Sharp, piercing eyes. The eyes of a predator, staring straight into his own. He sat in horror as he watched the event take place. He felt frozen, as if he didn't have control over his own body. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping him from passing out from either the pain, or the fear. She looked at him, and began making her way to him as well. A cold sweat dripped down his brow. She raised her weapon, ready to take the victory. With his life flashing before his eyes, he took one last look at him and forced his body to run. He ran as far as he could, to no avail. There was no flight, only fight.
"How long has my alarm been ringing for...'' 17-year-old Xander Gray sighed to himself as he laid in bed for several minutes, the sound of rain lightly drizzling on the roof above him. "What a weird dream…" he mumbled quietly to himself. Then he groaned. He was not looking forward to the day ahead of him. Every day was just a cycle to Xander. Waking up, getting yelled at for something he did or didn't do, regardless of whether or not it was right or wrong. Then, he'd leave for school. Once he'd get there, he would remain unnoticed by everyone, only to go home, sleep, and repeat the cycle once again as wakes up.
"I guess I should get out of bed…" he muttered to himself as he slowly slid out of his disheveled bed.
He stood up, his pajama shirt half unbuttoned, and hair messier than "messy" can describe. He sluggishly walked over to the dresser, tripping on the random piles of clothes scattered about. He took a moment, staring into his own eyes, telling himself that he will make it through the day. Even though life kicked him while he was down, he still tried to remain as resilient as possible, to its negative effects.
He slowly got dressed in his black-and-white tracksuit, donned his old fashioned headphones, and proceeded out of his bedroom without even combing his hair. All the lights were off as it was only 5:47 AM, and nobody else woke up until 6:00 AM. He turned on the light groggily. He spotted sheets of paper, spread erratically through the kitchen. His father tore one of his favorite books a day before in a fight over the claim that Xander does nothing to help out around the house. He stubbornly picked up the trashed paper and threw it out. The memories of the argument flashed in his mind as he tossed out his favorite manga. Moving to the cabinet, he pulled out a granola bar and put it into his bag. Even though he was hungry from just waking up from an eleven-hour slumber, he desired to get out of the house before anyone else awoke.
He moved to put the bar in the side pouch on his black bag, when he suddenly heard a noise coming from the steps.
"Oh no, was I too loud?" he thought to himself as he quickly zipped his bag up and slung it across his shoulder.
"I-is anyone down here?" a soft, tired voice called down the stairs.
Xander's younger sister, Naomi, was a 14-year-old girl who went to the same high school as him. He clicked his tongue, as he had wished to leave before she did so he could make his regular stop at the gas station on the way to school, to pick up a few snacks.. She slowly made her way downstairs, rubbing her eyes as they adjusted to the light in the kitchen. Xander rushed to the front door to leave when his sister spotted him:
"Oh, hey. Good morning, Xander" she said, as cheerfully as she could while still being half asleep.
"Uh.." Xander tried to reply to her, he could only do so slowly. He wasn't used to talking to people this early in the morning. "Yeah, good morning…" he trailed off.
"Ha, I get it, don't worry about it," she said as she pulled out a strawberry PopTart to put into the toaster.
Of the three others in the Gray family, Naomi is the only one who makes an effort to be nice to him. Naomi Gray is the definition of a ray of hope in his life, and she is currently the only person he tries to live for.
"Mhm.." Xander replied as he opened the door, small raindrops coming inside from the gloomy, 5:54 AM morning sky.
"Have a good day, Xander."
"..thanks. You too, sis." It seems that he was able to evade a prolonged conversation, and continued with his daily routine.
Xander walked to the gas station two blocks down from where he lives. After all, it was the cheapest place open at this hour. It was on the path to school to boot. He entered through the automatic sliding glass door as the bell announcing a customer had entered chimed.
Xander walked to the back aisle, where they kept their drinks in a fridge, and picked out something that looked like a cola, not really reading labels. He took it to the cashier and paid for it, $1.49 in total.
