I stared at him from across the room; I sat in my seat and watched as the color seeped off him all over as if he were engulfed in black flames; I sigh and lay my head down thinking "what's wrong with me?, I started seeing the color this morning, I don't know what it means but it won't go away, and it's only on him. It makes me want to make an appointment with my eye doctor for the end of the week, maybe she can figure it out for me. The day ends and I walk home, passing the guy I cross the street, as I walk on I hear car tires screeching and horns honking. I turn and watch as a diesel truck smashes into him, blood flies everywhere, some on my face; in utter shock I stand there mouth gaping as I watch the truck finally stop. The screeching tires are silent and I look at the bloody pool of what used to be my classmate.
THROB. I wince and place my hand to my head, THROB. "AGH!!" I fall to my knees as my head throbs, sending immense pain through my head and body; my vision becomes blurry and my senses weaken, all I can hear is the fading sound of a rushing crowd, and a blurred scene of people rushing in and out of my line of sight; everything goes black.
I wake up in a hospital bed, my muscles a little tense and only a slight headache lingering; I glance around, TV on but the sound low, its dark outside, the bed next to mine is empty, and the dry erase board has a schedule of nurses and eating times for the day. I look at the clock and a few hours have passed, I sit up and gaze off into space, "Oh no, moms gonna kill me for being home so late, but what I saw, I can't believe it, someone killed himself, and as soon as it happened his color, that fire stuff, it vanished!"
I think back to the accident, thinking maybe he thought it was clear to go and just didn't see the diesel, "It can't be, I remember hearing the sound of rushing cars all around us, so the diesel wasn't the only thing driving towards him." As I continue to think about it I feel a weight of heavy anxiety setting in, but the nurse walks in and interrupts the troubling thoughts racing through my mind; she places my backpack on the chair next to the bed and rests a clipboard on her upper stomach while reading and flipping through its pages.
"You might wanna call someone to pick you up, its dark out; you feinted, we got a report that a student, got in an accident, and judging by the blood splatter on you, you probably witnessed it right in front of you. You may stay the night if you don't think you can get a ride or walk home, but if you leave make sure to have someone sign you out. If you need anything just press the help button. Other than a bit of trauma, you're test came in and you're fine, though if you have any questions or worries we can provide you with some." As she continues explaining the details my mind wonders back to the horrific incident; it all happened so fast yet it felt as though everything ran in slow motion, I felt as if I could see each individual drop of blood splatter everywhere; the streets, the cars, the people, lampposts, everywhere. His body walking one second, and then being smashed, rolled and squished in the next second; and the flame, that flame vanished the instant his feet came off the ground and was being pushed by the vehicle.
"I think I'll just walk home, I have so much on my mind I think my mom would bombard me with questions that I don't even know answers to yet." I say as I run my fingers through my hair.
"Understood, all you gotta do is go to the front desk and sign out." She jots something down on the clipboard and turns to leave.
"Ah, sorry one more thing," she turns back around and waits for the question, but I shake my head. "Never mind, sorry," I say as I reach for my clothes that she placed at the foot of my bed.
She nods and hurries out the door, leaving me to my own thoughts which, at this moment are frightening me. Non-stop replay of the incident rolling into my thoughts like a movie; the screeching, the horns, the screaming crowd, the sound of something being hit, it all continuously rushes through my mind without mercy. Once dressed I put my jacket on, my fingers touch something rough and I look down and pinch at some of it, peeling off a bit of hardened blood that splattered onto me at the accident, my hand quivers and I gulp, ripping the jacket off and deciding to deal with the cool nighttime weather that awaits. I send my mom a text telling her I'll be home soon, to which I receive a replay that says:
MOM: You better have a good reason for scaring me like that, hurry home and wear your jacket, its cold tonight.
There's no way I can easily tell her about the accident, on the way home I think of anything I could say to make it sound better but nothing comes to mind, I take the bus most of the way with the rest of my lunch money I didn't spend today and walk the remaining fifteen minutes home. I walk in and kick my shoes off at the door and toss my backpack and jacket at the bottom of the stairs, the light to the dining room is on and I walk in to see mom with her head down sleeping. I turn to head to my room and get changed but I'm stopped by the sound of her voice.
"Get back here and tell me why you're here so late." I turn and see her rubbing her eyes.
"There," I hesitate, still unsure of how to actually say this, "There was an accident, with one of my classmates; I didn't really know him but, it was right in front of me." I grip my arm as my body shakes again; she stands and comes to me, putting her hand to my forehead. "I don't think I'm sick it's just every time I think of it I feel sick, it was like a front row seat for me, and his blood, it just," the tears weld in my eyes as flashes of the terrible memory race through my mind; the diesel, the noise, the blood, the flame, everything. The tears fall and she hugs me as if understanding my pain, we stay like this for a moment before she speaks.
"Handler." She whispers so softly I almost didn't hear her, I pull away alittle and look at her in confusion, but she doesn't explain. "You will take a few days off from school to rest and calm down, I'm sure this whole thing has really shaken you up. I'm going to contact your school and let them know you'll be absent." She caresses my cheek softly then heads to the kitchen, "I'll heat up dinner, be down in about fifteen minutes." I nod and head up stairs, throwing my jacket in the hamper to wash and setting my backpack on my desk; I plop down at my desk and try to make sense of what she said, 'Handler'.
Fifteen minutes passed and I changed into comfier clothes, I go down and eat, dinner is silent the whole time. The tension is weird, I don't know how to deal with it so I just eat quietly; we finish up and clean the kitchen together, once done she disappears into her room while dialing on her phone, I assume she's contacting my school, although being so late I doubt she'll make it through to someone. She comes back and lets me know she'll try again tomorrow, and although I'm taking days off, I should try to finish any homework I got today so I don't have to do it later. When she leaves she starts dialing another number, but I don't bother with it and decide to do as she says and work on my homework I got today.
The next morning I wake up a few minutes before my alarm usually goes off, thinking my usual wake-up time for school must already be drilled into my mind. I didn't finish my homework, it was already late, I was tired and just couldn't concentrate because of everything; what's weird though, is how my mom was acting; I told her what happened yet all she did was give me days off from school. I lie back down and sleep for a few more hours, waking up at 9:47 thinking that's still pretty early for a high school student, but I get up and stretch; deciding to take a shower and finish my homework. After my shower my mom calls me down, I walk down while drying my hair, seeing my grandfather sitting at the table with a pile of books at his side.
"What's going on?" I drape the towel over the back of the chair and sit, waiting for someone to explain, grandpa clears his throat and rests his arms on the table.
"Kou," he says in with a soft voice, "now listen carefully, what I'm about to tell you, is going to sound really crazy. You have a Gift, but once you fully understand everything, you will feel it is nothing but a Curse."
"A gift, you mean like powers or something?"
"No, it's a gift to see One's Path. You are a Handler."
2��WL�x
YOU ARE READING
Holding Everything
AdventureWhat would you do if you found out the hard way, just how weak and small humans were? That when up against a real terror, they would be torn down easily and trampled upon; would you, as a human, still try to do whatever you can to surpass such a thr...
