RotW&AofS Issue #1 – Welcome to Halpin Hope: Prologue



The following is a work of fiction. All names, characters and incident's contained herein are fictional, resemblances to actual persons alive or dead are purely coincidental. The character Kibu is the creation of the artist Sladerang and is used with his permission. All other characters were created by the author.

Contact can be made through tumblr at Welcome to Halpin Hope

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Welcome to Halpin Hope (Doyler X Kibu)



Prologue

When Doyler ran everything else fell away. Sometimes broken pieces of memories might surface: things from last Summer, the things he didn't want to remember... In an effort to drown those memories sometimes he'd think about the weather: if it was too hot, if it was too cold - sometimes he'd think about the school day behind him: if he was still flunking his classes, if he had an English report due... Mostly though there would be nothing. With only the beating of his heart in his chest and the sand between his toes - everything else would fall away. Mostly when Doyler ran - he ran in a void.

In the Winter: dressed in cotton jogging bottoms and a long sleeve t-shirt he'd start early - breaking the bad dreams before they could become too much. He'd reach the jetty as the sun broke the ocean and watch as the world flooded with light. But during the Summer he'd run in the evenings - thin cotton running shorts and his high school gym tank top. Starting from the porch of his white washed cabin house - springing forward onto the sand: he'd run the five mile stretch of beach from Raven Rock to Taniwha Cove, circle the Rusted Stones and turn back. Out of breath and with aching muscles he'd reach the weather worn wooden jetty by his house, stretch and then sit while watching the the dying embers of the day.

Sitting on that jetty and wiping the sweat from his brow with the bottom of his shirt he let the final rays of the evening sun cast their last blood orange glow over him - (this was his favourite time of day - this side of twilight) and removing the band from his hair he would let the damp mess of thick black curls fall over his face before swiping them from his blue eyes and tucking them behind his ears.

The beach on his side of town was always quiet and aside from the gentle lapping of the waves against the white sand and the occasional chirrup of the cicada's in the dense wood of the Black Forest behind him, he'd be in near total silence. Pulling his bare feet from the warm water he ran his hands down his legs - admiring the wet dark sparse hairs as they gripped his skin.

With his chin resting on his bare knees Doyler considered the evening, the next day and the summer that stretched out ahead of him. It was already half past ten and his brother would only just be starting work in the bar across town - his friends Ilan and Calum would be leaving with their families on vacation first thing in the morning, not be seen again until the last week of Summer, and the only contact he'd had with Asher was through Skype since his parents had split – his mother moving the boy to some town Doyler couldn't remember the name of in New England.

Nearly a year had passed since he'd last seen Jamie...

It was the first day of Summer Vacation but Doyler wasn't looking forward to the weeks that lay ahead of him. In truth: Doyler didn't look forward to anything anymore.

He turned around at the sound of feet slapping against the jetty behind him.

"Dude. Hide me!"

A boy: short, stocky, bare foot and bare chested running toward him at speed.

"What?"

"Hide me!"

The boy threw himself from the end of the jetty and into the ocean with a splash.

As Doyler stood to look over the edge he heard the rustling of leaves and heavy out of breath panting as two men emerged from the forest.

"Hey kid... you see anyone run this way?" asked the chubby balding guy dressed in the brown and tan security uniform Doyler recognised as belonging to the Baxter Brothers Farm just beyond the woods.

"Uhmm... No?"

"You sure now? Short kid, jean shorts, brown hair? Thought he came this way."

"No, sorry. Haven't seen anyone." Doyler risked a glance at the water to find it still.

"Shit! He must've doubled back on us." The chubby guard balled his fists and looked behind him back to the wood.

"You're Colton's kid brother aren't you? Doyler?" asked the younger of the two guards.

"Yeah?"

"He was in the year above me at school. We played Soccer together.” The guard smiled to himself – remembering something he'd forgotten years ago. “I'm Gary by the way. I saw you swim in the Civic Centre competition last Spring, man you were something else. Those times! Gotta be a record right?"

"On the island, yeah." Doyler's cheeks flushed and he felt his face burning.

"Didn't see you there this year. You entering the competition at the end of the Summer? I bet you've shaved even more time off of those lengths..."

"I... I don't swim any more."

"Really? That's a damn shame..." Gary kicked his feet against the boards of the jetty for a second before turning to his partner. "Hey Dave, can I have a moment with the kid?"

"Sure," grumbled Dave, "not like we're in the middle of a man hunt or anything like that!"

"Dave? Please?"

"You girls have your tea party." Dave tutted his tongue against his teeth and backed off a few steps the way they came.

"I was err... I was real sorry to her about your folks."

"Thanks." Doyler cast his eyes down to avoid the guard's gaze. He knew that he meant well enough but he'd had enough of the sympathy a long time ago.

"You know, Doyler, some of us do remember what you and your friends did for us last summer. I was there at Pāpa'i beach. I still can't...” Gary found himself struggling for the words – hoping to find something on Doyler's face – but he could see nothing. The boy had turned pale. “I still can't make much sense out of what I saw but... I know that if it weren't for you guys... Hell... who knows?"

"Hell's about right." Doyler forced a smile.

"Anyway, I'm sure people don't tell you enough and it's the sort of thing that we should be saying to you every day but... well... Thank you. We owe you." His heart broke for the kid. Gary knew what Doyler had left behind that night.

