Shatter Me

Bradley's P.O.V.

After I leave Colin's, I can't stop shaking. That image of Colin with the sword, and of him wearing those other clothes, what did it mean? I can't get it out of my head. When I get home, Eoin is waiting for me. He's got his usual aloof expression until he sees me and his smile falters.

"You look like you've seen a ghost or something," he says. I open my mouth but nothing comes out, so I just shake my head. Eoin frowns. "I'll make some tea. Tea always helps." Before I can protest and remind him for the billionth time that I don't care for tea, he's gone into the kitchen. I sigh and sit on my couch.

"I take it you won't be staying with Colin?" Eoin calls from the kitchen.

"No, no I am. It was lovely. Colin's great," I say.

"Then why do you look like you're gonna throw up all over my couch?" he asks.

"You're couch? This is my couch," I argue.

"Well, since you'll be living at Colin's, I figure this is the perfect opportunity to dump that lousy girlfriend and move out of her trashy apartment. You don't mind, do you mate? If I live here?"

"Oh, not at all. Good for you, Eoin, finally leaving her. She's not good for you," I say.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's not like we haven't had this conversation before," he chuckles and I can hear him pouring some boiling water into a mug. He comes into the living room and hands me the hot drink before sitting beside me. My shaking has slightly abated and I shut my eyes, trying to forget what I saw at Colin's. I sip my tea, which, for once, doesn't taste like Eoin mixed it with cat pee, and open my eyes again.

"You're a great king, Bradley. I'm proud to be your friend," Eoin surprises me.

"King?" I ask. Eoin frowns, confused.

"What?"

"You just said I was a great king," I state.

"Um, no I didn't. I said you were a great person. Why would I call you a king?" he looks dumbfounded.

"I-I could've sworn..." I trail off.

"Well I didn't say king. Now would you just take the compliment and shut up?" Eoin says playfully and grins. I force a smile too, but my head is still mixed up.

Long after Eoin leaves, I'm still awake, laying in bed in my dark room. The only sound is the fan whirring and cars driving the city streets outside, rain pouring down on rooftops. Around 2:30 in the morning, I hear a knocking and my whole body tenses. I stay silent, thinking perhaps I imagined it, but there it is again. I slide out of bed and walk down the hall to the front door. When I open it, a boy stands outside, soaking wet. He can't be much older than 18 or 19, and he's shivering. His lips are tainted blue from the cold and he's wearing nothing but a thin t-shirt and jeans.

"P-please, sir, I've got no where to go. It's so cold out here," he has trouble getting the words out because he's shivering so badly.

"Oh. Um. Come in. I... I have some pizza in the fridge? If you want some?" I offer. The boy says nothing and walks into my house, dripping rain water all over my carpet. "What's you're name?" I ask. He turns back to me and meets my eyes with his piercing blue ones. For a second, they flash with a certain cruelty and coldness before he is a frightened teenager again. I probably imagined it.

"Alexander...uh, Alex. You can just call me Alex," he responds.

"Okay. I'm Bradley. Where's your family?" I ask, curious.

"Oh. They...they went away," he says, but I can tell there's a lot more to it than that.

"Okay... Well you can sleep here, on the couch. Is that okay? But just one night. I'm moving soon so..." I trail off. The kid is looking at me strangely.

"You really don't remember anything, do you?" he asks.

"W-what?" I stammer, unsettled. He shakes his head.

"Nothing. Thanks for letting me stay here," he plops himself down on the couch, not caring that he's soaking it through with water. I open my mouth to say something but then think better of it.

"Just, stay out of my stuff, yeah? I'm going back to bed," I declare and stomp off to my bedroom, away from the strange teen.

In my dreams, I'm standing in a ravine with steep stone cliffs on either side. There are bodies everywhere. It's absolute carnage. I can hear the sounds of battle not very far off; swords clashing and men shouting. And then a woman, a beautiful woman, comes rushing to me.

"Arthur!" she shouts.

"Who?" I ask, but she ignores me, instead fussing over my...armor?

"It's fine, Guin," I hear myself say. "Go back to the medic tent, where it's safe." She gives me a concerned look but leaves. I watch myself draw a sword and charge in the direction of the battle, but then I'm confronted by a young man, someone who looks exactly like the teenager sleeping in my living room. He raises a sword. I block his strike and go in to stab him, but for some reason I hesitate. That's a mistake. The boy thrusts his sword deep into my gut and I fall.

"You gave me no choice," the boy says. I lunge forward and stab him. He gives me a small smile before he falls, the life leaving him. I try to stand, but it doesn't work and I collapse. The world grows hazy and I see a figure stand over me before it all goes dark. 

When I wake up, bright sunlight filters through my window. I check the time and leap out of bed. It's already 12:30 in the afternoon! I throw on some basketball shorts and a t-shirt and go into the kitchen, where I see Alex making some food.

"Good morning," he says. I just grunt in reply and sit at the table.

"When do you think you can leave?" I ask, looking out at the clear skies. "It's not raining anymore."

"I dunno. I don't exactly have anywhere to go..." he trails into silence, staring at me. I sigh.

"Fine. Stay as long as you need," I relent and Alex grins. And then I remember my dream. That boy who stabbed me, that I stabbed. I stood up fast.

"You're him!" I exclaim. Alex looks startled.

"Who?" he asks.

"The person in my dream..." I stop, knowing I probably sound insane. Alex just looks at me, confused.

"Ummm, you dream about me?"

"What, no! Of course not. But... Do we know each other?" There I go again. Asking if I know someone when it's obvious I don't. Alex just shrugs.

"Maybe," he says. Then he meets my gaze. "Okay, okay, you caught me." He grins cruelly. "The name's Mordred," he purrs and lunges at me.