???,
"They say that love makes you blind, but in your case, you weren't. There was so much wrong with her, yet for a normal person it would be tragedy. If only you knew the powers working against you," I said.
"Too bad wasn't it, you wanted to screw her, but they screwed you instead. But you know, it was all too late for you, there was no...going back for you. Wasn't it fun, nearly dying, or... did you die? Well, we both don't know till this day", I said, laying back in my chair.
As soon as I went quiet, the blackness fell into silence. I knew Edward wasn't going to say anything.
"But you know, the real fun began when you woke up the next day in your bed," I said with laughter.
Edward Foster,
I was in darkness with a piercing pain in my chest. Gradually the pain was replaced by a feeling of heat, which slowly started getting hotter. Until my body erupted into fire and I was jolted awake.
Soaking in sweat, I sat up on my bed in a haze, trying to calm myself. Turning my head around, I was certain that I was inside my room. I grabbed the sheets off myself and stood immediately, inspecting my room and then my body.
I was wearing my nightdress, shorts, and a T-shirt. I was without a scratch or a broken bone, "Was it all a dream?" I thought to myself.
My eyes went to the window and cloudy morning on the other side. In front of the window was my desk which had my electronic calendar on it. I came closer to it, it was still early morning, around nine and the date was Saturday, November second. The next day.
I stood in the moment staring at the date, wondering what was going on?
"My phone?", I said to myself. Turning around to look at my bed, but it wasn't there. I tried checking all around my room, but it was not there.
Suddenly someone shouted my name, "Edward! Would you please wake up and come down here". I don't why but I just started at the room's door. "Edward, are you awake?", unmistakable it was my mother.
"Yeah, coming", I said quickly and swung it open to leave. Walking downstairs I found my mother standing next to the outside door, with a police officer peeking inside.
"Finally, come here would you", My mother said and reluctantly, I came to them. "Edward, This officer is here asking About Lauren ", I looked at her with visible confusion, then at the officer.
"Listen here, son. Today morning, Lauren Taylor was reported missing from her room by her father, Mr. Taylor", the police officer said, while I just stared in confusion. "Would you know anything about that, son?", He asked and I gave him a blank stare.
"What? from her room?", She never snuck out, it took a week to convivence her dad for the movie's. I don't why but it all felt so unnatural, like living an out-of-body experience. What was weirder was my mother acting like Lauren and her father were strangers. Even though my parent knew that we were dating and even had them over for dinner last Christmas.
Then it hit me, my dad's car, that I used to drive us out there. Before the officer could say anymore, I walked past them both, with the officer moving out of the way.
The car was standing completely fine. I came closer to the car, inspecting it. Not even a scratch or a broken windshield. It was as if yesterday night never happened.
"Son, are you okay?", the officer asked and I just looked at him. "Yeah...I guess", I said, after which the officer asked a few more questions. But not finding anything worthwhile and obviously, I kept quiet about what I knew.
As the officer left, I turned to my mother. "Hey, Mom...When did I come home last night?", I asked and she gave me the strangest expression. "When?... Edward, you never left the house yesterday", my mother said, also becoming confused with my actions.
"Edward are you alright, you have been acting strange", my mother said. "Yeah... I don't know", I said, trying to think what should I do next.
???,
"That was the first time you witnessed a proportion of his power", I said while he silently stared at the table. "Like observing a fish in a glass blow," I said while Edward placed his head down on the table, hiding it with his arms.
I sighed, "Like a moth to a flame, you couldn't let her go. What was it, love? curiosity? or was it just being you? You wanted answers, so you decided to play a hero. Without realizing you were proving just how easy it was to manipulate you...Just like the one before you". I said and Edward didn't bother look up.
Edward Foster,
What I learned when I woke up, made it seem like I was one going insane. With nothing making sense, I could only think of one other person to talk to, Mr. Taylor.
Latching onto the hope of maybe him remembering me. I left my house immediately after breakfast, towards Lauren's house.
On my way, I ended up spotting Mr. Taylor entering our local church. My first thought was to talk to him, maybe I wasn't the one going crazy. There just might be something going on.
I walked through the iron fence onto the church grounds. A pebble pathway lead to the stone stairs with an opened wooden door. Rows of furnished bunches with few recognizable people spread out. Rows of wall lamps on the sidewalls illuminated the inside.
Going inside, I caught Mr. Taylor taking the front row seat . He was a bald man with glasses, wearing a brown coat and blank jeans. The way he was dressed seemed like he was prepared to embark on an adventure of his own. Praying to God earnestly, for his daughter's safety.
I came up behind him and placed my hand on his shoulder. The man in distress looked up at me. "Hey there Mr. Taylor", I said with hope in my eyes, for him to recognize me. But he looked at me confused, "What do I own you, young man?", Mr. Taylor said with a defeated look in his eyes.
