Through the existence of darkness, evil thrives, but it is also where the deepest scars can be seen in a new light. Jade realized that if it hadn't been for his grandma's wise words, he would have barely escaped Kevin's enveloping darkness. 

People sometimes called him Ken or Kenneth, short for Kevin. But since his disappearance, an unhealed wound had left a bruise on Jade's senses. The quieter Kevin became, the more his actions and words took on a darker tone. Everyone had thought of him as just another guy fooling around. Sometimes he would get so lost that teachers had to slam their hands on the desk to snap him out of it. He would wake with anger burning in his eyes or face blank with numbness. 

Things started to go wrong when he stopped going to school. From that day, his absence said more than words ever could. He had confided in some of the boys his age that he had something to reveal. A secret—something only he could show but not fully understand. Influenced by his calm, still demeanor and a piercing look that seemed to try to read the minds of others, Kevin was carrying more than he appeared to.

Kevin narrowed his eyes, which formed deep curves casting perfect shadows that overlapped under his eye bags. His forehead and cheeks gleamed brighter than his unsettling gaze. He was changing more than usual, and Jade had noticed him. Kevin was sure new eyes were watching him. He looked back, and his lips moved. No words from his mouth, but it synchronized with a familiar voice. Jade's attempt to move back turned to a slip. He flashed open his eyes. These flashes of Kevin made him more out of breath. He couldn't shut his eyes for long.

The dark evening forest, the shrieks. A hard punch on Kevin's nose, knocking him down on the ground. Jade pressed the pillow to his ears. It had just been a few months since the incident took place. Jade couldn't think of anything else. Was Kevin still alive? And if he is not, why do his parents believe he is there somewhere, lost in the woods? Would he be able to confront Kevin once again? The thoughts raced in his mind. His eyes, unable to stay closed, flashed open again.

He sat up, his eyes half awake. His eyebrows narrowed as his forehead tensed. His feet started tapping with confusion in his head. He glanced at Amelia. His mom was sleeping. She was tired after so much work she had done during the day. Her eye lines were showing, despite being in her early thirties. She was calm and sleeping on the right side of the bed. It looked like all her worries had faded away.

Jade lifted his knee and looked out of the window. The grey road led to unseen dark passages; skylines of buildings and silhouettes of homes were barely visible from where their caravan stood parallel to the road. A street light nearby cast a bright white light, sometimes flickering on its own, then illuminating again.

His eye darted upwards — it was similar to a glow worm trying to bring hope in the gloominess. Sometimes he felt he needed to hide every emotion and put a smile back on. Maybe that's how people will come closer to him, but that wasn't the whole truth.

The air felt a little smoky with dust-like particles hovering in the air. The day of the Fourth of July was nearing. Jade had no sense of where his emotions might lead him, to be in the present or face the past,t threatening his mental health. He started fiddling with his fingers on the bed sheet; his feet were not settling into position. A hint of tensed muscles emerged on his forehead.

A soft sound of the bed sheet while getting up distracted Jade. He looked at Mom. She got up and looked at him. She frowned as she found him awake.

'What happened, dear?'

She took one of her hands and squeezed his shoulder. She observed him.

'Hey, is it going fine? She asked in a very soft voice. As if a rose was brushed upon a white feather.

'Mom?' Jade asked.

'Hmm?' She let him speak and felt his emotion sparking within.

'Am...am I getting any better?'

Jade looked at her, his eyes searching for every answer she held on her face. His face turned slightly dark from the backlight entering the caravan, casting white light around his face. Amelia's mouth opened to speak, but she was trying to be cautious, not saying a lot.

'You are my son. Her voice got a little heavy as if her throat got dry. 'And...and every second I have been with you, I won't lie. You have been much better than what you are now, Jade.

Jade clenched his jaws, trying not to blurt out every word. His throat resisted the inner pressure to come out of his chest.

He took a breath.

'Every time I look at my face I see– '. He paused. He grabbed the bed sheet tightly. 'I see Monsters of my past'.

He looked at her for her reaction and then again at the ground.

She turned and switched on the yellow light bulb that hung between the two beds from the roof. The light spread evenly, and she could see his face a little more clearly. His lips tried not to hang down, but pulled a long sigh underneath. Amelia closed in and held his hand. Closed in a little tighter. Her hands were soft but somehow felt rough, as if soft leather had shredded its skin.

'Jade? It's not always about the monsters that are inside of us-she paused, but how you face your feelings. 'It is okay to feel. To go through the pain one has felt, and soon maybe one day it will feel all worth it. You will get better. I don't even want to lie about anything. Even talking about your feelings is a big, brave step to take, my son.

He wanted to hold the hand but loosened his hands away, slowly moving from the bed and folding his arms under the blanket. He seemed quite disconnected. Something was floating in his mind – What if he came across Kevin again? He's dead, isn't he? He asked himself.

'Hey, are you listening?' She asked him.

'Ahem'...He gulped for breath. 'Yeah... yeah, I am'.

Amelia's tension shifted from a tense forehead to adjusting her position on the bed.

She was unsure of what to say: be there all night sitting with him, or tell him what he's not yet ready for?

Was it the right moment for her to reveal secrets? Maybe not.

'Hey, you see that photo up there? She pointed at the snapshot. The three of us. Look at you..so young and happy, and now?

She shifted her attention to him and grabbed both his shoulders. 'You're stronger than ever, my son. Jade's eyes were fixed on her for a whole second. He tried to infer. It looked misty to Amelia, as if dust got in his eyes, making them a little red. He gulped down again.

Jade snorted and mocked a short laugh at himself – Stronger than ever?

'Yes', she answered without a doubt. You have stood up after failing, and that matters- something that not all can easily do'.

'We all have come so far, and Grandma will be proud of you. Her smile, suppressed but genuine, was making the darkness starve, as if there was some flicker of hope.

'What are you still thinking about, Jade?' She asked calmly.

He did not want to tell her about Kevin, His former colleague at Hudson High; it was he, him after all, who pushed him into this misery. He wanted to abuse this wicked guy so hard for every insult he made to him, but it wasn't in his blood to get angry so fast. He wanted to say a lot.

'I...–' he cleared the cracks forming on his lips.

Amelia looked at him, pausing in silence, trying to decipher his every word and expression.

'I just want to breathe... again'.

Amelia's tensed face softened as her eyebrows relaxed. Her mouth opened, searching for the right words to say. Her gaze was still fixed on his face. She knew there was something more he wanted to say, but couldn't.

'Can I ask something?'

He nodded with his head down, looking at the white bedsheet.

'Have you talked to your friends about this?'

Jade ran his hands through his hair before resting them on the side of his neck. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it all at the moment. Amelia knew his silence spoke much more than a few words. Her intrusiveness could cause consequences.

'Hm, maybe we can talk about it later if you are fine with it. What do you say?'

'Yeah,' He agreed.

'Tomorrow is a big day, honey, and with it starts another new day to feel better. '

'Tomorrow'? He thought.

'Yes, it is the fourth of July...You remember?'

'Yeah. ' A freedom from within, he thought, and realised the shaky feeling inside him had got into its hibernating period. He lay back down to sleep. Amelia turned off the lights and lay down to rest.

Jade fixed his eyeballs on the roof wall. It was mustard turning to dark brown. The shade got darker as it extended to the corners. He closed his eyes before the silence of the walls, as if they were holding the key to his answers beyond. 

Next chapter: Homecoming. If you like the story, please subscribe to know what happens next.