“Rhiannon! Hey!” Kieren shouted as she ran up to the girl after exiting the class. She stopped and turned back to him, giving him an oddly confused look as he caught his breath. “Rhiannon, right?”

“Yes?” The girl gave a questioning answer.

His hand quickly shot out. “My names Kieren.” He said without any hesitation and a large smile. She eyed the hand for a minute, then looked back to him before taking it for a quick shake. “I know this kinda sudden, but I have a question for yah.” She again gave him an oddly confused look and not adding any words of her own. He pulled his hand back and scratched the back of his head. “Have we met somewhere before?”

“Why the glum look?” Grian asked while pulling his jersey on. Grian had watched the entire encounter after their class and had chosen to not poke the bear until classes for the day were over. The two were getting ready to head to the pitch for their football practice. This was how they unusually finished their day- a few hours of practice before each parted for the night. Practice itself served as a good way for the boys to have some competitive fun and blow off some steam. Amongst their team, both boys were on the starting roster: Grian sporting the number one jersey to denote his role as the teams goalkeeper, and Kieren representing the teams number ten. He was an offensive attacker, playmaker, and striker when he needed to be- which was more often than naught. “Girl turn yah down? Never pegged you for the type to rush into that.”

Kieren shot the boy a glare. “No.” He closed the door to his. “I could have sworn we’ve met before.”

“Why?”

“I knew her name. Second I saw her.”

Grian paused after closing his locker. “Her exact name? Not just something close?”

“Hard to guess something close to Rhiannon.”

“Yeah that’s fair. Gotta be déjà vu right? Like one of those weird future dreams.”

“So I’m dreaming about girls I haven’t met now?”

“Hey, man, could be a lot worse.”

“I don’t know, something just feels off.” The two moved through the locker room towards the door. Grian wanted to say something, but oddly enough couldn’t bring himself to try and talk Kieren out of his odd rut. The two left the locker room in silence and made their way to practice. For Kieren, all he was hoping is he could play through the rut and go off to work after with a clear head.

A small bell that hung over the door rang as the door opened. Kieren entered the restaurant with look of pure disappointment. Their practice went as well as it always did, but Kieren was completely unable to shake the odd feeling that was seemingly growing stronger as time passed. Various things were triggering slightly off reactions from him. Simple things like the wristbands Grian elicited odd hesitations from him when he looked at them. He moved through the busy ramen shop and went directly to the back room and put his bag on the table. He splashed some water on his face, cleaned up, and suited up for his shift. Before he could leave, however, the door opened, and a man walked in.

“There yah ‘re.” Maloney said with a smile. “Been waitin’. Need to try that new one with yah.”

“Oh sure.” Kieren turned and the moment his eyes met the chefs his body was consumed by that feeling again. The feeling was like a pull. It was a gentle nudge earlier today, but at this moment it felt like a true push away from the person he was looking at. The closest thing he could compare it to was a fight or flight response and his was telling him to flee. The whole thing left him speechless and motionless for a few moments, earning an odd look by Maloney.

“Yah sick or somethin’?”

“N-no.” Kieren muttered back, suppressing the feeling enough to regain control of his body. The two walked out with a confused step and began their work. As with any night in the restaurant, Kieren worked with chef Maloney to tend to the hungry bellies of all the patrons. This was not limited to just the cooking or the Ramen and various other dishes, but the waiting duties as well. Kieren would usually juggle multiple jobs at the same time, all while making sure Maloney stayed on track with his orders. The two were a surprisingly good team, and Maloney would reward the boy with time to practice and even experiment with is own cooking after the nightly cleanup.

The entire shift Maloney noticed Kieren acting off. He wasn’t being strange in the worried way, but avoiding looking at him at all possibilities. Kieren himself was in fact avoiding eye contact with Maloney. When he noticed that feeling started to bubble even if he looked in his general vicinity, he began to try and avoid doing that as well. “Just make it through your shift…” he told himself as he bussed the tables between guests. He could dig into this more at home, he just had to make it through tonight.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Maloney wanted to talk to the boy since the start of his shift about the odd way he was acting, but instead was perplexed even more by Kieren quickly packing up and bidding his employer goodbye. He not only always stayed for the after hours training, but usually unloaded his thoughts and experiences that day. Maloney watched the boy leave and turned to his phone. Pulling it from the receiver he dialed in a number and let it ring.

“Hello?” Killian’s voice came through.

“Just wanted to letcha know, your boy’s acting a bit strange.”

Kieren walked down the dark streetlamp street. His eyes lingered on the various puddles on the street before shifting to his palm. “What the hell is going on…?” He asked himself to the tune of crickets and cicadas buzzing. The moment he was alone the feeling dimmed, but was still lingered. Something was wrong, it had to be wrong. But was it him, or was it something else? He shifted his gaze around, trying to find something to set off that feeling again. Why was it targeting his friends? The patrons of the restaurant never once set it off, it was only Maloney that seemed to set it off.

