Dust

Chapter one

The rain was like frozen pebbles as it soaked the small-town streets of Oakdale. Lana knew that she was the only one crazy enough to let an inch of skin out the door. And that's why she did it. It was something about inhaling the damp fall air as water ran down her hair, over her nose, and through her lips, as if trying to pry them open into a smile. It didn't take many drops for it to work. And she didn't have to worry about looking like a grinning idiot in the streets because there was no one there to laugh at the thought.

Today was an especially good day for it to rain like this. While most kids her age get excited over their parents being gone because they can have a party or something, Lana's happy because her mom can't pest about her catching a cold outside. Even though she's always bragging about how her family has such good immune systems.

A few blocks later Lana was kicking her tattered Converse against a patch of tar as she swung weakly in a swing that was in desperate need of greasing, headphones blasting her favorite bands through her ears. Her surroundings were empty, but after a rain-water-filled blink, a couple kids appeared on the teeter-totter. Across the soggy bark filled playground, the apples of their cheeks were red with laughter as they rose and fell in the air. Kicking off into the sky and catching that moment of freedom before they lift their friend to experience the sensation on their own.

It's not as glamorous as it is to them for a teenager like Lana, who can only wish to be pleased so easily in their days of responsibilities and troubles. Lana gazed at the children, dismally and quite pointlessly ringing out her hair. But then they seemed to fade, their own outlines becoming somewhat of a fog, a blur. Assuming it was the rain, Lana blinked harshly. But when she opened them again, the children had vanished. The teeter-totter was in utter stillness, absolutely no sign that movement had occurred not even a second ago.

This kind of thing wasn't new to Lana. It's been happening ever since she could remember. It was all memories. Only she could see them-picture them outside her head. It doesn't happen all of time, however. This was the first time in a couple of months, even. And it was only now that she realized how much she had missed it. There wasn't anything particularly special about it, and she was sure it happened to many others as well. But it was nice to see a glimpse of her life in front of her. Some of it seems new, a memory that had been stored so deep in her brain that it was forgotten until it was in front of her again.

Lana picked up speed on her swing, and kicked herself into the air. Feeling what she felt all those years ago on that teeter-totter. Her hair whipping gracefully behind her head, giving room for the air to kiss her face before she fell back again.

The time could have passed by minutes or hours, Lana didn't know. But it seemed a while before the grey sky had sunk into a deep blue, and she finally landed her feet back onto Earth. Her reddened hands were tucked away into the warmth of her hoodie's sleeves as she made the walk back home.

The rain had been tapping outside Lana's window when she opened her eyes this morning, and it seemed that they would still be tapping when they close tonight. Like the claws of a witch, hovering on her broom by the window, endlessly trying to get in.

The walk home seemed shorter than the way there. There was nothing really to catch her eyes in a distraction, for it was too dark even under the lamp posts to see many details of the streets. Except for one thing, that was too strange not to catch her eye. About a block away from her house, the silhouette of a man trudged through the ran in Lana's direction. Who else would be out here?

Then Lana tried to shake it off, knowing that she was probably just being too paranoid as usual. But while that could be true, she couldn't shake it off. As he came closer, it felt as if ropes were wrapping around her stomach, tying the knots tighter by each footstep taken. And for the first time tonight Lana shivered. The air seemed to become colder, much colder.

Ten feet.

Seven feet.

Three feet.

One foot away.

But nothing happened. The man walked right past as if she was not there at all. Lana let out an unexpected sigh of relief. And even though it was only her who knew, she kept walking feeling embarrassed of her racing heart. But then she heard a sliding noise, followed by a splash. The ground echoed with a thud and she heard a loud grunt. Timidly, Lana turned around to see that the man had slipped onto the concrete.

She immediately found herself overwhelmingly torn. She could just leave him, and keep walking. No one would know that she heard or saw anything, and he's probably okay right? But then there's the soft-as-a-ripe-peach side to Lana, where she felt increasingly obligated to check if he was actually okay so that she could live on without a haunting guilt. And it was a tug that couldn't be resisted. Still reluctant, however, Lana slowly stepped her way to the man who was still on the floor, rubbing his head.

"Um, excuse me?" Lana asked meekly. "Are-are you alright...sir?" The man dropped his hand and jerked his head up to look at her in a frightful sort of way. Lana could hardly see his face under his hood and what felt like buckets of rain being dumped over their heads. But it wouldn't take a genius to know that his skin was flushed of all color that might have been there before now. Unless it was always that way.

Lana waited. But he didn't say anything. Was it possible that he did, but she didn't hear him? But no, she would have seen his mouth move. What was he doing? The man just seemed to be staring at her. But then again, she couldn't help but stare back. She couldn't see him, but something was keeping her from looking away.

Things were beyond uncomfortable now. Lana cleared her throat and tried speaking again. "Do you need help?" She stretched out her arm for him to grab, even though she hoped he wouldn't. There was something off about him. She should run now. But she didn't. Something-Lana didn't know what-but something was holding her back, urging her to put her hand out. And sure enough, he took it. He also did most of the work from there, because he was almost twice the weight as Lana and it would be hard to rely on her to hold it.

In seconds he was standing in front of her, still saying nothing. Not even a "Thank you." He was just looking at her in a strange way, like he was trying to read her mind. Or maybe he thought she looked familiar and was trying to figure out who she was. But the weirdest thing was, was that he still had her arm in his hand.

He tried taking a step closer, but Lana automatically took a step back. The man almost took another step, and Lana was ready to bite his hand away when the lights to the house in front of them turned on. The man immediately let go, and stumbled back as if defeated. Lana's heart beat almost hurt as it thumped against her chest. He stared at her for another moment, and reluctantly turned away. She watched him walk down the street and made sure that he was out of sight before dashing the other way to her home.

Once she got inside Lana shut the door harshly behind her, and fell back against it, panting. Across the room stood her mom and dad at the dining table. They both looked at her with concern.

"Lana, my dear," said her dad, "are you alright?" Lana quickly nodded her head before speaking.

"It's just-just cold outside is all. I'm looking forward to dinner." They both smiled in relief and comfort, them gestured for Lana to sit down. Trying to act as normal as possible, Lana took a seat as they placed a plate and silver-wear in front of her.

She didn't want to tell them what happened because she knew what they would say. Her dad might not even say anything, in fact. He'd probably start running down the street and go looking for the guy. Her mom would want to call the cops, and they would argue about it because you can't arrest someone for being creepy. But she'd call anyway and they would say the same thing and leave, but her mom wouldn't let it go and Lana would be stuck at home until she turns thirty.

So she kept her mouth shut and smiled as her parents went on about their trip today. Her mom "scored" two tickets to some art gallery in a big city nearby with some co-workers. But Lana was too distracted to remember the names of the city, gallery, or people. Not that she cared too much though, really.

The dinner went on with her parents talking about a painter who signed copies of his art, while Lana pretended to be interested, as their traditional Friday tacos crunched in between her teeth. It was a good way to keep them from chattering, seeing that she was still in her soaking clothes under a wet mop of hair. And on top of all that, she only needed to try and keep from shaking because Lana couldn't get that man out of her mind. All that ran through her head was one question, "Who is he?"