“C-I four,” he spoke silently, holding both of his heavy bags. He shuffled around uneasily under the weight. The sign spoke to him with familiarity somehow. CI4? He thought but could not make a connection. It seemed strangely important but Alexander did not see how or why it would be. It must be this place, he thought. He felt deep down that he would spend a long time here and it would be hardly pleasant. Shaking slightly, he stood in front of the door, simply afraid to open it and accept the truth of what was happening.
Eventually, he did open the door and the room looked identical to its description except for the clothes on the ground and a strange smell. Alexander sat on one of the beds and waited for the other boys to get there. Before he could sigh in desperation and enjoy a minute of silence, the boys came in.
“Whatya doin’ ere?” asked one of them using very slang language.
“I was told by the lady up front,” Alexander started, “I'm new. She told me..Is this CI4?” He said nervously.
“Yah, it is, so you're our new roommate, eh?” the boy asked, “Well arright, take the top bunk where you're sittin'. I like the bottom,” he laughed and turned to the other two, “Stole it from poor Walley, when he left three weeks 'go.”
The boys actually varied in age. The one that spoke must have been at least fourteen. A chubby, round boy stood next to him.
“Alright, finally someone closer to my age!” he exclaimed, “How old are you?” he asked Alexander.
“Twelve,”
“Oh darn, I'm still the youngest,” he frowned and jumped on the bottom bunk of the opposite bad.
There was something odd about the third boy. He was shorter than Alexander but well built, very active.
“Welcome to Golden Sunshine,” he said sarcastically, “I hope you enjoy your stay. The bathroom is right over there,” he pointed toward a door on the side, “The showers unfortunately are out of commission for the moment so you will have to use the public ones down the hallway. Only at certain times of course.”
The boys laughed together.
Alexander motioned to his bags and the last boy pointed toward a closet. The space was limited; the boy would not be able to fully unpack.
“So, whaz yo’ name?” The first boy asked.
“My name’s Alexander, how about you three?” Alexander answered and sat down on one of the beds, despite his better instinct.
The first boy with the strange dialect started, “The name’s Taylor. This chubby little fella, that’s Dominik. And the funny one over here is Nangern.”
The other two nodded in agreement. Alexander asked, “So how old are all of you?”
Taylor took the lead once more, “Aye’m foeteen, oldes’ one ‘ere.”
Dominik, “I’m ten.”
“Twelve,” Nangern chimed in, “What brings you here Alexander? Parents dead?” The three of them laughed at the inside joke.
“Actually yeah,” Alexander went silent and then looked up, “Just recently.”
“Doehn’t worry ‘bout it, we’ve all got a story like that,” Taylor started, he was tall and skinny, “Muh parents are actually still alive, them bassards. They left me when I was born. I was their mistake, they say.”
The chubby short boy, Dominik, answered next, “My mother died about three years ago. I don’t know where my father is.”
Nangern cleared his throat, “I’m on the same boat as you. My parents died of a tropic disease when they went to Africa. I’m stuck here with my sister.”
Taylor winked at Alexander and nudged Nangern, “Quite the looker, too. If I was a couple years younger…” then he laughed.
The four of them spent the rest of the afternoon talking. Nangern and Dominik did their homework while Taylor went outside to the playground for a while. Alexander spent his time in his top bunk, playing some video games to remind him of the good old, month old, times.
IV
In the past, scientists have thought it impossible to conquer a galaxy. They were convinced and mathematically have proven that it is impossible to colonize that much space. According to them, it would take fifty years simply to terraform a planet, and at least hundred more to create a self-sustaining and growing society. Speed of light was another barrier that could not be broken. Scientists have spent years in classrooms and seminars, wasting chalk to prove this.
Albert Einstein proved it with the theory of relativity. If a person moved at the speed of light, the time would stop for them, they would become infinitely heavy with a non-existent length. If the speed surpassed the time would, theoretically, go backwards. Of course, the speed of light is an unbreakable speed. Though again as repeated many times in history, laws proven to be solid and unalterable were actually false. When people thought it was impossible to touch the skies, move faster than trains, or harness the power of the sun, they were proven wrong.
That does not mean that getting from one place to another is limited to speed and time. Many theoreticians presented that the black holes, mathematical and universal anomalies, might be portals to other dimensions and universes. Other thinkers thought that there might be white holes, the complete opposites of black holes. Objects that are absorbed in a black hole are, according to them, spat out of the white holes. Nevertheless, all of these were discarded as daydreams and nothing more.
Universe is like a 4-dimensional piece of cloth. The mass and size of the objects bend and warp this cloth. The black holes are a phenomenon made by large masses forced into a small point in size. This mass tears through the cloth into another universe, as deducted and conversed.
Now to transport, some might say, you have to tear through the universe’s cloth into another universe, usually called hyperspace, which has different set of physical laws enabling faster speed of easier travel or different time speeds.
