Chapter 1

In a small suburb right outside New York City, a woman was walking as quickly as she could while carrying multiple bags of groceries and wearing broken high heels. Her hair was a mess, and her torso was covered by a nice polo with the logo of a local restaurant on the chest, but underneath was another branded shirt for a fast food franchise. Inside one of the bags was two more pairs of clothing while the other three held food that looked quite fresh. Her face had smeared make up and visible tear trails on her cheek. She stopped at a large concrete building with wooden boards covered in graffiti replacing glass windows. She pushed through the front door into a small lobby full of nothing but garbage and broken wood. She made her way to a concrete staircase. She carefully began to climb step by step, carefully holding onto the bags and maintaining her balance. She was one step away from the top, but felt herself lose balance and lean back. She was able to catch herself on the railing, the bag she was holding tilting and spilling fruit onto the floor, some of it rolling down the stairs. She sighed and grabbed what she could quickly before turning back and walking to one of the disheveled wooden doors with a piece of paper nailed to it, reading “4A”.

She opened the door slowly, no locks on any of the doors. The small apartment was full of light despite it being late. There was a large courtyard of nothing but concrete next to the building, but next to that was a massive billboard with bright neon lights. The lights slowly faded from pink to blue.

Small but fast footsteps filled the room as a small shadow moved through the light. The bags were removed from her arms as she groaned. A massive weight lifted off her body as she limped to the kitchen. She flicked the switch, but nothing happened. She sighed and went to turn around, but could hear the footsteps again run to the closet before running back, handing her a lightbulb. The small thing climbed up her back before sitting on her shoulders before she lifted the light bulb up into their hand. After a few seconds, she could hear the light bulb get screwed in.

“Okay Mom, should work now.”

A young and excited voice said loudly. The woman couldn’t help but softly laugh. She carefully helped the child down with his back to her. She groaned and cracked her own back before looking down.

A small boy was staring up at her with a bright smile. His skin was a bright and vibrant orange color, but around his eyes and mouth was pitch black. His hair was the same shade of black, almost like it was made out of darkness itself. Whatever movements the boy made, his hair stayed perfectly still. He was only wearing black sweat pants, which showed off his orange torso and arms.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” The woman asked with a smile on her tired face.

“I mean…yes…but I wanted to see what you got.”

His voice was full of excitement and happiness as he quickly looked through the bags.

“I got some good stuff today. But you have to remember that this is for the month.” She smiled and rubbed his stiff hair. They began to pull food out of the bags and work together to put it where it needed to go. Cheese and meat in the refrigerator. Lots of canned and processed, packaged food going into the cabinets. They collected the bags and folded them nicely before adding them to a large stack on the floor of a dusty and dirty closet.

“Did you eat today?” She asked.

“Yes Mom. The food was all delicious.” He laughed.

She went to the trash can to see a box of microwaveable meals. She reached down and moved the boxes, pulling out a large candy wrapper. She held it up with a playful smirk.

“I…um…somebody broke in, ate the chocolate, and put that there.” The boy sounded nervous.

His Mother just laughed, which made him comfortable enough to laugh too. He ran over and hugged her tightly as she patted his head.

“It’s okay sweetie. I just wanted something sweet to eat after four shifts in a row.”

“Well…um…”

He quickly ran and climbed up onto the counter, opening one of the cabinets and reaching far back to grab something. He pulled it back, revealing a new candy bar wrapped in very bright and vibrant colors.

“Where did you get that?” She asked.

His happy smile very quickly faded as he slowly climbed down off the counter. Her body language and face quickly changed as well.

“Where?”

Her voice was sharp with a hint of poison. The boy was looking down at the floor with his arms behind his back.

“I went…out…”

She immediately grabbed his shoulders and pulled him close. He looked up with tears starting to run down his face.

“What have I told you about going outside without me? Huh?” She shouted.

“I wore all my clothes.” He replied, choking while trying to hold back tears.

“I don’t care! What if somebody saw you?” She shouted.

The boy finally began to cry and hugged his Mom tightly. She didn’t hug back right away, her arms down to the side. Her eyes began to tear up as well.

“I’m sorry Mom. I just…I felt bad when I ate it…well after I ate it, it was so good…but I wanted to get one for you to make up for it.” The boy choked on his tears and was starting to have issues breathing.

His Mother sighed and made him step back. Without using any words, the two locked eyes and began to control their breathing. Once they were both breathing long and deep breaths, she finally hugged her son.

“I love you...that’s why I need you to be careful.” She said.

“Okay Mom…”

They hugged for almost a minute before they finally let go.

“So…no chocolate?” The boy asked.

She softly laughed and grabbed the bar. She opened it and gave him a small piece, which made him jump up and down excitedly. They walked around the kitchen counter and moved through the pretty sizable living room which only contained a single couch. They walked through a doorway with no door and the boy jumped onto a mattress laying on the floor. She slowly finished the chocolate before laying in the bed next to him. A thin blanket laying on top of their bodies didn’t provide much warmth, but it was all they had. They both shivered softly, and did so until they fell asleep.

