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                                                   X-ality

                                               Daniel Kuehn

                                                       Chapter 1

                                                           Dead

Yellow eyes in the dark. Screams rang. A rippling growl echoed in the night . . .

Jason Sorn gasped, blinking away the strange mental sounds and images. Where did that come from? He frowned and shook his head. Weird.

Jason sat at a table in a food court beside a Starbucks. The warm, kind, and sweet-sour smell of coffee grounds pervaded the air like quiet memories. Childish laughter surrounded him with feet pounding on the hard floor, and voices echoing in the large expanses of the mall.

“You okay?”

Jason jumped in his chair. He’d forgotten that his best friend Shane still sat across the table from him. Shane, a ginormous quarterback, grinned back at him. His dark brown eyes twinkled. “What’s wrong with you? You look a little—what’s the word—disgruntled?”

Jason smirked. “The football player has cracked open the dictionary!  Congrats on your first step to getting a brain cell. ”

Shane didn’t answer at first. He slurped up more Mocha Frappuccino from his cup and then rolled his eyes. “Hey, I like words. You know I’ve gotten straights A’s in English.” He was a quarterback through and through, but the strangest part of Shane’s personality was his love for words. He could be practicing football, laughing with his friends, and then later be in a corner reading a book during the same day.

Jason shrugged, chuckling. “Yeah, yeah, I know. In all seriousness though, I’m fine. So, where were we?” He wasn’t really fine, but how could he tell his best friend he’d just about jumped out of his skin over some yellow eyes and a scream in his head?

“I was trying to tell you that Kiera likes you,” Shane said.

“She doesn’t.”

“How do you know she doesn’t?

“Well, how do you know she does?”

“She always sits by you. You should see how she looks at you when she thinks no one’s looking. That’s evidence or I’m crazy!” Shane said triumphantly. He acted like a quarterback in football

 A blaze of yellow flashed. A sudden scream—

Chills raced up Jason’s spine as the sounds and images invaded his mind. His heart began to pound. He wiped his clammy forehead with the back of his hand. His skin felt hot. Do I have a fever?

Shane was still talking. “Of course, Kiera’s not a blond—which I prefer—but she’s cute, really cute.”

Jason tried to push the creepy images from his mind. “Sure, whatever you say, Miss Matchmaker.”

Shane looked offended. “I’m not a matchmaker! And I’m definitely not a ‘miss’.”

“Well, you’re acting like one.” Jason laughed, trying to brush the troubling images aside. Where did the thoughts come from? Jason started a mental tally of all the creepy movies he’d seen.

World War Z?

No.

 Aliens?

 Definitely not.

Just then, Jason’s iPhone buzzed. Fishing it out of his pocket, Jason glanced at the screen. It was a text from his mom.

YOUR FATHER AND I ARE DONE LOOKING AROUND THE MALL. MEET US @ THE CAR IN FIVE.

Jason looked at the time the message was sent. Twenty minutes ago! He got to his feet, jammed the phone in his pocket, and hurriedly grabbed his untouched Frappuccino off the table.

Shane stood up in surprise. “What’s up?”

“We need to go,” Jason said. “My mom told me to meet her at the car twenty minutes ago. My stupid phone is acting up again. It didn’t receive the message until now.”

Shane grabbed his green backpack from the floor and fell in line with Jason. He swaggered, tall, and strong with his brown hair and dark eyes finished the good looking package. Jason nervously checked the time again and hurried on.

Five minutes later, they reached the exit. The automatic doors slid open and the warm night air rushed into Jason’s face. The sounds of the mall became muffled as the doors shut behind them.

Jason fished his phone out of his pocket, checking for new texts from his mom. Nothing. Then he heard Shane gasp. “Wow.”

“What?” Jason looked up and stopped. The mall parking lot was crowded with cars and people. Cameras flashed. Reporters shouted behind yellow caution tape.  Gaping, Jason slipped his phone back into his pocket.

In the middle of this confusion, paramedics were hurriedly lifting two bodies onto gurneys. Jason couldn’t see anything from behind the paramedics. He stood on tiptoe and strained to make out the figures being carried away. His gaze caught a bare, slender hand hanging limply off one of the gurneys.

A diamond bracelet hung around the wrist.

Then the world stopped spinning for Jason. The flashing lights burned his soul like fire and he forgot to think—to breathe.

“Mom!” Jason cried. That’s her favorite bracelet! His heart plunged to his stomach, and he took off running. 

“Jason! Stop! What do you think you’re doing?” Shane shouted behind him.

Jason ignored him. He pushed through the crowd and ducked under the yellow tape.

A police officer stepped forward. “Hey! Stay back!”

Jason took no notice of the officer. He raced past him and reached the gurneys, shaky, and suddenly covered in sweat. “Mom! Mom!”

A paramedic was laying a white sheet over the woman’s face. It took Jason a full second to realize what that sheet meant. She’s . . . dead? Jason froze, stunned. His eyes flicked to the other gurney, where his father lay. His father’s bright blue eyes stared back at him blankly. His eyes sucked Jason’s mind into to their deep blue chasms. Another paramedic laid a white sheet over him, cutting Jason off from those blue depths.

No! No! No!

Jason stood upright, numb. A strong hand gripped his arm. “Hey kid, get back behind the caution tape!”

Jason turned, slowly. A police officer towered over him. His green eyes flashed. Normally Jason would’ve felt daunted by this tower of flesh but right now he just didn’t care. Nothing really mattered anymore. 

“Th-they . . . they were my parents,” Jason said.

The officer faltered, stood silent for a moment, and then his grip on Jason’s arm loosened. “You’re their son?”

“Yeah, I—I’m Jason . . . Sorn.”

The officer nodded. He took a deep breath and pinched his nose with his thumb and forefinger as if to think. “I’m Officer Yates.” He stopped to look at Jason again. “I’m very sorry for your loss. I—”

“How did this happen?” Jason interrupted, a lump beginning to grow in his throat.

Officer Yates’ jaw muscles twitched. “We don’t know. We got an anonymous call and found them in the alley over there.” He pointed to a dark opening between two buildings. “We got to the scene just as your mother died. She kept saying something about ‘a dark face’ and ‘glowing yellow eyes.’ That’s all I know, I’m sorry.”

Through his muddled and numb mind, Jason began to wonder. Glowing yellow eyes. A dark face. How can I know this?

Jason caught a glimpse of Shane pushing through the crowd. “Jason!”

Jason didn’t answer. Yates began to lead him away from the gurneys. He didn’t have the energy to resist, or talk, or anything. Cameras flashed. Shouts echoed loudly in Jason’s ears.

Shane ducked under the tape but was stopped by a female police officer. “Stay back, sir!”

“I’m a friend.”

“I don’t care, stay back!”

Shane ducked back under the yellow tape and waited. Shane’s eyes met Jason’s. Neither one spoke.

Jason couldn’t help looking back—just one more time. The bodies were still lying on the gurneys. The flashing lights burned his parent’s forms into his soul. Tears filled his vision. They’re gone.