V
Time passed by slowly for Alexander. Every day, he felt worse and worse and no matter how much Dominik, Nangern, and Tyler tried to cheer him up, nothing worked. They sympathized, having gone through the same experience, but could not help him. The days dragged on and Alexander stayed inside, reading his books, doing homework, and all in all he became anti-social. It was difficult for him to deal with the change of environment, seeing new people, and the absence of his parents. The boy almost never went outside in the courtyard and when he did, it was almost always at two or three in the morning when everyone was asleep.
It has been a month though and the boy was recuperating. Nights through which he cried lessened in frequency and he laughed a couple times. People still did not give him a second glance, nor did anyone try to talk to him except for bullies that wanted to bother him. Taylor always stepped in then, he was among the older kids. Alexander appreciated especially since he loved to stay quiet and think about life. He thought about death and life; he tried to find his purpose. He tried to find a substitute for his parents’ guidance inside his mind. What would they have done?
The one afternoon, after the month has gone by, changed everything, Alexander’s whole perception on life and the world. Alexander ventured out into the courtyard. It was a desolate piece of dirt. Small patches of grass covered it along with sparse trees. The swings and other playground monuments were bright in color but their paint was peeling off. Kids played everywhere; most of them huddled in groups of a few. The bullies were picking on random kids as always but today, they messed around with the wrong kid.
The bullies were a gang of six or seven kids aged between fifteen and seventeen. Their figures were massive with fat and muscle they gained through perpetual beatings they administered. Nangern’s sister was in middle of the commotion. The older bully held her in his right hand, almost literally. He held her neck and thrashed her around. Her face was frozen still except for little round droplets of salty tears crossing her round cheeks. The fear she felt radiated all around. A circle formed around the group but even they kept their distance. The bully hated everyone, and everyone knew. He threatened Nangern’s sister, and
wanted her to leave forever. Of course, she could not but he did not care. From the way the bully screamed at her, it was obvious the girl knew something the boy did not want anyone to know. Consequently, she knew what would happen, a beating.
“GET OFF MY SISTER!” Nangern yelled, his face red with anger. His fists balled up. He ran up to the main bully and tried to attack him. The boy simply turned and knocked Nangern backwards.
“Get the fuck out of here you little shit!” the bully’s voice rammed into everyone’s mind, there was no one that could not hear the tremendous anger and power in his voice.
Alexander's blood started to boil as he saw Nangern on the ground. He was his best friend, and he could not stand such injustice. As he walked toward the bully he yelled, “Let her go!” and felt a wave of energy pulsate through his veins.
The bully laughed out loud, “Eh, now you need a help from a newbie? Some damn snobby kid,” the bully mocked Alexander and put his fist up, “'let her go!' whatever kid, get the fuck out of here.”
Alexander ran closer to the bully and punched him. He started beating on the boy, punching and kicking as hard as he could. He desperately screamed at him but the boy did not seem to care. He laughed and swatted off Alexander with his enormous arm. He let go of Nangern's sister by throwing her on the ground. The bully grabbed Alexander by his throat and started choking him with a fierce look on his face.
“You think you're a hero, huh?” The bully threw Alexander on the ground when he started crying, “Fuck you. Damn kid,” he shook his head and turned away.
Alexander stumbled on the uneven ground. He tripped over a tree root and fell backward on a rock. Unfortunately, the rock bore sharp edges that quickly pierced through the boy’s skin, most prominently by his neck and on his head. The edge drove itself into Alexander’s skull and cracked it open, another part of it snapped his neck because of the force of the momentum the boy created by falling backward.
At that moment, Alexander was still conscious, and the light started fading away quickly. The darkness started to close in as all the blood started pouring out of him. He could not move, he could barely breathe and barely think. The boy did think, miraculously and could understand his environment. He felt death coming for him and all he could see was Nangern’s little sister taking a harsh beating, blood pumping out of her split lip. Nangern lay next to her, also beat up with a bloody nose.
“You cannot die,” A voice spoke to Alexander, “Take away the pain.”
The voice appeared out of nowhere and in the confusion, the boy lying down, bleeding to death, still heard it perfectly clearly. He thought about the pain. The pain the bully caused, all of it. Every day, he would beat up someone new. Every day, he would hurt someone. And today, it was Nangern and his sister. Both of them were bleeding, both of them were in tremendous pain and for what? Nangern’s sister must have known something but who cares? Why would someone hurt someone else like this?
As the boy lay on the ground, these fleeting last thoughts tormented his mind. No more pain. His parents are dead. He was alone. He was at an orphanage. No more pain. He felt the pain, the hot searing pain spreading through his body. But with that came energy and anger. The pain and anger coupled and brought him back to his feet. Miraculously standing, he saw his shirt blood soaked, he felt the throbbing in the back of his neck and head. As he straightened up in front of the bully, the boy’s neck cracked slightly and he felt a bit better. His eyes focused in front of him but he could not see anything or anyone beside the bully. The bully stood in front of the crowd of kids that assembled, yelling and laughing.
“This is how anyone who messes with me will end up like,” he announced.
