Chapter 1. My Real Life Chess Game.
My name is Eric Grayson, and I'm going to tell you about how I got to where I am today. Three years ago, I was just a normal high school sophomore, puberty had risen as to be expected. It was the first day of the school year and I had woke up late. I quickly darted out of bed and got dressed into one of my normal outfits, a black long sleeve shirt and a pair of athletic jeans. I ran to my mother's master bathroom as her job as a security guard required her to leave early. The red rug that covers my home's floor sunk underneath my body's weight as I just let my body create loud thuds through the house. When I entered the bathroom, my everglade green eyes caught my mess of luxurious brown hair that the mirror was generous enough to give. I immediately turn on the faucet by turning the hot water knob, using the water that fell into the sink to wet down my hair. After that, I started brushing my brown stained teeth. I brushed off the stains because I had drunk a cup of coffee every day ever since my dad, who is now deceased, had taken me to a coffee shop down the road from my house. I grabbed my tube of mint toothpaste and applied some to my toothbrush. As I began to brush my teeth, the stains that had plagued my teeth had lightened up, leaving them only with a light brown tint. This made me glad that I had paid the extra fifty cents for the whitening toothpaste. Once I had got done in the bathroom, I picked up my backpack that I had set on my office chair the night before. When I grabbed it, I stubbed the big toe on my right foot on my oak office desk that I do my homework on. I hopped a couple feet due to my toe being in pain. I look over near my bed to see the alarm clock that failed to wake me up that morning read 7:27. "Shoot, only three minutes until the bus comes." I say to myself as I'm now out of my bedroom almost at the front door.
When I got to the front door, I heard loud bangs on the other side. I looked at the door as I stood motionless, noticing with each bang that the door was coming toward me slightly. It was then I looked at the window to a man who looked like he had just gotten out of a hazing. I opened the door to ask him what was wrong but before I could say a word to him, he wrapped his arms around me. "Bless your soul young man." The man said to me, before I could get him off of me, he thrusted something into my left front pocket on my jeans and ran down the road going the opposite direction of my bus stop. "You just saved my life, thank you, young man." The man shouted as he ran down the road. I was confused but had no time to question what had just occurred. I look at the clock in my kitchen that read 7:29, "Shoot!" I say to myself as I'm now sprinting down the road to the bus stop. As I'm running toward the bus stop, I grab what the man had hastily shoved into my pocket. When I pulled the object out of the pockets my jeans, I saw it was a pawn that would be used in a chess game. The pawn piece was a shade of crimson red that resembled blood with a black trim that was darker than the night sky. My vision was so focused on this chess piece, that I had no clue of the kid I bumped into while in full sprint, knocking us both onto the ground. I notice the other student after I grab the chess piece that had luckily landed right beside my face. "Are you okay?" I say to the student I'd bumped into, it was a girl with red hair, almost the shade as my chess piece. She looked considerably older than me, I think she looked nineteen at most. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said in a surprisingly understanding tone, "I'm so sorry, I should've watched where I was going." I say to her sincerely. I grab her hand and lift her up once I get back on my feet, her hand grasped my forearm. Her hand felt abnormally warm when it wrapped around my pale skin, "Are you sure? I think you might be sick." I say with a sincere tone. The bus reached the stop and she completely ignored my question and sat in one of the many empty seats of the bus. Everything looked new and it took me off guard as I sat in my usual seat near the front. I took out the chess piece again and I start examining it even more, I'd be lying if I said that my attention could've been yanked away from the piece. As I was looking, I noticed a name carved into the side, it read Gregory Jenson. I assumed that this was the name of the man who had given me this piece.
My gaze was finally broke from this as I felt my body slam against the barrier in front of me. The bus had reached the school, I was amazed that my entire first bus ride to school, I stared at the chess piece I didn't ask for. I shove this chess piece in my pocket as I walk off of the bus, the girl whom I bumped into stuck close to me as she got peculiar looks from all of the other students. She seemed to be fascinated with me though I wouldn't know why, I'm not really anybody special at this school, I'm just the stereotypical nerd who sits in the back of the classroom. The school day went by as usual besides the girl following me, what are the odds of her getting every single class with me? I decided to test a theory by walking home to see if the girl would follow me home. I started down the ten-mile walk back home, from what I could see, she wasn't following me. I got about half-way down the road when I heard what sounded to be flapping wings behind me, I blew it off as pigeons were popular in my town. Before I had another thought, the largest tree that stood upon the road was falling into the center of the road. Nobody was around, but I still scouted the area to make sure nobody was hurt. That was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, I should've just ran. As I drew closer to the tree, I heard more wing flapping. I turned my head only to get punched in the nose by a what I can only describe as a UFO, an unidentified flying object for those who are unfamiliar with aliens. I flew at least ten feet past where the tree had landed, bouncing multiple times on the pavement that the road was made up of. I noticed a couple crimson drops of fluid fly through the air as I was bouncing to where I would land, I believe that I don't need to explain what that fluid is. Once I landed, I felt a gush coming from my nose and my left arm was limp, I had broken it when I landed. I quickly got up and ran, scared and hurt, not knowing what attacked me. I then felt another pain, this time in both the center of my back and my stomach area. I was scared to look down as I was now sprinting down the road bleeding from my face and nose. When I got to my street, I decided to run past my house and toward the coffee shop, thinking that I would be safer in a public scene.
I was almost near the doors when I felt a similar pain in the front and back of my left knee, causing me to fall. It was then I noticed two beams of light protruding from my body. I yelled in pain as I hit the ground again, this time in a pool of my own blood. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was a man with wings that appeared to be coated with abyssal black feathers. When I surprisingly awoke, I was in the middle of the park at the center of the park. The wind was calm and the sunset was shining upon the hill that caressed my back with the soft grass. I must've had a vivid daydream on my way home I thought to myself. I decided to get up and walk back to my home. I started down the road toward my house, and my heart stopped. I noticed the tree that fell down on my home in what I thought to myself as a dream missing, all except for the stump. I slowly walked down the street, looking over my shoulder the entire way. When I got to my house, there was silence so quiet that it hurt my ears. I sheepishly reached for the doorknob, sweat starting to build on my brow. When I opened the door, I saw my mother sitting at the kitchen table with the phone right beside her. She saw me and immediately ran to me, wrapping her arms around me with tears in her eyes. It was when I was greeted by her tearful embrace that I noticed my picture frame on the table beside her cell phone. "Hey, mom. Was I really gone for that long?" I said, she replied in a weeping voice "You were gone for almost a month." she said as more tears fell to the floor. Those words rang in my head for the rest of the night. My mother decided to keep me home for the rest of the week because she had missed me while I was supposedly missing. "You seriously only remember a nightmare and waking up in the park?" My mother asked me curiously. "Yes, I died in the dream but I guess it was just a dream. My question is how was I asleep for a month without anybody noticing?" I said to my mom. My mom agreed with me and we both scratched our heads on this question. The day was drawing closer to an end, and I asked my mom if I could go for a walk. My mother reluctantly let me go, and I started walking out of my house. "You were born for great things Eric. Remember that please." My mother said to me. I nodded and we exchanged I love you's to each other and I went outside. I then started my way down to the park with both of my hands in my pockets. It was then my mother's words rang in my head as I heard a set of footsteps in the distance from behind me.