It is a few days before Christmas and the thick snow layers the ground. I close my favorite book, feeling an strange emptiness inside of me. A craving for more than my boring, suburban life overwhelms my brain. I feel as if I have to get out of this town as soon as possible. My boredom brings me to the window where I watch the snow slowly descend to the white blanket below. Snow has always relaxed my mind, even though the cold is something I try to avoid.

My legs pick me up without a thought going through my mind. I tiptoe down the stairs trying not to wake my family, considering sunrise is in an hour. I slip on my boots, gloves, and coat to protect me from the winter weather. I slide out of the back door without a sound. The cold bites my cheeks before I get to take my first step. The snow landing on my warm skin doesn’t bother me, but is somewhat appeasing.

I make my way to the front of my house admiring the white trees surrounding me. The snow muffles the sounds of the night. I feel a heavy weight of exhaustion so my body gently sinks to the ground. The tree above me looks as if it will snap from the snow covering its branches. The sun is still down and the town is still sleeping, bringing an untroubled sensation to me. As my eyes start falling, I notice the black sky not being as dark, and the freezing snow not being as cold.

Around an hour later when I woke up, he was standing over me. Dark hair, almost black, and bright blue eyes stared back at me. Frightened, I could barely spit out the words. “Wh-who are you?” I question. He responds saying his name is Flynn. Flynn Sawyer.

“What are you doing in my yard?” I managed to say.

“What are you doing sleeping in your yard?”

Although it was slightly aggravating, he did have a good point. His hand extends down to mine and helps me up.

“So aren’t you going to tell me your name?” He says with a small grin.

“I’m Zate.”

“Intriguing, is it a family name?”

“That’s really not your business.” I say defensively.

Honestly, I didn’t know where the name came from. I have always gotten made fun of, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Let’s go, stranger. We’re leaving for a while.” He tells me.

I look up and say, “Do you actually believe I’m going to leave my house before sunrise with some guy I just met? I don’t know where you’re from, or anything about you.”

“That’s the fun of it. It’s a new experience I expect someone like yourself to have never had.”

It was bothersome how well he can read my life. All I can get from him is honesty. A sensation of safety filled my body and ran through my veins when I thought of getting to know him. So we left.

After walking for what seems like forever, Flynn stops. He drops down on his knees and starts digging through the snow. I ask,

“What are you doing? Are we not going to the place you won’t tell me anything about?”

“Shh” he says sharply. It stops me from asking another question. Flynn pulls out a bright purple, fully alive flower. I stand there in awe, very confused on how there is a living flower buried under two feet of snow. His face isn’t answering any of my questions. He is perfectly still but determined, like he knows what he is doing. I am now slightly frightened. Flynn steps towards me, raising the flower to my head. He tucks it behind my ear and says, “A beautiful flower for a beautiful lady” and grins as wide as his cheeks will let him. All the fear that is building up inside me drains out my head.

“Can you please explain to me how you just found a live flower in the middle of winter!?” The questions want to explode from my mouth, but I have some control.

“This is nothing, Zate. Welcome to the Black Bridge.” He says pointing to my right. My eyes follow where he points to reveal a small dingy bridge I didn’t notice before.

I utter, “Why did you take me here?” So many thoughts are running through my brain it’s like a stampede just came and went.

Flynn looks back and says, “Just something about you. It’s different.”

The matte and oddly clean wooden planks acted as the floor. He gently grabs my arm and pulls me to the edge where he stands. I thought to myself, “Is he going to jump off? Is he going to take me with?” Nothing about his body language seems to want to jump, so my muscles relax. We sit on the edge with our feet dangling above about a fifty foot drop. Once my mind slows down I look at Flynn. His face is lit up and eyes are practically glowing. They’re not looking at me or the ground below. I follow his gaze and freeze. The rising sun is blazing with morning colors. Colors more unique than I’ve ever seen before. On top of that, the snowy trees below absorb the sun’s reflection and glisten beautifully. My heart warms as we sit there, witnessing the best sight yet.

That’s how I met Flynn Sawyer. A rare thing, he is. Not many people like going as many places and experiencing as many things as he does. I love it.

He’s becoming less of a mystery to me, and gaining more of my trust everyday. He’s always coming by my house and taking me somewhere new. Except on Saturdays. At 5:00 am on the dot, he’s here to pick me up. We go to the Black Bridge and watch the sunrise together, just as we did on the first day we met.

After another week of adventure, Saturday creeps up on me. My alarm that is set for 4:30 doesn’t go off. I wake to little taps on my window. Flynn’s taken it upon himself to throw pebbles at the house to wake me up. My eyes peel open and shoot towards the clock. I leap out of bed and get dressed. I look out my window to see him smiling like an idiot that he successfully got me up.

