half. Each half descended unto the ingrained circle and started to orbit slowly, then picked up tremendous speed until a small tornado rocked the surface of the grave.

 

It stopped quickly, the stones rattling. Anton grabbed hold of my arm and yanked me backwards just as the grave exploded.

We both ducked for cover as huge chunks of stone and rubble shot around us, and looked to the color-less grave as the dust and debris settled.

 

Standing was a bit difficult. I had to cradle my speared, bleeding hand to my chest and get Anton to let go of me, I swear the boy liked touching me for some reason. Was I soft? Did I smell good or something? I would have to corner him and find out why he was so touchy touchy all the time.

 

"Jaks...no!" Anton grabbed my arm as I made to sneak a quick peek inside the grave. "Don't."

"Why not?" I pulled my arm away from him and gritted my teeth when he tried to grab me again.

"It could be dangerous! That's why."

 

"Listen Ant--" The sound of sloshing water interrupted what was supposed to be my chewing out Anton time, and once again the boy wrapped his long, warm fingers securely around my arm. I let that slide for now, too curious about what was going to happen.

 

Anton and me jumped back as a hand shot out from the demolished grave. The gloved hand felt around the edge, curling it's fingers to hold unto what stone was left firmly, before it was joined by a second hand.

 

Anton and I watched, in a sort of horrid fascination, as little by little arms were revealed, then a clothed, wet leg, followed by another until the figure of a person slumped to the ground.

 

The blinding light left the moment this newcomer touched down on the ground, leaving only the fire for me and Anton to navigate the now quiet shack. I watched, barely breathing, as the figure lay unmoving and face down by the grave side, dripping wet with it's clothes sticking to it like a second skin.

 

I moved forward the moment Anton scrapped his paws off me and approached the motionless body.

 

"Jaks what're you doing!" came the quick, cautious whispers from my buddy.

"What's it look like? I wanna get a closer look." I couldn't help but lick my lips and grin mischievously at Anton who looked at me as if I'd lost my mind.

 

He swallowed and looked to the newcomer nervously, extending his trembling hand to pull me back, and looked pissed when I sashayed out of his reach.

 

Wow, he was showing more emotion now than I'd ever seen on him for the twelve years we've been friends. Weird.

 

"Jaks--Jaks get back here!" he whispered hotly.

"Just now." I kept inching closer and closer towards the figure until I was standing right above it. I dropped to my knees, the sharp pain in my palm the last thing on my mind.

"Don't touch it!" Anton demanded as I reached out with my bloodied hand to roam over the wet, dark leathery material of the person's clothes.

 

"Honestly buddy, chill. The person ain't moving." I heard footsteps and then...

"Well...is it alive?" The tremors of fear in his voice was so easy to not miss. So typical of Anton, always afraid.

 

I rolled my eyes, even though I know he wouldn't see it, and pulled on the person's shoulders.

 

It seemed like an eternity before the figure was on it's back. Anton's breath hitched up a notch and my heart thumped noisily in anticipation.

"That's different."

Surprisingly, I wasn't the one who said it, although I did have to agree.

I looked up at Anton, only to find him leering over me, peering intently at this new...masked person.

 

Strange, just moments ago he was begging me not to get anywhere near it, now he was all over my trying to get a better look . The hypocrite.

"Yeah, I know. Who wears a mask these days?" was my reply. I took my eyes off my best friend and planted them back on the still unmoving, masked figure of what looked to be a kid--like us, who I was instantly sure was male.

 

"It's a boy."

Anton looked at me dubiously. "Are you sure? It could be a girl."

"Oh please!" I exclaimed and boldly leaned over the drenched figure to squeeze it's chest.

"See?" I wagged my brows and gave the blond a lecherous grin. "I told you. Male. No boobies. Or do you want me to check elsewhere?"

 

Even in the crappy light I could see Anton's blush and the scowl on his lips clearly. He folded his arms across his chest and shot me a dark glare.

 

Inwardly, I was howling with laughter. I shrugged my shoulders and unglued my hands from the boy's chest and concentrated on his masked face. "Should we take it off? The mask I mean."

 

Anton snapped out of his stupor and looked at me with wide brown eyes. He kept darting them back and forth between the masked boy and me, opening and closing his mouth about ten times before any sound made it through.

 

"I...I don't know." He inched closer to me, his legs touching my back gently.

"Well, aren't you at least a bit nosy as to who he is? Or why he's even wearing some mask in the first place?

