A Secret Untold

Chapter 5

Brandon's POV

1, 2, 3... 10 seconds past. Another ten past. But it felt like nothing.

Peace.

Silence.

Tranquility.

I let go. The only thing tying me down was my body, but my soul felt free, or as free as it has ever felt in the past months. All the horrid images drifted out into the water surrounding me.

60 seconds passed.

My body stayed in the water, sitting with my legs crossed, eyes closed. Images of a woman appeared in my thoughts. We were at a playground. It was sunny.

Another 60 seconds passed.

She said hello.

I looked at her. She felt familiar. Blurry, but familiar.

I moved towards her without any fear. She was pretty. Blonde. Yellow dress. Big smile

I said hello back, but added another worded to it instinctively.

Hello, mommy.

I shot out of the water, gasping for air. I flipped my hair back, water flying everywhere as my eyes sprang open. It was blurry before my eyesight cleared. I held onto the edge of the pool for support. My body trembled, but not out of cold. I let out a shaky breath. A hand hit me hard on the back, the impact making a slapping sound. My body jolted forward.

"Damn dude! 13 minutes! You're so..." Jordan struggled for words.

"So breathtaking," I suggested with an eyebrow raised. My ideas scrambled as I tried to pretend I was okay.

"Hell yeah! What, do you have a can of oxygen with you when your down there?" he said, looking for anything I might have used to help me breathe. I laughed at his idiocy.

"No, I go old school. You see, I use a straw to breath, Jordan, the old but effective way," I told him in a serious tone. He looked at me like I was stupid. How ironic.

"Sure," he said, stretching the word out as he held his hand to help me get up. I looked at him before getting up on my own, flexing.

"I don't need no dog-gan help. I'm too strong. I'll crush your hand instead," I joked. He hummed in approval.

"Sure, sure," he said. "Well, school's gonna start in another 30 minutes. Get your butt to the showers and get ready. I'm at your locker with Stacy and the rest."

"Got it," I told him. Jordan left me with the shut of the door. I went to the washroom and took a short shower to clean the smell of chlorine off my body before getting dressed. The place was silent, letting my thoughts roam. I quickly got dressed, wearing a pair of jeans and dark blue sweater, quickly drying my hair and combing it messily with my fingers. Right before I left I took a quick glance at the mirror to make sure I looked normal.

I couldn't even look at the mirror for a second before having to turn my eyes away. What I saw looking back at me appalled me. I shook in disgust but tried to push the idea away.

I made my way over to my locker room where Stacy, Jordan, Augie, and Bella stood, half of the group while the other were on the other side of the school, closer to their classes.

"Get away from my locker, idiots," I told them. They stopped their conversations and looked at me.

"What's up, Brandon?" Bella greeted me enthusiastically. Everybody looked at her like she was crazy.

"How can you even be remotely happy? We're back in this hell hole for another five months before summer break," Stacy told her. Augie shied away, trying to not get involved in the argument. Everyone knew he loved school. We always teased him about it. "A week after finals is not enough time to relax."

"Guys, can you actually move. I need to get my stuff from my locker. We only have three minutes before the bell rings," I told them, changing the topic. They shuffled away and I opened my locker, grabbing the things I need for science as well as my phone just in case. Speaking of the device, it began to ring, an unknown number calling. I was about to decline the call when Augie spoke up.

"Take it, the bells bound to ring," he said, and just at that moment it rang. "Might be important. See who it is before going to class."

"Fine, Augie," I told him, rolling my eyes. Augie always tries to make me more sociable and get out of my comfort zones but I just wasn't up to it. I accepted the call as people started moving to their first class.

"Hey, this is Damon," I answered with a sigh.

"Another one's gone," the voice on the other end stated before ending the call. A small part of my heart cracked. I threw the phone on the opposing wall before placing my hands on my head. Luckily it hit no one. The phone audibly cracked, breaking into three large pieces.

Another one is freaking gone.

I growled in frustration. My vision blurred black and red. I struggled to keep my anger in control but my other half fought for control. No no no, I thought, begging myself to calm down. I couldn't see what was in front of me, storming out of the school in an attempt to get a breath of fresh air when something hit me in the chest. Or, more like bumped into me.

I slightly looked down to find a girl with purple hair looking back at me. The same one from the mall.

"Get the hell out of my way!" I roared. She stood in front of me with a blank face. She just kept looking at me, and the more she checked me out the angrier I grew. "Do you not have a brain in there, or is it just hollow?"

She took a step back before responding with, "Sorry, I-I won't do it again. I'm just new. I don't know my way around yet."

"So you're just gonna hide behind that excuse," I boomed. She blinked twice, slightly cowering. "Why don't you use that pretty little head of yours and START MOVING!"

I pushed her aside roughly, muttering about how nobody can ever do anything right, making my way to the exit, not even noticing the crowd of students forming at the edges of the hallway when something tugged at my sleeve.

"What now?" I practically huffed out, wanting to get out before I change.

"What? You think you can just speak however you want because you own the place or something? You need to take you head out of you ass and look around, because your just another douchebag walking around this place. Maybe if you could look where you're going you would figure out that you're the one who bumped into me, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have even helped because even if you had a map to hell you wouldn't have been able to read it. I don't care who touched your pretty little face or pissed in your froot loops, you have no right to talk to me in such a bad way, but then again all you do is speak shit so I shouldn't have expected anything else. It must be difficult for you, exhausting your entire vocabulary in one sentence. You should try eating some makeup so at least you can be pretty on the inside. Thank you so much for the amazing welcome to your new school, you dipwad."

She turned on her heel and began walking away. All I could do was look at her curly purple hair bouncing with every step. I looked around and a group of students were watching in surprise, which only made my anger rise.

"What the hell are you guys looking at?!" I stormed out of the school, still smelling the strawberry scent of her hair.

I looked back at the school one more time over my shoulder as I broke into a full sprint, heading towards the edges of town before changing.