NB: The Search (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 4: Destiny

There’s a knock on my door.  I go open to find Damien waiting for me.

“Hi,” Day says.

We exchange pleasantries and decide to work in my room.

As soon as he enters my room, he instantly hones in on Cheary-wa, the most embarrassing thing in my room. Cheary is the stuffed monster that I used to sleep with as a kid. It’s blue and fuzzy, with a big nose, wings, and teddy bear ears. I’m probably the boy over twelve to keep a stuffed animal in his room. I hope Day doesn’t think I sleep with it.

“What’s this?” Day asks, picking Cheary-wa up.

“It’s just a stuffed animal. My Dad got him for me as a kid,” I say, trying to act like it’s not a big deal.

Day looks at me. He can see how embarrassed I am about Cheary and he laughs. I hadn’t noticed before, but he’s got these big dimples when he smiles. I feel mortified.

“It’s cute,” Day says. “We moved a bunch of times when I was a young. Most of my kid stuff got left behind.”

We read over the assignment and start to talk about the work.

I would like to think that we are productive for at least a solid twenty minutes before our conversation starts to turn to other things.

“Do you want to take a break?” Day eventually asks. I do.

We decide to go for a bit of a walk. It’s getting dark out, but my neighbourhood is pretty safe.

“So where are you from?” I ask.

“Tampa,” he says. That’s pretty far.

“What brought you all the way up here?”

“I always wanted to live in an igloo,” he says with a smirk. I laugh.

We head to a park near my house. All the trees are still green, but you can tell they’re about to change colour. There’s just something in the air this time of year.

“Have you ever even experienced winter before?” I ask.

“Not really,” he says. “Well, we have winter back home, but no snow or anything.”

“December’s going to be a rough month for you.” I say.

“Probably.”

“At least we have some nice weather now.”

“Yeah,” he says.

Why are we talking about the weather? I think, trying to will myself to be more interesting. “How has the move been?” I ask.

“It’s been okay,” he says. “My sister’s been a total brat though.”

“What do you mean?”

“She just keeps complaining. It’s like she doesn’t realize we all left lots behind to come here, you know? She just doesn’t get it. Things are bad back home, with the economy and everything. My Dad got a job up here, and so we had to move. And she just keeps complaining like it was a choice, and we can go back.”

“Yeah,” I say.

"Sometimes I wish I could tape her mouth shut,” he says. We both laugh. “How’s your drama going?”

“I don’t even know.”

“What happened?”

“I tried to kiss my best friend,” I say. “You met her after class, Maggie.”

“Do you have feelings for her?” he asks.

“Not that way,” I say. And I don’t. Although sometimes I think life would be a lot easier if I did. “Honestly, I think that’s part of the problem.” I can’t believe I’m telling so much to a stranger.

The park is pretty empty tonight. Everything’s quiet. We’re walking on a path through some trees.

“Have you been able to keep in touch with your friends back home?” I ask.

“Kind of,” Day says. “It’s hard because I know I’m probably never going to go back. It’s kind of sad actually. My ex called me earlier today. I didn’t answer.”

I want to take his hand or hug him or do something to comfort him.

There’s a rustling in the trees behind us. I barely notice it, but Day stops. The noise is coming closer.

“Run,” Day says, as if issuing a command. He begins to sprint and I run with him.

I can hear it. It isn’t in the woods anymore. Its feet are pounding on the path behind us.

I can’t turn around, but I can almost see it out of the corner of my eye. It looks big, like a wolf or bear or something.

I run as fast as I can, but I don’t know how long I can keep going for.

It’s catching up.

There’s a fork in the road ahead of us. I don’t know how it happens, but me and Day end up getting separated.

“Keep running!” Day shouts. And I do.

After a couple seconds, I can’t hear anything behind me anymore, but I don’t stop running.

I need to get out of the park.

I see something on the path in front of me.

Is that a person? It looks like it is.

“Run!” I shout.

Whatever I’m seeing doesn’t move. It just stands there. It looks like a man, but it’s glowing.

Am I hallucinating?

He turns to face me. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know which way I should keep running. The human glow-stick seems safer than the beast.

As I get closer, the man in front of me closes his eyes and raises his head. He looks like he is focusing. As I am about to reach him, a wave of light flows away from his body.

I can’t help but stop. The wave of light passes through me and I feel a strange sensation throughout my body. The little hairs on my arms and the back of my neck start to tingle as if they have a static charge. Inside, I feel this tranquil euphoria, like the moment after orgasm. I’m calm.

The man turns to me. He looks young, barely older than I am.

His eyes are golden, his skin is radiating with the soothing light.

“Aaron Hart,” he says. His voice is soft, a delicate whisper of the heavens. “I have a message for you. The Sword of God is on Earth, and you must find it.”