I don’t know how long it was before I actually stopped, but when I did my chest felt like it was on fire. Sitting down on the wooden bench, my eyes stayed focused on the ground as I attempted to catch my breath. Running had never effected me much, but I guessed it was no surprise it was now. After all, I had just ran as fast as I could for as long as I could, and who knew how far that had gotten me. A mile, two miles, more? I didn’t even want to bother trying to figure it out.
Finally, after a few minutes my chest stopped burning and my breathing returned to normal, for the most part. It was still a bit faster than it should have been, but the fact that I was crying was probably the cause of that. I hadn’t even realized I had been crying the whole time, all over what had happened back there. Black, Xavier, me. What in the world had happened exactly, anyways?
Wiping my eyes, I leaned back and tried to think, or clear my head, whichever came easiest. And that turned out to be neither. My mind was constantly playing that scene over and over, words and everything. I didn’t understand any of it. What in world did Blake mean by that, and Xavier?
Letting out a small sigh, I nearly jumped when I heard another voice. Though it wasn’t anyone I was expecting. Instead of it being Xavier or Blake, when I looked beside me I found a guy I had never seen before, and he looked truly worried. “Huh? Oh, yea, I’m ok,” I replied, almost missing what he had asked in the first place.
I could tell he didn’t believe me with the was his amber eyes stared at me. And for some reason, I couldn’t pull away. They felt both safe, and dangerous. Like I could trust him, and yet if I did I’d be putting myself in grave danger. Finally, when he spoke again I was able to pull away from their gaze, yet I could still feel it on me. “I’m sure. Thanks for asking though.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” he replied, his worried face changing to a small smile. “Name’s Jacob, but everyone calls me Jake,” he finished, extending his hand to me.
“Riley,” I stated with a small smile as I took his and shook it.
Now that I was actually able to focus on him a bit more, the tears completely stopping, I found he looked a little like Xavier. Only, his hair was a dark brown instead of black. Then again, there was a lot of people that looked like others and it meant nothing, this was probably just one of those. Especially since Xavier didn’t have any siblings, as far as I could tell. “I know this might sound weird, but you wanna go for a walk? Might help get your mind off whatever happened,” he suggested.
Giving a small nod I stood up, glancing around before we started down the path. After a few steps I figured out where we were: The park in the downtown part of town. That was a long way from the mall, though the actual distance was unknown to me. Still, I figured it was at least three miles, of not more. “So, what made you see if I was ok?” I asked a bit curious.
Jake just looked at me like it was a question no one else would ask. And maybe no one had asked him it. I couldn’t even be sure what was up or down anymore today. For all I knew I was walking upside down and just imagining all this. “Guess I’m just a nice guy,” he said with a small grin.
I just shook my head slightly. Maybe today wouldn’t be as bad as I had first thought. So far everything was going fine, now that I was away from Blake and Xavier. The normal smile was even finding its way back onto my face, which made me feel a lot better.
As we crossed one of the many bridges in the park that ran over a small river, Jake paused and leaned on the railing, looking down into the water. It was a bit higher than normal from the rain a couple days ago, but no longer muddy. Leaning beside him, I notice a small fish jump out and catch a bypassing insect, then disappear back into the water. “Isn’t it amazing how fish know exactly where their food’s at? I mean, you’d think they couldn’t see anything that small if it wasn’t right above the water.”
“Yea, I’ve always wondered about that. I understand seeing people and everything, but I could barely see that bug. Sometimes I wish I was a fish. Except for the whole, getting caught by a hook in your mouth, only to be tossed back or eaten,” I replied.
Jake chuckled a bit, which caused me to look over at him, my eyes locking on his once more. Time seemed to pass me by as I stood there, just staring at him for some unknown reason, which was starting to bug me. But I couldn’t think long enough to try and figure out why, or even start to. In the back of my mind something was telling me to move, to get away, but everything else kept me in place. It was just an annoying gnat in a swarm of bees telling me to stay, that everything was ok.
Feeling something warm on my hand, I managed to pull my eyes away and look at what it was. And was a bit surprised. I didn’t know if he was trying to show that everything would be ok or what, but Jake had placed his hand right on top of mine. And when I looked back at him, he was smiling. It made chills run up my spine as thoughts swirled through my head. Feeling his hand wrap around mine, I swore I had a million butterflies flying around in my stomach. “You really are more beautiful than they said,” Jake commented, which made my wonder a bit.
Then, he pulled me towards him and I felt a sharp, burning pain in my stomach. The grin on his face made me realize I had really screwed up, and when he let me go and I stumbled backwards, placing my right hand over my stomach, I knew it was a lot worse than I had first thought. My eyes traveled down, watching as the crimson liquid slowly leaked out, and then fell on the bloody knife in his hand. “But… why….” I said quietly, falling to my knees.
“Because, things have started,” he replied, taking a step towards me, but pausing as a very familiar sound flooded into my ears.
Xavier. What was he doing here, and how had he found me? More importantly, how did he know Jake? My eyes stayed focused on Jake, his figure looming just a few feet from me, and the grin falling from his face for a second. “What you should have done before, brother,” he said, a smirk forming on his face.
Brother? That couldn’t be true. And even if it was, what did he mean by he should have done it before? Nothing made sense. Feeling something wrap around me, I looked over to find Blake’s worried face staring at me, and I could tell he was thinking the worse. In fact, I could hear every single word of it. Damnit, this isn’t good. This never should have happened. Why did I have to let her out of my sight? I’m such an idiot.
“I said, get the hell away from her!” shouted Xavier as his figure flashed in front of me, stopping right in front of Jake, who was holding Xavier’s fist in his hand as if it was nothing.
“Now, now. What would father think if he knew what was going on? You know what’s supposed to happen, and it starts today. But it seems you want her for yourself, don’t you, little brother?”
That was the last thing I heard before everything went black, and I thought for sure I’d never wake up. That the next thing I would see would be the world, from a ghost’s point of view. My parents, Xavier, Blake, I’d never see any of them again. It was all over for me, and there was nothing I could do about it.