"Well yeah but--"

"It's settled then," I cut him off. "We're gonna unmask the kid."

For a minute there it looked like he was going to protest, but he shut his mouth quickly and nodded, though I could see him biting his bottom lip. Nervous dork.

I sighed.

 

"Look, it'll be okay. Really. All we're gonna do is take this mask off. I mean, seriously, what's the worse that could happen? He's unconscious." I explained, trying to soothe Anton's troubled mind. I reached over and poked the boy in the ribs for good measure, and a victory smile tug at my lips when I heard a snort from Anton.

 

Excitement bubbled in my chest and my fingers twitched, more than eager to touch the silvery white mask. So I did. I gripped the side of the white object and pulled it gently. I had about a millisecond glimpse of a strong, pale jaw before a gloved hand shot up and gripped my own.

 

---------------------

A soft, feathery sensation tickling my cheek instantly told me that someone or something was touching me. I was sure of it.

I blinked open my eyes slowly, squinting against the harsh white light that assaulted my poor eye sight, and I groaned. The touch stopped at once.

 

"Ja...Jaks? came the nervous whisper of a male deathly close to me. I turned my head and whined pathetically like a child when my bones creaked noisily against each other in my body, protesting the sudden influx of activity after...how long?

 

"An--Anton?" my voice was hoarse and soft, and for a moment there I wanted to knock my self out. I sounded terrible! I tried as best I could to push up on my elbows and blinked in confusion at the blond that was now staring at me with a happy expression, that I was real sure Santa Clause had visited the boy several months too early. His eyes were wide and swimming with emotion, and he tackled me to the bed without warning.

"Oh thank goodness you're okay! I thought--I thought you'd never wake up!" he barely whispered. I was only able to hear him because his mouth was touching the top of my ear. His warm breath was washed over my lobe, and it sent an unwanted shiver down my spine. I blinked slowly, too stunned to push him off. My brain was working at the pace of a snail trying to process everything he'd just let out.

 

"I thought I'd lost you."

I felt my cheeks heat up like a small campfire on a mid-summer's night, and my eyes practically tried to bulge out of my sockets. I turned my head, noting the blond hair that fell carelessly from the boy's head and pushed at the body that was sprawled out on top of me.

 

He moved, and I had to breathe in and out several times and will my cheeks to go back to their normal temperature. "Wha...what? How long was I out for?"

Anton sat quite close to me and pushed the glasses further up his nose. "A week."

"WHAT!" I sat up quickly in the bed, pain be damned. "I--I was out for a week? A whole friggin week? What the hell happened to me?"

 

Anton gaped. "Y...you don't re-remember?"

I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes and smack the blond. "No, I don't. You think I'd be asking if I did?"

 

"No need for you to be all prissy." he muttered. He pulled the ugly glasses off his face and began polishing the lens with the large, tattered navy blue sweater that was far too large for his small frame.

 

Reaching up, I snatched the glasses out his hand and scrambled to the other side of the bed. I almost fell flat on my face after a week of not using my legs, but ripped the rusted iron holding the mattress upright. I dangled it for Anton to see.

 

"Hey! Give those back!" he cried and made an attempt to get them. I danced out of the way. "Not until you tell me what happened!"

 

"You were struck by lightning."

 

We both snapped our attention to the smooth, low pitched voice speaking so suddenly.

A good few feet behind Anton stood a gree eyed male of average height with long, sandy colored hair that was tied at the nape of his neck. He had a lithe build and an off white, dirt-smudged coat covering his shoulders.

 

"Pierreson." I managed to grit out.

The man raised an eyebrow and gave me a dull stare.

"Champion." He walked into the room as if he owned the place, his sneakers not even making a squeak against the floor.

 

"What're you doing here?" I was sure to put as much venom as possible in my voice; Maybe Pierreson would get the hint and take a hike.

 

The older man waved me off, not at all bothered by the fire crackling dangerously off me. He stopped at the side of the bed and perused Anton's garbed form cooly.

"Ms. Champion needs a check up. I cannot accurately perform my duties as a doctor with...non patients present."

 

Anton opened his mouth to protest but...

"ANTON!" a loud screech sounded from beyond and Anton's face immediately fell. He walked around the bed and extracted the glasses from my hand, and dragged his feet on the way to the door, though not before shooting Pierreson with a heated glare.

 

The green eyed man chuckled lowly and shook his head.

"What's so funny?" I made no attempt to move from my side of the bed. The idiot wanted to give me a check up, he'd have to walk.

