Chapter 2: Akira

~ Those deemed overlooked, the invisible, the forgotten… They are the ones that are the most dangerous. They have nothing to lose. ~

"Jesse, hurry the hell up and get your bags, you're going to miss the bus!"

"It's Akira, please stop calling me Jesse."

"Jesse this is a phase, and it's a good name, now hurry up before I have to get your uncle to get you moving."

At the mention of my uncle, I felt my face become flushed. I bit my tongue and squeezed my hands. My aunt KNEW what my uncle does, it's not like bruises appear out of nowhere, but she just ignored it. The one time I brought it up, she shrugged it off, saying something about how my mouth always gets me in trouble anyway, so maybe I should be more careful with what I say. I grabbed my bag and headed towards the door.

"Alright I'm leaving."

"Don't forget to come back right after school, none of that skating that you try to do, you're in charge of dinner tonight."

I bit my tongue again, at this point I couldn't tell if I was imagining it, or if my tongue had started to bleed. I took a deep breath and replied.

"Got it."

I stepped outside into the brisk November air. There is something about the cold that always helps clear my head. I jogged down the path and dropped my skateboard. The leisurely ride from my house to school was always something that relaxed me, but for some reason today, it just wasn't working. I leaned onto my knee and pushed hard, deciding to just get to school as quickly as possible. I would rather just get through the day than delay the inevitable. Unfortunately, the universe seemed to have other ideas for me today, because as I rounded one of the last corners before getting to school, I heard a shrill voice call out my name.

"Oh my god, is that Akira? We've been looking everywhere for you!"

At least they get my name right. I guess that's a plus.

"What do you want, Jenny?"

"Oh, you know, the usual."

I sighed. Jenny was great at seeming like a nice person, but she loved to torture me for some reason. Whether it be about me being new, whether it be my hat, the fact I don't have parents; she had a plethora of items to choose from and she liked to use them all.

"Look, today is not the day. Just leave me alone."

"You really aren't in a place to make requests."

As she leaned in, instinctually I pushed back, knocking her to the ground.

"You bitch! You're dead!"

I held my hat down and skated away, pushing as hard as I could to get as far as possible. At this point I knew school was not happening today. So, I went to one of the few places I knew I could relax in, the skatepark. As I pulled up to the park I popped of the skateboard and popped the tail, walking the rest of the way towards a bench so I could catch my breath. As I sat down, I pulled my hat down, covering my face and just hoping nobody would walk up to me. As I sat there, I could feel the heat coming down my cheeks, trying to hold it together as my breath began to shudder. I wish I never had to move, I wish my parents were still here, I wish I knew what I did wrong to have my life be like it is now. I took a deep breath and thought of the good memories. The memories of my dad giving me his hat, my mom making sure I had on my wrist pads and kneepads before I started skating, us sitting down for an actual dinner. The memories helped calm me. As I began to get my stuff together, someone sat down, almost on top of me.

"Hey, can you use your eyes? Someone's sitting here."

"Oh, my bad, I didn't even see you. Sorry about that."

I felt a spike of anger, but knew that they didn't mean it, it was just the residual anger from the morning.

"It's all good I was about to go anyway."

I grabbed my bag, put my board on the ground, and just let the hill control my speed. I knew I was gonna get shit when I got home, but school wasn't an option right now. As I felt the breeze pass my face, I thought to myself what could have been. Unfortunately, the calm didn't last long, as a car pulled up beside me. I turned my head, an insult already prepared.

"Listen Jenny, why don't you take your – "

"Hi Akira, sorry I don't know who Jenny is, but do you have a second to talk?"

How did this suit know my name, and not just my dead name, but my actual name?

"I'm sorry sir, I don't know you." As I spoke, I suddenly felt cornered. I popped up my skateboard and started putting distance between me and the car.

"Sorry, I work for some people that are very interested in you Akira. How about this, come with me and I'll answer all the questions you have in a bit?"

Before he could say anything else, I had already turned and was running as fast as I could. Normally I would be skating, but I needed to be prepared to go into the forest or grass, so running was the only option. As I sprinted, I only heard one word. "Runner." No sooner had I heard the word when I felt a prick on my leg. Suddenly I collapsed, not in pain, but just frozen. I tried to talk, but no sound came out. A shadow cast itself over me and I heard, "Don't worry I'll still answer your questions. It's just going to be a little bit. Don't worry though, it's going to be a blink for you once you wake up." That's when everything went dark.