The cashier looked at him after the transaction. "You know… this kind of drink is pretty unhealthy, especially at this hour."
Xander looked at it for a split second, and hesitated. He thought about going back and grabbing a different one. After thinking for a few seconds, he put it on the counter with the register without saying a word. The cashier looked at him worryingly.
"So, how's your family doing? Your sister?" He asked. Xander looked at him and blinked.
"Good. They're good." Once again, he attempted to leave the conversation early, as he didn't like talking. Especially about his family.
Unfortunately for Xander, though, the cashier continued. "You know… I see you in this gas station often. You always look like a zombie, but today you look extra dead. Is something up?"
Xander assured the cashier that he was fine, and said that he was going to be late to school if he didn't leave soon. That was a lie. The truth was that he just wanted to be able to sit on the lake's beach. It's his favorite place to go, especially in the mornings.
He approached the beach, drink in hand, and sat down in the coarse sand. The rain splashed in the water, ripple after ripple over the surface of the lake. Normally, it was quiet here. Only the distant waves and occasional bird could be heard from where he sat. But today, it was different. The weather created much more noise. It was peaceful, however. Xander loves to listen to the sounds on these days. Water splashing, wind blowing by, bugs chirping in the woods just to the right of the lake. This place meant a lot to him, and that included all of the noise. Among the other noises, however, was something new. Something different and unique compared to everything else. It was like a strange hum. It was somewhat melodic. He dismissed it though. After about ten minutes, he decided to finally set off to school.
He crossed a small bridge over a brook, through a tiny park lit by generic streetlamps. Xander had a fairly scenic route, considering the fact that he lived in the heart of the suburbs. With a lake, and woods just to the east of everything, it was truly special. Finally reaching the gate, he saw the figure of a man leaning on the wall about fifty feet from where Xander stood. With school not being open yet, he stood outside while he waited for 7:00 AM, when the school would open for the day. After walking, the time was 6:48 AM.
"Less waiting than usual today. Probably due to the fact I was stopped by Naomi on my way out." he thought.
Sighing through a slight smile, he leaned against the gate and closed his eyes.
"I've done my chemistry homework. That was really confusing, I absolutely hate stoichiometry. Hmm… I also finished my Algebra II homework… Nothing else. I can sleep during study hall. All according to plan."
Xander tried to be methodical with how he went about his day. However, not everything goes according to plan, proven by the way he was stopped by both his sister and the cashier. Xander only knew being strategic from the very moment he could remember anything. His parents hated him. They always seemed to blame him for everything that went wrong in their lives. To cope with that, he planned every moment of his day to avoid them as much as possible. Despite this, they still found ways to pin him for even the smallest inconveniences. It was unfair, but it was the only life Xander knew.
As the clock started to near 7:00 AM, more students began to stand outside the gate where Xander had been for nearly a half-hour. The slight rainfall began to let up, too, as the sun peeked through the cloudy horizon.
"Good morning, Amelia!" - "Good morning, Eri!" These were all how others greeted each other. But nobody dared to make an effort to look towards Xander. After all, he was rumored to be the boy who ruined Annalise Moore's life. Stealing her money when she was at her lowest, hiding her homework from her, defacing her property, they were all crimes committed by someone else. All of the blame, however, was thrust upon Xander. The only reason everyone pinned these actions onto Xander was due to the fact he said nothing and did nothing. No one knew what kind of guy he actually was. The true culprit was Damian Martinez, however, Damian was an expert at lying and deception. Using his ability to manipulate the masses, he, was able to completely clear himself in everyone's mind. As the weeks went on, more and more people were thought to be cleared, until it was just Xander left, all alone, and with no way to defend himself. Even Annalise herself thought that, as she had never seen the true culprit.
Annalise and Xander used to be friends until Damian first struck and took her wallet, which contained first-ever paychecks. He pleaded guilty and made sure that no one suspected him. Then, he pointed out to everyone that it was most likely Xander, as he was one of the few people close to Annalise. After that, she stopped being friends with him, and instead chose to hang around Damian, as he made her feel safe. Xander, unable to do anything about this, just took it for what it was and hoped for a day where he could tell her the truth.
