The Phantom

Chapter 1

"David watches the flower fall."

And I had.

I could remember it quite vividly, which, seeing as it only happened earlier that same day, may only show that I am not losing my memory at the age of twenty one, and if I had no recollection of it at all, I may have been concerned. Of course, if I was losing my memory at my age, it would not have been my biggest concern of that day. No, the voice took that first place trophy. The voice inside my head, the one that only I could hear. The voice that convinced me that I may have pushed myself too far, and the stress of college had finally driven me insane.

I had been walking along, down the sidewalk towards the student union, where I was to meet Pierce. I had no idea what he looked like, or how old he was, or what to expect at all actually. I only knew that he was a high schooler, likely a junior, who was interested in the university, and I was to tour him around.

While I had been walking, something made me look up just for a second. Perhaps it was only chance. I certainly would have continued walking, and return my gaze to the concrete I walked on, if something had not caught my eye.

It was very difficult to tell what it was at first. Perhaps a feather? White or black, stout and more round, falling ever so gracefully to the ground, almost floating. I had stood still, and watched it fall, but as it had gotten closer I realized that it was certainly not a feather, because it was almost a circle in shape, though with bumps and indents. My next thought was that it might be a leaf, but it was falling in too straight of a line for that, as a leaf would have been carried by the breeze more, and as it got closer, I realized it was a flower, or at least, the end of a flower, with all of its pedals. I continued to watch it, until it eventually reached its resting place on the sidewalk, which appeared a blazing white in the heat of the sun, and stood a while more, appreciating the flower as it lay still then.

It was a violet, its deep hue of purple having such a sharp contrast against the concrete that it would have made a decent picture. Perhaps one that someone else would post on their social media, and get a few more than the average number of likes. Of course, I thought nothing of it at the time, and after I experienced more of this voice in my head, I would think nothing of it again. In fact, there would only be a day or so, where I wondered if there was something different about the flower, and after that day was over, I would know that indeed, there was not.

An indigo bunting would break my peaceful stare at the flower on the sidewalk, flying a little too close to my head, and making me jump backwards, startled. Quickly, I checked the time on my phone, and hurried off, so that I wouldn't be late, taking a glance at the small bird that quickly flew from my sight.

I had my hand on the handle of the entrance when I spotted the young man I assumed to be Pierce. Normally, I would have gone inside, ignoring the figure, but seeing the teen standing, slowly walking towards the student union building, the expression I imagined one would have when stepping off the plane in a foreign country, This convinced me he was the one, and if not, it was the right thing for me to, to help direct this lost soul wherever they may be heading.

"Hey, Pierce?" I asked, waving slightly to get his attention before offering my hand as a greeting.

"Yeah," he responded, hesitantly offering his own, and I shook it.

"Great, I'm David." When he didn't have a reaction to this, I explained, "your tour guide for today."

He looked somewhat relieved, and I smiled as kindly as I could.

"So, is this your first time on a college campus?" I started off by asking. I liked to see what people already knew, or thought they knew, as some universities had similarities, and also their own major differences.