Generation Infinosil

Chapter Fifty Four

Chapter Fifty Four - Shane 

2050

I was strolling home when I heard it - that annoying ringtone I hadn't yet remembered to change. But when I looked at the name that appeared on the screen, I no longer minded the awful sound. With a stupid smile on my face I picked up the phone. "Hello Kaitlyn, babe."

But there was nothing but heavy breathing on the other end. "Kaitlyn? Kaitlyn, you're worrying me, are you okay?"

"Shane, I..."

"Are you running or something? All I can hear is panting and footsteps, Kaitlyn what are you running away from?"

"I'm not running away, I'm running towards you, after you, I can see you now, it's okay." And then she hung up. Puzzled and more than a little concerned I turned around and, surely enough, Kaitlyn was at the end of the road. I may have been far away but I could still see that something about her wasn't right, she wasn't just out of breath from running, she was panicked. 

Then a thought struck me. What if she was being chased by the same man who came to her house before? So I ran faster than I've ever run before, hoping and praying that I would reach her before they did, but at the same time not knowing what I would do to defend her once I got to her. I knew one thing for sure though, I would fight with every last ounce of energy and strength to keep my angel safe.

When I reached her she ran at me with such a speed that the wind was almost knocked out of me, and that feeling was worsened by her suffocating squeeze. "Kaitlyn I can't breathe, you're holding me too tight." 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She said, loosening her grip and trying to catch her breath.

"What happened? Why have you ran after me so desperately?"

"I heard... I heard my parents... Talking about me, about us..." She was so exhausted that she could barely get her words out. 

"Come here," I said as I pulled her close to me, "it's going to be okay, us against the world, remember? What did you hear them say?"

"They know we're together and they're not happy about it, something about people being after us and it being safer for us to be apart, something about revenge, I didn't understand. But we were together before and they don't want us to be together again. Well, my Mum said that I seemed really happy and that we're probably safe but my Dad insisted that we'd never be safe and I don't know why they would keep this all from me and I've never seen my Dad so angry and they're going to try to split us apart and someone is after us and it's probably that guy who came to my house or the guy in the fire and..." She was talking so fast and without any pause so I didn't catch half of what she said. 

"Woaah, calm down Kaitlyn, tell me again, but this time step by step."

"I heard them say that someone was after us, my family and your family, and that we're in more danger if we're together." She explained, with tears strolling uncontrollably down her face.

"What the...?" I didn't know what to think, "are you sure that's what you heard?"

"Yes Shane, I'm sure, that's not the kind of thing you can mishear."

"So they knew we were together and they purposefully kept it from us? They purposefully kept us apart?" I was shocked, I know we did have our suspicions but the suspicion was nothing like having our worries confirmed. 

"What are we going to do? They know we're together now, they're going to try to keep us apart." She was visibly panicking, her chest rising and falling with every shallow breath. 

"They're not going to tear us apart Kaitlyn, we won't let them." I pulled her close to me again and kept her in my arms until her breathing became more steady and I was reassured that she had calmed down.

"Shall I let them know that I know or not?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Hmm... Well what are the chances that they will be honest with us if we confront them about it?" I wondered.

"I don't know, I don't know what to think anymore, how can we possibly trust them after all this?" She responded.

"But didn't you say that they felt we were putting ourselves in danger by being together? I know this doesn't make it much easier but what if they were trying to protect us? Doesn't it all seem a bit of a coincidence that all this happens around the same time as the fire and the guy knocking on your door? Maybe we should talk to them about it, we don't know how dangerous this man is and we need to know what's going on in order to stay safe."

"You're right, but we need to be careful about what we believe, we can't trust everything they say." Kaitlyn warned.

"I know, we need to be careful. The school will be open again soon, the fire didn't cause much damage and the school has been reported safe. I'm going to walk you to and from school every day, okay?" I insisted.

"I'd appreciate that please, at least that way we know we've arrived home safe. But you have to walk further than me so you'll be walking alone for a bit!"

"Kaitlyn, if it makes you feel better I'll call you as soon as we say goodbye and remain on the phone until I reach my house." 

"Yes please baby." She looked into my eyes with such love and such concern, I couldn't help but brush her hair behind her ears, lean in close and plant a soft kiss on her lips. 

"It's going to be okay, isn't it Shane?" 

"Of course it is, we can face it all together." 

At that point it started to rain, it was totally unexpected and before long we were soaked. I was about to run under a nearby bus shelter with Kaitlyn when my vision became incredibly blurred and images rushed before me like a rapid slide show. Kaitlyn and I kissing in the rain was the most reoccurring image.

"Shane... Shane? What's wrong? Don't stand there getting soaked, come under the shelter!"

I did as she said but she must have noticed something was up, worry clouded her face. 

"Kaitlyn?"

"Yeah, what's up?" She asked, reaching out to hold my hand.

"That time you had a daydream or flash back or whatever it was, about us kissing, when you pretended you saw a bat, you remember that, right?" 

"Yes, I remember, why? What's wrong?" She was becoming more and more distressed.

"Describe it to me, please."

"It was pouring down and we were kissing in the rain. Shane, are you going to explain what's going on?" She asked.

"More detail please."

She looked confused but she did as I asked, "I was clutching your dripping shirt, I pulled you close and you brushed my hair from my face and we kissed lovingly in the rain."

"Kaitlyn, I just saw the exact same thing. I'm pretty sure that's a memory, I'm pretty sure the rain has reminded us and caused us to have a flash back." I know the situation wasn't ideal but nothing could take away the joy of having a memory from before the accident, a memory of Kaitlyn and I together.

She smiled and laughed, "really? That's amazing. It was real! I wasn't making it up? It wasn't just wishful thinking?"

"How could it be? You never told me the details of what you saw so how would we have seen the exact same thing? Kaitlyn, what if we get even more memories? What if we gradually get to remember our time together before the accidents?"

"Imagine that, wow. We mustn't get our hopes up though Shane, just in case."

"Easier said than done babes." I replied, smiling. But then the smile faded when I remembered something else. "Kaitlyn, your accident, it was a car accident, wasn't it?"

"Yes, why?" 

"I... I had a dream a while ago and... I think I saw your accident, it seemed too real to be a dream, just like these flash backs we've been having."

"What are you saying?"

"I... I think I was there."