 

Pierreson kept watching me with the same cool expression he directed to Anton, the slight smile falling from his lips. "Not that it's any of your business, child, but I simply find it....amusing how that boy thinks he can stand up for you when he clearly cannot do it for himself."

 

"B*****d!" Anne would massacre me if she was standing in the doorway and heard me use such language, but I didn't care. I clenched my fists and lunged at the man, throwing punch after punch his way. Two seconds later found me kissing the mattress with both hands held in a death grip behind my back and me screaming away my bloody agony into the mattress.

 

"Thank you so much, but you are quite wrong," said the man I despised more than anything else in the world. I felt his hot breath washing over my skin, and dug my face deeper into the mattress.

 

"My parents were very much married when I was born, so there is no way that I could be...as you say, a b*****d." he said smugly. "Unlike yours."

 

Did he have to play that card? That was low, even for a grown man like Pierreson, and he knew it...and didn't care. I stilled as those words sunk into my brain, fighting back tears from flooding to my eyes. In that one instant I hated Pierreson more than I'd ever hate anyone, and for the simple fact that he was saying such filth to me, I vowed to get away from the devil-infested place, and find my parents.

 

"What's the matter? Our little banter was going so well, I was just starting to enjoy myself." he commented, pulling my face from the mattress. He pushed me to sit on the bed, my back straight up against the rusted iron headrest, and pulled the stethoscope that had been hanging loosely from around his neck.

 

"Sit properly." he demanded when I started to slouch. I had to listen to the man, he did own the place after all. If I disrespected him too badly, he would throw me out on the street, then where would I go? He pressed the cold end of the stethoscope to my chest without warning and listened to my breathing.

 

Seconds passed by and I snuck a quick peek at the man, watching as his smooth face twisted into a frown. "That's strange. You're heart-rate, is quite slow. Exceptionally so. Breathe quickly."

 

What? My heart rate is slow? What kind of junk was he sprouting this time? Nonetheless, I did what he said, albeit against my will.

I guess my heart still wasnt' beating properly, cause he was now gritting his teeth and looking as if he was going to punch something.

It better not be me cause, I'll punch back.

"Rest. I must do some research on this matter, and I will be back later to re-check you." He said more to himself than to me.

 

I scooted away from the man, "Yeah, okay." Did he really think I would rest? He should know better than to tell me something like that. I never listened before, what made him think now would be any different?

 

He retracted the stethoscope and pulled away from the bed, leveling me with a weak glare as he left.

Good riddance.

As soon as the door closed I jumped to the ground, feeling elated as my feet got intimate with the cold floor, and made a beeline for the window. I had a feeling it's where I needed to be.

 

-------

The window was, not surprisingly, still closed, but I leaned up against it anyway, debating whether or not to open the thing. I would love some fresh air, but I didn't want to have to hear Anne yap about the window being opened.

 

The woman hated anything to do with outside. I swear she was a vampire.

It happened just as I looked at the telephone pole not too far from my bedroom window.

 

Three, large black birds swooped down from the air and perched themselves comfortably on the telephone wires, three pairs of eyes eyeing me the moment the line stopped shaking. What the heck?

 

I stared right back, not at all intimidated by the birds. It was when beady black eyes suddenly turned blood red that I started shaking like a terrified little girl.

 

Oh my god

 

They kept looking at me, neither of them moving an inch, until at last the middle bird tipped it's head downwards. Like I was hypnotized I moved my eyes just as the bird did, only to feel them widen when a pair of bright, yellow, demonic eyes narrowed on me. I could see them as clear as day from where I was standing, and I blinked, moving my eyes to the rest of him.

 

He was dressed casually, jeans and a simple white tee-shirt on his body, and had a head full of dark-brown hair that was sticking in every direction possible. He looked like he had just walked out of bed.

 

He darted his gaze toward the bird perched above him, then leveled one more glare my before walking down the street and out of my line of sight.

 

The minute he disappeared I ran to get Anton.

 

---------------

"Really Jaks, I think it's crazy, this hallucination of yours."

"What? Is that what you think it is?" My voice was a lot louder than I had planned for it to be, but it was all because of Anton and his disbelief in me. As soon as I left the window, I ran straight to him and shared what I saw. The birds, the boy, the color of his eyes, everything. I had even taken to describe in great detail, something that was very unusual for foul-mouthed little me. But Anton merely smiled and told me I was just seeing things.