While he was sleeping, the boy began to shake around a bit more violently. His eyelids began to have a very faint light illuminating them as he laid.

He opened his eyes and saw himself standing in the middle of a beautiful forest. He looked around at the trees, able to hear birds singing and other animals moving throughout bushes and breaking branches on the floor. He looked down at his hands, which looked bigger than the ones he was used to. He looked down to see the ground further away than he was used to, which then made him stumble and catch himself on a tree. His skin was still bright orange as he rubbed his hands all over his body. He was covered in black leather clothes, including a large trench coat, gloves, and pants. His boots around his feet were heavy and thick, almost like they were made for fighting. He reached into his jacket and felt something cold and hard. He pulled out a large, pitch black revolver before jumping and dropping it, letting out a deep gasp. He covered his mouth quickly before slowly moving his hand away.

“Hello?”

His voice was quite deep with a small amount of raspiness to it. It made him jump and look around, as if somebody else had spoken. He could hear more movement in the distance, but it grew louder and louder. He bent down to grab the revolver before he heard somebody shout.

“Omen!”

The boy quickly sat up from the mattress laying on the floor. The thin blanket was thrown off his body and landed on top of his Mother. He aggressively rubbed his eyes, which had a very subtle burning sensation to them. He looked at his hands, using the faint light from his eyes. They were small and unclothed like he expected. The glow disappeared and he was left in complete darkness. He rubbed his face and laid back down, reaching over to grip part of the thin blanket again, pulling it to cover himself. He closed his eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sleep. His mind was racing quickly, but of nothing specific. He remembered what he saw.

What he felt.

Where was that?

Why did he see that?

How did he see that?

What was that gun?

But one question kept repeating over and over…

What the hell is Omen?

The boy slowly started to wake up the next day, lifting his head up to see the empty mattress. He groaned and slowly got up, walking over to the kitchen. There was a note sitting on the counter he read over.

“Breakfast is waffles in the freezer. Lunch is a ham and cheese sandwich in the fridge. Dinner is whatever you want. Should be home around midnight, so you better be asleep.”

The boy nodded and reached into the freezer, pulling out a cardboard box holding some frozen waffles. He threw them into the toaster and shut the doors firmly, double checking to make sure they were shut. He pushed the toaster slider down, but it didn’t stick. He tried again and had to push hard while it was down before it locked. He yawned and grabbed a small glass sitting on the counter. He filled it with water from the sink, which wasn’t very clear or clean. He took a large sip and stood in the kitchen, staring at the toaster and waiting for what felt like forever. The toaster finally popped as the boy grabbed them and ate them straight from his hand. They were just warm enough to eat as he walked over to the couch. Once he finished, he sat on the couch and stared at the ceiling for a while. Despite the sun shining brightly, the constantly changing neon lights were still slightly visible. They made the floor slightly different shades and danced across the blinding light.

The boy finally got back up and went into the bedroom, grabbing some thick but poor condition text books along with a large and bulky piece of metal. He opened what looked like a bulky and low tech laptop. A keyboard of letters and nothing else, a small black screen, and a large joint that lets it all bend in half. He turned on the laptop, which had a very loud hum before the black screen turned a shade of gray with a single, flashing green line. The boy tapped a key which filled the air with cheap plastic and metal clicking sounds. A letter pop up with a subtle beep before the flashing line was now next to the letter. The boy tapped another button that made the letter disappear. Every key gave a loud clicking or clacking sound while the computer itself made a subtle beep.

The boy reached over and grabbed a science textbook, flipping through until he found the page that had the corner bent inside.

“Chapter Sixteen. DNA.”

He began to read and type notes on the things he wanted to remember. Compared to most other subjects, he was fascinated and kept notes on nearly every word. Once he finished the chapter, he had a subtle but disappointed look on his face. He ran into the bedroom and dug through other books before he found another science one. He flipped through until he found the chapter on DNA. It had a lot of the same talking points, but a few new ones as well. He quickly ran over to put the notes in and stared at the tower of notes he took.

“DNA…interesting.” He said to himself as he stared at the laptop. He had to grab a small device and attach it to the side of the laptop. After a few seconds, the device began to flash a red light rapidly. A few more seconds and the light changed to a solid green color. The boy pulled it out, and as he did the laptop screen went blank. The notes were all gone, and the boy quickly put the science books away, grabbing a history book.

“Where did I last…”

The boy spoke to himself as he kept flipping pages.

“World War One. Alright…now let’s see…”

He began to read over the events that lead up to the war. He finished at the assination of Franz Ferdinand before looking at his screen.

There were barely any notes as he sighed.

“History is so boring.”

He closed the book, resting his head down onto the cushion. His eyes began to burn softly as he looked up. The orange glow reflected off his screen as he stared forward. He tried to cover his eyes and push them hard, but nothing made his eyes stop glowing or burning.

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