Young Writers Society

Sebastian

An endless gray sky stretched above me, my breathing shallow and sharp as I took in the crisp air. I felt numb tingles through my body, like my body wasn’t aware that I was conscious. I tried to move but a sharp pain in my rib cage made me gasp, leaving me on the ground. I moved my head cautiously, wincing at my sore muscles, and took in the green trees around me. It was all familiar, like the woods by the house.

How did I get here? I needed to move, I needed to leave. I took a deep breath, holding it in as I tried to get up, moaning when the same stabbing pain hit me. I feel back down, and although it was colder out, sweat started to drip down my temple. I tried multiple times until I finally sat up. I looked around again, now sure that this was the woods by our home.

I grunted as I got to my feet, my whole body screaming at me to stop. My vision filled with black spots as I started to lose my balance. I gripped to the side of a tree to regain my balance and vision, and after a minute I was a little more stable. My insides felt like they were falling apart, or maybe they were already broken. My arms were littered with black and purple spots with cuts every so often. I looked like I had been hit by a car. Maybe I had.

The more I thought about it, I had no clue what I was doing out here, or why I was so badly injured. Where was everyone else? Were they in danger? I started walking in the direction I thought was the house, clinging to hope that they were all safe and sound. I don’t know what I would do if they were hurt because I wasn’t there.

The weather seemed peculiar to me. It seemed to have just been hot and humid, with barely any leaves on the ground, but now the air had a bitter cold bite to it and the trees were left naked. I couldn’t have been out for that long, maybe a day or two. The only thing I remembered was arguing with Kaydence...Kaydence. We kissed. I remember kissing her. But it was almost like a dream, not real. But it felt so tangible, like her lips were just on mine.

I shook my head, there’s no way that was real. She sees me as her brother. And what about all those other girls? Those must’ve been hallucinations, I was much younger in those. No, not hallucinations, memories? Had I finally remembered something? And that woman, what was her name? Aria. She was the women I drew constantly. My first love.

Love? It felt like such a foreign language. In my memories, I was two different people. What was I missing? What changed me? My mind was a whirlwind of confusion and insight all at once, it was almost unbearable. But everything froze in place when I saw her. Her brown hair bouncing from each step she took, she walked the way she does when she’s upset.

“Kaydence,” I called, my voice a faint ghost of what it usually is. She turned around, staring at me in shock. Tears stained her face, she had been crying. She walked closer and concern covered my features. Who had done this?

“Sebastian,” she exhaled, relief covering her features. I smiled at her, thank goodness she was safe. My mind started to buzz, I felt high. Just before Kaydence could reach me, my mind felt like it was exploding and my vision went black.

“Sebastian!”

***

I woke to Kaydence sitting by my feet, staring out the window, biting her lip. She was deep in thought, unaware of my consciousness. Another memory, although fuzzy, had come in my sleep. My parents. I wished I never knew. Maybe God was doing us a favor by wiping my memories. All they had brought me is pain in this life.

“Kayden,” I smiled, and she snapped back into reality, studying me with worried eyes.

“Bash, are you okay? Oh my God, I thought you weren’t going to wake up, I don’t know what I would’ve done, where have you been?” she yelled, “Who did this to you? Jesus Christ Sebastian, we were all worried sick about you. How dare you leave me?” She stopped after that, cheeks turning red. “Us, I mean, why did you leave us?”

I smiled with amusement at her, I’ve never seen her be so worried about me, it was nice. “Why are you so worried? It’s only been a day or two right? I must’ve passed out for a memory or something,” I replied, trying to shrug my shoulders but failing.

Kayden looked concerned, staying silent for a moment. “What, what is it?” I asked, frightened by the concern. “Is someone hurt? Kaydence, speak!”

“Sebastian, it’s almost been two months since you disappeared…” She said cautiously, watching intently as I processed. Two months? That couldn’t be right. It was just the other day that we got here. “So you don’t remember anything?”

“No, I just remember…” My eyes went to her lips, lingering before shaking my head, “It’s nothing.”

She frowned, “But-”

“Where is everyone?” I interrupted.

She exhaled loudly, probably deciding not to fight me on the subject. “I told them to let you rest, did you want to see them?”

“I would like to talk to Xander, but he’s probably already tuned in and eavesdropping,” I replied, and as if on cue, a door opened and Xander walked in.

“Sorry, I was just waiting to make sure you were alright,” He explained, sitting in a chair across from the couch where I was laying.

