[OPEN] I Remember This Place [OPEN]

[caine johnson]

It was the middle of the afternoon and the sun was setting out on the football field of St. Marks University. A lone figure walked the outline of the stands. He could remember this place, but only so much. It was more of a sense that he had been here before, but it seemed like forever ago. The figure was that of a male angel. His jaw line was defined and his brown hair played into his eyes. His steps had let him out to the middle of the field and he took a good look around.

Caine shut his eyes and thought about the last memory he held. It was blurry, but he remembered bits and pieces. He remembered how it started to pour rain, then he remembered being upside down, but that was about it. The rest was just a blurry motion picture. A sigh released from his lungs, and he reopened his dark eyes looking towards one of the football goals.

[dallas emery atkins]

Dallas' brother had to stay after class, so she decided she was just going to walk across the street to the library. She hated being alone, always feeling like someone would snatch her up or something. Or maybe it was just years of living with her twin sister that made her like that. 'Paranoid' her brother had called it. And she guessed he would know, he was a psychologist.

She was cutting across the feild -a shortcut her brother had shown her- when she bumped into something. It wasn't until she looked up at it was a someone.

"I.. I'm sorry.." She mumbled. "I thought my shoe was coming untied.."

[caine johnson]

Caine yawned and scratched his head. Pushed off balance, he took a step back and looked down towards a girl before shortly hearing her apology. "Oh, It's fine. I probably shouldn't be just standing in the middle of the field." A chuckle rolled off his lips. This was a surprise. At least now he had something to distract from the blurred images running through Caine's head.

"Well..uh.. I'm Caine" His voice echoed in his ears and he gave the girl a smirk. Even though he felt awkward, he didn't feel like just walking away from the girl and leaving her alone. He wanted to make sure she got where she was going okay. "Where were you going in such a rush?" He asked and looked the girl over.

[dallas emery atkins]

Dallas looked up at him, then at her books on the ground and bent over, tying her shoe. She picked her books back up, then stood straight.

"I'm Dallas.." She said quietly, waiting for him to ask if she wasn't her sister. "My brother is working late and I don't like to be alone, so he told me to go across the street to the library. Because his friend is working and I could sit in the staff room.." She explained, chewing on her lip. She knew she sounded like an infant, but she didn't want to be hurt. And Devon wasn't around to watch after her, so she had to resort to hiding again.

"You.. can come with me if you want. It'll be getting dark soon and then the bugs are gonna come out.." She offered, shifting from one foot to the other.

[caine johnson]

Caine watched as she seemed to squirm. How cute,, he smiled as she spoke and stumbled from word to word. "Nice to meet you, Dallas." His eyes lightened as she told him he could come with her. "Sure, I'll go. Bugs aren't that bad though." Caine looked her over once more, making sure she was alright, before turning and looking across the field. He was hesitant for a moment, trying to decide if she would lighten up. But soon he had started across the field in a slow pace, letting Dallas lead him to the library.

When they reached the doors, he stepped up his pace and opened the door for her. "What are you majoring in?" He asked, trying to start up a conversation to make her more comfortable. As they entered the library, he got a better look of her. He smiled lightly and looked around the library. Caine puffed his checks out as he looked back at Dallas. It had been awhile since he had actually ran into a random girl.

[dallas emery atkins]

She smiled at the woman behind the counter, telling her Duskin had said she could sit in the staff room. Seeing it was his timid little sister, the woman handed her the key with a smile.

Dallas shifted her books to her hip, unlocking the door. She walked over to the small table, laying her books down. She slipped off her bag, then sat down. "I'm majoring in medicine.." She said, tapping her fingers on the table. "I kinda wanna be a pharmacist.. Then I won't have to deal with a lot of people. Well, not as many as like, a face to face job.." She opened up her book, wrinkling her nose as a note fell out. She looked at it, then threw it in the trash can.

"People always sticking love letters in other people's books.." She said, searching for her pen.

[caine johnson]

Caine looked around the small room before pulling out a chair across from Dallas. "You don't like people?" He questioned. His eyes wondered around the table, tracing the wooden pattern. The note she threw interrupted the pattern and Caine's flicked up towards Dallas. He glanced over her books, reading the titles and gave a chuckle at her remark. There wasn't much on his mind and he was finding it difficult to start a conversation, but he didn't just want to leave. Dallas seemed nice and maybe it was time for Caine to make a friend.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "What does your brother do?" Caine felt weird about asking her questions of her family, but he didn't have much to share about his except he knew them as mom, dad, and Jayce. Caine bit the inside of his cheek, wondering if he would be able to remember more as time went on.

[dallas emery atkins]

"No, not really.. People tend to tease me.. A lot.. So I tend to avoid them.." She said quietly, pulling her notebook from her bag. She started scribbling down notes, then looked up as he asked about Duskin.

"Duskin is uhm.. he's a psychologist. He teaches here at the school, and sometimes helps the coroner, Deacon, with his evaluations.. He's really sweet.. Sometimes I think he's too smart for his own good, though." She looked back down at her books, hoping he wouldn't ask if she had any other siblings. She closed her book, leaning back in her chair. "What about you? Do you have a job or anything?"

[caine johnson]

"Why would they tease a girl like you?" Caine asked. The room was quiet, with small awkward pauses every once and awhile, but he was fine with that. It was much better then being alone and talking to yourself which he found himself doing a lot lately. Her question caught him off guard. This was really the first time he had been on earth for an extended time. He felt that if he stayed, his memories would come back, but being lonely was hard to put up with and so he always returned to heaven.

"Well, no. I haven't decided if I'm staying here longer, or if I'm just gonna head.. home." Caine smiled, "I come here often, I just never stay long enough to start back up with school or get a job or even a place to live." He knew that he had never finished school in his first life and that had something to do with his death, but he didn't feel like starting back at the beginning of it. School was never really his thing.

[dallas emery atkins]

"Cause I don't talk much.. And I've got burns on me from the house fire I died in when I was younger.." She said quietly, tapping her pen on the table.

"I know a place you can stay, if you want. I'm gonna be moving in there soon, but I haven't really gotten me and Christy's stuff together.. School has kept me pretty busy and I've been helping a friend so I really haven't gotten the chance to move.." She pulled her sleeves down over her hands, afraid he might see the burns on her arms. "I'm not even sure I want to move.. I might just keep paying on it so Dru can move in and get out of the house.."