First my left leg gets to taste the bitter cold, then my right. I struggle to balance on the ladder under my window and fall a few feet to the snow below. Flynn laughs.

We make our way to the bridge and a chill went down my spine. Not a chill from the weather, but worse. It’s a feeling. The sight of the familiar area allows me to focus on something else. We sit down on the edge. I begin to notice him tense up. His muscles squeeze together as if he had ice water poured down his back. A horrible sensation shatters over my body.

He breaks the silence. “I have a past. It’s definitely not escaping the suburbs to watch the sunrise.”

I don’t know what’s coming next, but it can’t be worse than what’s going through my head.

“Listen Zate. You need to promise you’ll only ask questions once I’m done.”

My mouth opens to say yes but nothing comes out. All I can do is nod.

“My life started off a little different. My mom was a drug addict and my dad was non-existent. When I was around 7 months old my mom overdosed. I was alone for two days until Eli turned up. He ended up changing my life forever. The man found me, helplessly crying on the floor with my dead mother in the room over. Eli is a talented physicist, experimenting with genetic engineering. His home is the lab he conducts highly illegal trials in. My ‘siblings’ Teagan and Ezra live with him, also orphans he experimented on.”

My hands were damp in sweat even though the snow was seeping through my gloves.

Flynn continues, “Zate, I’m not the average kid. I’m one of Eli’s successful trials-”

Something cuts him off. Not something, but someone. A guy who could be only be a few years older than us strides onto the bridge. He has a burning passion in his eye. Flynn springs to his feet and shouts at the mysterious stranger.

“Ezra, stop!” he declares.

I recognize the name and freeze. Ezra is the brother Flynn was talking about. Confusion flies through my brain. What did he mean when he said “successful trials”? Is Ezra another case?

A twinkle of light coming from Ezra’s front pocket catches my attention. Once he’s about to reach us his hand falls down to the object. A shimmering knife is swiftly pulled out of the pocket and pointed at Flynn and I.

“Think about what you’re doing.” Flynn suggests.

“I’ve spent 13 months waiting for this moment. Ever since you ran, Eli’s been broken. You didn’t just ditch him, you left me too. I was gone a few days after, preparing for this exact second. Can you explain what happened? All of last year you hated me. Is it because Eli changed me and not you?” Ezra explains with a hungry look in his eye.

“You know changing was a mistake. You can’t just take all the power and control the citizens the way you did.”

My head is buzzing. What happened to Ezra? Why does he have a knife held up to his brother? I can’t keep up with it’s own thoughts.

The knife that was once facing Flynn is now just a few feet in front of me, staring in my eyes.

“E put it down. You can’t bring her into this. She did nothing.” Flynn says glaring at his brother. My body felt the tension between the two guys.

A faint red light appears to be coming out Ezra’s hand. The metaphorical energy I thought was in my head earlier, now seems to be erupting from him.

Flynn jumps to his brother in a split second and wraps his hand around his neck. Strength bursts from his arms and hands as he chokes Ezra. It isn’t the average strength to protect himself and me, but more. The spot where Flynn is holding Ezra is now glowing blue. Why was my friend glowing? Why does he know how to control this?

Right as I thought Ezra was going to pass out, he yells. A pain-filled scream emerges from the boy and causes Flynn to fall right in front of me. “E” picks up the glistening knife and lunges towards me body9. I see Flynn’s eyes illuminating with competence and he winks. All I feel next are his two burning hot hands on my side pushing me so hard I slip off the bridge.

Free falling. I’ve always loved the idea. Wind in my hair and butterflies in my stomach is more than the truth. Plummeting to my death on the other hand, is not so fun.

I never knew how long it takes to hit the ground. Watching a body fly off of something only seems to take a second or two. When it’s your own body, hours can go by. I don’t dare to open my eyes. It’s not worth it. They stay squeezed shut until the biggest shock of my life. The same two hands that pushed me off the bridge to my death are now wrapped around my waist. My eyes rip open. The first thing I see is the ground a few feet below and my feet dangling in the air. I feel my body turn to the sky, his arms are holding me now. I catch a glimpse of Flynn’s concerned face frantically checking to see if I’m hurt. My eyes shut in an instant as I pass out.

I wake up and see a high ceiling made out of faded wood. The familiar musty smell reminds me it’s the abandoned barn off of 345 Street. I feel his coat draped over me like a blanket and remember what had happened. My head turns to the right to see Flynn’s eyes wide open with a regretful look written all over him. I don’t know what to say so he reads my mind.

“I guess I’ve got some explaining to do.”