Growing Up

This is the beginning of a new story idea. I might post more chapters here, but it all depends on the feed back I get. If you guys want more, please tell me. Thanks! (oh, and this is a rough draft, so I'm sure there are issues, my apologies)

The neighborhood wasn't extravagant. It followed a little side road, bending into a coldasac. The sidewalks were cracked and worn looking. It wasn't like the place had been there for a long time. It just seemed well used. Children still ran around and played in the trees. Some kids were riding their bikes on the road, trying to make sharp turns and race each other back to their driveways.

Kieran kept his head down, looking only at the sidewalk slabs as he moved his feet slowly forward. Why was he doing this? It was just like stabbing himself repeatedly through the heart. He could feel the organ pulsing in his chest, but he didn't really want to think about it. He just knew that he needed to come back. He needed to look at this place. The home where he grew up, where everything began. Lifting his head a little, he watched the children playing. Their bikes were of a different style, they wore different clothing, but everything else was essentially the same. They'd even made a make-shift jump from old wooden planks no doubt taken from their father's tool sheds. Kieran couldn't help the small smile from forming as he watched them.

And there, over by the red bricked house was the apple tree he and Cali had climbed. She'd slipped and broken her arm. Kieran almost laughed aloud at the memory, though he'd been panicking at the time. He'd thought she was going to die, and while he'd been panicking, Cali had been screaming her head off. They'd only been around six or seven.

Kieran walked up to the tree, putting his hand on the rough bark. It was a lot bigger than it used to be. He could probably even climb it now and have it hold his weight. Part of him was tempted to do just that. Throw down his pack and scramble up into the branches just like when he was a child. He wondered if the view was the same. If the two branches that perfectly provided cover so they could peek out and spy on the neighborhood were still in the right spot. He wondered if the apples tasted as sweet. Probably. Why would the taste of apples change? But at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder if they had. Couldn't help but wonder if even something as small as the crunch of an apple could escape the change.

The gravel crunched under his feet as he headed toward his house. His old house, more appropriately. It still had a green door. Kieran was kind of surprised the new owners had kept it that way. But then, why wouldn't they? He'd always thought the color was nice. A deep forest green. It wasn't anything like Cali's door, which was the next house over. Her door was a brilliant red. He used to always tease her about it. She said that it meant welcome. He said it reminded him of blood.

Blood. . .

It was like a flood. Every street light, every yard, every house, they all had stories. They all had memories. Kieran took a deep breath, pushing his feet forward. It didn't seem normal. Didn't seem like this place could hold all this pain. Not when it was a place of so many childhood memories. Why did they all ache? Was it because each one had Cali in them? Was it because she wasn't with him? Would he even want her there if she'd offered?

Kieran turned away, feeling bile rise in his throat. He didn't know why he'd come back. He didn't know why he felt the need to torture himself. Was it just another punishment? Something to show him what he could never have again? He was never going to return to this life. It wasn't his. He didn't have a right to it.

He didn't have the right to want it either.

Chapter One

“I swear, I won't put the worm in your mouth.” Kieran crossed his hand over his heart, a fiendish grin on his face, “Now close your eyes.”

“I don't believe you,” Cali scowled down at the wriggling creature in Kieran's hands, her nose wrinkling in disgust, “You'll try to put it down my shirt, or something.”

“I will not.” Kieran shook his head, “You have to trust me.”

“Um. . . No.”

“I dare you.”

“No.”

“I DOUBLE dare you.”

“Mom said double dares were stupid.” Cali crossed her arms. Kieran was tempted to grab her and shake her, just for fun.

“Your mom obviously doesn't know the rules,” he explained, his face attempting at sincerity, “Once you've been dared, you can't back down.”

“Mom said. . .”

“Mom said, mom said, what are you, a goody good?”

“I don't want you sticking that worm down my mouth!” Cali grabbed at it, taking Kieran by surprise and knocking him over. They wrestled for a second, Kieran trying to keep the worm out of Cali's reach while she desperately clawed for it.

“Stop! You're going to kill it!”

“Then give it to me!”

“No!” Kieran jerked his hand back just as Cali lunged forward. Her head collided with his jaw, making him gasp in pain. He jerked his hand forward, the worm wiggling free and slapping Cali in the face.

