I've Been Waiting For You

Chapter 1

"I can't believe we had to move to this desolate town."

 Mitchell Wilkins stared outside the window of the car, watching miles of trees pass by. The scenery was beautiful but they hadn't seen a house or persons since they passed the sign marked Pine Crest to enter the town.

  He turned to his mom. "Are you sure people live here?" he asked as he glanced around.

"I'm sure honey." His mom laughed at him, shaking her head. "We'll be arriving soon. Just a couple more miles before we reach the town."

  They recently moved from Los Angeles because his mom had decided to take a job in a small town away from the stressful, bustling city. It has always been the two of them for as long as he could remember. He had made friends but none that were close personally.

   Ever since he was small, he had always felt different, dreams and images from a past he knows nothing about keep invading his mind. He never told his mom about the dreams, not because he thought she would berate him. He just wasn't sure what he should tell her or if those dreams were meaningful or nightmares. 

"We're here sweetie." His mom said bringing him back to reality. 

  The car finally reached the entrance of the town, where he could see civilization. It looked like an ordinary town with buildings and people going about their daily lives.

  Pine Crest wasn't as small as he had assumed. The car continue to drive pass buildings until finally the house came into view. Trees surrounded the red bricked house on both sides, a few flowery shrubs adorned the small lawn along with a mailbox next to the paved driveway. The house was beautiful with bay windows at the front. 

  Sarah drove up the driveway, parked the car and they got out. "So, what do you think?" she asked shielding her eyes from the sun.

"I like it. It has a certain aesthetic feeling about it." 

  He took the keys from her hands as they walked up the marbled block steps, unlocking the door. He pushed it opened and went inside. The hallway was painted red-brown like warm mahogany while the carpet was a mixture of neutrals with flecks of brown and red.

  The living-room had the same carpeting, a fireplace at the far right of the room with red wingback chairs. 

"Take any room you want upstairs. I'm going outside to wait on the Delivery Trucks."

"Sure, I'll see you in a bit."

  Mitchell made his way upstairs but stop at the landing. He stood there contemplating which room to take when he heard a cat meowing from the room at the far end. Turning in that direction, he stood in front of the door and put his ear against the door but no sound cold be heard. Thinking it was his ears playing tricks, he turned to leave but once again heard the sound of a cat meowing.

  He wrapped his fingers around the door knob and turned it. He pushed the door open and went inside to look around. The walls were a dark charcoal gray mixed with navy blue even the rug was the same color.

  He went to the closet and pulled the doors open, it was empty except for a black box atop the shelf. As he put out his hand to reach for it, something moved behind the box. Not easily frightened, he push the box to one side and a black Bombay cat jumped out and landed near his feet.

"Hey, how'd you get in here?" he bent and picked up the cat who quietly settled in his arms, purring  gently. "What's your name?... Where'd you come from?" 

  The cat stared at him, her yellow eyes unblinking as though it was trying to communicate. Suddenly the name Raven sprung to mind. 

"Raven. Is that your name?" Mitchell asked laughing as she meowed and licked her paws. "I guess it is."

  The beeping of a horn caught his attention, so he put the cat down and left. Outside the movers were busy unloading boxes and furniture. 

  By mid-afternoon everything had been unloaded and unpacked, so they decided to drive to the supermarket to stock up on food. Since they had pass the supermarket earlier, it wasn't hard to find it again.

  Sarah drove into the parking lot, and found a spot close to the entrance. Mitchell got out the vehicle and waited for his mom to lock the car doors. 

  He pushed the shopping cart from aisle to aisle while his mom deal with the groceries from the list she had wrote don earlier. With their cart full, they made their way to the checkout counter to pay for the goods.

"I forgot the paper towels. I'll be right back."  He watched her walked down the aisle before turning the corner. Mitchell looked around the supermarket while he waited for his mom, watching people go about their shopping. 

   He was just about to turn his head when a guy at the other counter caught his eyes. He was just standing there, staring at him. 

  The guy didn't turn away. 

  He just kept staring at him.

  He couldn't make out his face properly, but he could see that he had black hair, a lean build covered by a black hoodie, white t-shirt underneath and dark jeans.

"Mitchell," He turned to find his mom looking at him with concern on her face. "What are you staring at?"