Shadowed - WCE

Instructions

Well here we go All rights reserved 2 YEARS AGO The 12 year old boy stopped cold in his tracks, eyes widening, his hand still on the door handle. “Ma'am,” he stammered, addressing the stiff, sharply dressed woman standing in the doorway when he’d opened it. “I- I didn’t…” His mother swept through the doorway, casting her hawk-like shadow, completely darkening the boy's face, making him shiver even though the temperature hadn't changed. Her dark dress trailed behind her. The room was eerily quiet, with plain, blank walls and nothing but a cot shoved crookedly in one corner and a dead houseplant, withering in its pot in the ground. Twisted and broken, just like everything and everyone in this household. Just like him. It seemed all too bitterly appropriate. It was a long time before she spoke, and the boy felt each second ring in his head, lacing his blood with ice, resonating in his bone marrow. "I heard you punched your principal," his mother’s voice was quiet, calm, almost a whisper, but the boy knew better than to trust outward appearances. "But-" That was all he could say. No chance to explain what had happened, how the principal had cruelly punished an innocent kid, how the principal had grabbed her, how the principal had shoved her to the ground- he wasn't allowed to put into words how her terrified, shocked face sent something into him, clouding his vision with rage- He knew it was going to come before it did. The hit stung his face, knocking his head to the side, he could already feel it reddening- "Ungrateful boy," his mother hissed. And he ran. September 28 Something felt wrong. 14 year old Lucas stood still on the street, but the air felt metallic, the clouds covered the sun, and the wind felt too cold. Twigs crunched under his shoes as the boy increased his pace. He spotted a crumpled, dirt-covered, rolled up newspaper lying on the ground. The boy snatched it up, no qualms about getting dirt on his hands, and unrolled it, smoothing it out so it was actually readable. He had only read the headline and a few sentences before he dropped it, clambering back like it was oozing lava. He wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him- hesitantly, as if approaching a dangerous animal, he picked it back up with shaking hands. A quiet, wracked sob, splintered like shards of glass, escaped his throat, clawing its way out, shredding his insides. COUPLE KILLED IN CAR ACCIDENT Demiana and Zachary Allen were both killed in an unfortunate car crash today, September 27, at 3:28 PM. The boy could only read bits and pieces after that, his vision blurred and misted, his head throbbed- he didn't understand why he felt so horrible- he had hated those two as much as they had hated him. But they were his parents. Maybe, just maybe- he'd held a little hope that down there in the deep, dark, cracked mess of their stony hearts, rested a little sliver of real love for him? And what of his brother? In the papers, he'd pieced together that Ace had been sent to a foster home. He was alone. For the first time, he considered the possibility that running away might not have been the best thing to do. “I’m sorry.” his voice was a ravaged whisper, so quiet it was almost like an echo. September 30 Ace dashed down the street. His face burned. His veins felt corroded, the poison of hate burning its way through his blood. He didn't see the other person until it was too late. He crashed straight into him, catching nothing but a glance of dark blue, knocking them both onto the ground. He rolled over, and what he saw paralyzed him in shock- the point of a rusted knife rested at his throat, but that wasn't what surprised him. It was who held the blade. A tall boy he knew all too well. "Lucas?" Lucas slowly removed the knife, his eyes widening. "Ace?" he grabbed his brother and pulled him up, the two embracing, gripping each other tightly with the knowing that they could lose each other again, easily, just like that. "Did you find out about..." Luke didn't bother to finish. "Yeah." Ace's voice was tense, precariously fit. He was trying to hold himself together, but the slightest change, the smallest gust of wind, the sound of a car thundering past, the leaves rustling- would push him over and break him down. "Luke," he said. He opened his mouth again to continue, and Lucas knew what he was going to say, the very something that he himself had longed to say to his brother all the years they'd been apart. His only family remaining- each other's anchor back in that household, the one thing that gave them courage, hope that there was an actual world out there, a world of light and sun, a world of possibilities... "I'm sorry." The two brothers breathed in unison.