He balled his fist. All he could do was try and sleep it off, and hope that it was just an odd fit brought on by a very strange case of déjà vu. Eyes widening a moment he paused. He had gotten so caught up in everything that happened at the restaurant, he had completely forgotten. “This all started when I saw Rhiannon…”

“Kieren would not agree to that.” Rhiannon protested Mona who knelt by the firepit.

“It’s stone cold. I noticed it while you were gone.” She frowned. “It would only make sense if they left in the middle of the night.”

Rhiannon narrowed her eyes before begrudgingly leaning down with an exhale. She pushed her fingers into the ash and paused. “Are you positive you checked this when I left?”

“Yeah… I was going to clean it out but I noticed it looked really cold.”

Pulling her fingers out Rhiannon turned back to the edge of the cave and looked out. If Mona’s theory was correct, then they would have left in the dead of night. “I’m going back out.”

“The suns going to set soon…”

“More reason to go.” She turned back. “They’re out there.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

“Why-“

“I’m not risking loosing everyone.” Mona cut her off. “And another pair of eyes can’t hurt.” Rhiannon paused, mulling over the option for a bit. “Please.”

“Okay, but stay close.” Rhiannon reluctantly answered. Mona also lept in an awkward joy as the two walked to the tree line, gave each other a nod, and then walked through.

A gust of wind came crashing into the trees in tune with the loud thud of a body falling to the ground. The blood stained youth dove into the brush. Surrounded by the two bodies of his companions and the corpse a massive, recently killed, creature. The three had just finished their assigned hunt when the boy emerged and took the first life. Unaware of what was happened, the two remaining struggled to protect themselves: resulting the second death.

But now he was ready. The lone survivor took a stance and let out a breath. "She must have sent you." He told himself. "Then all I have to do-" the sound of a rustle behind pulled his full attention, turning in time to swing a punch. "Is make it back!" He attempted to shout to no one. He turned to look, then blinked a few times until an odd wet warmth began to crawl down his chest. Looking down the man couldn't help but smile and turn behind him.

Standing tall was a boy of small stature holding the remnants of the man's front neck between his right fingers. With a thud from the final body the boy stood victorious and tossed the flesh away before moving towards the corpses. His steps were silent, not even allowing the grass or leaves to crunch under his weight.

His hands moved in silence, pulling each of their coins free from their various locations. One round the neck, another attached via a bracelet, and a final one in a pocket. Once all three were in his hands he pulled a small pelt pouch from his sash and tucked the coins away. All of it was rehearsed, like a mundane task that required little to no thought to complete. Pushing himself up to leave.

Rustle

He dove into the brush like a bolt of lightning, not bothering to turn to see who or what was there.

"Wait!" A womans voice range out. Taking a few steps into the arena Kerra scanned the bodies. "Please." Her voice was hesitant but filled with conviction. Pulling her own coin from her neck she tossed it to the far side of the clearing. With a deep breath she turned away and looked to where she had come. Her back now facing her coin she continued. "You can take my coin; I don't want it. But..."

Rustle.

A chill went down her spine but refusing to back down she continued. "I was tailing these men. I'm trying to find their boss so I can-"

"You'd die." His voice was calm and eerily sharp like a knife.

"If I fought them?" She paused a moment but got no answer. "I know I'm not a good fighter, but I need to be. I love a friend because of someone and-"

Rustle.

She froze again, expecting her life to end, but it didn't. She took a gulp. "I need to kill them. I need to. So please, you can take my coin and even my life if you want. But help me." The moment her words ended she felt the cold metallic touch of a coin softly placed on the crown of her head. She had momentarily winced, thinking it to be a blade at first, and the coin slid down and onto the ground. It was her own. "My-" Against her better judgement she turned to see the youth leaning against the tree.

"Who?" Brans asked.

"His name is Tarbh, and he works with a woman named Medb." The second name earned an every so slight reaction from the boy, one she had failed to pick up on.

"This lot with her?"

"Yes." Kerra gulped. "I heard them talking about her." He turned to look them over for a moment. "Will you help?"

"No." Kerra's mouth opened. "Your revenge story doesn't concern me." Balling her fights tight the girls frustration began to boil. But before she could make a mistake, Bran continued: "I'll be looking for here though."

"Can I come with you!?" She blurted out instantly without thinking. He gave her another look and then peered into the forest. Not a word left his lips before he dove in. "Not a no!" She scooped her coin of the ground and charged into the brush after him. "Finally!" She told herself with a grin. With someone like him, she could take them down. All she needed to do was persuade him. "I can do this. I can do this!"