God's Field |COMPLETED|

Chapter One- Struggle

Numb. The feeling when nothing is there to reach, to grab, to hope for, yet no sadness is left in its place.

     That is the only thing I felt when they told me.

     Fisher, Carter, Gregory, Alejandro, Alexander, Maverick, Ravi, Levi, Marcus, and Coach Trey. All dead. My entire soccer team, coach, my family for the past fifteen years- gone.

     I've spent an entire summer grieving, recovering, breaking. My mind was stuck in an endless loop of the past.

     Fisher's wide smile every time we won a game, Carter's traditional banana smoothie the morning of a tournament, Gregory's nervous rambling whenever we were around girls, Alejandro's incredible hat trick after he rolled his ankle and still played, Alexander's Coca-Cola he always brought with him, Maverick's blonde mop hair Ravi never ceased to make fun of, Levi's questionable fashion-style he deemed was red carpet worthy, Marcus's habit of combing his hair before and after every game, and Coach Trey's questionable pep talks he always amped us up with.

     I haven't touched a soccer ball ever since.

     I've stopped going to church.

     My parents enrolled me in another school, but even with all the change, I still felt numb. My parents hoped a new school would make it better, would make me better.

     It wouldn't, even though the school was located in an entirely different state. No one would know me, but they will eventually find out about what happened.

     About the soul survivor state champion of Michigan's soccer team. It was something I never wanted to come to terms with, I never wanted to relive what happened on that day.

     The day my heart broke wide enough my soul slipped out. The day greens and reds faded to different shades of gray.

School. It was only four in the morning, but already my nerves had awoken me. I sat up tired, my muscles sore from a restless sleep.

      I slipped out of my bed and threw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. It wasn't anything special, all black attire. My mind stayed vacant as I took a shower and brushed my teeth.

     I didn't need to think, I didn't want to. Finishing up, I shot a quick good morning text to my mom and left for school. It was six miles away, but if soccer taught me anything, it was how to pace myself and keep going.

     I jogged along the highway, vaguely remembering the route my dad had driven me yesterday. Normally, I woke up with a skip to my gait, a smile to my face, and Fisher's beat up truck waiting for me in the driveway.

     He was always my ride and without him, I refused to catch one with anyone else- even my parents.

     The morning was dim and quiet, morning dew still decorated fresh blades of green grass. There was a chill in the air as I remained steady in my jog.

     Twenty minutes into the run, I saw a small town approaching from my descend down the hill. August in Michigan, was cold in the mornings, but August in Kansas- so far- didn't seem too bad.

     It was nearly ten degrees warmer than what I was used to. There weren't many stores that perched by the road, it was a small town by far. Despite the slight weather change, here didn't hold many differences than home did.

     There was still a slight chill in the air, the town was still just as small, and the streets were still just as vague.

     My morning was coming along smoothly, until I turned my head to the right.