CHAPTER THREE: Past and Present

Stay away from me.

The stranger’s words kept rattling through her mind. She felt herself getting upset over such an unpleasant warning.

Who does he think he is, really?

Perhaps her apologies earlier had been misunderstood by the stranger as a means of getting his attention—or a cheap attempt to flirt with him. And Natasha wasn’t sure she’d ever forgive herself for such a blunder.

And to think he broke my phone.

Her anger became renewed. Thereafter, she felt vaguely dishonest.

Wait a minute. Was I really trying to get his attention with that apology?

She was indeed drawing his attention with her apology—but had failed considerably. Now it became clear to her what had really stirred her anger—she’d failed at getting his attention. She felt completely embarrassed for even having such thoughts at the moment.

Natasha walked through the front porch of the big bungalow into the lounge. There, she saw her little brother knocking himself out on a video game. As soon as he sensed her presence, he announced her return in a loud scream.

“Natasha is home!” he quickly tossed the control pad and trotted towards her.

“Cut it out, Damien.” she smacked his head, walking past him.

“Ouch!” the little boy held his head, frowning at her. “What did you do that for?”

“Oh, please, not now, Damien. I’m so not in the mood for your troubles.”

“What do you mean you’re not in the mood for my troubles?” he held a fierce gaze at her. “I’ve been working my ass out ever since you and Dad left the…” Then clang, the door shut, and he trailed when he realized Natasha was no longer in the room with him.

Natasha met William at the entrance, just before she entered her room.

“Hi dad.” she greeted, forcing a weak smile.

“Natasha,” a line appeared between his brows. “You don’t look well. Is everything okay?” he cupped her cheek, checking her temperature.

“I had a terrible day in school today, that’s all.”

Concern grew over his face. “Why? Did something happen in school that I should be aware of?”

“Nothing serious, just some guy who thinks he can make my life miserable.”

He squinted at her uneasily. “Is someone bothering you in school?”

“No, no, not at all.” she wore a smile to keep him from worrying. “If a guy was bothering me, you’d know about it, and besides, nothing I can’t handle.”

Natasha didn’t want to stick around before he continued with his grill. “Got to change up now, dad. See you at dinner.”

She turned the knob back down and quickly dashed into her room, closing the door behind. She latched the door and shifted her weight against it, sighing heavily. Then she threw her bag on the wooden table across the room and kicked the shoes off her feet.

Fell on the bed effortlessly and turned to face the ceiling, and exhausted, she fell into a restless sleep. Fifteen minutes into her nap, Natasha came awake to the sound of her phone ringing. Her eyes opened blearily, and she groaned curse words not-so-loudly.

She ignored it and returned to sleep, but then the phone remained persistent and continued ringing, unwilling to stop until she answers. Slowly opening her eyes, she turned to her side, staring in frustration at the phone buzzing on the nightstand close beside her bed.

“Christ, what does a girl got to do to have a good sleep around here?” she muttered under her breath as she rolled over the bed to pick it up, pissed at whoever was calling.

She checked the caller ID and saw it was Madelia.

“Some of us are trying to catch some sleep, you know.” she tattled as soon as she answered.

“His name is Kevin.” came the reply.

“What?” Tasha asked, momentarily confused.

“You know, the new guy, his name is Kevin.”

“For real?” Natasha recoiled in shock. “The semester has barely even begun and you already know his name?”

Madelia chuckled. “It wouldn’t bite just to know his name, would it? After what he did to you today, my interest was piqued.”

A blot of silence.

“Are you alright, Natasha?”

Natasha thought the question was laughable. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she answered almost immediately.

“After what had happened back there, I was really worried that you’d…”

“Madelia, I said I’m fine,” Tasha said, rolling her eyes. “You know your call is bugging me. I got to go now. See you later tonight, flirty Diva.”

She heard Madelia gasp.

“What did you just...?” Natasha hung up before she could finish. Then she threw her phone on the table and went back to bed. Closing her eyes for a few minutes, she drifted to sleep.

A Chevrolet Impala SS drove away right after Kevin got off. He walked up the mini stair sitting at the facade of the manor condo. Each step he took brought back painful memories of his past—memories he longed so much to forget.

He could still hear the loud screaming in his head. The sound of blood dripping, flesh-tearing, and painful sobbing. The flashbacks stopped when he reached the door. Slowly raising a hand to the doorknob, he closed his eyes, and the final painful scream of the girl he’d once loved filled his subconscious.

