alive

thirteen

Kai

"Excuse me?" I ask, slightly offended that she said that. "I- I mean, fuck," she mutters. "The day that I saw him, I went back to my house to change because I was going to leave and go to my moms shop. After I went back, his body was gone," she starts, I nod, already knowing that part of the story. "There was blood and bloody footsteps leading outside and into the forest," She says, looking at me seriously. "It was the guy-" I start, but she cuts me off. "It couldn't have been. He ran down the path that leads to my house and into the trees over there. The blood leads into the opposite direction," she says quickly. Part of me wanted to yell at her for saying such a thing, but part of me wasn't sure what to think.

"You're probably remembering it wrong," I tell her, she rolls her eyes. "I wouldn't be telling you if I wasn't one-hundred percent sure, Kai," she says. "If he was alive, why would he hide. Why wouldn't he come home?" I ask, she groans and looks at the ground. "Maybe he wanted you to be safe or he- I don't know, Kai." I didn't know what to think, my head was spinning. "No. He's dead. That's that. I don't want him to be, but he is," I forced, she lets out an annoyed sigh. I begin to walk away but she tugs on my arm. I harshly push her off of me and glare at her. "This isn't a fucking movie, Vivian. Grow up." I felt terrible for saying what I did, but I didn't want to believe what she was saying. I left her on the ground and walked away.

I found myself standing in front of the gate that was between the bushes behind my cabin. I looked to my right, Vivian's two story cabin-house was peeking over the bushes, on my left, an open field that led to a forest. I opened the gate and walked out, deciding which way to go. I begin walking into the open field. Me, Ace, and my cousins always come over here to play games when we were younger. I felt my heart race as I got closer to the trees, so I stopped in the middle of the field and lied down, staring at the blue sky.

I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up to a starry sky. It was the first time I felt frightened in the dark. I imagined my father standing at the end of the trees, blood coming through his shirt and blood coming out of his eyes as he began running towards me. I screamed when his face was inches from mine.

Suddenly Kate was on my side and I was in the bed of Kate and I's room. I let out a relieved sigh when I realized it was just a dream. I turned my head and found my father standing next to me, blood still seeping out of his eyes, and blood from his bullet wound staining his shirt. I screamed, feeling my body shake as I tried to block him.

"Kai!" Kate shakes me and I was still in the field and it was still bright outside, thankfully. "What the hell," I sighed, squeezing Kate's hand. "I heard you scream from the cabin. What happened?" she asks, I notice Ace and Arden standing far behind her. "N-nothing, I think I had a nightmare," I could feel my chest heaving. I sat up and looked around, making sure my father was nowhere in sight. "You weren't sleeping," she says, I furrow my eyebrows at her. "It looked like you were blocking something, and you screamed so we all ran over here," she explains. Fucking christ, I'm going insane. "I just zoned out, I'm sorry for worrying you," I say, she lets out a sigh and pecks my hand. "Let's go back." She helps me up and I look at the trees once again before we walk away.

"What the hell was that, Kai?" My brother asks in a hushed tone. "I just zoned out, it was nothing," I mumble, hoping he would change the topic. "No, Kai. That has never happened when you zoned out. You're usually very still and silent when you zone out, that was the complete opposite," he continues. "I guess I've changed, I don't know, Ace," I say, harshly dropping the book in my hands and glaring at him. "I saw dad," I mumble. I don't know why I did, it just came out. "W-what do you mean?" He asks, turning to face me fully. "I don't know. I saw his corpse. It was terrifying. I, H- He was- He was there-" I didn't even realize I was breaking down until Ace made me stand up and walk outside with him, everyone's eyes on me.