***
"What I'm about to tell you will either make you question life itself or run the hell away from me."
***
For almost a decade, twenty nine year old Vincent Bahn has had a special ability he likes to call 'The Cascade' which allows him to go sever...
As cliché as it might sound, the boy seemed to have it all; every guy wanted to be him and every girl wanted to be with him.
A star on the high school's basketball team, a highly praised and hard working student, not to mention, an actually decent human being. The most popular of 'the popular kids'. No wonder the school became a black hole of depression back then.
In the fall of 2006, Nolan Gates was murdered.
***
The facts of what went down on that night are still yet to be known.
The basketball team won one of the biggest games of the season, the afterparty of the century where anyone and everyone was at was right afterwards and the next morning, he never showed up to school.
No one thought much of it until his friends began to speak up, claiming how it wasn't like him not to reply to their texts nor to pick up their calls. Then his family contacted the school, informing them that their son hadn't gotten home from the party the night before and that's when the police got involved.
Search parties formed of police officers, his family, neighbours, teachers and more than half of our school's population began their widespread search. Posters with his picture were stuck to every tree, right under the term 'missing person' in bold, capitalized text.
He was found later that day at the bottom of a ditch in an old park on the outskirts of town, his lifeless body covered up with fallen, autumn leaves.
"Why him?" Was the question that lingered in the air for weeks, the same two words that had left his mother's lips when she spoke at her son's funeral. Clearly, he wasn't loved by everyone.
My eyes followed him as he and his friends made their way to their designated table in the middle of the cafeteria. For a split second, I had eye contact with one of the girls he was with and I quickly looked away, staring at my slice of pizza that I hadn't touched instead, taking interest in the contrast of yellow cheese and red marinara sauce.
I probably shouldn't have stared for as long as I did because before I knew it, someone was tapping me on the shoulder and when I turned to face whoever it was, it just so happened to be her.
"Hey Vince." She greeted, the smile on her face not faltering as she spoke. "Hope you're feeling better than you did yesterday."
"Oh, I am, thanks Aurora." I nodded, trying to act as normal as possible.
"Well, okay then." She said, placing her hand on my shoulder. "I guess I'll see you in English."
"Sure thing." I assured her, smiling back as she turned on her heels, strutting her way back to the table.
Aurora Holden was probably the female version of Nolan, popularity-wise. Funny thing was she wasn't head cheerleader nor queen bee; she was president of the debate team, which played one hell of a role in her dangerous smart-and-pretty complex. One of the many reasons why she was my high school crush.
"You still make that face."
"What face?" I asked, finally deciding to take a bite out of the stale slice in front of me.
"That 'lovey dovey, googly -eyed' face you always make whenever Aurora talks to you." Neets pointed out. "You still like her."
After hearing no response from my end, she continued. "Technically, you're not twenty nine and are in fact, eighteen years old which makes whatever you're feeling completely normal. For all I know, you're probably freaking out right now, thinking you're some sort of pedophile."
"I wasn't actually. But now I am, thanks Neets." I sighed. She was sort of right but not at the same time. None of this was normal.
She, on the other hand, found amusement in my frustration. "Looks like someone's teenage boy hormones are getting the best of them." She teased.
I rolled my eyes, an act reflecting annoyance that was sadly contradicted by the blush that I felt beginning to creep its way onto my face. I looked away from her and let my eyes roam over the scattered students again. Once they had landed on that center table, I was reminded of what really was at stake. "Neets."
Upon hearing the tone in my voice, she stopped chuckling and knew immediately that I had something to tell her. "What's up?"
"I think I know why I'm here." I told her, facing her and giving my back to the table that had stolen my attention. I retold the entire story of Nolan's tragic end to her, keeping it as brief as possible for the meantime. She nodded, agreeing that it was an event big enough to change the nature of The Cascade.
She broke eye contact and looked straight ahead, most likely eyeing the boy I was talking about. "So, what's the plan?" She asked.
"I'm going to save him."
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A/N:
I think it's safe to say that the story will officially kick off with the next update!!
This chapter was somewhat shorter than the rest yet filled to the brim with random facts about various characters, so I hope you keep some of the info in mind as you read on.
Oh and if you haven't noticed, I changed the cover! (Attached to the chapter) ☺️
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