1 Encounter

Warren King was the excluded kid, always being picked on or avoided from a very young age. It was like a wall separated him from the outside world, as if he did not belong. Warren's parents were very wealthy and were rarely home, making Warren forced to live alone since ten. He regularly got huge sums of money in the mail accompanied by a letter saying his parents promised to come home soon, they never did. They missed his first year of elementary, middle school, and it looked as if they would miss his first year as a high school student. Warren expected as much, who would honestly want to be the parents to a son who has been haunted all his life, or that is what he thought was going on.

Warren King usually narrated his life, or the voices inside his head did. It was as if there was something sharing his body, telling him things he could not grasp, expect it was all nonsense. he knew it was, it had to be. All Warren's life, he was presented as an outcast, a demon child, someone to stray away from. He did not mind it though, Warren knew the seclusion only made him smarter and wiser, watching others frolic in ignorance. He learned to watch people and their habits, almost like he could predict their next moves, a sixth sense he called it. Warren usually pinned the phenomenon on the spirit, a creature who was inside his head. Warren was so use to it being there that when high school started, Warren knew another year with this second conscious would be tantalizing. However, when his fourteenth birthday hit, it disappeared. The creature always had incoherent thoughts surface in his mind, telling him to do things Warren did not quite understand. It was as if the creature was otherworldly, using a language a simple google search could not find. It came to be an entire week without the creature, Warren's lonely life actually being more obvious than before.

Warren watched lazily as the math teacher whose name he could not even remember, wrote equations on the smart board, his eyes fluttering as each equal sign was written.

"What an ass, making us work on the first day, is this what high school is like?" a dark skinned student said next to him said, a blank piece of paper on his desk.

"Yeah, except most of the teachers are bald and fat." someone to the boy's left said, a few people laughing. The math teacher turned around, "Okay class, seems we already have our trouble makers, See, I can take the idle chatter here and there but the insults will not be tolerated. Which one of you said that?" The class went dead silent, except for a snore from the back. "I can always keep you lot after the bell, I don't mind honestly."

The dark skinned boy snickered before aiming a thumb in Warren's direction, "It was him Mr. Lackey, he has been doing it all period." The bald headed teacher looked in his direction, his eyes sizing Warren up. He stayed quiet, not really sure if he should respond, most likely exactly what the teacher wanted. "Um. Warren King am I correct?" Warren kept his mouth closed and let his mind wonder, a thought of his parents entering his head. "Yeah it was Mr. Lackey, he is just kind off slow you know." the dark boy said as a few more giggles came from his posy. "Well Mr. King, dumb or not, you will be punished for the lip, do you understand?"

Warren still eyed the edge of the desk, not daring to look up, confrontation not his strong suit. "See I told you." Mr. Lackey's face turned red as he began to spoke, the sixth sense Warren regularly encountered kicked in, a girl named Sophia was going to stand up. He swirled around just in time to catch a blonde haired girl explode upwards, her chair sliding back. "Mr. Lackey, Derrick is lying, it was Cameron who said it." The entire class of twenty turned to see who stood, except for Warren who quickly looked away in embarrassment.

"Hmm, is this correct Ms. Pound?" Sophia nodded her head, one of her neighbors grabbed her skirt, she whispered something under her breath. Warren already knew what she said, his odd ability to read lips helping him. "What are you doing, that's the demon child?!" Sophia sat down and spoke, "Yes..."

Mr. Lackey swiveled to face Derrick and Cameron, "Both of you have lunch detention, no excuses." Derrick frowned and glared in Warren's direction, his head buried into the desk and his arms hiding

his face. After class started again and equations started to be jotted down by students, his mind drifted and soon he fell asleep.

"Warrennnnnn..."

Warren jolted upright, his head in immense pain. Warren saw black as he fingered his temples, the pressure making him want to pass out already. Then, it was gone, a relaxing thought coming over him. He was unsure of what just happened to him, the odd occurrences becoming more frequent. Then a slight coldness raced down his right forearm. Warren winced and looked down, his arm covered in blood. After gripping his wrist to stop the bleeding, he glanced around the room, everyone was gone. He guessed he must of fell asleep, but the blood on his wrist made him question it. The thought of the supernatural conscious coming back made Warren shudder, he did not want to hurt anyone like last time. without a second thought he was rushing out of the door and down the hallway towards the nurse's office.

"You slept two whole periods by the way."

Warren swirled around, making sure to hide his bloodied wrist. It was Derrick, the same one who blamed him for insulting the teacher. Funny enough, Warren almost already forgot about him, his ability to release unwanted memories was quite amazing. "I apologize for Sophia, I don't know why s-" Derrick held a hand up, "Honestly I could care less. You lovers with her or something?" Warren shook his head, "I don't even know her." Derrick was leaning just outside of the door he exited, a blank expression on his face, "Well Warren King, a little word of advice is to keep your head low."

Warren did not even question his advice, being bullied most of his life made him succumb to orders like these. It mistakenly became a lifestyle for Warren. He started to turn, his head reverting back to the pain and fogginess. "Hey, you are the demon child right, the Satan worshiper who killed all those kids in middle school?" Warren stopped dead in his tracks, the mentioning of his nickname making his knees weak.