Doyler nodded and cast his eyes back to the water.

As Gary turned back to his partner, Dave called out to Doyler:

"If you see this kid we're looking for; about 5ft 5", brown hair, couple of scars running down the left side of his face: call the farm OK? Ask for Dave Davenport or Gary Paskowitz on the security desk."

"OK."

"Look after yourself Doyler and tell Colton that I was asking after him." Gary called back.

Doyler nodded and offered a half hearted wave.

The guards turned back into the forest, mumbling to one another: "What the Sam Hell was that about Gary?" "Fuck off Dave!" until they disappeared into the brush.

Doyler held a beat - making sure that Gary the security guard and his chubby friend Dave had gone before dropping to his knees and laying his chest flat against the wooden boards. Hanging his head over the side of the jetty, the tips of his black curls grazing the water - he saw the boy, hands gripping the struts, his head held above the water with a big broad smile stretched across his handsome face.

"They gone?" asked the boy.

"Yeah. They're gone."

"Man that was close. Crazy close. Thanks."

Doyler pulled himself up, sat back up on the jetty and watched the boy lift himself from the ocean - rivulets of water running down his strong young arms and broad chest.

"Soooooo close. Thanks again man." The boy sat cross legged next to Doyler and slapped his hands through his hair as if trying to throw every last drop of water back in to the ocean. He stopped suddenly and leaned close to Doyler's face: "Dude! You've got blue eyes! Like obviously but like really blue... like the bluest I've ever seen. People ever tell you that? People must tell you that! Haha. I'm Kibu by the way. What's your name?" Kibu extended a big rough hand.

"Doyler." Doyler took Kibu's wet hand and shook it – waiting for some punchline.

"Doyler? Huh! Weird name bruh!"

"If you say so... Kibu."

"Yeah, yeah, pot meets kettle. Haha!" Kibu released Doyler's hand and leaned back on his left elbow immediately thrusting it down the front of his jean shorts, adjusting himself.

Doyler turned his head embarrassed, yet surreptitiously tried to glance from the corner of his eyes.

"Haha! You trying to sneak a peak there?"

"Uhmmm..."

Kibu laughed as he pulled his hand from his shorts and sniffed his fingers: "Dude, I'm yanking your chain. Just needed to switch the droop you know?" Kibu raised an eyebrow and winked.

As Doyler watched Kibu return to slapping the water from his hair he took in the view the boy afforded him: dark brown hair; short and ruffled - he was handsome; a soft boyish face with thick eyebrows - the left split by a scar that ran diagonally down into two more from just under his eye to his ear - How did he get those? His eyes were big, expressive and a brilliant green with mischief sewn through them. The guards were right, he was short but he looked strong. Lean and muscled with proud emergent pecs topped with small puffy nut brown nipples, a flat smooth stomach: not chiseled from gym work but earned through a life spent in a perpetual state of motion. His deep chestnut tan seemed to cover his whole strong compact body. Doyler felt the tenting in his running shorts and quickly covered up.

"So errr... why were they chasing you?"

"Who?"

"Those two guys?"

"What two guys?"

"Those two guys! The Security Guards!"

"Those guys?" Kibu stopped playing with his hair and pointed back to the forest behind them.

"Yeah."

"Awwww, who knows man? Who's knows anyone's reasons for doing anything. Say, is that your house?" Kibu pointed back the one hundred or so metres to the white cabin style house to the left.

"Yeah. But those guys don't just..."

"Can I use your shower? I'm kinda sweaty and oceany."

"But the guards, they..."

"S-w-e-a-t-y a-n-d o-c-e-a-n-y!" repeated Kibu slowly. He lifted his arms above his head revealing a small patch of light brown hairs in each pit. He took an exaggerated sniff, scrunched up his nose and fell backwards onto the jetty in a mock faint before laughing loudly at his own joke.

"I dunno. You know I don't recognise you Kibu. This isn't that big a town, only around eighteen hundred or so people living in it and one high school. I'd have seen you around. Unless... you're a Hammerhead Cove kid... Shit! You're not a Hammerhead Cove kid are you?" Doyler sighed at the prospect. His hands balling up in to fists.

"Nah I'm not from here man. Just arrived this morning in fact. I'm from the mainland. Brooklyn born Yo! What's Hammer Head Cove?"

"Small town on the North of the Island. Stop avoiding the question. You come across on the boat? You on holiday with your folks?"

"Nah man, I swam."

"We're a hundred and eighty miles from the mainland. You didn't swim." Doyler narrowed his crystal blue eyes and stared at the half naked boy sitting in front of him.

"Well I swam the last bit. I stowed away on a pirate ship but the first mate caught me below deck and forced me to scrape barnacles off of potatoes or some sorta thing but when I saw the island I jumped and swam the rest. Had to fight a giant squid and everything." Kibu threw his arms around him - fighting off imaginary tentacles.

"If you think I believe a pira..."

Kibu stood up, stretched and started walking towards Doyler's house.

"Hey!" Doyler stood up. "Where are you going?"

"Gonna use your shower man."

As Doyler jogged to catch up to the boy, Kibu threw an arm around his shoulder: "Nice shoulders. You work out right? You got any food at your house? Man am I starving. Calamari would be nice..."



To be continued...