Project X : Unknown

Prologue

-P R O L O G U E -

I wonder a lot about what goes on in this world, maybe a little more than I should. I used to think that we can waste away just thinking about certain situations. I’ve spent minutes, hours, days, even weeks just thinking, over-analyzing a situation. I find myself trying to put the pieces together with no luck at all; it’s like solving a puzzle that isn’t meant to be solved.

In this world, there’s so much more out there than what we realize, hiding behind the shadows. We live in one town it seems like for most of our pathetic little lives, but when we get the chance to leave, we don’t. We dream of endless possibilities that we can do, but we never fulfill them. Why is that? We like to believe that we’re free and can do anything we possibly can think of doing, but even the birds are chained to the sky.

It’s nights like these I can’t erase; what I would give for open space; a breath of fresh air in this stale place where each minute is more than I can take.

It’s only you and me now. It’s time you knew the truth. Put down your books and research, you have to experience this.

My name is Abigail Hartman, Abby for short. I’m seventeen years old, living what I like to believe is a normal teenager’s life. I live with my step-father and my little brother, Cameron, who’s 5. My mother died in a car crash when I was twelve. Cameron was just eight months old at the time. She was driving late one night; the road barely visible through the fog. There was a sharp curve that came too fast and she hit a tree head-on.

The pain is gone now; the numbness came and went. Around here, my father has one rule, “We don’t look back for very long. We have to keep moving on, opening doors, and doing things because we’re curious. The past just holds us back.”

And I know that I should, I wouldn’t even change it if I thought I could. I held on for so long. Now time is telling me that I am on my own, but I’m holding strong.

After the crash, I became really quiet and kept to myself a lot. I pretty much lost all my friends. It wasn’t because I chose to; I just started to drift away from everyone. I ended up losing myself in my drawings and writings. I would lock myself in my room after I would come home from school and on the weekends, letting my mind wander to where it wanted, but sometimes my thoughts wouldn’t shut off and I would have to turn to music. For some reason, music always has helped me calmed down.

Sleeping off my latest regrets and longing for what could have been. And I know, it’s all just part of answering the call. My bones are cold and my feet are searching for the open road. And I’m on my own.

But then, I met him… He came from absolutely nowhere; turning up out of the shadows one day. You see, he’s different. I think that’s why we became friends; I like the unknown; I like mystery. There’s something about him that I can’t put my finger on. He seems pretty normal if you were to just pass him on the street for a seventeen year old guy. I’ve known him for about three years now, so I like to believe I know him pretty well.

There’s just times when he disappears for a couple days at a time, completely gone without a trace. Both of his parents are gone. He told me they died when he was just a toddler. He doesn’t like to talk about “the accident” so I haven’t got much to tell. The more I think, the more I analyze, I don’t know him at all. Xavier Locke, what are you hiding?

This life we lead will be the death of me. I’ve seen things no man should ever see. I’m falling to pieces. I’m living each day like it’s my last cause we had it all and we threw it away.