Imprint

Chapter 30 The end of the beginning and the beginning of the end

Chris POV
Laughters echoed as scores of children ran throughout the park. Primary schools recently closed and many children were seen running around happily in the park. Some played cops and robbers while, others enjoyed a simple game of tag... Being kid looks fun.

As I sat on the side of a small hill, I saw everything. The temperature was cool and the atmosphere was calming. "Man I wish the guys were here, especially Liz." I said as I blushed a little. As I looked on, I saw a tree that looked like the one in a photo. In it my mother and I were smiling having fun together. Even now I wonder what happened to my family? What caused me and her to drift apart?

"I knew I would find you here ho-... I mean Chris." Said Abande as he stood behind me. He had a white T-shirt with a black dragon in it. He also had grey shorts exposing his muscular and slightly hairy leg. For once he was smiling at me in a friendly way.

"Oh Um hey Abande." I replied while, rubbing my short spikey hair. It felt awkward talking to him after all this time but, I had to find out what caused him to hate me alot. "Um are you going to tell me or what?" I knew it was rude but, I want to know something about my childhood.  The thought of others who's promises I've forgotten frightened me. Who knows how many Abandes I created?

"To be honest I don't know where to start but, this place over here was where we made a promise to be friends for eternity... Chris, you were my first friend." As he was talking he avoided eye contact with me. The few times I saw his cyan eyes I saw them shake a bit. At this point he clenched his left fist. I could sense an aura of regret emanating from him.

"Abande." I said as softly as I could to prevent him from hearing me. I wanted to soothe his or at the very least set his heart at ease.

"You see growing up I was always different, I spent much of my days in isolation. The reason was I was an unplanned child,  so naturally this caused my parents to hate my presence. I was abandoned by them forced to stay with my sixty year old grandmother who struggled to make ends meet. The kids at school called me a reject and a mistake some even did so while hurting me. At some point I even thought about committing suicide but, that all changed the day I met you." For a moment there I saw him smile. Was my presence that impact full?

"You were a loner too but, you smiled alot. The day you introduced yourself to me, I planned on ending my life. Thank you." My eyes opened wide and a strange filling was bubbling up but, I decided to hold it in instead. "We became great friends till grade four. That's when you started acting weird. You stopped drawing and you were not coming to school anymore. Your parents refused any contact with you."

"Why did they do that?" I asked curiously. All I got was a shrug. A wall was now reached. It also  seemed that he didn't know either.

"I don't know why but, something else has been bothering. Some-..." Abande was stopped short. He saw a muscular figure was walking up the hill from behind me. It was ciyano in all his glory.

"What do you want Ciyano?" Said Abande. Abande was folding his arms awaiting a response from his follower.

"Captain why are you hogging all the fun for yourself? I want in on this too." Abande quickly glanced at me before his left hand touched my right shoulder. From out of nowhere I started to fall.

"I was waiting for some help, I'm glad you came. Now let's punch him till he crys." Abande said as he pinned me. His grip was weak which the smiling Ciyano did not notice.

Ciyano happily approached us and was punching his hands together with a big creepy smile on his face. "No hard feelings Chris." Abande said with a small yet gentle smile. I then realised that he is planning a trap. I understood why as well. Ciyano is an ex-convict meaning he has been to jail. Fighting him head on is foolish, this was the best course of action.

"By the way Ciyano, the only person who can hurt  Chris is me, because he is my Imprint rival." He added clenching his fist in the process.

"Wait he is your wha-" He stopped short because, Abande punched him hard in the nuts. Ciyano fell to the ground holding his groan. I was up when he started rolling around on the ground screaming in pain. The park patrol noticed that and ran towards us. Abande sighed before smiling.

"Run buddy I'll take the hit." I looked at him like he was crazy person. "Just run, call this an apology for all the times I teased you... Sorry again." I heard before I ran home. Tears started to bubble up, but I held them in for him.

At home I thought about what Abande said. From the corner of my eye I saw five bucks on savanna tiled floor. As I tried to pick it up I hit the wall unit with my head. The park picture of me and my mum fell and came out of the frame.   When I picked it up I noticed something strange. The picture was folded half way. As I unveiled it my eyes were shocked by what I saw.

There next to my mother smiling happily, was a little girl I've never seen before. What shocked me the most was that she looked alot like Emily . Who is she and why does she look like Emily?

Faith POV
As I got off  the shuttle, I entered the gate to my house. When climbing the stairs my phone rang. "Hello, Faith Rem Mohale speaking... Don't worry ma'am I arrived successfully."

The end