 

"Yes! That's exactly what I think this is! It's a side effect from that lightning strike." he said heatedly.

 

I backed away from him. "That's got nothing to do with it. Nothing at all!" I clenched my fists and licked my lips. "I'm all better now. Pierreson said so himself," I lied, "I'm not crazy Anton--I know what I saw." I made sure to punctuate each word darkly, and Anton frowned. He reached his hand out to me, but I slapped it away without force.

 

"Jaks--"

"Don't touch me. Don't come near me. Don't talk to me, not if you can't believe what I'm trying to tell you." I whispered and took off. I ran down the narrow hallway and into the small kitchen Anne was usually seen cooking for us wayward kids. It was deserted this early in the morning, guess everyone was in school. It was where I probably would've been if I didn't have that "accident." School, it had me thinking...did anyone even notice I was gone? The odds of that was highly unlikely. Anton was the only one besides Rap, that gave half a wit about me. And Rap? No one told me anything about him--I doubted he even came to see if I was still in one piece. So much for having him care about my well being...

 

Footsteps behind me snapped me out of my trip down memory lane and dark through the kitchen and out the back door. I didn't bother to close it gently, I knew it was Anton that was following me, and soft or slammed, he would know I left anyway.

 

Hopping the back fence, I sprinted into the forest even after I knew I wasn't gonna be followed, the desperation of being alone in a place others were not so familiar with was curling around my reason like a might snake and squeezing until I obeyed.

 

It also helped that Anton was way too scared of the forest to ever come anywhere close to it. The only noise infiltrating my ears was the crunching of leaves as my bare feet trekked on the dry ground. I was lucky that I still had them in one piece. If I'd known that Anton would make me so mad and drive me to run into the forest, I would've worn my sneakers.

 

I stopped for a good minute or two to catch my breath and give my poor feet some time to catch up. Forcing your legs to work after being incognito for a week was pushing it, my feet felt like they were going to turn to mush. It wasn't the greatest feeling in the world, let me tell you. I plastered my back to the nearest tree and sighed in relief as I slid to the ground like water, and stretched my legs out in front of me before leaning back onto the tree and closing my eyes.

 

The yellow eyed bow immediately swam to the surface, his piercing gaze still painted in my brain like a picture that simply refused to be erased. I remember the almond shaped eyes, and the way those yellow orbs narrowed the moment they landed on me. I had no idea who the boy was, but I got the eery feeling that he didn't like me. Not one bit. He wasn't the only one that creeped me out though, those three birds, crows I was sure they were, only added to the bizarre scene.

 

This was all too weird for me.

 

"Strange place to sleep, isn't it?"

I popped open my eyes and my heart spiked in my chest.

Crouching before me was the very boy I was thinking about, except...

 

"Why are your eyes brown?" I blurted without thinking.

Real smooth Jaks, he's sure to walk away now!

 

He looked at me and raised a brow. "I don't know. Ask my parents." He said, his voice laid with sarcasm. I immediately closed my mouth as I felt my cheeks heat up. I gritted my teeth and pulled my legs to my chest and away from him, feeling oddly, vulnerable for some reason.

 

He watched me with clear amusement shinning brightly in his eyes, though his lips was curved into a frown. He stood suddenly and extended his hand.

 

I looked at him, then his hand, then to his expressionless face and press back that much more into the tree. This boy...is strange.

"No thanks, I can stand on my own." To prove my point I reached behind me and gripped the tree, willing my legs to move. I slid back up the same way I came down moments ago, all the while keeping my eyes trained on the boy incase he decided to try some funny business.

 

He shrugged his shoulders and stuck his hand back in his pockets, eyeing me from head to toe. "Suit yourself. I was just trying to be nice, you know, with you being struck by lightning and all."

 

My eyes widened. "It--how do you know?"

 

He blinked several times before answering me. "Are you insane? Every soul in Solar knows about you, and how you survived that freak accident of nature." he explained, though he had long since taken his eyes off me to gaze about the dank place. It was as if he was looking for something.

 

I nodded, agreeing with him before going completely still. "That's odd. I've lived here my whole life and I've never seen you before. Till today." my voice was laced with caution and just a touch of suspicion, and the more I eyed him, the more he disappointed me. That expressionless face ceased to move at all, and I had to watch his lips to gauge his reaction to my small statement.

"I know everyone. Every old hag that gossips in the evening down to the newborns that pop out each and everyday!"

 

He pursed his lips. " I have no need to explain myself to the likes of you." he stated calmly, and the urge to pummel him spiked like a raging fire in my chest.

