Shadow
Caleb Tramp sat in the front of the bus, sketch pad open, trying to sketch that girl from the dance the other night. But just from memory this time.
They didn't share any of the same classes, and they didn't ride the same bus.
Zoe Peterson sat next to him, and smiled. She was a very beautiful girl- but she didn't compare to the one at the dance. He needed to know who she was.
"Hi, Caleb!" she said with a smile.
"Hey...it's Zoe right?"
"Yup! Thanks for remembering!"
Caleb nodded, thinking how nice it would be if he could be as upbeat as Zoe here all the time. She seemed to know how things were in the world, but chose to not let it bother her. How can anyone have that kind of joy?
"Hey, I have a question," Caleb began, fingers trembling. "Do you know who this is?" he asked, displaying his art.
"Wow, you're really good!" Zoe began. "Yeah, I do."
His heart spiked in his chest. "Really?! Who?!"
"That's Riley Hue."
"Are you friends?"
Zoe frowned. "Kinda. I mean, not really. Riley is really shy. She keeps to herself most of the time. Plus, she only hangs with her three best friends- Jack, Scar, and Josh."
Those were the people with her at the dance! Ha! Seth could eat his dust, because Caleb just got some serious traction!
"Thank you so much! I've been wondering who she was..."
"You think she's pretty?"
Caleb felt his face heat up, and before he could stop it he knew he was already red as a tomato. No use in lying now.
"Yeah. She is."
"All the guys do at school. She's a very wanted girl," Zoe replied, exhaling.
Uh-oh. So Caleb could have some competition here it would seem. He thought about his chances, and they seemed to plummet now. The good news was, Seth's chances plummeted as well. She wouldn't go for the new guys most likely.
"Is she taken?"
"Nope. But everyone knows that Josh and her have something going on. I think everyone realizes that but them," Zoe replied, laughing.
"Hmm."
The bus stopped, and the girl named Riley stepped on with the three of her friends trailing close behind.
Caleb's heart stopped. He swallowed, and watched at she walked to the back of the bus and sat. She wore Doc Martin's, ripped jeans, and a band t-shirt. She looked completely different then she had at the dance. Her hair was down now, and flowing everywhere.
She made eye contact with Caleb, and he jerked his eyes away quickly. When Caleb looked back again, he saw she was frowning, and putting her hair in a french braid. Shame, she looked good with it down.
Josh laughed and nudged her, and she smiled at something Caleb couldn't here. They were probably talking about him.
That night, Caleb was just about to do homework when he heard a banging on the door. His parents were away at a conference, so he was alone.
He went downstairs, to see a man in his house rummaging through his cupboards. He was trying to rob them!
"Hey!" Caleb yelled this before thinking how stupid he was.
The man's neck snapped up and his eyes locked onto to Caleb's. Caleb turned and ran for the door. He made it out, and started running down the road, as the man chased him. It was pouring down rain, and Caleb whipped his phone out to call 9-1-1. It was hard to watch where he was going and also run for his life.
He dialed it and ran on.
"Hello this is 9-1-1. What is the nature of your emergency?"
"A man is-"
Lightning struck a tree to his right. It fell, and Caleb had two choices.
1) To jump the tree
2) Or to die
Not much of a choice.
He ran and tried to hurdle the tree, but a branch grabbed a hold of his shirt and he yelped. His phone skid on the pavement out of his reach. He tried to break free, and then he realized a spotlight had been dropped on him.
Caleb looked up to see four lightning bolts conjoining in the sky, and then swirled there as if they were going to try to-
It struck him.
His world faded away.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Hey, hey wake up!" a man urged, slapping his cheeks.
Caleb opened his eyes and groaned. He looked around. He was in some kind of bed. The man who revived him looked in his late twenties. He smiled and then yelled for someone to come into the room he was in.
"What's going on?!"
A teenager rounded the corner and then dropped the raw steak he had pressed up on his eye when he saw Caleb.
"YOU!" they yelled at the same time.
"Oh boy, so you two know each other, eh?" the man laughed.
"Yeah, sadly we do!" Caleb replied, not breaking eye contact with Seth.
"This is stupid," Seth mumbled.
"Where am I?!"
The man looked at Seth, who made a face and said, "I ain't doing it. I hate this guy."
"Oookay," the man replied. "Basically, if you look at your left forearm, you'll see the same mark that I have, see?" he showed him his mark. "You've been chosen."
"You tattooed me??"
"That's what I thought too," Seth said under his breath. "But nooo."
"No, it's not a tattoo. It's the mark of the chosen."
"Whatever that means! Where am I?!"
"The future."
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