Shadows in the Dark

  Luke

  The guy named Nick led me through the trees, probably having no idea where he was going. But I didn’t care. Anywhere was better than that motel.

  I didn’t bother trying to start a conversation. Sure, I met someone like me. But we were avoiding Nick’s past at the moment. Avoiding a past that I didn’t know about.

  “Hey, Nick,” I said. “Are you going to tell me about what happened back there?” Nick kept walking ahead of me, not looking back. He just kept silent, thinking and leading the way.

  “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when we have the time. But, right now, that’s what we don’t have.” I shut up after that, letting him lead the way. He started whispering to himself, turning his head in many directions, taking sharp turns. I almost lost him a few times.

  After doing that for about half an hour, Nick finally stopped and sat against a tree, looking up at the stars. I stood in front of him, looking down confused.

  “We’ll stay here for the rest of the night. You can sleep. I’ll take watch.” He watched me as I laid down in the dirt, trying to get as comfortable as possible. “We can’t make a fire. Can’t take any chances of them seeing us.”

  “Makes sense,” I said. I rolled over, facing away from him. I closed my eyes, trying to sleep. It took a while, but I finally managed. I don’t remember the dream that I had. Matter of fact, I don’t think I had one. When I woke up, the sun was hardly up. The sunlight had barely started to shine through the trees.

  I looked over and saw Nick staring at a ball of fire in the palm of his hand. I sat up, realizing that I was sore. But that’s what I get for sleeping on the forest floor.

  “Does this qualify as ‘enough time’?” I asked, startling him. He smirked a little as he closed his hand, making the flame disappear. He sat up more against the tree, as if he was about to tell me a long story.

  “I guess,” he said. “But no matter what I tell you, it’d be smart that you didn’t leave.” He eyed at me, giving a more serious look. Why would I leave?

  “I wouldn’t leave. I have nowhere else to go, whether I like it or not.” I sat crisscrossed a few feet away from him, getting ready to hear what he had to say.

  “A few months ago, I found out about my power. I was playing a game with my little sister when my parents bursted in the house, pissed off. My mom took my sister in her room while my dad stayed to chew me out. That’s when it happened.

  “My dad started accusing me of stuff like drugs and skipping school. Yes, I did those things. But, it was because of the things my dad did. I denied it. I denied it all. Then I started telling him how he was a horrible person and how he didn’t care about us.

  “I didn’t notice it at the time, but the fire in the fireplace had started to grow. I was getting so unbelievably angry. The only thing I was focusing on was my dad. I started calling him pathetic and I told him I was embarrassed to be his son. One thing led to another then… boom. Fire started.

  “It killed my whole family. My mom. My dad. My little sister. All that was left was my demolished house and piles of ashes. I stayed in the same spot for the longest time, staring at what I did. Then the sirens came from the distance, and I had to run.

  “That’s why those cops were there. They identified every body that was there. Every body but mine. So now they’re all looking for me, chasing me no matter where I go. Now, why don’t I turn myself in? Because I feel like I’m meant for something. I’m meant for something bigger. I need to do this. I need to do this... for my sister.”

  I didn’t know what to say. He killed his whole family? How is he still stable? If I did something like that, I’d die of guilt.

  “Wow...” I said. “I... I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah,” he scoffed. “So am I.” He stood up and stretched, looking up at the sun. “We best be leaving now. We can’t waste time.” I stood up as he started walking away.

  “Where are we going?” I asked. I had to follow him for a good twenty feet before he answered.

  “I have no idea, Luke. I wish I knew. But until I do know, we’re just walking straight.” He shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked. “This forest is bound to end eventually, huh?” I didn’t really answer him. I just let him do what he wanted to do.

  For the longest time, we walked. We walked for hours. Most of the time was silent, but it didn’t bother me. Now didn’t seem like the time to really talk.

  I listened to the birds as they chirped, echoing throughout the forest. The sun had set just over the trees, sending beams of light through the leaves and making the mildew on the grass shine.

  Like last night, Nick was talking to himself, thinking aloud and talking about things I didn’t understand.