by Rachel Lenna
Infinite Fate
The Eternal Prophecy Series
Dominic
“Oh no! It’s getting away!”
“Dude you got to be kidding right? There’s no way we gonna get it now.”
“It’s not getting away I got it!”
“Not if I get it first!”
“Dom you know you will never beat me right?”
“I can try.” I say sprinting as fast I can towards the falling football. My friend Samuel Marley grins at me as he effortlessly out runs me. He is like a little pocket rocket that kid. Five foot ten of lean muscle that can out run every single person I know. He catches the ball mid jump, rolls with the momentum and is up and moving again before I have even taken two steps.
“Quick little bastard.” I mumble begrudgingly as I watch him charge down the field scoring a goal unopposed.
“We never stand a chance with him playing.” My other friend Tyson Thomas agrees with a grumble as we skid to a stop to watch Sam reach the goal posts before we are even half way across the field. We know once he has the ball there is no point. “Why do we even bother?”
“Not a friggin clue.” I reply. I watch Sam do a happy dance, openly mocking us before he trips and falls head first into a mud puddle. Tyson and I both laugh uncontrollably as Sam picks himself up, his attempts at brushing the mud off only make it worse so he shrugs at us looking a little sheepish.
“Karma.” Tyson goads. “Gotta love karma.”
“Mmmhmm.” I agree nodding.
“It’s fun to watch.” Tyson grins at Sam when he almost falls again.
“One day.” I vow, unwilling to give in to defeat. “One day I will catch him. One day I will beat him. One day.”
“Yeah okay.” Tyson just rolls his eyes at me. He thinks it’s not possible. But I'm special. I'm determined. One day I will. I know it. The only problem is no one else does. Everyone forgets Sam is a cocky kid and one day he will slip. Until then I will be waiting!
Sam jogs back over to us still trying to hide a grin but failing miserably. Clearly the fall in the mud and the fact he is covered now from head to foot in only God knows what hasn’t dented his ego in the slightest. “Dude you know you’re covered in mud right?” I laugh at him.
“A little mud is good for the complexion.” He says strutting like a peacock.
“A little humility is good for the soul.”
“True, but we apparently don’t have one of those.” He replies.
“Just a technicality.” I counter. “Besides we know that we do.”
Tyson sighs as he says “Let’s not start it again boys okay?” He frowns at us while picking up his backpack.
“Start what?” Sam and I both say in unison, highly innocent looks on our faces.
“You know damn well what.” Tyson rolls his eyes, not at all fooled by our angelic faces.
“I can’t help it if Sam needs to be brought down a peg or two.” I grin at Sam, nudging him hard in the shoulder. I send him flying but he recovers quickly.
“Yeah yeah.” Sam grins even more, shoving me back. “You’re just a sore loser. Can’t hack it that I win all the time and you suck at something.”
“You have an unfair advantage.” I point out and Tyson nods in agreement.
“You could too if you chose to use it.” Sam counters picking up his own bag and slinging it over his shoulder lazily.
“I don’t cheat.” I huff, pouting.
“Well that’s why you’re you and I’m… well not.” Sam grins at me again. He enjoys pushing my buttons. If I didn’t think of him as family I would have decked him several times already.
“Guys we are gonna have to get to class soon, so kiss and make up already.”
“No need to.” I say slinging an arm over Sam’s shoulder.
“Nah.” Sam agrees, play punching me in the stomach. “We feel the love.”
“Totally.” I agree. “You’re just lucky you’re family!”
“Well who else do you have? We are the only ones who will put up with you!” Sam goads and then freezes, instantly regretting it. Sam often puts his foot in his mouth and this time he wedges it in there real good.
I freeze too but for an entirely different reason. Becoming still as a statue as memories, horrible, nasty memories, all come flooding back to me. The burning, the screams, the looks of horror and the betrayal. Oh wow the betrayal. It happened years ago but it still feels like yesterday.
“Dude I’m sorry.” Sam says, all humour and joy gone from him.
“Dominic?” Tyson waves his hand in front of my face but I am too busy reliving memories to pay him any attention. “Dominic snap out of it now!”