7:00 AM hit and the gates opened. School was in session. As they walked towards the entrance, a voice called out to Xander: "Hey Xander!"
This was Kylo Bolt. He was seemingly the only kid who made an effort to be nice to Xander. Xander, however, didn't really care much about him as his perception of school had been destroyed by Damian. Despite this, he didn't make efforts to push Kylo away.
"Hey Kylo.." Xander mumbled.
"There's the typical Xander I know. Did I not get much sleep last night again?"
"I got eleven hours"
"How?! I have all the same classes as you and was up well-past midnight doing work!" Kylo exclaimed.
"Hm"
"Don't 'hm' me! Tell me!" Kylo jokingly shouted, lightly hitting Xander's shoulder, knowing he was good at logic-based work.
They walked the rest of the way to their first class in silence, side-by-side through a bustling hallway.
"Xander"
Nothing
"I had a good idea"
Still nothing
Kylo pushed his way in front of Xander, walking backwards, trying not to bump into anyone. "Earth to Xander," he said.
Xander looked at Kylo without changing his blank expression.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah"
Kylo scratched his head, trying to think of a way of getting Xander to have a conversation. Xander, however, didn't have any intention of speaking as it wasn't part of his planned agenda. When it came to school, his thought process was along the lines of "get in, get out." No in-betweens. After a few minutes of walking together through a crowded hallway where it was difficult walking with other people, they made it to their first class. Xander booked it to his isolated corner near the window in the back. The desk was a little wobbly but he didn't mind, it would suffice as his desk for the year. Kylo sat in the back but more towards the center. He sat down and stretched comfortably, settling himself in for the next forty-five minutes.
The teacher came in, set his stuff down and said good morning to the class, just as they said it back to him.
"Ok, class, I'm sure you all remember the stoichiometry homework I gave you three days ago. Pass it to the front of your row, please and thank you," he said.
Xander slowly passed his to the kid in front of him, trying not to draw too much attention to himself in doing so. Once he handed the paper off, he sighed and put his head down on his desk. His head flooded with thoughts of being on the beach again, with a cool breeze blowing onto him from the water. These thoughts put his mind at ease as he almost drifted off to sleep at his desk.
"I want to go there again."
As the paper collection was being finalized, the students in the classroom began talking with one another. Xander kept his head down and his profile as low as he could. He jumped when he felt tapping on his shoulder.
"How do you feel about your work. I know you did it, but did you do it right?"
Not recognizing the voice, Xander stared at the shoes of the person talking to him through the gap between his arm and his desk where his head rested in an attempt at figuring out who it was without looking at them. Eventually, he guessed that it was Kylo and slowly picked his head up off of his desk.
"Are you sure you got to sleep last night?" Kylo asked.
"Yeah."
"How do you feel about your answers on the homework?"
"Yeah.." Xander replied, still daydreaming about the beach.
"Are you even listening to me?!" Kylo exclaimed, positioning his face a little closer to Xander's ear.
"Yeah. You're right next to me. I have to." Xander said matter-of-factly.
"Aha! I got you to say more than one word! I was beginning to worry that you forgot everything but the word 'yes,'" Kylo said proudly.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Xander thought to himself.
"All of the papers are in. Take your seats again, students," said the teacher, Mr. Nelson.
Kylo made a peace sign to Xander and seemingly flung himself into his seat from where he was standing. Xander stared and then went back to focusing on his desktop.
Mr. Nelson began talking again, pointing at the board with various equations written across its surface.
"Let's continue figuring out the equation from yesterday…"
The end-of-class dismissal bell rang, and every student jumped out of their seats and took to the halls in a matter of seconds. Xander stood behind, slowly picking up his backpack, positioning it on his shoulders, and made for the door slowly. Kylo was standing right outside the door.
"Took you long enough," Kylo laughed.
Xander stared back at Kylo with his blank expression.
