Unveil The Shadow: Chapter 1 The Kiss Of Dawn

Chapter 1

The Kiss Of Dawn

Keep you in the dark, you know they all pretend
Keep you in the dark and so it all begins
- Foo Fighters

 The storm was incredible. The rain pounded on the windshield and the roof of the car like bullets. The windshield wipers were on full blast, furiously trying to make the road visible.

Lightning flashed every few seconds, illuminating patches of the road that escaped the range of the car’s headlights. Thunder rippled through the air, shaking the car each time.

Inside the car, the storm seemed more bearable. Safer. The fury that raged outside could not penetrate the car’s warm, cozy sanctuary. Then, the world turned upside down.

Without warning, the car flew off the pavement, rolling over and over on its side. The windows shattered, shards of glass flying everywhere, as the doors were smashed in and the roof collapsed. It was like being inside a gigantic, deadly, washing machine. Finally, the spinning stopped.

Elliot was upside-down, chained in place by his seatbelt. As the blood rushed to his head, he started to lose consciousness. He saw flames all around him, encasing him in stifling heat.

Before he blacked out, Elliot thought he saw the shadow of a man beyond the inferno, laughing maniacally.

~

“Elliot Davis! If you don’t wake up right now, you’ll be late for school.”

The sharp tone of his grandmother cut through the nightmare he had been having.

“Ugh,” Elliot groaned. “Five more minutes Nana.”

“You said that five minutes ago. Get up now or I’m sending Big D in here.”

“I’m up, I’m up,” Elliot said groggily, sitting up in his bed. “I’ll be down in ten minutes.”

“You better be,” his grandmother said as she opened the door to his bedroom. “Ten minutes. That’s all the time I’m giving you.” She walked through the door and closed it behind her.

Elliot had been living with his grandparents since he was thirteen. It had taken four years but he had finally gotten used to living with them.

Elliot crawled out of bed and stretched. Peeling off his pajamas, he walked over to a tall mirror in the corner of the room. Staring back at him within the confines of the looking glass was the image of a tall, lanky teenager. He had long, shaggy black hair and brilliant hazel eyes. On his right shoulder he bore a tattoo of a sun. The sun had a smirking face with red eyes and intricate patterns of yellow and orange sun rays. Below the sun, in fiery orange letters, the word Helios was written. His broad shoulders made up for his low muscle tone.

He walked over to his dresser and picked out his clothes for the day. After throwing on a pair of baggy black jeans and a t-shirt, he ran downstairs. He gobbled down a bowl of cereal, brushed his teeth in the downstairs bathroom, and waved goodbye to his grandparents. Elliot sprinted out the front door and ran to his midnight blue, Jeep Cherokee.

~

James Woods High School. Like most high schools, neither the students nor the faculty liked going there. It was a pretty normal place: brick walls, eccentric teachers, and inedible meals. It was the kind of school that nobody really cared about.

Elliot darted through his homeroom door and got to his seat just before the bell rang.

“Hey, Elliot,” said a freckled, sandy-haired boy who was sitting right next to him, “what’s up?”

“Ugh,” he yawned, “tiredness, Will.”

Will Masse had been his best friend for ages. They had gone through some tough times together and Will had never let him down. “I was up all night doing Haney’s homework. I don’t think my hand will ever be the same again.”

Mr. Haney was their math teacher. There was something about Haney that didn’t seem quite right to Elliot. Maybe it was his crooked nose, that looked as if had been broken many times before, or maybe it was his greasy gray hair, but there was definitely something odd about Haney.

Haney was thin; almost unhealthily so. He looked so frail that a slight breeze could blow him over. However, looks can be deceiving, and it would be a mistake to think of Haney as weak. There must have been pure evil embedded in his skin because, despite all logic, Haney was the strongest and meanest teacher at James Woods. You didn't want to get on Haney's bad side.

“Tell me about it?” Will said. “Isn’t he the worst teacher ever?”

“Totally,” Elliot said, “Lee sneezed during one of Haney’s tests and the scrooge gave him a zero. What’s his deal, dude?”

“Not sure man but I hope he takes a chill pill before midterms. My ‘rents will have a cow if my grades don’t pick up.”

“Well,” Elliot laughed, “maybe you should pay attention in class instead of flirting with the ladies all day.”

