Chapter 1: Loss and Gain

The rain splattered against the open umbrellas covering the mourners’ heads, keeping the drops of water from mixing with their falling tears. Only one of them was not crying, for the 4-year-old child did not understand the events that were taking place. All he wanted was to be held in his mother’s arms and be rocked to sleep. Little did he know, he would never be able to feel his own mother wrapping her arms tightly around him ever again.

The two black wooden boxes faced each other with the boy’s parents inside. The only people in the world he truly knew and loved, gone in a single instant. Of course, he didn’t realize any of this. All he knew was that his parents weren’t there at the moment. He simply figured they’d come to get him when everyone was done being sad. Once the funeral was over, he looked around for his family. Among all the strangers, he never found the familiar faces he wanted to see. One face however, stood out more than the rest. This face was staring right at him. It was the face of a young girl, with her black-hair that seemed like it was floating about her pale, delicate face. Her amber eyes were glistening, like the sun that’s hidden behind the layer of clouds above. She simply kept looking at him, her face expressionless. Just as a stranger walked past him, she disappeared. Throughout the whole ordeal, he went around looking for her, but never found her.

Once it was all over, he got into a big black car with people he had seen before, but didn’t quite know. “Where’s mommy?” he asked. The woman sitting next to him looked older than his mother, but not by much. Apparently, his question brought tears to her eyes. She picked up his hand and held it tightly.

“Adam, your mom and dad . . . aren’t coming back, sweetie. You’re going to live with me and grandpa now,” she said. It still didn’t sink in, the fact that his parents were dead and he didn’t realize it.

Days went by, then weeks, and he began to realize that they weren’t coming back. As he got older, Adam began to realize what had happened to his parents, and that he will never see them again. Tears slipped down his cheeks almost every night. He rarely ate, or at least not as much as he should. He loved his grandparents very much but he would still rather have his parents come back and hold him again.

Adam wanted his parents to be the ones to put him on the big scary school bus on his first day of school. He wanted his parents to help him with his homework, and encourage him to try his best. Adam was always taught about Heaven, and his grandparents continually told him his parents were watching over him. But through the years, it wasn’t enough to comfort him. He didn’t have any friends to help him either, since he always kept to himself. Either to simply be alone, or keep from hurting someone else.

During those long years, Adam began to dream of the events that occurred that night. The dreams only showed him bits and pieces of the occurrence, but he eventually put them all together:

Adam was sleeping in his room, when he heard someone come in. He rubbed his eyes and saw a tall figure next to his bed. Horns sprouting from its head, something glistening in its hand. “So long, Adamar,” it hoarsely whispered. It lifted the object over his head and was about to strike when Adam’s mother jumped into the room. She grabbed onto Adam and pulled him into her arms. She smiled down at him while tears flowed down her face.

“I love you, Adam,” she said. Then he heard her say something, but couldn’t understand it. It was almost like another language. The next thing he knew, was that a bright, blinding blue light surrounded him. When he opened his eyes, he was outside behind a tree. He saw three figures fighting in his room. Lights flashed and curses were screamed. Two of the people he recognized as his mom and dad. The other was a monster to him. The last thing Adam remembered was his house bursting into fire. But before the flames could reach him another figure walked slowly past with their arm stretched out in front, creating a shield to guard them both. The figure looked down at him, amber eyes glowing. Somehow he could see that she was a girl.

“You’re safe for now little one,” she whispered. She bent down and picked him up. Because it was so dark, save for the flames, he couldn’t make out her face. She took him away from the house and into the woods behind it, never looking back. Once they were far away, she put him down and knelt to his level. “You will not remember this night until you are ready. By that time, you will lose others you love. That is when I will come for you” she said. She stood up and placed her hand on his head. “Azara Nenrio Lazira.” A red mist surrounded him as he passed out.

Adam sat there on the window sill, remembering. “She said I was going to be ready, but for what?” That was when a bright blue light surrounded him once again.

A/N: Here's a slightly different version since I got helpful reviews. Thank you for your suggestions! :)

PS: If you don't understand what thoseweird words mean, don't worry, I made them up! lol.