The Keeper's Destiny

CHAPTER 2 | GONE

§

You hug the sides of your pillow and shift softly under the sheets, your alarm cutting through your sleep. 

You open one eye and glare at the screen. With a pitiless tap on the display, the alarm ceases and you turn onto your back. It's the weekend, so you try your best not to let your body get up yet as your list of to-do's for the day begin to run through your head.

You give yourself one final moment of utter comfort, before deciding to sit up in your bed and throw the covers from your body. 

You are surprised when you end up grasping air instead of a warm top cover. You glance down, your covers laying in a pile on the floor. Again. You roll your eyes at yourself and climb out of bed, throwing one leg off of the side and then following it with the other.

Before you forget, you grab your phone from the nightstand and send a quick text to Sungji, asking if you left anything at her place last night. A forgetful mind causes you to leave something there, or in her car, routinely.

Her replies are swift, surprisingly, since she thoroughly enjoys her sleep and would sleep all day if she was allowed to. You glance at the texts:

You left your bag here, dude

How do you even function sometimes

You send an apology text and rush to the bathroom to get ready. So much for lounging around.

§

As you walk out of the house, you thank the skies for a non-rainy day and enter your car. The slight cough and wheeze of the car while it starts up makes you smile.

This car used to be your brother's. It was his first, and in turn, your first.

Your brother is older by only a few years and you considered him the closest person to you. This was the way it was, until he left three years ago.

No one knows where he left to, or why he decided to leave his car behind. There was a note on the windshield with your name on it the day your parents found his room all packed up.

There was a small part of you that felt betrayed, left behind even. Nevertheless, it was a resounding gut feeling of a logical reason that abetted you in letting him go. 

You slide one of your hands over the leather dash. With a sigh, you put the car in drive, and make your way to Sungji's. She doesn't live too far, but the drive is enough of an excuse to listen to some of your favorite songs.

Stopping at a red light, you crouch down into the passenger seat to grab the aux cord when suddenly, a high-pitched screeching perforates through the quiet day.

Confused, you jolt up and look through the front windshield.

It's at this moment when you regret leaving the safety of your bed. All you can manage to breathe out is a strained oh my god.

In front of you is an upside down car, and to the right of it, a body. 

You can feel your heart rate skyrocketing and you look around frantically in search of other drivers, or even pedestrians, that might be able to help. There's no one around. 

Squirming hesitantly in your seat, you try to decide if you should go help or stay in your car and call 911. The body remains limp on the ground; the car looking as if it had fallen through a four-story building.

You fiddle with your phone nervously, locking and unlocking the screen, until you finally decide. With a frustrated groan, you force yourself out of your car, almost forgetting to take your seatbelt off. You walk frantically towards the scene as you dial 911 on your phone and approach the body.

The woman on the other end of the phone begins to speak, but you aren't listening. As you cautiously approach the body, your steps begin to slow, a realization appearing to you. You're convinced the 911 call is for yourself, because you can't even feel your heart beating in your chest anymore. 

There's a familiar face, a familiar mouth, familiar hair. The leather jacket...

You suddenly feel your chest swell with fear, because you know this person; laying facedown, lifeless in the street.

Your hearing goes out, and your vision goes blurry, nausea sweeping over you - you start to feel as if you're dead too. 

§

There isn't any blood. It doesn't look like anything is out of place physically; it kind of just looks like he's sleeping. So serene, but there's something... off.

The operator on the phone is still trying to get your attention, but you can't look away from him. Hanging up, you walk closer and hover over his body, making sure not to get too close.

Eyes closed, steady breathing.

You release a breath you didn't know you were holding and scan the rest of his body for any injuries. 

Nothing - not even a scratch. Your curious eyes explore his face in depth for the first time.

Your gaze traces his silhouette slowly from the tip of his nose, down and around the curves of his lips. 

You raise your hand to move a strand of hair from his face when he suddenly jerks his eyes open. Out of surprise, you fall onto your backside.

He immediately sits up, unaware that you're right next to him, and frantically starts feeling around for something on the ground. You scrunch your eyebrows in confusion, and are about to say something when he finally finds what he was looking for, and gently slides it onto his finger.

A ring?

You let out a concerned huff that alerts him of your presence, and he too falls to his side, looking just as surprised. You both stay in the same position for a few seconds, eyes locked in a staring match.

With an amused snicker, a shy smile appears onto his face.

...Or is that a smirk?

Then, poof.

He's gone.

Your entire body freezes and you blink a few times at the spot that he was in. Your face turns into a scowl as you shake your head and try to shrug it off. 

That wasn't real. It can't be real. Stuff like that doesn't happen.

You repeat these words in your head multiple times until you want to throw up. You squeeze your eyes shut and run through it again in your mind.

He was there. He was dead. And then he wasn't. There— or dead. He was neither...?

You slam your hands on the ground with a grunt and look up at the upside down car. No one could have survived that.

Was he even in that car?

In the distance, you can hear sirens approaching, so you quickly get into your car and rush back to your place. There's no way you could stay there and try explain to the police that somebody just disappeared into thin air, and still look like a sane human being. 

In a sudden moment, an image of his eyes flash in your mind... there was always something with his eyes.

You tighten your grip on the steering wheel and inhale sharply as you step on the gas.

§