“You’re one to talk,” said Will.

“What are you on about,” asked Elliot, confused.

“Shawna. You’ve been staring at her for the last five minutes, man.”

“No I haven’t,” Elliot said, hastily looking away from Shawna.

“Man, you’re totally into her,” said Will, a huge grin plastered across his face. “C’mon, ask her out. What do you have to lose?”

“My pride. Will, what if she says no?”

“What if she says yes? Trust me man, you’ll never know unless you ask. Just think about it.”

~

Haney’s class was torture. For fifty minutes, he would drone on and on about complex mathematical equations, some of which Elliot was sure didn’t exist.

“Today,” Haney began, “I will be teaching you about nominal fluctuations in a three dimensional subspace.”

It was enough to bore anyone to sleep. Still tired from last night’s homework, Elliot was quickly lulled into a daze. He placed his head down upon the desk, numbers dancing before his eyes.

“Mister Davis,” Haney said slowly, a cold intensity behind his words, “I do not tolerate sleeping in my classroom. If I have to warn you one more time, I will send you to the Principal’s office.”

Elliot picked his head up and stared at Haney with disgust. Despite Haney's formal behavior, he usually dressed in casual attire. Today he wore a plain white t-shirt and a pair of baggy blue jeans. Haney was quite the walking contradiction.

“If you don’t want me to sleep in your class,” said Elliot, “try giving less homework. That way I can get some sleep beforehand.”

“Mister Davis,” said Haney, even more coldly, “you seem to be under the impression that I care about your well-being. Personally, I couldn't care less if you get sleep at all. You will do your homework and be attentive during class or you will fail. Is that understood?”

Haney grinned malevolently.

“You piece of shit,” Elliot said, anger rising within him like a wildfire.

Above him, the lights began to flicker on and off.

“How can you treat people this way? Do you only care about your stupid subject?”

“Dude,” Will whispered, “what are you doing? Haney gets nasty when he’s mad.”

Elliot was too angry to care.

“Well, well,” Haney sneered. “Lazy, vulgar, and insubordinate. I would expect nothing less from a Davis. Something simply must be done about that temper of yours. What do you think I should do, Mister Davis?”

“You could bore me to death,” Elliot said through clenched teeth. “That would teach me a lesson.”

The whole class laughed at this. Haney continued to grin devilishly. Elliot knew that he had gone too far. Nothing good ever happened when Haney smiled like that.

“Very entertaining, Mister Davis. Very entertaining indeed.”

Elliot didn't have a good feeling about this. There was a strange gleam in Haney's eye that Elliot didn't like.

“In fact,” Haney continued, “we could use some of that entertainment, in detention.”

“Detention!” groaned Elliot. “C'mon Haney-”

“Friday detention. Don't be late, Mister Davis.”

The discussion was over. Haney resumed his increasingly dull lecture on tri-dimensional trigonometry.

~

A few hours later, Elliot sat down at his usual lunch table. He was soon joined by Will and their friend Deanne Collins.

“Can you believe the homework we got today?” Will asked. “I’ll be eighty before I finish it all.”

“I know. I couldn’t even follow Kain’s history lecture,” said Deanne. “I mean, what the hell does Hitler have to do with the War On Terror? If you ask me, he’s making all that crap up.”

“I just wish I knew what the teachers have against us,” said Elliot. “Haney was riding me all morning.” Elliot furrowed his brow and imitated Haney’s cold drawl. “Mister Davis, you lazy bastard. You sleep in my class one more time and I'll have you deported.”

The whole table laughed.

“Nice one, dude” said Will, “you sounded just like him.”

“Yes,” said a cold drawl behind them, “very impressive, Mister Davis. Quite lifelike, in fact.”

Everyone at the table jumped. Haney was looming right behind them, smirking vindictively.

“You are quite the entertainer today,” Haney continued. “I've grown quite attached to this humor of yours, Mister Davis. In fact, I think one night of detention isn't enough to fully appreciate those jokes of yours. I guess you'll just have to come in on Saturday as well. Don't be late, Mister Davis.”

Haney sauntered off to the teacher’s table, cackling maniacally. As soon as Haney was out of earshot, Elliot shouted in indignation.

“Man! I can’t stand him! One of these days he’s gonna get what’s coming to him.”