I bit my tongue a little in frustration, as I pulled my hand back. "I am...a friend of Lauren. Today a police officer came to my house...and...", I tried to complete the sentence, but stopped, not knowing what to say.
While Mr. Taylor stood up from the bench, and came in front of me and placed his hand on my shoulder, "It's all right, son. No need to worry, I am sure lord has heard my prayers" then walked past me to leave.
I stood there, watching him, thinking to myself. "Prayers might not be enough".
Suddenly, a chill hit the back of my neck, causing me to hit the back of my neck. "Edward?", Someone said my name. I turned look at Father Sebastian walking toward me.
A priest in his thirties, a thin and light figure with glasses and black hair. He was the kind of person who would easily blend in the background. He was our local priest who had came from London. I had known him since I was a kid.
"Oh, Hello there. So what is it?" I asked, and he rolled his eyes.
He took out a phone from his pocket and handed it to me. It was my phone. "Is that...my phone?" I asked, and he nodded. "This morning, a man came by. He said that he found it on the highway outside our town," Father said.
As soon as the phone came into my hands, I swear it happened in a split second. I was on the same highway with the night sky above me. Then I was back in church, surrounded by familiar faces.
"Now, would you tell me how you dropped it there?" Father Sebastian Asked.
It took a good long moment for me to process a response "Honestly, I wish I could tell you if I knew why" I said with a smile. "Ah, yes...why wouldn't you?" he replied back.
"Well, good meeting you, goodbye," saying that I quickly turned around and switched on my phone. Even with a broken screen, it was still functioning enough to view the contents.
To my surprise, something was wrong with it. It was displaying the wrong time, "02:45 AM, and had recent missed calls from my Mother. Maybe the damage was I bit too much.
After leaving the church, I walked around aimlessly, until by happen chance I found myself in front of Lauren's house. The second I arrived, I saw Mr. Taylor shoving a shotgun in the trunk of his car and than driving away.
...
Some time later I returned back to my house and as I walked in my mother shouted from the living room , "Edward, a package came in for you". "A package? I wasn't expecting one".
"Yeah, I took it to your room, it will be on your desk", she said and I didn't think mush of it. I quickly ran upstairs and entered my room, to find the "package" on my desk.
It was a golden bookcase, gleaming underneath the sunlight from the window in my unlit room. Rather than asking any further questions, I slowly closed the door to my room and approached the item.
It radiated significance, a golden bookcase, something that didn't belong in my room. Probably in a tomb somewhere, hidden for its priceless nature. The cover was metallic like gold, there were intricate spiral pattern on boundary.
The center was was decorated with geometric shapes centering on a single glinting Ruby embedded middle. I carefully reached out opened the cover, not finding any written material, rather a hollowed inside. It was container of some kind, with a red cross inside.
No, it was more of a dagger, made of dark-red and black metal. The handle part was twisted on the top and side guards were straight and wide. The dark-red coloring outlined the cross with a black color strip going up and down, and left to right.
There was no blade, except a pointed edge at the bottom, like a needle. lastly, a cavity in the middle housing the Ruby.
My first guess and only guess was that it was an over stylish decoration piece. However, how it went past my mother, left me confused. Without understanding much and I reach out for it.
And that was the greatest and most foolish mistake I ever made. The moment the hand made contact with the surface of the handle, the Red Gem lit up in middle. A sudden jolt shot through my body, towards my eyes.
I am not sure whether my body was on fire, but it sure hell felt like it. It was as if my whole body ignited in flames, enough for me to crash to the ground in screams. Only seeing red, bright burning red.
It wasn't just the pain, but the fire that was leaping out from my eyes. Instinctively, I pressed my eyes back, only hear the sounds of sizzling flesh. The palms of hand, were being cooked.
I wish I could run to the bathroom, I wish I could drown myself in the bathtub, but my body wouldn't listen to me. So, laid there, in agony. Kicking my legs and tearing my throat. Until everything went dark again for the second time.
???,
"The Fragment of Destruction, your first time with something you didn't understand", I said. "The power that made you a constant without your knowledge," and nothing, Edward still had his head down.
I felt a sudden bout of rage hit me, I reached out and grabbed him by his hair and lifted his head up "Where the hell are you looking, Pay attention to me when I am talking", My eyes met with his dead ones "Always pay attention to me...well what else to do here, other than to pay attention to me"
I tossed his head back and his eyes came rolling back on me. His attitude caused me to chuckle, "Don't you give me that shit. You are not a God, not anymore", I said staring into his lifeless self. I sunk back into my seat.
All while Edward just stared at me like I was the insane one out of two of us.