Every word sent Alexander’s heart into overdrive as it pumped adrenaline and other chemicals through his body. He tuned out the bully’s voice and simply saw the boy stand. A tunnel vision encroached his sight with a bloody dark red. Alexander felt the energy blasting and pushing him forward as he took three jump steps and took the bully down. He jumped up in the air and tackled the boy to the ground, with his fist planted firmly against the boy’s stomach. And even during that fall, Alexander punched and kicked the boy. He did not fall with the bully, he still held his ground as the other descended upon the ground next to him. Seconds later he was chocking the bully while his knee crushed the bully’s chest. The boy squirmed and tried to get out of his grip but could not. He gasped for air but could not breathe as the knee on his chest made him exhale loudly. The boy rolled his eyes and stopped moving. Alexander let go and felt the surge of energy in his body fade away.
He collapsed on the ground. His eyes closed and his body trembled. The other boys from his dormitory caught him just in time; otherwise, he would have fallen into the dirt again. They swiftly dragged him away.
VI
Lights flashed through the darkness. All around, lightings hit Alexander’s body and all at once. Alexander became a lightning rod, drawing all the power into his body and receiving pain unimaginable. Yet each shock, each electric discharge bore a thought or a memory.
Darkness shrouded the area. Whenever lightning hit, a gray nothingness lit up for a few seconds. One flash revealed a tall man standing in front of the boy. The man showed no emotion. His face was pale or it seemed pale in the light.
Alexander looked around and noticed another man behind him. He was as tall as the first. Only his body was burned, scarred by battles, and he bore an artificial shoulder made of light. It resembled confined blue plasma searing the skin all around. Both of the men wore black long robes. The first wore his robe tightly wound but torn up. The second man’s robe did not have sleeves as they would have probably burned.
They went through some kind of metamorphosis and turned into a different pair of men within an indefinite amount of time. These men were shorter than the previous pair but still tall. Their bodies were ripped with muscles but they were skinny. They must have been runners because no one but runners would have had such toned leg muscles. Again, one of them was as white as a wall and the other one very badly burned and scarred.
The men walked and positioned themselves on either of Alexander’s sides. The very tall man appeared again. The two men stared at the boy intensely without blinking. As the boy turned around, he saw the ragged, scarred version of the tall man. Four men in total, all around him, staring. They started chanting and the world span. They became a blur of strange words and colors. Alexander could not escape them nor the grey world, they pressured him but he did not know what to do. Then, miraculously, Alexander woke up.
VII
Alexander regained consciousness but did not open his eyes. He tried to remember the dream he had but could not. As hard as he tried to pry open his mind, it was impossible. The hard ground on which he lay reminded him to focus on the situation at hand. Voices emerged from the silence.
“-we need to get him to our dorm…” Alexander recognized Nangern’s voice. It must have been another minute before the fallen fighter could hear another speak.
“Yeah, but did you see it?” Dominik spoke excitedly, “It was like bam! BAM! And then he got him in that choke hold. It was amazing!”
“Aye, even Ay couldn’t du sumthing like dat.” Taylor spoke with his thick accent, “ ‘E got Leo all pin’d down. ‘twas phenomen’l.”
Nangern sighed, “Shit, he needs to rest. Come on.”
Taylor and Nangern grabbed the injured barely conscious boy and carried him through the field. Dominik tried to help but really could not. Alexander was just too heavy. They carried him like on a stretcher with his arms and legs serving as the handles. The boy’s weight dipped him in the middle and he started to skim over parts of the dirt.
“Hold on.” Alexander exhaled painfully. Everyone turned. Nangern with Taylor placed the boy on the soft soil below. His body straightened and he let out a low moan.
“Hey, you finally woke up.” Dominik cheerfully smiled and watched the injured boy
Alexander grunted in
pain again when he tried to get up but he could not manage to even move his hands. He opened his eyes and winked at the bright shine of the flaming sun. His eyes focused but his body still protested his commands.
“Mate, stay down. Ya need some rest, ya know,” Taylor caringly pushed Alexander’s chest to prevent him from getting up. Taylor made sure of that thoroughly.
“What…what happened? Is everyone alright?” Alexander asked everyone without narrowing the question. Slightly frightened, his eyes darted left and right between his friends.
“Well..”
“-you should have seen…”
“Bam! Bam!” everybody’s voice overlapped and distorted. They spoke at once and Alexander could not make out a single coherent thought.
“What? Can you speak one at a time?”The words softly escaped his lips. His strength permitted only a soft, near-silence speech. The boys listened.
“Oh sorry… lemme star’, a’ight?” Taylor apologized but still maintaining respect among others,” So aye think that you should remember ya’got yerself into a fight, right?”
Alexander nodded.
“Alright so…. Leo gave Nangern’s sistah a poundin’. He was relentless, even on our friend ‘ere, “Taylor reviewed and chuckled at the boy” Leo grabbed you, threw you on th’ground before you could do ‘nything,” He paused, “He threw you on the ground, ya hit yer head but then you got up. I dun know how ya did it, mate, but you stood back up with a huge bloody mess over ya.
“It looked like ya turned ‘to someone else. You were mindless, mate! Yer eyes focused only on Leo and no one or nothin’ else. Yea jumped up and threw Leo on th’ground and beat the living out of him. Boy couldn’t get up and ya passed out ove’ him.”
Aetheran Child Page 2
