My Crazy Years

Miles away

    It's been nearly a week since summer holiday started, for some, time passing slowly as if the strands of sand in the hourglass forgot to fall, thus days passes hardly at all. The heat didn't make things any better either, the sun leaving the people below desperate for shade and praying to God for a breeze to alleviate the burning of their skin. Ice cream was selling like warm bread and the restaurants were packed full with teenagers who had yet to leave to the sea and enjoy the waters and crowded beach.

Henry was bored, all of his friends busy with either their girlfriends or partying it up all night, until the morning hours of the day, leaving them nothing but mindless zombies crashed on the couch of their family's living room. The boy would have joined them were it not for the punishment he was under, thus he could only hear what happened, unable to take part in it himself.

He was taking a walk through the small town, trying to find anything to keep himself busy and escape the clutches of boredom. He reached the museum when his pleas were answered, in the form of a clumsy man carrying large boxes, and having a hard time keeping his balance, walking backwards out of the building, his face concealed by the load in his arms.

"WHOA! Look where you're going!" Henry shouted after a box nearly fell on him.

"Sorry. Sorry." James answered, turning to face the one who spoke to him. "Oh. It's you, Henry. Care to lend a hand?"

Henry looked at (Y/N)'s uncle and then back to the boxed he was holding and sighed. He didn't have anything else to do anyway.

"Sure. You're going home?"

"Yes and thank you."

After Henry took some of the boxes, the two men began to walk towards the periphery of the town, making small talk on the way there.

"So, how is summer holiday?" James asked, not really knowing what else to talk about but anything would have been better than the silence threatening.

"Boring so far." Henry answered without much enthusiasm.

"Is that so? What's wrong with this summer? Everyone seems to be having a bad time. You, (Y/N), the bugs."

"Did something happen to (Y/N)?"

Cold shivers ran down Henry's back when he heard her name. That girl always had a way of getting herself into trouble as if she was a magnet for them. The memory of her lying on that platform, blood pouring from an open wound came back to him, making his stomach huddle, the bitter taste of bile in his mouth as his nostrils felt the metallic scent of blood just like that day. An image that will haunt him to his grave for sure.

"She's...well, I'm not sure. Her family is in America right now and well... we're not exactly keeping in touch." James replied not entirely sure about the situation.

He knew (Y/N) began to put distance between her and the Higher Beings, taking off her bracelets and denying them access to her dreams. At first, he thought it was only the guilt of having the Dream Bracelet stolen from under her nose, but it looked as if there was more to it. Something wrong was going on, and it pained him that he couldn't understand what and offer help.

Henry said nothing for a while, knowing full well that nobody in (Y/N)'s family knew about James' relationship with the supernatural, considering him an outcast and preferring to keep their distance. He often wondered if she was aware that if she were to continue walking on the same path as him, she would suffer the same fate, isolated and badmouthed by those who shared her own blood. He was eager to talk to her about it, because in his own mind he couldn't understand this. Was the supernatural really worth the price it asked for? To be considered the black sheep of your own family and shunned by them? He didn't think so.