 

"The likes of you? You have some nerve you little brat!"

 

God, how I just wanted to punch the daylights out of this boy! My fists were begging to make contact with his cold face, but for some reason I held myself back.

He finally turned to me, a smug look tinting his face as he caught the clenched fists that lay stationary at my side.

 

I glared.

If looks could kill, he'd be six foot underground practicing the tango with the devil.

Suddenly his eyes widen and he looked directly above me. "Father." he said.

 

Father?

 

I turned around, confused as to why he would say such a ridiculous thing, and a dark-green dress shirt that looked far more expensive than the pre-owned Honda that sat in Pierreson's driveway was staring right back at me. Up, up, up I let my eyes travel, blinking in the shinny black buttons, firm collar, and the tanned adam's apple that was very prominently carved into a man's neck. A square, strong chin was next, followed by sunken cheeks, a flat nose, and chocolate brown eyes that seemed to watch me with contempt.

 

I swallowed suddenly and had the urge to bail from the place. The man was giving me some scary vibes that was seriously starting to give me the creeps. Like his appearent son, he was strange too.

 

The man must've watched me for a good five minutes, his expression unchanging through it all, before he casually stuck one of his hands deep into his black dress pant pockets and pulled out a small, cream colored handkerchief. He held it out to me and gestured for me to take it.

 

I opened my mouth to protest, but it died in my throat the moment I noticed the intense gaze the man was giving me.

Not wanting to get him angry, I took it.

 

A pleased look passed over his face, and he pointed at me, then touched his left cheek.

I blinked in confusion.

The man pointed to me again, then caressed his left cheek as if there was something on there. Tentatively, I inched my fingers towards my cheek, almost afraid of what I'd find there, and furrowed my brows as they were met with a small dash of liquid.

 

What was that?

I pulled my fingers back and inspected them like a cop.

"Oh, I'm bleeding."

Bravo Jaksyn, go ahead and state the obvious! I stuck the tips of my fingers together and watched with little fascination as they were lightly coated with the thin, crimson sheet of my life's essence. When did I get hurt? I don't remember cutting myself, I mean, I wasn't suicidal or nothing. At least, today I wasn't.

 

"You know, you really should wipe it off. He'll not leave you alone until you do." The boy was beside me in a seconds notice and he looked really annoyed. He scowled at his father before yanking the handkerchief out of my hand and rubbed the cloth across my cheek, then threw it back at his old man.

 

The elder man narrowed his eyes at the teen, and I instantly detected thick tension between father and son. They were both glaring at each other now as if willing the other to spontaneously combust into flames, and good ole me just had to step in between them before they started a brawl out in the middle of nowhere.

 

"T-Thank you sir." I said, and for once I actually meant it. The man took his gaze off his son, and his eyes seemed to soften slightly as they landed on me. He nodded his head and threw another look of contempt at his son before turning and walking even deeper into the forest.

 

He never even spoke a word.

 

The boy beside me sighed loudly the moment his father disappeared. "I should get going." he said.

"Yeah." I scoffed, "before he decides to ground you."

His eyes narrowed to slits as he gazed off into nothingness. "He wouldn't dare." he whispered.

I cracked a smile. "Well, regardless, you shouldn't have snuck out here to terrorize me in the first place."

 

"Terrorize? You're lucky it was me that found you instead of some killer. You're not the brightest bulb on the tree, sleeping in the middle of the woods like that."

I opened my mouth to retort, but the boy wasn't finished. "In any case, I won't be stumbling upon you again."

 

"Well good! I don't want to see you either!" I said hotly. The boy eyed me for a couple seconds before sinking his feet into the same tracks as his dad made moments before.

 

"Hey wait!" I called out before I could stop myself.

He stopped and turned his head. "You...you never told me your name." I licked my lips. Why did I want to know so badly again? Guess he was thinking the same thing cause,

 

"Why would you want to know?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Do I really have to have a reason?"

 

Silence passed between us for several minutes, and I was starting to doubt that he would answer me at all. I bent down and grabbed the forgotten handkerchief since no one else bothered to pick it up and clutched it to my chest.

 

"Diesel. My name is Diesel." was his soft reply right before he disappeared into the wilderness.

I watched as he left and couldn't shake the feeling that this was not the last time I'd be seeing him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

I changed the second chapter, and this is what it came to. Not too sure about the content....

Reviews

[Just Me]

This was amazing. I loved it. Awesome.