Page 25 of The Magic of Eternity
“Hello?” I called out quietly, thinking I must have made that up in my mind. Kai always said I spent too much time thinking about stuff. I didn’t care because all he thought about were snacks and Mario. Lifting my bike, I was about to kick off when I heard the voice again. It sounded just like me. And I realized that it was coming from inside my head.
‘Sloane’s daddy hurts him. We need to protect him,’the voice said, and I found myself nodding.
‘I’ll always protect him. I love Sloane. He’s one of my best friends. Forever. But... who are you?’I asked in my mind.
‘I’m not really sure,’he replied, and I started riding toward my friends.
‘So you’re like, an imaginary friend that even I can’t see? That’s so cool! I always wanted one. Do you have a name?’I was getting closer now—Kai and Sloane were already stopped, blatantly staring across the street.
‘I don’t think so. What kind of person doesn’t even have a name?’he asked, sounding really sad. That made my belly hurt. I didn’t like anyone being sad.
‘Don’t worry,’I told him, trying to cheer him up.‘I know your name. Maybe you just forgot?’
He gasped.‘You know my name? What is it?’
‘You’re worried about Sloane, so you’re a protector, right? You see things and warn me. You’re like a knight. You’re Faris. That’s what it means, ya know. In Mom and Dad’s language. It’s super cool.’
‘Faris,’he whispered.‘I love it.’
Just then I braked, coming to a stop beside Sloane. Faris had gone quiet so I settled into my observation of the new kid. He was tall and had wild blond hair that looked nicer than any girls’ in my school.
“Here he comes,” Kai exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down.
Sloane huffed. “Act cool.”
The new kid strolled across the street, like he couldn’t be bothered to move quicker. I thought Kai was going to run out and meet him halfway with how excited he was. As the kid got closer, I saw that he had green eyes, and oh my stars, he’d already lost both of his bottom teeth.
“Hi, I’m Cameron. Everyone calls me Cam,” the new kid told us, his eyes moving over each of us slowly.
Kai couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m Kaito! I’m five and a half and I’m crazy good at Super Mario Bros.” He grinned widely, and Cam returned his grin.
“I love Mario. Check these out!” Cam bent down and pulled his sock up, showing us a pair of Mario socks. Kai gasped, putting down his kickstand and moving in to get a better look. While he checked out the socks, I walked closer.
“Hi, I’m Fischer. Are you in kindergarten too?”
“Yeah, my moms said Miss Greene is my new teacher. Do you know her?” he asked, looking a bit nervous.
“You’re in our class. That’s really cool,” Sloane finally spoke up. “I’m Sloane. I like being outside. Hey, do you have a bike?”
Cam’s face lit up. “Yeah! Let me go see if they can get it off the truck. Wanna come over? I think I have popsicles?”
The four of us grinned at each other so hard I thought our faces would get stuck like that. We followed Cam across the street, laughing and joking, like we’d been friends our whole lives.
“That was the first time I followed you somewhere. At five years old, I knew I’d follow you anywhere. Along with Kai and Sloane.” My voice broke, and it was as though all of the pain I’d blocked suddenly hit my body, completely overwhelming my senses with blinding, horrible sensations. “How did we end up here?”
“Jesus,” Kai swore as he shifted back into his form. My eyes were screwed shut and sweat was pouring down my face.
“Fish, I’m giving you this injection. It will give you your powers back too. All of this pain will be gone in minutes—I swear it, brother.” I felt hands on my upper arm.
“DO IT!” I begged, my head pounding from the intensity of the pain. White light burst in front of my eyes, and I knew I was going to pass out. Gods, I wanted it to happen.
“Fish?” Kai said, though he sounded far away, muffled.
I grunted. Damn, I must’ve gotten my wish because I now was laying flat on my back on that fucking table. When I realized that’s where I was, I flew up and off the damn thing, wiping at my skin. My chest heaved, and my flesh felt as though it was crawling.
Cam reached out for me but I dodged his hands. “Don’t,” I rasped, my eyes burning a hole in the ground. Kai whined, and I knew it was probably ripping him up inside not to grab me and hug me within an inch of my life. I just... I couldn’t take anyone touching me right now.
“Okay,” Cam said softly. I looked up, expecting to find pity on his face. Instead, I found the face of a man with more fury swirling within his body than was safe.