“You need to make peace with it dude.” Tyson adds laying a hand gently on my arm.
“I can’t.” I shake my head clear of the fog. “I can’t until justice has been done. I owe it to them.” I hate being reminded of how much of a failure I am. I let my friends down – my family down. Six years ago three of my best friends were all murdered and for three years afterwards I chased the reason they died all around the globe. Always coming close but never quite catching him. I was determined – am determined to seek justice for them.
Six months into my hunt for him I met back up with Tyson and Sam, they too, both running from their own demons. It had been awhile since we had seen each other, years even, and it was like fate had brought them to me when I needed them most.
They just saw the state I was in and knew without having to even ask that I would need them. When they chose to help me everything got a little easier, a little less lonely. I will always be forever grateful to them.
The boys threw themselves into helping me and relentlessly the three of us followed the murderer around and around but we always missed him, sometimes by mere minutes. One time we were getting so close we were just metres from him when all of a sudden he just disappeared and it just stopped. The chasing, the hunting, the trail. It all just stopped. Went ice cold. It’s like he vanished into thin air, no matter where we looked – and we looked everywhere. For two years.
“We haven’t had any action in three years.” Sam reminds me out loud, patting me on the back. “I know you want to avenge them but there’s no point chasing your tail constantly. You will drive yourself nuts! In the meantime we are here now.” He gestures around the field we are in and Tyson nods in agreement. “College is meant to be fun. Relax for a little while.”
“How can I relax? I feel I should be doing something.” I say with raw pain emotions. “I can’t just sit around doing nothing.”
“You’re not doing nothing.” Sam says just as a girl screams his name. He looks up and grins at her. She is waving frantically trying to get his attention. Her boobs practically falling out of the barely there top she is wearing. To be honest it's kind of hard not to stare. “You’re in college, doing a degree you said you always wanted to do. You know he will come if he thinks you have given up. We know he wants you too. He won’t be able to help himself. So just have some fun while we wait and let him come to us for a change.” He grins, clearly distracted by boob girl. She waves at him again and he turns to shrug at me before taking off, a brief wave over his shoulder his only parting acknowledgement.
“Dom, Sam’s right.” Tyson says, flanking me watching him practically make out with the girl in the middle of the field. “His need to be top dog will eventually get the better of him. He knows while you’re still around he won’t ever be. He will come.”
“But why has he waited so long?” I demand.
“Three years really isn’t that long when you think about it bro.” Tyson gives me a look. Daring me to argue. I know he’s right, three years is nothing, barely a blip on our radar but when you want to avenge someone a day feels like a year let alone three years’ worth of days!
“What’s he doing but? Shouldn’t we be trying to find out?” I say instead of trying to argue. I know how difficult I am sometimes and how much Tyson and Sam have wanted this. To be normal
college kids. Doing normal college kid stuff.
“You said so yourself just yesterday, he has cleaned up his trail.”
“But why can’t I see him?” I demand. “I can’t see him anymore. I can see everyone. I used to be able to see him but not anymore. Not for three years.”
“I don’t know.” Tyson answers truthfully after a moment. “But he really will come. So for now let’s be college students. Pretend we don’t have a clue about what the teachers are on about and enjoy life for a change. It’s time to have some fun. I gonna jet okay?” Tyson pats me on the back and then walks off in his own direction too without waiting for my response.
The guy is big, even bigger than me – and I’m six foot two – so draws attention wherever he goes. He is quickly surrounded by his – as Sam and I have called them – College Groupies and disappears into the crowd.
Where Sam is quite open to flirting and girls love him just as much as he loves them, Tyson is more the silent brooding type. He prefers to keep to himself, being picky in who he chooses to date. This of course makes the girls all love him even more, because they want to be the one to break him.
“I can’t have fun.” I grumble to myself. “It’s my job to fix it. They don’t understand.” I shudder as the memories come pouring back to me, as clear now as they were back then.
There were the five of us. Abraham, Brey, Censon and after a while Zeke. They were my family. All of us had come from various backgrounds to form together. Some had lost there families, others had just wandered away one day to never return