The Picture

The Picture: Prologue

He had jet-black spiky hair, intense dark eyes, pale skin, and black clothes. He was over six feet tall and easily the most handsome guy at the party. Yet he was in a corner, hiding away from all the girls in the room.  Now normally - like any other sane girl - I wouldn’t complain about someone so absolutely perfect.  But he was at my party, and I’d never seen him before in my life. 

            I couldn’t explain how I first knew he was there.  In the group of over two hundred and fifty people, he had been standing in the shadows of a corner behind me.  But for some reason, my head had snapped around and forced me to look straight into his pitch-black eyes.  It had been as though some part of me knew he was there and I needed to see him.

            I tore my gaze away from him and looked over to Starr; her expression told me that she was wondering the same thing.  Starr was my best friend and she was always one step ahead of me.  She was your traditional beauty with blonde hair, blue eyes, and perfect teeth. 

            “You don’t know who that is either, do you?” I asked, still looking-well more like staring-at the mystery boy.

            She shook her head, “I was just about to ask you who he was.  He’s cute!” She smiled, flashing her pearly whites.

            “He seems to be looking around for something,” I said.

            “Or maybe someone.  Let’s find out shall we?” she said starting toward him.  Starr was also very courageous, insanely so.  When she wanted something, she went for it.

            We walked across the whole room to get to him and as we did so, he stared at us as though he were analyzing us.

            “Who’re you?” asked Starr with a smile and held out a dainty hand for him to shake.

            He took her hand and kissed it.  She giggled flirtatiously.  Then he replied, “Who I am isn’t important. I’m here for Leslie, but it has been a pleasure meeting you.” 

            Starr frowned and shook her head.  “This is Leslie,” she said, pointing at me.

            He blinked in surprise and then smiled.  Finally he said, “I don’t know how I missed you right there. I’ve been rather distracted as of late. May I speak with you in private?”

            “Um, I guess so,” I replied hesitantly.  He was handsome and his voice was as smooth as silk, but I wasn’t stupid.  I’d never seen this boy in my life, so I’d have to be careful.  I led him to the outside door from the Hall where my party was.  That way, I figured I was able to run away from him if I had to.

            When we made it to the outside I saw that he had one hand on the inside of his leather jacket and when he pulled it out, he held a small black box.

            “Leslie,” he looked me directly in the eyes. Damn he had beautiful eyes!  But how did he know my name? And how did he know who I was?  “This will sound strange but our entire future is depending on you…and this,” he said handing me the mysterious box.

            I took it out of his hand and opened it.  Inside was a perfectly spherical black crystal.  But something was off.   Then I realized that the outside of the crystal wasn’t black, it was clear.   It seemed as though only the very center was filled with black smoke. 

            “What is this?”

            “That,” he explained, “is the crystal of Idina Witchmont.”

            “The what of who?”

            He sighed. “You will make good use of it when the time comes.  That’s all that’s important right now.”  With this, he began to walk away.

            “WAIT!” I yelled, “I don’t even know your name.”

            He turned his head and with a half smile replied, “Caleb.” Then he continued to walk away, seeming to disappear in the distance.

            I stood there and deliberated for a moment what had just happened.  “That is one weird, hot dude,” I mumbled to myself.

            I ran inside with such disbelief in what had just happened that I nearly tumbled down the steps getting through the door.  When I stood up I saw that Starr had already filled in Margaret, my other best friend, and they were both running to me so fast they looked like a giant blur with four legs. “Well, what happened?  What did he say?  What did you say?  What was his name?!” Starr demanded at once.

            “Well his name was Caleb and...”

            “It’s time for the birthday girl to give out her 16 candles,” interrupted the man on the microphone.

            “Well I’ll tell you the rest later,” I said.

            After the party, they stayed behind and I told them what happened. 

            “He may have been crazy, but oh my God he was so hot!” Starr ended.  It was such a Starr comment.  Usually I didn’t agree with things that only had to do with looks, and yet…

            I agreed.  “Oh yea, he was good eye-candy.”

            Margaret sighed.  “And I missed him.”

            “Well, since we’ll never see him again I must tell you: I am so sorry for your loss,” I joked. 

            …Never see him again.  That’s what I thought.