On the way to their next class, the two of them separated. Unfortunately for Kylo, he didn't share every class with Xander. Xander was relieved with this. He felt suffocated with Kylo hanging around him, but at the same time, he was kind of sad. Even though he found Kylo to be annoying, he was the only person who paid any attention to him, and thought of him as a friend.
Nearing his next class, he realized he had to use the restroom. Luckily, there was one right down the hall from class. He walked his way to the restroom and entered a stall. He was alone in the restroom, or at least he thought he was. He heard a voice, and a loud thud. Something hit the wall.
"You're the one who tried ratting me out to the teacher aren't you?" Xander recognized the voice. It was Damian's.
"I… I don't know what you are talking about!" Another voice, this time a new one.
"Like hell you don't. I heard from all the kids in math class. Now, I'm gonna teach you what it means to do something like that." Damian hissed.
There was another loud thud, followed by a groan. Xander was scared of what happened to the other kid. Regardless of how tired he was, he couldn't just leave this kid to fend for himself. He had to make a stand, and finally get Damian in trouble with the school. However, he couldn't just rush out there and fight him head on. Damian was much larger than Xander, and would without a doubt win against him. He had to be strategic.
Xander tried to think about what he would do, but Damian wouldn't stop hurting the kid. He didn't have time to think, he just had to be quick-witted and resourceful. With a deep breath, he opened the stall door, and confronted Damian. What he saw was truly horrifying. He finally realized who the kid was. He was in a majority of Xander's classes. Completely beaten down, and on the verge of losing consciousness, there he sat, underneath Damian. Damian turned, and saw Xander. He was caught off guard, as he didn't notice someone else was in the bathroom with him. The bell rang.
Immediately, without even saying a word, Damian leaped at Xander, going in for a right hook, which Xander dodged with ease. However, the attacks kept coming. One even grazed Xander's shirt. That made him hesitate, which was a huge mistake. Damian got a hold of Xander, and punched him right in the gut. Xander coughed and groaned, immediately dizzy. Xander fell to the floor, coughing and holding his stomach as tears formed in his eyes.
Damian took this opportunity to take a breather and think for a second. Instead of just one kid, there were now two people who were beaten up, which could cause problems for him. He thought for a short second, and smiled.
At this point, Xander stood back up.
"Oh? I didn't think you would have gotten up after that." Damian said, snickering to himself. Xander raised his fists as if to fight Damian. Normally, Damian would have taken this as a challenge, and fought back. However, this was a different situation.
Xander charged at him. Damian didn't move. There was one punch, then two, then three. Damian took each of them like a champ. He allowed Xander to beat him. This confused Xander but at this point, so many emotions were running high that he didn't care. All of the problems in his home life, his friendship with Annalise being ruined by Damian, and being beaten down by the same guy… He let it take him over.
While this was all happening, he heard another voice. This one from a girl. He recognized her voice. It was Annalise.
"Xander stop!" she cried out. This was the worst possible time for her to walk in on the fight. This was right when Xander was beating the life out of Damian. If only she saw the first part.
Xander stopped what he was doing and swung his head to make eye contact with Annalise. His heart stopped. "Annalise? What are you doing here? This is the boy's restroom." He asked.
"I don't care about that! What have you done? Look at Damian, he's all beat up. Did you hurt this kid too?" She pointed at the student, still on the floor, holding his stomach.
"What? No? Of course not, it was Damian." he answered.
"Like I'd believe that, I just saw you punching Damian." She ran over to her friend and held him, consoling him, even though he didn't need it. "I never want to see your face again. I thought you were a nice guy too. Even after you stole my wallet. In the back of my mind, I always thought that maybe it wasn't you. But now, I know for a fact that you are a horrible person. Let's go get help Damian." She motioned for him to follow her out.
Xander felt worse than he has in a long time. Even after the incident, he still liked Annalise. During their time apart, he slowly developed feelings for her, realizing how much he missed her. He was jealous of how she hung around Damian, and hated how someone framed him for something so ridiculous. The words that she spat at him just now cut deeper than a knife for Xander. He couldn't even muster a word in response.
