Shadows : Chapter 3

Okay, this is the last of the chapters already written out. It's also the last chapter when you are forced to read about only new characters. Yes they're more characters. Muah-ha-ha!! Make sure to pick it clean. If I don't accept you corrections the first time, I will most likely use them later when I go over this for a bajillion more times. So, say whatever your opinions are. Just don't go to the extreme where you're hitting me over the head with a frying pan. Okay, thank you!!

By this rate, the boy had already been waiting there approximately twenty minutes. He had been sitting at a small table besides the front window at a local Starbucks and was already working on his second vanilla frappacino. While glancing at his watch, he chagrin. They had promised to meet a little past ten. If almost a half an hour was her interpretation of little, he feared for the portion of food she ordered.

As his fingers tapped upon the table, he proceeded to get worried but tried to force himself to be occupied with a particular object to calm down. He had anxiety neurosis which was activated when he was nervous and Brooke was more than well aware of this complication. He swore mentally as he neglected ordering a third vanilla frappacino.

He closed his eyes and took slow even breaths, a trick his mother showed him when he was a little boy. By now, he was used to people staring at him like he was cerebrally impaired, which probably wasn't one-hundred percent false. They only lasted for a few seconds. In the past, it used to worsen his anxiety attacks and forced him into seizures. Over the years, his cases occurred less thanks to the help of a friend he made who took care of him. Unfortunately, the friend would happen to be the same one who was late.

The cashier's announcement of his order being ready kept him from surging into a deeper condition that could be mentally fatal. He tossed the old cups away but before he grabbed the new one, the cashier asked if he needed any assistance. Finally noticing his condition by the sweat soaking his thick black bangs and his face warmer than usually, he decided to keep it simple with a request for water. She returned quickly with it but before she could suggest anything else, he handed her the money for his drink, grabbed both cups, and headed back to his small table by the window.

When he sat down, he placed the frappacino on the table and quickly chugged down the water but when he placed the now empty cup on the table, his eyes were covered. An ecstatic voice chimed, "Guess who!"

Due to lack of breath from his previous break down, he wheezed out, "What took you so long?"

"Aww, Forrie. Is that really a proper greeting for your bestest-best-friend?" She released her hands from his eyes and came to sit in the chair across with a frown protruding her lips.

Brooke had always been a petite girl and even as she hit puberty, her body never appeared to have matured to adulthood except for the slight growth to her bust. She had a pinkish completion with a light décor of freckles adorning her cheeks. Like usual, she left her curly chestnut brown hair down as they placed themselves around her face that made her appear like a childish angel. Currently, she was dressed in blue jeans, a baby doll styled shirt, and a jean jacket for the abnormally cold day.

Forest, on the other hand, clearly showed his proper nineteen years. His looks were not appallingly charming but they were enough to keep people from turning away in disgust. He had a pale completion and a medium built. His black hair was well-kept but due to lack in funds, it grew to chin length. The feature that truly managed to make him stick out in a crowd would be his bright sea-blue eyes. He was clothed in a pair of jeans, a random logo T-shirt, and a jacket.

He sighed and commented with a hint of the fear that he was currently trying to harness, "You know what happens when I worry about you."

She giggled, "Then don't. I'm seventeen, Forrie. In a few months I'll be an adult like you."

"I wouldn't go as far as to call me an adult just yet," Forest said while subconsciously smiling at her. Although she was just like a child and always had a natural tendency to put him on edge, he enjoyed being with her. She was like a little sister to him and he loved her like one. He chuckled before asking, "So, what did you want me to meet you here for?"

Brooke beamed and Forest took it for she had just remembered something, "Oh, well I was going to just hang out with you, but…"

"But…" he tried to persuade her to continue.

"But then I met this guy--"

Forest groaned, "Please, tell me you didn't do something stupid."

She stuck her tongue out at him before proceeding with her tale, "Well, the other day, I ran into this weird guy. At first, I was just going to walk away but then I felt something odd…"

"Let me guess," he teased, "Another destined lover?"

She waved the comment away with her hand, "No, Tommy still has my wittle heart. Anyway, the guy I ran into seemed…different. So, I was just staring at him, right? So, he stops and stares at me as well."

"Sounds like its going to be another one of those stories," Forest mumbled sarcastically.

She smacked his arm, "Shush! No mocking of the story teller. So, anyway, the guy is staring at me, right? But before I could leave, he smiles some weird looking grin and is like 'do you fear me?' like one of those cool, wise, super dudes from the movies. So, I'm like 'no, should I be?' and he laughs! By the way, he has a creepy laugh," Brooke shuttered then resumed with her story, "So, he takes me to his house and let me tell you, it's h-u-g-e huge! Anyway, he told me this idea he had. Forrie, he's just like us!"

Forest raised a brow, "He's a freak with no friends?"

"No! I mean, well, maybe, but that's not what I was going for. He's also…well, you know," She cupped her hands over her mouth and leaned over the table to whisper in his ear, "Gifted."

Forest raised a brow at her, doubting what she was claiming, "And how do you know this?"

"He showed me," She piped, "He has this weird ability where he can control darkness, and shadows, and stuff. It's so cool! You should see it! I want you to meet him!"

Forest narrowed his brows, "I don't know. If he has a 'huge' house, as you put it, he's probably rich enough to buy special effects. Maybe he's trying to lure you into something."

Brooke shook her head and whined, "No, he really does have abilities. Please, trust me."

He sighed, "Okay, so what's this idea he had?"

She absentmindedly tapped her fingers on the table rhythmically, "Well, supposedly, he wants to find these orb things and make a new world where us 'different' people aren't a 'mockery of shame' anymore. Wouldn't that be cool? To not have to hide who we are anymore?"

Forest hesitated, "I don't know. It sounds suspicious. You just met this guy and he's already giving you this weird mumbo-jumbo? I'm getting bad vibes."

She stammered, "Well, Artemis--"

He raised a brow, "Artemis?"

Brooke snapped, "Can't people have names?"

"Yeah, I was just making sure I heard you right."

She huffed, "Well, he said that I could trust him and he sounds like an honest man. Plus, Forrie, I don't want to do this without you."

He glanced out the window and let his fingers roam the styrofoam cup of the Starbucks Frappacino. The idea seemed fishy but he didn't want to make her angry either. He was caught between the lines of moral rights and it was pulling at him like a nagging child. Biting his lower lip, he closed his eyes as he searched for the most sensible action. Then, sadly and slowly, he opened his eyes but did not turn to look at Brooke, "I'm sorry but I don't think getting involved is a good idea."

Brooke stared at him with wide eyes. When it appeared the words registered, she narrowed her brows and stated, "Oh."

Forest quickly tried to persuade her, "Please, Brooke, just--"

She quickly got up from the chair, "I have to go."

Forest turned toward her and shouted raspy, "Brooke!" but she was already out of the door.

He sighed and leaned his head on his hands. He felt as if a new weight had been dropped upon his shoulders and this time, his friend wasn't there to help him through it. Although he regretted the decision, there was no way he was taking back his words. There was something odd about it but now he was fearing that it might harm Brooke. He wanted to go after her but he knew her too well. She wouldn't listen. As her body failed to mature, so did her attitude.

An angelic voice broke him from his pitiful thoughts, "May I sit with you?"