Opposing Sides

Chapter 2: Dreaming About the Past

A little boy with short brown hair is playing in a sandbox and his mother calls him. He jumps up and runs toward the sound of her voice. “Bells, where have you been?” She asks.

“I was playing in the sandbox.”

“I told you not to wander off.”

“I did not wander off. I asked the sitter and she approved.”

"You know I do not like you outside by yourself. Why is it so difficult for you to stay inside the house and wait five hours?”

“What do you do at Slandy’s Bar?”

“I sing and I do it for us.”

“How…”

“I get money from that job to buy food, clothes, blankets, and a place for us to live.”

            She grabbed his hand and began to walk home. He turned his head to see a pair of neon eyes peeking at him through the bushes. He pointed at the eyes and tugged his mother’s arm. “Mother, what is that?” He asked. She was shocked.

            She quickened her pace and dragged Bells along. “Bells, walk faster,” she said.

Fog surrounded them and she stopped walking. She gave Bells a tight hug and whispered,” Run.” He ran and he heard his mother scream. He ran back.

            “Mother,” Bells screamed. The fog faded and he saw his mother’s body lying on the pavement. She had deep cuts on her face and neck. Bells tried to run to her body, but something was holding his shirt. He turned to see a pair of neon, orange eyes glaring at him.

            The man with the odd colored eyes picked Bells up by his shirt. Fog wrapped around them and in a split second they were in a hallway. A woman with a black veil stood before them. The veil covered her face and it was somewhat transparent. The man said,” This is my son.” “He has your eyes,” the woman said as she walked down the hall.

            The veil stopped on her shoulders, and her long-sleeved dress hovered over the ground as she walked. Her boots hid the color of her skin. “What is wrong with your son?” A man with three holes on his steel mask asked. “His mother died and I had to pick him up from some orphanage.” Bells’s father said this as he released the firm hold he had on his son’s shirt.

            Bells looked up at his father with tears in his eyes. His father looked at the man with a mask that had a huge smile engraved on it. The man said”, I will go and check on my wife, now.” The man ran down the hall as Bells’s father looked at Bells with brown eyes. He forced a smile as he said,” These people are willing to let me move in this orphanage, but I have to move in with you.”

“You could have kidnapped some other child and why did you kill my mother?”

“I do not need to kidnap a stranger when I have my own son.”

“Why did you kill her?”

“She would not let me have you.”

“So…”

“Do not tell anyone that huge lie… unless you want your arm to mysteriously break.”

“I am not your real son.”

“Well, your bright orange eyes are telling me something different… and your mother was not promiscuous. If anything it took some time for me to...Nevermind what I said. You are my child!”

“My eyes are not orange they are brown!”

“What is your name?”

“Bells.”