I'll Share With You My Heartbeat

four

The déjà vu seemed to attack him in waves of familiarity, reprinting itself onto his skin.

They say photographs can't capture the true essence of something the way our naked eyes do. They must be right. Kieran didn't feel this weight on his chest when he saw the photograph, but now it left him gasping for air.

"Ghostie?" Lennon whispered, standing close.

He almost forgot he was with him.

"I've been here," Kieran blurted, blinking rapidly, "I don't know how... or when but I have."

Lennon looked down, eyes widening when he noticed the ravenhead's feet sinking into the cement. "Um," he peeped, "Are you okay?"

"I need to go inside."

"It's Saturday. The theater closes on weekends."

Kieran wasn't listening, storming towards the entrance as if tranced. His feet dropped deeper and deeper into the surface, swallowing him up to his knees—

"Stop!" Lennon cried.

At once, a dozen eyes were on him. He didn't have his phone pressed to his ear.

"I'm sorry— sorry," he rambled nervously towards the murmuring passersby. He reached Kieran with a few big strides. "Look at you! You're sinking," he hissed.

The ravenhead finally snapped out of it, levitating back to ground level. He met Lennon's big eyes with his own, equally horrified.

"I don't know— I don't— That never happened so quickly before." Kieran instinctively reached for Lennon, seeking stability, but his hands went right through him. Shaken, he curled himself into a ball and crouched down.

"Hey."

Steadying his breathing, Kieran slowly reopened his eyes. The chestnut boy had kneeled beside him, concern layered on his features and camera bag on the floor.

At this point, everyone around them must've thought Lennon had gone mad. But his attention had zeroed in on none other than Kieran.

"What just happened?" the chestnut boy asked gently.

Kieran sighed, eyeing the few women who stand by the pavement staring. "I think I got overwhelmed— in a bad way. It happens. Just— never that deep, never that quickly."

More worry laced into Lennon's eyebrows as he blocked out the sunlight with his arm. "I want to help you."

"I'm okay," the ravenhead intercepted. He inhaled, rising back onto his feet. "I just need to find a way in."

Lennon didn't defy his decision this time. "Is there a back door of some sort so people can quit staring at us?"

It was as if the question had sparked an immediate response from Kieran. "On the left side, under the wing," he said, clasping a hand over his mouth immediately afterward, "I don't know why I know that."

"Let's go then. If it makes you feel better."

They rounded a corner, reaching the door partially hidden behind two parked trucks and a giant oak tree. It read in big bolder letters—

STAGE DOOR

"It's locked," Lennon said, gaze narrowing at the buttons demanding a passcode.

"That's perfectly fine," Kieran replied without batting an eyelid. His body had evolved past the laws of physics.

"Hey but—"

Kieran turned to face the prominent frown on the chestnut boy's mouth. It thickened the air of innocence around him.