I laughed, “It’s okay, I figured, Kayden, would you give us a moment?”

Kaydence shot a look at Xander who replied with a nod, “In your room.” She gave a pained smile at Xander and stood up, turning her attention to me with one last concerned look before walking to her room and closing the door behind her.

“What was that all about?” I asked Xander, who was now leaning towards me with his hands clasped in his lap, looking at the ground.

He shook his head, “I’m sure she’ll fill you in later. How’re you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been beaten to a pulp, you?” I chuckled.

“Worn. Kaydence hasn’t been herself since you disappeared,” He said in a quiet, serious tone.

I frowned, “She looks like she’s in rough shape, have you guys not been getting any food around here?”

“It’s mostly just her. I mean, we’ve all been worried about you but she took it the worst. She blames herself because of your fight.” Xander leaned back in his chair, looking older than he ever had.

Flashbacks of our fight surfaced, how mad I had been. I felt no anger now, just calm. It was nice. “So, how has demon ass-kicking been?” I asked, trying to change the topic.

“It hasn’t,” He answered.

“What do you mean?” I said, confused.

“I mean, we’ve only killed one demon since you’ve been gone, the day Kaydence met Fra-.” He stopped, looking at me to see if I had caught what he said.

I did, “Kaydence met who?” I pressed.

Xander stayed silent, keeping his eyes on the floor. I started to sit up, gritting my teeth with each stab of pain. “Hey, sit back down old man. You’re not strong enough to be up yet,” Xander lightly pushed me back down.

“I would tell you, but it’s rather complicated and Kaydence wants to be the one to tell you,” He tapped his temple, and I rolled my eyes.

“Sometimes your powers can be a real pain in the ass,” I grunted. He laughed shaking his head and then look expectantly towards the hallway where Indiana walked into view just moments later.

“Uh, hey Bash, how’re you?” She mumbled as she walked over to Xander, sitting in his lap.

“Fine,” I answered.

“So, where’ve you been? Trying to run away from all your problems and responsibilities while you leave us here to fend for ourselves?” She pressed, almost as if it was a casual question.

I began to open my mouth to argue back when Xander interrupted, “Indiana, you know it’s not like that.”

She rolled her eyes, “Sure it isn’t. How convenient he doesn’t remember anything.”

“And what have you done since I’ve been gone? Still spending your time worrying about every little thing Archie is doing and stuffing your tongue down Xander’s throat?” I shot back.

“Hey, stop. We’re done here,” Xander said sternly, staring me down. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.

“Oh, go ahead and say that out loud, Sebastian, I’m sure Indie would love to hear an apology,” Xander replied.

“Only if she says sorry first, she had no reason to come at me that way!” I protested.

“Yes I did, you don’t care about anyone but yourself Sebastian, and frankly, we were doing just fine without you!” Indie replied, standing up.

“Oh yeah, it sure looks like it! Sounds like you guys haven't done shit since I’ve been gone!” I yelled.

“What the hell is going on?” I heard Kaydence’s voice from behind me.

“This son of a-” Indie started, but Xander stood and cut her off.

“Nothing, it’s done now. Let’s go Indie.” He grabbed her hand and she stormed off with him. It was only then that I noticed Archie and Aileen standing in the hallway, silently watching.

Kaydence sighed, “You’ve been back for a couple of hours and the whole house is already fighting.”

“I didn’t do anything, it was Indie that came at me like some psycho bitch accusing me of shit I didn’t even do,” I said defensively.

“You both sound like children. Can we please keep it together? I promise I will talk to Indiana if you promise to try not to react when she says things. You know she doesn’t have a filter,” Kaydence sighed, walking over to the chair where Xander had been sitting. She looked so worn and fragile, bags under her eyes like she hadn’t slept in weeks.

“Kaydence, I promise you, I didn’t abandon you. Any of you,” I sent a pointed look towards Aileen and Archie, who were now walking into the living room. Aileen gently placed a hand on Kaydence, who then smiled at her in gratitude.

“We know Sebastian, we were all worried sick, even Indie although she doesn’t want to admit it,” Aileen replied gently.

There was a moment of peaceful silence that passed, no one wanting to ruin the moment until Kaydence sighed. I looked at her, raising my eyebrow and noticed her biting her lip, again.

“What is it?” I asked, wondering if this was about whoever she had met.

“There’s someone you need to meet,” she replied. 

-

chapter word count: 1,832

total word count: 24,011