Chapter 2

A couple of hours later, they have arrived at their house in the city, and it's way past midnight.

Uncle Jerry got out of the car and opened the trunk, "Leon, can you carry your stuff inside?" he asked,

"Yeah, I got it," Leon replied as he grabbed his luggage and backpack and walked into the house,

After Leon greeted his parents who were waiting for him to come home, he carried his luggage and backpack as he quietly placed them inside his room. Until he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. He peeked through the door and realized that his brother, Lucas, was there, wearing his pajamas and half asleep.

"Oh, hey bro," Lucas said, "I didn't know you'd come over after your long break,"

"Well, it can't be helped. I had to come home sooner or later," Leon said, "Now, go to bed,"

"Alright, I hear you," Lucas said rolling his eyes as he walked down the hallway towards his room,

Leon closed the door to his room and started unpacking his stuff. Then, he heard a knock on the door. Knock. Knock. He opened the door and saw his mom.

"If you're hungry, there are some leftovers in the fridge," his mom told him,

"Thanks, Mom," Leon said, "I'll eat it later,"

"Oh, okay," his mom said, "So, how was your stay with your uncle?"

"It was alright," Leon replied, "I had a fun time,"

"Okay," his mom said, "We're off to bed now. Good night, Leon,"

As soon as he saw his mom go to their room, Leon went downstairs and grabbed some food from the fridge and brought it back to his room for him to eat. He ate it all while fixing his stuff. By the time he was done, Leon changed his clothes and went straight to bed afterward. Not long after, he was fast asleep from the exhaustion.

He was about to have a nice dream but Leon dreamt of something else. A deep dark abyss was seen around him. A road emerged below him and he was standing on it. Confused, he looked ahead as a mirror appeared in front of him and he saw his reflection but the image switched to a dark figure with long hair and red eyes staring at him.

'Who are you?' Leon thought, but there was no response.

The dark figure moved in closer and was about to reach him but the dream faded in an instant as Leon woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! He lazily turned it off and slowly got up from the bed.

'That was weird,' Leon thought to himself but he just shrugged it off, 'Well, time to start the day,'

Later that day, Leon was seen in his classroom sitting on his seat staring through the window beside him while class was still going on. He couldn't stop thinking about what he saw in his dream.

'I was probably still tired at that time,' he thought to himself, 'But what I saw couldn't be true now could it?'

"Mr. Smith, can you answer the question on the board?" the teacher called out,

Leon stopped looking through the window and noticed the teacher in front of the class expecting an answer from him.

Confused, he replied, "What?"

The teacher pointed to the formulas on the board, "Do you know the answer to this?" she asked,

"Nope," Leon replied calmly,

"Well, you should know this since it'll come up in your exam that is in two months from now," the teacher said,

After hearing that, some of the students grumbled and complained silently. On the other hand, Leon didn't seem to mind as he continued to stare through the window daydreaming. By the time the class is over, Leon was stretching his arms out after waking up from his nap. Then, he grabbed his bag and was about to leave when he saw Nicole in front of him.

"What's up, Nikki?" Leon asked,

"I just came to stop by to see how are things going with you," Nicole said, "Plus I've heard that you came back from your trip,"

"Oh? Well, I'm doing fine," Leon said, "How's it going with you?"

"Everything's fine so far" Nicole told him, "But listen, I think I saw your brother being dragged by two students in his grade level,"

"I'm pretty sure they're just playing a game," Leon said,

"That's not what I saw," Nicole said, "You have to believe me. I think he's being bullied,"

Leon was a little skeptical about it at first then replied, "Jeez, I'm sure he'll be fine--" All of a sudden, he felt a chill down his spine. Then his expression changed. 'What in the world was that?' he thought to himself, "Where did you last saw him?"

"Just beside the building we're on right now," Nicole said, "You better hurry. I think he's in trouble,"

As soon as she said that, Leon bolted right out of the classroom and down the hallway. He quickly parkoured his way through the busy hallway and managed to go out of the building. From the corner of his eye, he saw his brother being surrounded by a couple of teens and it doesn't look good.

"Just leave me alone!" Lucas said,

"Not a chance, fool," one of the teens said, "You have to give me your lunch money or else,"

"Or else what?" Lucas asked,

Then, another teen grabbed him by the shirt and said, "Or else we'll make your life a living hell,"

"HEY!" someone called out,

The group of teens turned around and saw Leon standing there. "What's in it for you, punk?" one of them said,

"If you're looking for someone pick on, then give me a try," Leon calmly said,

The guy that was holding Lucas by the shirt dropped him to the ground, faced Leon with a menacing face, and said, "And what if we don't?"

"Look, I don't want any trouble," Leon said, "Just leave him alone and let's just talk this out like civilized people,"

"And what if we don't want to?" another teen spoke, "Look kid, this ain't in any of your business so it's best if you keep your nose off other people's business, you dig?"

Leon's expression changed as his eyes glared at the group of teens "So, I take it that your answer is a 'No'?" he asked,

The group of teens grunted as they prepare themselves to beat him however Leon doesn't seem like he's too worried about it.