DELUGE

*

Curled up in the corner, William cried quietly

staring at his mother's dying body. Her rasping breath filled the room, and blood seeped out of the gaping hole in her chest. No amount of cpr could save her.

"William.William, come here, baby, will you?" Her voice spoke, still soft and sweet. She had seemed so calm about it all. Like she was going to live.

He slowly crawled over to her body, holding

back tears William's eyes widened as he saw the blood gushing from her wound. Her shaky hand held his face, tearing his eyes away from her wound.

Her voice broke as she spoke, "No, no, don't look at that honey, Just look at Mommy." It sounded as if she was trying to tell herself that instead of him. William could feel the tears start to fill his eyes.

"Hold my hand, baby. No, no, no... don't cry, honey."

"But I don't want you to go!"

She laughed slightly, coughing. She could feel the last breath at the tip of her throat, but she knew she had to hold on just a little longer. She needed to for her little boy. "Don't cry, sweetheart. I'm just going to take a nap.

William sniffed, tears beginning to fall again.

His mother took a deep breath, turning to him "It'll just be asleep, baby, just for a little while... just for a little while..." Her vision was fading in and out. Her eyes are struggling to not flutter shut.

-

The police had found him and ushered him out of the house. William stood in the doorway staring at his father in the front yard. A look that he had never seen was on his father's face; despair.

"EMBERR!! NO!! PLEASE, SHIT DON'T LEAVE ME!" Mr Turner cried out. His voice was hoarse; it was as if he had been screaming for hours. William's father fell to his knees as a stretcher was brought out. "O-oh god... Ember..." Mr. Turner's shaking hands reached out for it.

William tugged in his father's shirt," Daddy, where's mommy? What's going on?" Tears welling up in his eyes. His father turned to him, eyes wide, tears streaming down his face.

He stared at his son for a while. Almost like he didn't recognize him, "William..You...You're mother is -" Mr. Turner turned away as a sob escaped him. He tore at the ground, ripping his hair out. screaming and crying at the dirt, cursing out whatever being had taken away the love of his life.

His father turned and pulled him into a tight hug. His grip was unforgiving. It was like William was his life raft. The only thing that could keep him afloat. William could feel his father's tears drip onto his shoulders. He could practically feel the pain his father was going through.

His father pulled away from him slowly, "William?"

"Y-yes?" Willaim asked, voice quivering as he stood there trembling. Mr. Turner took a deep breath, trying to smile but faltering.

"Your mother..."Mr. Turner stopped, running his hand over his face. He tried wiping away the tears. He still wanted to look manly for his son. He wanted to be brave, but he just couldn't. "Your mother may not be here anymore.. but...I promise you,William... everything will be just fine." Mr. Turner smiled, tears still falling.

William felt tears begin to form once again. He hugged his father tight now, knowing that this man was the only family he had left. He knew that his mother's sleep would be longer than 'just a while'.

*

A sudden tap to his shoulder, and it was like William was back. His heart was racing, and his breathing was quick and uneasy. He snapped his head quickly only to see

"Are you okay, Wills?"

Nathaniel had a look of clear concern. William bit his lip subconsciously. It was like he was a deer stuck in headlights. He couldn't understand what he had just seen right now. He always heard about it, but he could never clearly remember it. "Y-Yeah...yeah let's go to school," He said, trying his best to give a reassuring smile.

They both began their walk into the school. Nathaniel did his best to make small conversation but only got one word responses from Will. He was getting concerned that he had done something wrong to offend him.

William rested his head against his locker. He didn't know why he was feeling so...shitty. He didn't want to think. In fact, he wanted to do nothing. He let out a sigh as he waited for Nathaniel to finish doing whatever the hell he was doing.

Looking through his locker, Nathaniel couldn't help but notice that Will had been acting strange. He wanted to see a smile on that charming face of his. Nat just didn't know how to do it.

He stared into his locker, trying to think. He began to pull out whatever he needed. That's when it hit him. Nathaniel slammed his locker shut, making Will jump.

"Are you alrig-?" Nathaniel hushed him. Taking his hands in his own. "Let's hang out tomorrow! I'll buy you lunch and we can go to the park or something! How 'bout it?" He asked a cheerful smile forming on his face.

William's eyes squinted from Nathaniel's bright aura. It was hard to deny him when he was just so kind. A small smile formed on Will's face as he agreed.

- next day -

Pacing around his room, William couldn't help but smile at the thought of hanging with his best friend after school. What would he wear? Should he bring his wallet? William hasn't really hung out with anyone since...well middle school.

"Will! Hurry up or else you'll miss breakfast. "

William rushed downstairs. He sat at the table waiting patiently. He stared at his dad, who started to serve the plates. He could see the eyebags under his dad's eyes. The memory from yesterday occupied his thoughts once more. Was his dad alright?

"Police are still looking for the fugitive who murdered 17 year old, Trent Louis, and 16 year old -" The TV was shut off with a sudden click. Will looked towards his father, remote in his hand. He had a grimace of despair.

He rubbed his forehead, setting the remote on the table."Eat your breakfast, Will...I'm going to lie down for a bit longer," He murmured handing a plate of pancakes to William. Mr. Turner staggered to his bedroom shutting the door with a soft click.

-

The investigators had gotten at least half the people who lived around the crime scene. They still hadn't gotten enough information so they were hoping someone would at least know something.

A sense of dread washed over William as he realized soon enough it would be his turn. It wasn't like he did anything, but the thought of being alone with police officers just made him uneasy.

He set his head on his desk. His eyes wandered off towards Nathaniel. "Nat..." He mumbled under his breath, feeling a smile form on his face.

It was like all sense of despair was gone when Will saw or even thought of Nathaniel. He was excited that he was going to be spending time with his best friend. Being so distracted staring at Nat, William hadn't noticed that he was staring right back.

William could feel his face flush realizing he had been caught. Nathaniel let out a small chuckle before giving a sweet smile. It made his heart race at the sight of that gorg- no, no, totally normal smile!

-

Walking down the hallway Adam King could see two people shoving notes inside the vents of his locker. "Hey dipshits!" He yelled out irritated. Their heads snapped towards Adam, eyes widening in fear.

They both made a run for it not wanting to get beat up or berated by the still scary, King. Adam just rolled his eyes. He wasn't in the mood to chase idiots today. Opening his locker dozen of notes fell out.

Notes read things like: "Off yourself", "Your better off dead", "Your no king", "We'll fucking kill you" and various other threats. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. He grinned, grabbing the notes crumbling them in his hands. Adam knew these notes were just empty threats, they were meaningless.

"Haha they wish they could kill me"

Adam chuckled as he threw the papers away. He knew that he would never let anyone kill him. If anyone was going to kill the great Adam King it'd be himself. Either that or...him. Adam rubbed his face aggressively with his hands. He didn't want to think about that now.

Grabbing his lunch from his locker, Adam made his way into the classroom. He enjoyed eating lunch by himself. It was peaceful. No one wanted to pick fights with him or wanted to talk to him if he was alone. Adam stared down at his desk. As expected, slurs and threats decorated his desk.

Rolling his eyes, Adam set his lunch down on the table. Nothing could spoil his appetite. Well that was until Adam saw William being escorted down the hall by a police officer. "Damn mutt," Adam hissed through his teeth.