Chapter 3: Chapter 2
It's been a week now since the encounter with the mysterious man at the bar and Rocky's feeling of paranoia had decreased. He had returned home that night and ran into the house, locking the door behind him. He almost expected the man to jump out of thin air and say, "Boo!" but nothing of such happened and after his heart had calmed down enough, he berated himself. "You are such a coward," he said to himself.
Chiding and telling himself that there was nothing to fear as Arisgore was one of the safest towns in the world did nothing to stop him from looking around him when in a lonely place and not going home alone again but in the company of his boss. The mysterious man never showed up again that week but then he saw him again.
He was coming back from the biggest store in town owned by a man everyone called Merchant as no one knew what his name was. He walked carrying a polythene bag of foodstuffs and some necessary items needed at home. His footsteps were hurried as he had to get home and make some dinner to give his mother who had been struck down by some mysterious sickness, and he was left with no option but to care for her as he had not enough money to foot the hospital bills, hoping that she would come around as she always does when ill.
He was walking past Old Lilith's shop which was a block away from the store, reminiscing about the old days when she had been the only one in Arisgore who had treated him well without prejudice and contempt and how he had sat with the other children listening to her stories. The door to Old Lilith's shop opened and out came the mysterious man from the bar. It was like time had stopped as both of them stared at each other. The man like before was also dressed in black, and he looked at Rocky as if wondering what he was doing there, and then he walked away after some seconds.
Rocky was jolted from his shock and he hurried home again. When he was safely inside, he began to wonder what the man was doing at Old Lilith's shop.
"What if he had hurt her?" He asked himself. "No, do not be silly, Old Lilith can take care of herself," he said and then promised himself that he would check up on her the next day.
He prepared dinner and took some soup to his mother who lay on her bed, covered by a worn-out blanket that had once been red but due to age and too much washing, had become dark pink.
She looked so frail that it made Rocky's heart to be squeeze in fear that she was not going to pull through this sickness. His mother had once been beautiful; she had had a head full of long black hair which had fallen in waves down her back, her face had been smooth, without any crease or wrinkles and on it, her small and button-like nose sat, with small and rosy lips. Her ivory-coloured skin, which he hadn't inherited as his skin was light brown because he looked more like his father, was without the blotches that decorated it now due to the sickness but now she looked like the shadow of her past self; her hair was grey and her face was wrinkled. It was only her eyes which were dark blue that did not change much. It was a fascinating pair of eyes as it became violet when it reflects light and now these eyes watched Rocky as he walked into the room.
He sat on the bed beside her, holding a bowl of soup.
"Mamma, I brought you some soup," he said
"Where have you been?" she asked in a raspy voice.
"I went to Merchant," he said. He took a spoonful and brought it close to her face to feed her.
"I don't want your soup," his mother said, her hands fluttering in hysteria and upsetting the bowl of soup which fell from his hands. "He is here, is he not? He has come to take you and you will follow him," she ranted.
Rocky could not understand her and although he was trying not to be upset, to be patient, he found it increasingly hard not to.
"Mamma, you need to calm down." He stood up after picking the bowl and spoon from the ground. "I would get you some medicine," he said and left.
He stood before the sink, thinking about what his mother said. What had she meant and who was she talking about? "It must be the sickness," he thought.
He rummaged through the cupboard and brought out a bottle of some medicine given to him by Old Lilith and took it to his mother.
The past haunted her and as she lay on her bed, breathing heavily as the sickness ate through her, she knew she had not much time, and her son needed to know who he was.
She wished it hadn't come to this, that she was strong and could fight for him, but she had let the hurt and betrayal from the past haunt her until she became different and forgot who she was. She shouldn't have let it get to her, but she did and now, she was suffering from the consequences.
"But he left," she thought. "He left me when we had made a vow to each other to stay together no matter what. He went back." Her mind was in chaos as it flitted between the present and the past. "I need to tell him, yes, I need to tell him."
Rocky walked into his mother's room for a second time with her medicine. His mother lay peacefully and for a little while, he thought he had lost her and he rushed to her side only to find out she was still breathing.
"Mamma," he called out gently. Her eyes fluttered open. "I brought your medicine."
This time, he fed her without her throwing away the bottle. As he stood up to leave, she grabbed his arm with a surprisingly strong grip.
"You know I love you, right," she said. "I want you to be strong cause there are challenges which would come, so you have to be prepared."
"Mamma, what are you saying?"
"We both know I don't have much time, that this time I would not recover so I want you to know what you must." A violent cough seized her, wracking her body. "You are the son of shapeshifters and the power to tap into the earth source lies within you."
Rocky could not understand what his mother was saying. It all sounded like all those stories Old Lilith told, stories he had once believed but as he grew older and his innocence was washed away by the hard reality of life, they became mere fairytales to him– something Old Lilith had made up to entertain children and the throng of customer that visited her shop. Why then was his mother telling stories, it must be the medicine. Later today, he would go to Old Lilith's shop and tell her that the medicine she gave him had a side effect– hallucination.
"You are a true blood and a born leader and this would make people come for you. I want you to be prepared, to..."
It was too much for Rocky, who watched his mother rant about nonsense. "It's okay, Mamma. You would get better," he said, trying to calm her. "It's okay." She wheezed and panted with the effort it took her to speak and slowly, she calmed down and drifted off to sleep.
Rocky stared at his mother for some time. He bent and kissed her forehead before going out, closing the door behind him. He went outside the house and looked at the sky which was dark with thousands of stars, which twinkled beautifully.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone