THE CATALYST (UNEDITED)

CHAPTER 2

FLASHBACK Continues-----

“Who are you?” the boy asked with his brows frowned.

The room was inviting and warm, despite its hazardous look so she walked deeper in, slowly, so as not to scare him, as she tried to find her voice.

She hadn’t spoken for months and had almost forgotten how she sounded. “Avira…” her voice came out in a crocked whisper, the dryness of it, making her wince. “Your door…” She trailed off trying to explain how she’d gotten in.

“What do you want?” He asked bluntly, cutting her off.

He hadn’t moved from his spot on the roof, which for some reason made her uneasy as she looked calculated at him.

“Help.” she coughed. Food, and cloths. She wanted to say but though better of it. Right now help would be more than good enough.

She stepped through the open window to get to him. Why, was a question she couldn’t answer. She was highly terrified of heights, it was evident, as she kept herself glued to the wall like she might fall off if she stood straight. What was she doing on a roof with a complete and total stranger!
He didn’t seem concerned by the idea of having a stranger in his house or probably he didn’t care. The smile she'd seen in the photo was gone. No trace of it ever being there in the first place. His eyes, once a happy shade of hazel, was now deep and vacant, just like the way she felt inside.

Her eyes caught a photo of a man in his army uniform, as the boy held it to his chest, with his arm wrapped around it, almost blocking it from view. He turned back, around with his back to her after realizing she wasn’t a threat, taking a deep breath he began to move away from her, closer to the edge.

Her body reacted faster than she could anticipate and in a moment she had her hands griping his. The frame fell from his hands, to his feet before falling off the roof and hitting the floor below with a shattering sound.

“What did you do!” He yelled accusingly with pained wide eyes.

‘Yeah. Good question. What the hell!’ She yelled at herself in thought.
“I don’t know.” She replied more confused than he was.

“Let. Me. Go!” He glared back at her, as he tried preying his hands free.

She realized she had no strength and he was clearly stronger than she was. She couldn’t pull him, at list not for long, so she switched position, or rather her body did it for her.
“If you jump now, I’m going with you!” she said facing him, with her hands wrapped around his midsection tightly so as not to fall to her death as she was only a few feet away from the edge.

They were exactly eye to eye on height as she stared challengingly at him using it as a means to distract herself from looking down.
He looked at her like she was crazy, and maybe she was. Her body wasn’t responding to her will and she was definitely mad with fear and…anger?

A movement in his room caught her eyes as she saw the woman from the photo standing with a phone to her ears. She looked terrified with tears streaming down her face. The neighborhood dogs were backing non stop now and the shatter had alerted some light sleepers as lights turned on and people peed through windows.

‘Oh! Just great!’

He tried struggling from her gripe but she wouldn’t let go. He was worm and she was freezing, at least this wasn’t a terrible way to die…maybe?

The distant sound of sirens could be heared from a few miles, as it almost brought relief to the girl, it only made the boy panic.

“Let me go!” he screamed in her face as he struggled harder, in the process pushing her closer to their impending death. The older woman screamed, getting their attention as the boy looked over his shoulder.