~Chapter 4: My second chance.~

The dark....

It's so calming....

You don't have anything to fear when you know nothing is there..

It's cold....

I'm alone.

I'm so, so, alone...

In a darkness I can't seem to escape..

My breathing is rigid, even though I can't hear or see my breath, and I can't feel my hands..

I tried to speak, but nothing came out..

I can't feel my skin or think of anything but the darkness..

The darkness that consumes me whole.

The darkness that makes me feel lonely but okay.

The darkness that I am suddenly okay with having around..

My eyes open and I'm looking at the clouds in a pitch black, almost moonless, night sky. The only light was the stars that could be seen behind some of the thinner grey clouds.

I felt grass tickle my cheek. I must be outside..

I blinked, trying to think of how I got there, but to my luck, I couldn't remember. Sitting up slowly, I looked to my hands. My left palm had a scar through the middle of it and it went all the way through. My hands were small, almost like a child's..

I'm a kid..

A black, shoulder length, lock of hair fell in front of my face. Flinching, I immediately checked my chest, patting, before I sighed in relief.

I'm still a boy..

My thoughts didn't sound like a kids, more like a mid 20 year old mans..

Was this my voice?

I stood up, looking around me. No one was around, only tree's and field.

Where even am I?...

The ground shook but not roughly. Then I heard a voice, it sounded like a mans, but I could be wrong.. it could be a girl with a deepish voice.

"Xzander.." Is that my name?

"You don't remember me." The voice said positively. And it was correct. I didn't remember them.

A small laugh sounded through the air, along with a cold breeze coming from the group of tree's that smelled of tree sap and leaves.

"Come forward. Into the tree's young one." They said.

"Okay.." Xzander whispered, his voice sounding faint, but small. Kid like.

He walked forward, the tree's rustling as the cold air blew through their leaves. Xzander had on commoner clothes, baggy brown shirt and brown baggy pants.

The leaves crunched beneath his feet as his breath was shown in the air, "Where am I going?" He asked.

"You see the ledge up ahead?" The voice asked, knowing he could: it continued, "Go to it."

And Xzander did as told, walking through the bristle and grown up bushes to get to the dirt covered, treeless, ledge that looked over a plain of bright green grass, and a white, red, and gold castle.

"Woah.." Xzander awed, gawking at the size of the plain he was looking over...

"That is your castle.." The voice whispered, sounding as if right behind Xzander. He tried to look back to see anyone, but no one was there.

Once he looked back at the castle, the feeling of what the voice had said felt more true than even death and life experience's, "Your brother will take over one day...." The voice said, "And you cannot let that happen. You will rule and lift this country higher than it's ever been."

"How do you know?" Xzander asked, his small fists clenching at his sides.

"Because you have been there. You have seen it with your own eyes.. and you lost." The voice spoke loudly a clear hint of a female.

So, it's a girl..

"You don't remember?" She asked, "I thought you would have your memory back by now.." The voice muttered.

Xzander almost jumped off the cliff once a hand landed on his shoulder, "Where is the necklace?" She asked.

Xzander turned around and met eyes with the woman. She had the same black hair as he did, his eyes too.

Then suddenly it hit him.

"Mom?" He asked, and she nodded silently.

"Yes. But I died.. so did you.. it's going to be hard to explain..seeing you've..." Her eyes searched over her sons neck and wrists, "..done away with the necklace." She finished her sentence.

"What necklace?" Xzander asked.

"I gave you a necklace before I died.. I knew your brother would poison me and your father once he got on the throne. Or find a way to kill us somehow.. I was right. He even killed you in the end. But, you both seemed to die.. I still don't understand how you are here without the necklace...." She whispered, "Unless you were dying with it around your neck...Someone in the village must have it." She looked over Xzander's shoulder, seeing the large village at the base of the castle. "I'm not asking you to remember right now. But there will be someone in that village who has your necklace... and they will be the same age as when you last saw them. If someone in that village does have the necklace, it wouldn't have made them go back in time like you have." She said, "You are eight years old now, Xzander." With a faint smile, she put her eyes on her son. A smile on her lips. "That necklace was cursed with a gift to come a second life.." Her calm voice soothed Xzander, his fists unclenching and falling loose.

"Mom,....will you remember this?.." He asked, already foreseeing the outcome of what will happen next.

"No,..I will not.. but, that is the reason I am here now. If you can find that necklace and touch it, even for a moment, you will get your memories back and have the upper hand on Nash." She said.

"Nash is?....My brother?" Xzander put two and two together in his head.

"Yes, hun." She chuckled and patted Xzanders shoulder, "The person that has your necklace will remember everything too. So, they may find you first. Let's just hope that the person who has it...isn't Nash." His mother spoke worriedly, "And if it's a commoner, and you get your memories back, keep the upper hand. You need to find that necklace before you do anything, Xzander." His mother spoke assure you herself. "Make sure you get your memories back. This is your only chance." His mom seemed desperate, determined for her son.

This was my second chance..