"Go find a teacher, 'Lise. I'll be right behind you. I just need a breather. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Damian told her.
"...I trust you." she said, as she walked out of the restroom to find a teacher.
The second she left, he pounced. He grabbed Xander, twisted his wrist, and shoved him out of the way. Then he ran out of the restroom, mustering up fake tears. Luckily for him, a teacher had come to investigate what was going on, along with Annalise.
"What is going on here?" the Teacher asked with genuine worry for Damian.
"It's Xander… he jumped me and a classmate in the bathroom while we were washing our hands. We were completely caught off guard, and he just kept beating us." He cried. "I didn't know what to do…"
"What? That's not what happened! He's lying!" Xander called out.
The teacher didn't believe him though. "Oh yeah? Is that why both of these two are badly injured and bruised, while you look like you barely have a scratch on you? I'm not dealing with this. Xander, go to the principal's office right now! And for you two… go to the nurse, get patched up. I will be there once I deal with this one." He said as he stared directly into Xander's eyes.
After a painfully long sit in the Principal's office, it has been decided that Xander would be expelled for the offense of assaulting two students. He didn't even try to defend himself, as he didn't care. His mind was still focused on the words Annalise spoke to him. The face she made as she looked at him flashed in his mind over and over. Then, the Principal said something that immediately caught his attention.
"Your parents have already been contacted. They are aware of the situation, and will deal with you when you get home." he said.
This struck fear into Xander. He was used to his parents being mad at him, but this is on a different level. He was terrified of what would happen when he got home. Then, he was sent out of the office and into the hallway, where he would be kicked out of the school once and for all. The look on Xander's face was one of fear.
As he was being walked out of the school by one of the office workers, all he could think about was the absolute terror he would be subjected to by his parents. He saw someone in the corner of his eye watching him however. Kylo just happened to be in the hallway at the same time that Xander was getting kicked out.
"What happened? What's going on Xander?" He asked. He was worried. But not just that. Xander noticed a look on his face. Was that… annoyance?
"Don't talk to him." The office worker snapped. "He won't be going to this school anymore."
Kylo stammered a few words that Xander could not hear. He took just a few more steps, and was now outside of the school. He would most likely never return. The doors shut behind him and locked.
He hesitated. Should he go home right away and get it over with? Or maybe he should stay somewhere else tonight and wait for things to cool down. No, that would be a bad idea. He decided to go home. With a very heavy, deep breath, he took a step.
Arriving at his house, his heart rate was at an alltime high. He was sweating. Even still, he opened the door. Inside, he saw his parent's sitting on the table. The second they heard the door, they stood up and walked over to him, aggressively.
"Expelled?" They both bellowed in unison. "Are you serious? What the hell is wrong with you?" his father asked.
Xander flinched. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself.
"Seriously, we have tried so hard to make you into a good person. And now you're beating up innocent kids? Where did we go wrong?" His dad looked at his wife.
"Yeah right. Like hell you tried hard, all you ever did was yell and beat me." Xander thought to himself.
"I cannot believe you ended up the way you did. You are not the son we raised. Why can't you just be like your younger sister?" His mom started tearing up.
With the mention of his sister, Xander wondered where she was. Was she still at school? Surely she should be home by now.
He looked around, as his parents continued to yell and insult him. This made the situation worse.
"You're not even paying attention? That's it." his dad said, pinning Xander against the wall. He punched him once across the face, knocking a tooth out of Xander's mouth. He fell to the ground, stunned.
"I will give you 2 minutes to pack your things, and then you will leave this house. Don't come back, or else." His father warned. Xander was now banished from two of the only places he ever knew.
"I wanna go to the beach again." Xander thought to himself. He stood up, and left the house, without packing anything. His jaw was in pain, and he was missing a tooth, but for some reason he felt free. He was finally free from his family. But wait… there was one member of his family that he didn't want to leave. One that he wanted to see at least one more time. He had no clue where she was, but he wanted to be with his sister again, before he had to leave her for good. Without knowing where she was, he set off. Xander was slightly worried about what might have happened to her, but assumed she was safe. Once again, he took a deep breath, and took a step.
