Chapter 2: Valen

Chapter 2: Valen

     I opened my eyes to see my bland but familiar ceiling before me. It felt like I had just woken from a long-forgotten memory, but in actuality I remembered it quite well. The Beginning is not something you forget: it's something that you remember for the rest of your life. I ran my fingers through my messy hair, sitting up in my bed. The peaceful sound of classical music played in my ears, and I instinctively reached up to touch my fingertips to the headphones that never leave my head. I pulled up the shades from my window, seeing that the city was still dark. The sun hadn't even risen yet. Standing up and stretching for a moment, I began to rummage through my basket of clothes in my closet. Not because I cared what I wore, but to find one of every article of clothing. Once my clothes were gathered, I headed to my bathroom to shower. I turned on the shower and waited for it to warm up, staring at myself in the mirror. Messy, dark brown hair and pale skin, along with the dark bags under my eyes made me look almost dead. The only thing that really seemed alive were my eyes: bright blue and colorful, such a sharp contrast to all of the boring colors of the rest of my features.

     Even after the Beginning, I attended school, but for a very different reason than to get a degree. I found her: the girl I had been looking for ever since that day. My roommate Valen told me that I was a rare case because I found her only a few weeks after I began my search. Since then, I haven't been able to keep her off of my mind. I watched her since I found her, but no matter how much I watched, she never looked my way. At least not until it was time.

     "Morning, Zane!" Valen's voice called as I walked down the stairs. I'll never know how he can hear me. I don't make a sound when I walk. I let a groggy smile escape, walking into the kitchen to find him cooking breakfast for two.

     "Good morning, Valen." I muttered, moving into the room that served its purpose as a dining room as much as it did a kitchen. I sat down at the table, running my fingers through my hair once more. Unlike most dreams that fade away as you proceed through the morning, the one from last night was still vivid in my mind. Valen placed a full plate of food in front of me, sitting down in his own seat.

     "So what's on your mind?" he asked me. I just silently ate my food and stared at my plate. The Beginning isn't something that I like to discuss with Valen: he had it much harder than I did. Everyone did, really. I don't know why, but I can't imagine how it must have felt for Valen when he went through his. The feeling that the dream gives me is horrible itself, and if I got off easy, it must be many times harder for Valen. When I didn't answer, Valen gave a sly smile. "Thinking of a certain girl, are we?"

     That lured a blush out of me and I shook my head defensively. "No, I was thinking of the dream I had last night." I mumbled. Valen's smile faded and he nods his head in understanding. The nightmares plague Valen much more often than they do for me. I frequently hear him screaming in the middle of the night, but he always keeps a smile on when I ask him about it, saying 'It's  nothing.'

     "Alright, I'm leaving." I said as I finished my plate of food, standing up and placing the dishes into the sink.

     "Don't stay out too long: they've been pretty prevalent lately." Valen responded, giving me a brotherly smile. "I probably won't be home until late tonight. There's a pretty difficult mission out today. Good luck." I smiled at him and took my coat off of a hook on the wall, throwing it over my shoulders.

     "Thanks. You too."

     I walked out of our apartment, locking the door behind me. I stopped and looked at the sky for a moment, enjoying the light breeze. My eyes slowly fell to the people walking on the sidewalk, rushing to get wherever they were going. No one in the city stops to enjoy nature anymore. No one stops to enjoy anything anymore. I let out a sigh and joined the flow of the crowd. When I arrived on campus, I walked straight to my first class, my eyes set straight ahead of me. I didn't look at anyone, and they didn't look at me. People usually shy away from me anyway, because I make them feel weird. Like I'm a ghost.