"Now, you must go." His mother said softly, then the hands that were on his shoulders, shoved him backwards. Off the cliff.

He gasped and tried to yell, but it seemed as if it was silenced. Xzanders eyes shut and his arms covered his face, the wind hitting his back and his hair in his face. He was actually falling.

Was this going to hurt!?

But when he hit the bottom, it felt as if a blade stabbing him in the stomach.

He opened his eyes and would have let out a hurdling scream, but his voice was silenced. There was a silver blade going through his abdomen and shirt, and red was blooming across his stomach. He started to panic before he shut his eyes and arched his back in pain.

When he opened them again, no sun was coming through his windows, and the heat in the room was on, his back was arching off the bed, and his brown night shirt was clean and in tact. He laid his back down and panted, looking up at the wooden ceiling. The light of lightening outside flickered through the window, showing the shadow of his curtain on the gold-painted walls. Xzander gulped and sat up, immediately lifting his shirt to see his scarred twice over stomach. He didn't have an explanation for that, but maybe it was how he died in his last life?

It makes sense that the revival would cost some sort of pain to symbol that it all wasn't a dream. But it leaving an actual scar was surreal!

The voice inside Xzanders head was still older than he looked. Once Xzander stood he wasn't even five foot tall. Not yet at least.

Mom said I was eight didn't she?... I wonder how old I was before I died..

I need to find Nash, see if he has the necklace. If he doesn't-wait.....didn't mom say they would be the same age as when I died.. Nash would be a lot older than he's supposed to be. Right? Am I figuring this out right?

With a hum, Xzander changed clothes. White shirt. White pants. Gold lining down the sides of both.

But didn't mom also push me off a cliff not too long ago?

Xzander sighed and grabbed his cardigan, which was a light grey, and slipped it on. He would still have school, so he needed to be sort of presentable. Not like he remembered his fashion sense anyways.

He slipped on his shoes, left the room, and went down the hall. Surprisingly, he knew the hallways better than he thought he would it looked as if it would be very confusing, but considering he had lived there for years before he died, maybe this is just his senses showing him around.

Or maybe I still remember some things since I was almost dead with the necklace on before it was taken off... That has to be it. No eight year old is this smart.

Turning a corner, he bumped into someone. His breath hitched, and he took a step back. The short haired kid (almost as short as he was) stood in front of him, a smile on his face but his arms crossed.

That's Nash. He told himself.

"Hey, good morning!" Xzander said, then the boy grabbed his hand, "Wait, where are we-" Xzander was cut off by going down stairs.

"It's eight o'clock! We were supposed to be in school fifteen minutes ago! We are both gonna be late, Xzander!" Nash yelled, his voice sounding quite small. It almost brought back memories.... Almost.

Xzander followed up to his brother, noticing no necklace around the boys neck. Nor did he look any older.

"He doesn't have it.." Xzander whispered under his breath. With a sharp sigh, he was dragged around the castle until they were out the house, in the pouring rain, with white rain coats on.

"Mum and dad were doing work with the royal family that lives country's over. So, Mum told me to bring you. It was earlier this morning, so, I almost forgot." Nash said quickly in his heavy British accent, making Xzander remember his brother was a year older than he is. Or is Xzander years older than Nash now? "I'm sorry!" Nash looked back at Xzander with a goofy grin. Nash didn't always hold a British accent, it just peeked out ever so slightly at times.

Xzander panted, Nash right along with him. They both entered the school with a ruckus. Or more so, very dramatically. Once they got into the room, they laid flat on their backs outside the doors, their raincoats dripping water, "The cold...is killing my....lungs!" Nash yelled, panting in between. Xzander laughed.

Is he really the one that killed our whole family in my past life?... And why do I find that hard to believe?...

While my laughing subsided, I looked around the class. The room was filled with village kids, ones I don't remember, and ones I should remember. Or at least I think I should. But, I don't really seem like the type to make many friends. Or want to for that fact.

Once Xzander was fully standing, Nash too, he looked around the room, spotting a brown haired kid around Xzander's age. The boys big, round, blue eyes starred into Xzander's, face as white as snow as if he had seen a ghost.

No pun intended.

"Please, be seated, Prince's." The teacher gave a smile to the royals in the room. They were only doing as told, you would never know what was real with anyone in the village. Anyone in the castle. Not even someone you see as your best friend. You would never know if they were ordered to be that nice or ordered to do what they were doing. You just never know..

You cannot trust anyone.

Xzander took a seat up front. Nash took a seat in the far back. The brown haired kid wasn't far behind Xzander, but the black haired boy could feel his gaze in the back of his head. Burning almost.

Xzander fidgeted with his shoulder length hair, tucking it behind his ear once he was done twirling it around his finger.

Why did I keep my hair long?..

Once class started it felt like nostalgia through the whole thing. Probably because I'm repeating history, but don't know it. Once we got these little math drills, I sped through them in less than a minute while the other class took up to five. But, that didn't count the glance back I took to stare at the brown haired boy for a moment, out of curiosity. And the necklace chain going into his commoner clothing.