On the outskirts of the town, with just his tracksuit, shoes and a backpack full of school supplies he didn't need anymore, Xander started his new life. He was always alone, but now he was truly on his own. He never once thought he would ever get expelled. Wake up, go to school, lay low, go home, sleep, repeat. That was the cycle, right? How did it mess up this horribly? Xander shook his head as he tried to stop thinking.
"Ok. I have just a few dollars in my pocket. I don't know where Kylo lives, and I don't even know if he'd want anything to do with me, either." He thought to himself.
The sun was beginning to set along the horizon. Xander thought about the beach. He tried to calm down and focus on the noises around him. The sound of bugs, rustling of autumn leaves in the wind, and the occasional car passing by. These were the only noises that he could hear. Xander shivered a little.
"I miss my bed.."
…
"This is the worst it can get."
"This is my fault."
"Why am I like this?"
"What would Naomi think of me right now.."
Nothing was going to stop his thoughts. Tears welled up in his eyes. Was anything going to save him? Was he ever going to have any chances in his life to do anything? Not even get a chance to sit down and talk with someone about his messes? Xander's stomach growled a little.
"What can I eat for… whatever I have?" Xander patted his pockets and sighed. He had nothing on him, so he continued walking. The sun was almost fully set, as it was just a dot on the horizon. Xander stopped to watch the sun set and a tear rolled down his cheek just as fast as the sun was setting. Once he started to walk again, it fell onto the pavement and onto the ground that was soon behind him.
Now near 9:24 PM, it was dark. He was only able to see thanks to the saving halo of the streetlights along the edge of the road. It was quiet now, too.
"I guess everyone's with their family."
He shook his head at yet another painful thought. He felt compelled to not think about anything, especially ones that didn't apply to him anymore. He continued to try to listen to any and all sounds when suddenly he heard a crash in an alleyway beside him and a young girl's cry. Xander slowed to a stop and stood facing the alley from which he had heard the sound.
Xander stood there, staring off into space. One second went by. Another. A whole minute passed before he snapped back to reality. The girl screamed. It sounded familiar
"Naomi..?" Xander trailed off.
The scream came again.
Xander gasped. He turned his head and saw a silhouette of a man in the dimly lit alley. Then, there he saw it. A silhouette he thought he recognized. The physique was similar to that of Naomi. He threw his bag aside as soon as he started running. He was in the road right as it landed in the grass next to the sidewalk. He kept running. It wasn't that far of a distance, but time seemed to slow down further and further as he got closer and closer until, eventually, he saw it: Naomi Gray being wrestled into the trunk of a car by a man of an average build. Nothing too impressive. He finished rounding the corner and screamed at the man, the loudest he had ever been in his entire life.
"LET NAOMI GO!"
The words were left floating in the air. The world around him stopped as his heart began to beat faster. His breath was heavy. His heart beat faster. He began to breathe faster. His eyes widened. He began to sweat more. His heartbeat took over. All he could hear was his heart. What had he done? Why had he screamed?
The man slowly turned around. Looking at Xander's panicked face were a pair of hungry, murderous eyes and a wry grin of the long-haired man making an effort at causing harm to an innocent girl. The man simply laughed as he stood up and shut the trunk on Naomi, trapping her inside.
"Who do you think you are, boy?" He hissed the words mockingly. "This is no place for kids at night. Run back to your family, it's past your bedtime."
"No. Give her back to me, right now." Xander was sweating.
"Why did you even show up here? You heard a girl and thought you might try to save her? Why is that? Just so you can feel better about yourself; say that you've accomplished something?" The man laughed.
Even though Xander knew the man was a complete stranger and didn't know what he was talking about, the words still resonated within the empty corridors in Xander's mind. He opened his mouth and tried to muster words, but he was shot with fear from the toes all the way up to his hair. He tried to move backwards as the man got closer, but he was up against the wall now. He had to think, and think quickly.