Even though his eyes were shut, the tears still flowed through. It was almost a year since Loretta had been murdered, but the memories made it feel as though they had happened just a few days back. The tears in his eyes blurred his vision, and he wiped them off with his arm.

Twisted the knob and pushed the pewter grey door to open, revealing a dark room filled with a dead light. The room inside was large and gave off a distinctly sweet smell. Kevin stepped inside and dropped his haversack on the table before proceeding to turn on the light.

“You took long enough.” A deep voice of an elderly man spoke from the shadow.

Kevin turned on the light, and the room flooded with fluorescent light, revealing the face of a man in his late sixties, who sat on the couch across the room. His eyes were fixed on Kevin.

“You asked me to go out there and socialize. Make new friends, you said, and so I did.” Kevin answered without a glance at him.

“You’ve been gone for sixteen hours. Where exactly have you been?” the old man questioned, almost raising his voice.

“I did exactly what you asked; I went out there to socialize, and guess what… I got myself enrolled in a high school.”

The old man snorted at his response, and his brows drew together. “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I asked you to go out, socialize, and get yourself some new friends.”

“What exactly did you have in mind when you asked that I go out there and socialize?” Kevin asked, glaring in defiance. “You know what, Cedric? I’m done listening to you. I am tired of letting you decide how I live my life.”

“You should as well be tired of me always saving your life repeatedly.” he cut him off.

It left Kevin speechless. He could only watch in silence as Cedric continued. “The last time you refused to listen, you almost lost your life and my house was burnt to ashes. I lost everything.”

He noticed Cedric’s eyes make a repetitive, uncontrolled movement as he spoke—that was nystagmus kicking in. This only happens when Cedric is angry or emotionally stressed.

Kevin felt his angry heart crumbled. “I am sorry.” he lowered his head, staring down at the floor. “… For what happened back then.”

“You are always sorry, but never learn. You knew exactly why we left Fallout. We need to stay low for a while to avoid being spotted.” he berated him.

“Enrolling yourself in a high school all in the name of socializing…” he paused, his lips trembled as words tried to form in his mouth. “… I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Kevin placed a thoughtful hand on his shoulder, bringing himself to Cedric’s height. Then he forced a smile. “He killed Loretta right in front of me, and he almost killed me too. He burnt your house to the ground, killed everyone we ever cared about. What more do we have to lose? What is the worst he could do to us? We have nothing more to fear from T-Rex.”

Kevin lost the will to maintain the smile on his face, so it just faded. “Enrolling in this school is just a minor distraction I’d found to make me forget about her. I’m sure you understand.”

To be honest, Cedric wasn’t sure he understood. “Just be careful not to make any close friends… unless you want to watch them die the same way she did,” he warned.

Stay away from me.

The warning he’d given to Natasha still echoed aloud in his head. He wasn’t pleased with his earlier abruptness, but it was necessary to keep her away, to save her from an agonizing death.

She didn’t deserve it. A painful death. To die just as Loretta did. She deserves a normal guy with a normal life who’d give her everything she would ever ask for. He let out a disappointed sigh as he turned to look at Cedric over his shoulder.

“I know!” he answered finally, walking away into his little room.

He pushed the door, and it opened, swinging into the darkness of his room. As he stood in the doorway, examining his dark, silent room, the pitch darkness brought back unpleasant memories. Visions of the past slipped into his consciousness.

He opened the door to his old, dark room and observed a mistily human figure watching him from the shadow far across the room. He neared for a closer view. Slipping his hands into the pocket of his jacket, he pulled out his phone and turned on the light. Startled when the light fell on the face of a masked figure standing at the corner. It held a shovel in its arm, gazing at him coldly. Kevin opened his mouth to scream, but then felt the shovel slam hard against his forehead, knocking him unconscious. A thud sounded after he collapsed, and his phone scattered beside him. The room whirled before his eyes as he lay motionless on the cold floor. He felt a tight grip on his left leg as he was being dragged out of the room, and then his world went blank.

He had never been the same after that day, for that was the day his problems began. Kevin had developed a deep hatred for darkness after an unknown masked figure had kidnapped him from his room.

Was it hatred, or fear? He wasn’t sure.

Kevin reached for the light switch and turned it on, brightening the room. He took off his shoes and placed them carefully under his reading table, then threw himself on the bed. For a moment, he kept staring at the ceiling, then his eyes slowly closed, and in a jiffy, he was back to his horrible past.