Another Type

>>Ariston (Past)

What he said hung in the air like mist.

'I didn't think I'd meet a kid like me here.'

My breathing slowed. My fingers curled into the frayed hem of my sleeve as a strange, foreign warmth filled my chest—a feeling I hadn't known in a long time. 

Hope.

Before I could even think, I stepped forward and grabbed his arm. "What do you mean?" I demanded. My voice cracked. "What are you talking about—'like you'?"

The man turned, surprised at first. He looked down at my hand clutching his arm, then back at my face. "Easy, kid." But there wasn't anger in his voice—just curiosity, and maybe something gentler underneath.

"Tell me what you mean!" I said again

He scratched the corner of his eyelid as he watched me for a few seconds,"Do you live with your parents?" he asked after a moment.

I hesitated, then shook my head. "My father died when I was small. My mother... she died a few months ago. Demon attack."