“Kieran!” Cali screamed smacking her face with her hands, squirming away from him and panicking, “It's in my hair! Kieran it's in my hair!”

“Hold still! Hold still and I'll get it out!”

“It's in my hair, Kieran! Kieran!”

A silver car turned onto the street. The engine purred nicely as it crept up the street at the slow pace required of everyone traveling in a family neighborhood. Kieran finally managed to pull the worm away from Cali, throwing it into the dirt. The car crept closer, Cali turned to look at it, frowning.

“Who's car is that?” she asked, distracted. Kieran followed her gaze and frowned. He didn't recognize it. It was too shiny to be a car that came from their neighborhood. It pulled up to them, rolling down it's windows.

“Hey kids,” The man poked his head out the window. He had light brown hair and a cheerful smile. The summer day was bright, so he had sunglasses on against the glare. Kieran frowned, shifting his feet uncomfortably. Something bothered him about the man. He seemed normal, but Kieran never liked strangers. His mom had just had a new baby, and Kieran felt like every stranger that came by was trying to steal his baby brother. Plus the man's smile. . . it was really white. Almost obnoxiously white. No good person could have teeth that looked like that. “Do you know how to get to Walmart?”

“Walmart?” Cali repeated, frowning. “It's down the hill.” Kieran couldn't tell where the man was looking, because of his sunglasses, but he felt like he was being watched. He shifted his feet uncomfortably and took Cali's hand. He pointed with the other, back the way the car had driven.

“Turn that way,” he motioned with his left hand, “And go down the hill. Once you're there you should see it across the busy street.”

“Thanks Kieran,” the man smiled, pulling back into his car, “You know,” he said, “You usually don't see two kids like you playing together.” Kieran looked at Cali, then the hot summer sun above them, and then at the other kids littered around the coldesac.

“What do you mean?”

“How old are you?” The man asked instead. Kieran hesitated.

“We're nine.” Cali frowned, her blue eyes confused, “Why?”

“Just wondering.” The man began to pull his car backwards. Kieran felt a rush of anger at him. He grabbed one of the rocks by the road and threw it, hoping it broke through his windshield. The car sped away, and Kieran almost thought he saw the man laughing.

“Kieran!” Cali shouted, shoving him, “You can't do that!”

“That guy was creepy, Cali.”

“So? What would your. . .”

“If you say mom, I swear I'm going to hit you.” Kieran scowled. Cali sighed and turned away.

“You can't just throw rocks at cars,” she said firmly, “It's wrong.”

“Not when they're creepy.”

“Even when they're creepy.”

“Well, that's a stupid rule.” Kieran turned toward his house, pulling Cali's hand, “Come on, let's go get some lemonade.”

“Yum, okay!”

Kieran was almost afraid that Cali would tattle on him and tell his mom about how he threw the rock at the car, but she didn't say anything. She threw him a look when his mother's back was turned, but otherwise kept her opinions to herself, which he was grateful for. They had sandwich's and lemonade. Kieran's baby brother was trying to nap, so they had to be extra quiet. It was just a typical summer day. The two friends had spent every day of summer vacation terrorizing their little town. They took turns going to the other person's house, though Kieran was always really excited when Cali came to his house. It wasn't too long ago that he didn't think his mom would let him be friends with Cali anymore, because she was a girl.

“You need to spend sometime with the boys too,” she'd said.

“Why?”

“Because. . .Sometimes it's good to be with boys, and other times with girls.”

“But Cali's not a boy.”

“No, she's not.”

“But how can I spend time with boys when Cali isn't a boy?”

Sometimes it was better to just not ask questions.

Years later, Kieran would remember everything they did that day. It wasn't like it was any different than most other days. The only notable thing at all was the appearance of the creepy stranger. But every detail was still burned into the boy's memory. He remembered how they biked down to the river by the horse pastures and played in the water even though their parents had told them not to. He remembered that they camped out in Cali's backyard, with a fire pit and marshmallows. He remembered that Cali's parents taught him the constellations and told them about the Greek myths.

He wanted to remember all of it. Because if he didn't, then none of it would have been real. And everything would have just been a nightmare from the beginning.

But it wasn't. It didn't start out that way. The nightmare began when someone ripped the tent open.