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He sat up slowly, the pain in his head dull but ever-present. The sky above him was a dark violet, it was eerie, but calm, with no clouds to be seen.
Brandon turned his head from the sky above to the area around him, he was in a field of sorts, yellow and blue flowers dotted around, he had been laying in a small clearing. He was glad, he didn’t want to crush any of the flowers.
His first thought was that this was paradise, though it looked nothing like they’d said, but maybe, just maybe they were wrong! Or maybe it looked different for everyone.
Still, it looked nothing like he’d imagined. It was almost empty, lonely.
Only the company of the flowers around him.
Or so he’d thought. Until he heard the distinct sound of footsteps behind him.
At first it startled him, though he was able to tell himself that it was probably just a good coming to bring him to the actual paradise.
Brandon scooted, turning himself around; he expected to see a pure white being, that’s what he’d been told they looked like.
Instead, he was met with the surprised face of a man.
The unknown man didn’t look like a good, he almost looked a little scary. One of his eyes was missing, dripping black goop over his face and onto his black and blue outfit. His hair was a raven black too, and he had some sort of halo crossing diagonally over the missing eye.
“Hello..?” Brandon tried to speak, his voice coming out strained and quiet, he hadn’t used it since before he came here.
The strange man didn’t reply, he just walked over and crouched down in front of Brandon. “What are you doing here, kid?”
His voice was rough, but not mean. It almost reminded Brandon of his father, just less harsh in tone. The man almost sounded worried.
“I’m meant to be here, the goods are expecting me!” He grinned, happy that he’d have someone with him while he waited.
“What are… Nevermind, that’s not important right now. How.. how did you get here?” The man asked, keeping his voice gentle, treating Brandon as if he was fragile.
He could handle people raising their voices at him. Sometimes.
“My dad helped me get here! He made sure that my downing was quick so that I wasn’t afraid.” Brandon explained, absently picking at loose threads on his sleeves. The fabric felt sticky, like it was trying to weave itself into his skin. He didn’t like how sticky it was, it wasn’t like this before his downing.
The man just stared at him for a minute, something odd in his eyes, pity? No, something else, but still something close. “…what’s your name, kid?”
Brandon should’ve been afraid, stranger danger was a thing for a reason, but anyone in paradise was worth trusting. “Brandon, my name’s Brandon.”
“Nice to meet you, Brandon.. I’m Sean.” The man replied, deciding to sit down finally, glancing at the field around them.
“Sean… That’s a name I haven’t heard before. Are you a sundowner too?” He asked, his head tilting slightly.
“A what?” Sean replied, his head whipping around to face Brandon.
He was confused, how had Sean not heard of the Sundowners? Maybe he was just being silly! Or maybe it hadn’t spread as much as he thought.
“A.. A sundowner? Like…?” Brandon said carefully, his voice hesitant. He was a little nervous, he really didn’t want to have to explain the sundowners to this person, he wouldn’t know where to begin.
“Okay.. we’ll discuss that later, okay? I won’t push for answers.” Sean sighed, staring up at the sky for a moment. “Did you have any friends?”
It was a simple question, but Brandon was happy to answer it. He liked talking about his friends, they were amazing!
“I did! A whole bunch actually! I never met them in person.. but they were still good friends!” He grinned, tugging at his sleeves as they were sticking to him again. It annoyed him, but his excitement outweighed the discomfort.
Sean just smiled at him, giving him a nod to prompt Brandon to continue.
“Uhm..where do I start..” Brandon hummed, stretching his legs out. “Well, I’ll start with Sony and Weegee. They’re pretty cool, really high energy.. but they were fun to hang around! Playing games with them was never boring. Sparten is kinda rough, a little blunt, but he means well! He’s the oldest of us.”
Brandon sighed, taking a minute to think. “Next is Bkinger… she’s.. nice. She sometimes gossips but it’s nothing too bad. Her and I were online dating for a while… but I snapped out of it and we stayed good friends.”
“My best friend, however, is Ozo! He and I met on Heli wars and were basically inseparable! He’s really cool, and always makes me laugh when I’m upset.. I really hope he’ll be able to join me…” Brandon trailed off, gazing at the sky.
They stayed silent for a while, both finding comfort in the quiet presence of another.
“Did you have any friends, Mr. Sean?” Brandon finally asked, it was only polite to ask the same question back.
“…I did. A few, actually.” Sean smiled, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his head on them.
Brandon just nodded, stretching. “Do you wanna talk about them?”
Sean had thought for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll tell you what I can..”
He’d trailed off, clearly thinking too. “I’ll talk about Jake first. We were friends for a pretty long time, stuck with each other through thick and thin. We’ve been drifting apart recently though, he’s just a bit stubborn.”
Brandon sat and listened, still idly tugging at his jacket.
“The next is Rebecca, I met her in high school and we stayed friends through college. We both liked each other, but it never went anywhere because it just wasn’t a good time.” Sean sighed, stretching out a bit and looking at the sky.
At some point it had started to shift to dusk, purples and magentas lighting up the field.
“And then my best friend… her name was Aubree, she’s like a sister to me. She’s been going through a lot for a really long time and we haven’t talked much since she goes on long breaks from being online, but either way she’s a sweet girl. I still worry for her sometimes, she’s strong though. She’s got this.” Sean finished, looking back at the child.
In a way they were both similar, both holding deep misfortune and friendships that meant the world to them.
Sean had decided then, that he would protect this kid, unlike Brandon’s adults, unlike anyone else had before.