Veiled Horizons

Chapter Nine: Adlyn

'What a drag,' Adlyn thought as he boarded the school bus for the trip. He had no real interest in visiting an island; he only joined because it was free, and staying home would be even more boring. He asked his classmates if they shared his opinion, but they all said it was for fun. 'If it was for fun, they could've just booked a trip to an amusement park,' he mused.

He couldn't see the fun in being on a ship for nearly a week, staring at the endless sea, only to reach land also surrounded by water. Adlyn didn't understand the appeal, just as he couldn't grasp what he saw when he reached the other side of the island.

Both sides of the island looked similar, like two crescent moons stuck together side-by-side. Adlyn realized he was standing still in the water while the others who were with him had gone to help. All the voices, which had been muted until then, came rushing back to his head. He felt strange; his mind couldn't focus. The others were calling for him to help, but he couldn't move his legs or take his eyes off the bleeding bodies of students, some from his class, some from the other. His head was spinning.

Adlyn needed something— a smoke or a drink— to keep his mind together. After some struggle with himself, he finally moved.

"Hey Fox, what're you spacing out for? Come and help," Bellamy called out to him while pressing on a student's chest. But Adlyn wasn't sure how any of them could help the seriously injured students.

Adlyn noticed movement near him. He could hear a voice, he recognised, almost calling him. He turned and saw Joel- his first and best friend- lying nearby, struggling for breath and heavily bleeding from his stomach. Joel was the first mate Adlyn had since he was transferred to Saint's High. Adlyn had his first smoke with Joel.

Adlyn rushed and sat near Joel, who was taking heavy breaths and trying to say something. He tore off the sleeve of his own shirt, tied it around Joel's stomach, and took Joel's head onto his lap. Some words came out of Joel's mouth, but because of the hard breaths between them, Adlyn couldn't understand what he was saying. But he made out something like,"It's over"

"Just shut up, Joel. I'll do something," Adlyn said, tears forming in his eyes. "Help!" he screamed.

Joel shut Adlyn's mouth by covering it with his hand. "It's over for me," he said quietly, with a small smile on his face.

"No! Don't say that, idiot," a drop of Adlyn's tear fell on Joel's face. "I told you we could skip this trip together, but because you wanted to go, I came too. Now you can't leave me here. It's not fair," Adlyn cried, maybe for the first time in his life.

"At least I got to see you cry," Joel said with a faint laugh.

"No, it isn't fair," Adlyn sobbed.

"I want you to do one last thing for me," Joel said.

"What is it?" Adlyn asked.

"There's a cigarette in my pant pocket. I want to have one last smoke with ya," Joel stared into Adlyn's eyes. "As a farewell," he said.

The memory of their first smoke came to Adlyn's mind as he searched for the cigarette in Joel's pants.

Adlyn had skipped a class and was planning to hide on the school's rooftop. There was Joel, sitting down. When he realized someone was behind him, he tapped the spot next to him, and Adlyn sat there. Joel offered him a smoke, but Adlyn initially rejected it.

"You're a tough one, I can give you that," Joel had said, then handed him the cigarette again. "Just smoke once. For me," he said.

Adlyn took it, and ever since then, they had been best friends.

Adlyn took the cigarette from Joel's pants and lit it with a lighter he had, then gave it to Joel. Joel took a big drag, exhaled the smoke, and handed it back to Adlyn, who did the same with a shaking hand and shivering breath.