He looked towards the road for a second. "I could run that way and run to the police!"
He began to move and was off of the wall now. He got only a few mere feet before getting thrown back by something. His body slammed into the wall. The man was standing around fifteen feet away from where Xander was.
"What just happened?"
Xander groaned as he forcibly put his right foot forward and leaned on it. Xander was thrown into the wall again, his head hitting the bricks. The man just laughed from where he stood as Xander lost his balance and fell over. He gritted his teeth as he barely caught himself, scraping his hands on the ground as he caught himself.
"What the HELL is going on?!"
He struggled to slowly get up. He looked at the man's feet as he got to an upright standing position, though a little wobbly.
"I take it you haven't experienced this before, have you? It's wind magic. One of the many kinds of magic from the other side." The man laughed sadistically.
Through his labored breathing, Xander replied, confused, "what?"
"I thought you'd have been stronger. After all, I was told to go through all this effort to kidnap this dumb girl. I heard you running and was hopeful that you'd be a stronger opponent, but you're just a weak little kid." he laughed.
The man flicked his wrist and Xander felt the wind pick up again. Xander stood there, his messy hair blowing around in the wind as the man laughed, his unzipped gray hoodie flailing about on his average figure.
Xander gritted his teeth and charged in. The man stood there, unmoving. He threw a punch at the man, but missed. The man snickered. The wind around him picked up and Xander's fist was thrown backwards as he sailed right by the man without even touching him. Xander fell face-first into the car's trunk. His nose started bleeding.
"Crap, this is bad." Xander's thoughts began to race again. He stared at the man as he lay there on the ground at the trunk of the car. "Is this how I die? I couldn't have done anything right. Not even say bye to Naomi after messing up my entire life."
Suddenly, Xander felt his left hand's fingers twitch. His mind suddenly filled with memories he had never experienced. Gazing upon mountains over a serene sea on a sugar sand beach. He turned around and saw a spire with giant crystals floating around. He felt at peace, it felt so.. so.. real.
He slowly faded back to where he was laid out on the ground. He looked back at his hand and a strange marking was there. Xander thought nothing of it, acting as if it were normal. He got up and grinned.
"What's with the confidence, boy? Getting up from being knocked down is exciting to ya?" The man snarled at Xander.
Xander just kept grinning and the winds picked up around him. Something within him had awakened. It was like he was a different person. The winds seemingly exploded outwards, shoving the man backwards, but not enough to knock him down.
"Woah there, kiddo.. You might hurt yourself," the man said in a bitter voice with an underlying tone of slight fear.
"I've already been hurt enough." Xander said with what he thought was a cold and icy remark. "Why did I say that?" He thought to himself, realizing what he had said.
The man laughed once more.
"Die."
The wind picked up and Xander felt a crushing weight coming down upon him as he was forced onto the ground as flat as he could. The man's strength increased.
"Cockiness got you one second of fame, but one second is one second, and time keeps moving," the man shot at Xander, who was now helpless on the ground, unable to move due to the wind crashing down on him.
A whistle sound came from the same direction Xander had entered. The kind of whistle you hear when two speeding cars drive by each other in an opposite direction. It was faster than anything imaginable to Xander. There was a crack on the wall just as the blur shot up above the man. In that moment, Xander could finally see a fluffy-haired figure, poised to strike with their blade at the ready.
Within an instant, the figure shot downwards and the wind mage keeled over. A red liquid sprayed out of his back. No mistaking it, that was blood. Xander began to quiver, as thoughts of panic sat back in. After the sudden confidence he gained during the fight was gone, he was back to his regular, fearful state. "Did that man just die? Am I going to be killed now? What's going on?!" Yet again, too many thoughts filled his mind, none of which would prepare him for the change that was going to flip his life upside down once again.
Xander, out of a powerful mix of emotions and fatigue from the skirmish earlier, passed out on the concrete where he lay.
Chapter 1 END
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