28Extended Synopsis: One day Kristian was holding her hand and the next day she was holding a newspaper with a picture of him ten times enlarged on the cover. Title? MISSING. The mystery begins to unfold when, seven years later, he lands back in her life. Literally. And she is forced to ask herself a question. Just who, or what, is Kristian Hayden?
.FINDING WARMTH.
Dedication: For my very own superhero, with love.
-With great power, comes great responsibility-
Spiderman Movie
.Prologue: The Meaning of Warmth.
"Watch out!"
There was a tumble of arms and legs, a scratched elbow and a couple of bruised ribs.
The shrill screech writhed like a serpent in the sweltering heat, beating against his eardrums with a poisonous resonance. A coppery odour lingered on his shirt, the result from metal scraping against metal in a fight against time, and his eyes and lungs were filled with the plume of black dust rising from the still smoking wheels of the train.
Kristian shifted from the weight on top of him.
The worried frown disappeared from Cecilia's familiar face, replaced by an impish grin as he opened his eyes.
A smudge of dirt was streaked across her brow and loose strands of hair attempted to escape from her messy ponytail.
There was a moment of silence before he exploded.
"What the heck did you think you were doing, jumping onto the tracks like that?!" he yelled, brown eyebrows drawn angrily over pale grey eyes.
The girl shrugged.
"I knew you would save me." Cecilia replied simply, smiling coyly down at him and holding out her small fist in a conciliatory manner.
Her amber eyes brightened as she peeked between her closed fingers, "Look…"
Kristian shoved her outstretched arm away furiously.
He continued to fume silently as he began to push himself up from the pebbled ground.
Something cold and wet splattered onto his cheek, stinging his grazed cheekbone. Stealing a quick glance upward, he was alarmed at the swell of tears in her large eyes.
Kristian brushed at his khaki shorts, still pretending to ignore her as he stood up on lanky legs which he had yet to grow into. At the age of twelve, he was already one head taller than Cecilia. She stood in front of him, head bowed.
His gaze softened, but he kept his tone harsh, "What?"
Wordlessly, Cecilia held out her trembling hand again. Sunlight glinted off a thin gold chain which had slipped between her fingers.
"I… I was just trying to get this."
Resting in the centre of her palm was a heart shaped locket, small but perfect. His fingers reached out, and then he was holding it, fingering the smooth grooves for any scratches and rubbing it against his grubby shirt. His mum had left him that locket… and other than Cecilia, it was the only thing he could call precious.
His shoulders began to tremble as he remembered how his drunken father had so casually tossed the locket onto the tracks, how he had seen the train about to pull past the station at full speed and had stood frozen, helplessly looking. He turned his back to Cecilia, and walked slowly towards the concrete steps leading to the platform.
Once the treasured locket was safely in his pocket, he lowered himself onto the stairs.
Swiping at his eyes, Kristian was ashamed to find tears of relief dripping from his chin and forming glistening droplets on his scraped knees. He sniffed loudly, trying desperately to prevent any dribble from escaping his nose. He didn't want to look like a snivelly kid in front of her. He was older than her by a year and should act that way.
"It's okay."
A small hand cupped his face, cool fingertips gingerly brushing at the grime stuck to his shallow cut.
As usual, Cecilia was there when he least wanted her to see him.
Except this time, she was holding his hand, her pleasantly dry palm pressed against his sweaty one. He could feel her fingers slipped in between his own in a perfect fit.
There was a holler as a station guard charged towards them, bellowing, "DAMNED KIDS THESE DAYS! IF I GET MY HANDS ON YOU…"
They exchanged a mutual glance.
Cecilia stuck her tongue out at him, "Run!"
A/N: Well, this is it for the tentative prologue… I am still suffering from the after effects of writers block… oh, those were dark days let me tell you… I had nearly forgotten the joy I feel when I write for both for myself and for others, and that is disastrous situation indeed for a would-be writer to find herself in. As for this story, I will work hard to make it more enjoyable and readable for everyone! Please take these characters under your wing, they're lovable, really. See you in the next chapter… well, I certainly hope there are some of you to see! Reviewers get pet cookies. If you don't eat them, they'll be great companions, I promise… grins.