Demon child.

"Where did you hear that?" Warren asked, his features becoming dark.

Derrick pushed off the wall and made his way toward Warren, "Everyone knows it, nothing as crazy as that goes unnoticed. What even happened anyways, you like fire?"

Warren felt the presence again, the creature that consumed his systematic thinking, the same creature who appeared in his mind the day of the fire. Warren hated it, it seemed to come when he least wanted it too, filling is ever being with rage. Rage.

Derrick was only a step away, his eyes cold and fierce. "Just make sure you tell Sophia to-"

Warren grabbed Derrick's neck, or what was left of Warren. The creature he feared most ripping away at him, replacing it with anger and murderous intent. Derrick grasped Warren's iron grip, his efforts futile to stop his rage. Warren stared directly at Derrick, his features becoming visible. Warren's pupils turned completely dark and with his voice rash and deep, he spoke, "Stay away." Warren let go of Derrick and collapsed to the floor. Derrick looked on in horror, the rumors he heard materializing in front of him. "Get away you freak!" Derrick pushed himself up and ran full sprint in the other direction, leaving Warren alone.

"Damn you!" Warren slammed his fist on the white tile, a quick glance showing his injury was gone. Warren needed to go, he needed to change schools again and disappear. He had the money, this not being the first time the creature came to life, controlling Warren's thoughts and movements. After stabilizing his breathing Warren stood up, he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Little did he know however, he was being watched, a man perched on a building across the school, a perfect view of Warren's phenomenon. "I wanted to enjoy some lunch but it seems I found something very interesting." The man had a monocle, a black suit with coat tails, and a top hat top make it all the more obvious, he was indeed a gentlemen. The gentlemen however, pulled out a long black walking cane from his pocket, the possibility of it fitting was absurd, his pocket not even close to the six foot long black leg of the cane. The man lunged from his perch, accelerating toward the ground. He easily planted his feet on the concrete, shrugging off the four story drop like it was nothing. The suited man watched carefully as Warren rushed out of the school's entrance and was speed walking toward his house, a slight frown on his face. He disliked killing kids but work was work. "Oh how I miss Helena as of now, anyways, let's kill this peasant so I can hurry back to the academy, right Reginald?" No response came from the outside world but instead, a simple yes came from a voice inside the man's head, his soul.

A good amount of time passed and Warren hurried along the sidewalk, keeping his head down as he speed walked. He hoped the authorities were not called like last time or it would be hell for him once again. Warren sighed heavily as he saw his two story house come into view, the cozy house worth way more than any fourteen year old could afford, or rather most middle class. No red and blue lights encircled his house and most of the pedestrians seem normal. He was in the clear, at least nothing else strange would happen to him. Warren disliked moving, but it was the only way for him to restart in hopes of change that never came. Living in New America made his life way more easier to hop around cities, policemen not worried about a fourteen year old causing any trouble. Even the real estate agents were rather happy to have such a naive rich kid buy a house on the edge of town away from any convenience, getting rid if the property they so desperately want gone.

Warren was a few blocks away, his pursuer only a block away, watching his every move. Warren's movements were odd to the man, they seemed too human to be right, as if the Forsaken has lived in society for an extended period of time. He likely would of jotted down the finds but the chance of losing sight of such an odd creature would be too heavy. He had to remove this Forsaken as quick as possible, mimics of this level needing to be killed on sight, it was his occupation after all.

Warren stood outside the gate to his house, a slight smile forming on his face. At least he knew he was somewhat safe here, there was no chance of the creature hurting someone in solitude. He unhinged the gate lock and headed toward his door, a sense of urgency washing over him. Just as before, Warren seemed to sense the future, the thought of someone watching him from a block away made Warren shudder. He swirled around and sighed, seeing no one in the immediate area, only he never looked up. Warren unlocked the door and stepped inside closing the door behind him and locking it immediately. He leaned his back on the wood, "Jesus Warren, what the hell is wrong with you?"

He knew switching schools was not enough, he wanted to believe it too but today's events nullified any hope. Warren was lost, drifting between the fake hope of being normal and the absurdness that has haunted his life since the day he was born. At the moment, Warren wanted to see his parents, he wanted to cry on his mother's shoulder and sit down and talk to his father. Sadly though, none of those wants would ever be answered.

Warren heaved himself off the door and headed to the kitchen, a very luxurious marble white counter tops and a fridge big enough to fit two more fridges inside. It was the one thing Warren every got to enjoy, being wealthy. He snagged a jug of sweet tea out of the fridge and retrieved a glass from one of the many cherry colored cabinets.

"Do you mind pouring me a cup?"

Warren shrugged, "I mean if you want so-" he looked up to see a young man with a magnificent brown beard and mustache sitting on his fur coated coach. The man also had a very fine black tux and coat with coat tails to sell the look. The most amazing part was how the man perfectly balanced a cane on his middle finger, his hazel eyes staring Warren down. Everything went silent as Warren realized the feeling the man gave off, as if you could die at any moment. Warren felt something that he has experienced a lot lately.

Fear.