Chapter 1: Names

Wal-Mart was always boisterous and annoying during Christmas season, and Aidan Snow hated it more than anything. All these people buying gifts for family and friends, some out of obligation, some out of wrong motive, and some out of love.

"So stupid," Aidan muttered under his breath.

He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror while washing his hands. His dark blue eyes were heavy from serious lack of sleep. His brown shaggy hair was messy and greasy. He didn't care about his hygiene very much, although he didn't smell bad. His nose was a little crooked, but that didn't seem to turn away the beautiful girls that always passed flirtatious comments about his "good looks". Aidan didn't care. He had no interest in any relationship of any kind.

"Back to work."

Aidan threw the wet paper towel in the garbage can and pushed the door open and went back to his register. He opened the register and people came flooding into the lane, putting all of their items onto the belt. Aidan played the part of pretending he enjoyed his job, and talked to the customers a little bit. Some were nice, some were mean, some on the phone. This annoyed Aidan. All of them annoyed Aidan.

After a few more hours, his shift was over. His replacement, Jimmy, an annoying seventeen year old snob, took over the register.

"See ya later, Aidan," he said in a mocking tone. If Aidan were seventeen and not twenty-five, he would beat the kid to death. Aidan had no desire to go to prison though, and that was the only thing that held him back.

Aidan went to the locker room and grabbed his stuff, then headed to his car in the back parking lot. It was a 1994 Honda Accord. It was black, rusty, and nothing anyone would want to drive. He loved his car though. He got in the front seat, turned the key, and drove off to his apartment.

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Aidan opened the door, and it creaked each inch it opened. Aidan hated this place. It was too much of a dump. For the money he pays, it should at least be more maintained.

Aidan threw his coat on the floor, and grabbed a Dr. Pepper out of the fridge. He popped open the lid and started gulping it down as he crashed on the couch and turned on the TV. A movie called August Rush was playing.

"Figures it would be about music. . ."

Aidan threw the remote at the TV. He rolled over and stared at the ceiling. He kept on staring, thinking about the days when his life wasn't like this. Thinking about when he was in love, had a family, had friends, and when he had his music. It didn't matter to him now.

Aidan began to feel very hot. This was a daily thing. He'd get really hot, and then sometimes he'd get really cold. He didn't know why, but it was never really serious.

Aidan closed his eyes, and tried to drift into sleep, but a knock on the door pulled him back to the world.

"Who in the world!?"

Aidan got up slowly and opened the door to find a small woman standing there. She was probably 5'2, at least a whole foot shorter than Aidan. She was wearing a red sweater and a long black skirt. She had long, scarlet colored hair and a beautiful face. Her eyes were deep, and yet every time you looked into them, you couldn't help but get lost in the beauty of those eyes.

"Hello, Aidan."

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"No," she responded. "I'm Krystal Fiamette. May I come in?"

"What do you want?" Aidan asked angrily.

Without answering, the woman stepped in. She looked no older than 25 to Aidan. She might even be 18. He didn't know. She walked to the couch and sat down gracefully, propping her right leg over her left.

"Do you make it a habit of walking into a strange man's home?"

"First time," she responded. "Never even been in a single man's house. I have a lonely life."

Aidan was growing impatient with her friendly personality. She was too calm. Too nice and too outgoing. Aidan decided not to trust her from this moment on.

"What's with the skirt? You one of those legalistic people?"

"It's called being formal. Now, down to the reason of my visit."

"You mean intrusion."

She said nothing or responded in any type of way as if she heard that. "Are you aware of what Aidan means?"

"Fire. What in the world does that matter?!"

She smiled and stood up again. "Your last name is Snow. Aidan Snow. It's pretty funny that those two names happen to mean fire and ice, or cold."

Aidan was almost furious now. "You barged into my house to make sure I knew what my first and last name means? You are one crazy lady. I think you should get out before I call the police."

"Your name is Aidan Snow. You are a cashier at Wal-Mart. You were born in Lafayette, Tennessee. You were homeschooled your whole life. You were a prodigy. You could play the piano like no other. You had your mother, and your father, who were gone a lot and traveled a lot. Your siblings are dead. You have no friends left. They all abandoned you. You experience a fire-like feeling everyday, and then a very cold feeling, am I correct?"

Aidan was silent for only a few moments. "So, you are a stalker. I'm calling the cops."

"I can assure you I'm not a stalker. Up until two weeks ago I was normal just like you, until I had a similar  visit from a strange man. You will meet him soon enough, whether you want to or not."

"Is that a threat?"

"My name is Krystal Fiamette, as I have said. Krystal means ice, and Fiamette is a Latin name for fire. No coincidence that you and I happen to have names that mean fire and ice, is it?"

"So our parents wanted to be funny and give us names that mean fire and ice. Big deal. What importance does names have to do with anything?"

"A lot more than either of us can comprehend at this point. I barely know anymore than you do at this point, which is why I need you to come with me. I need you to trust me."

"That's not going to happen."

Krystal sighed, then approached Aidan. "Then I guess I'll just have to force you to come."

Krystal threw her fist right at Aidan's face. Aidan raised his arm quickly and grabbed her oncoming fist. "Nice try, but I'm a third deg-"

Krystal's heel made contact with Aidan's jaw before he could even think about finishing his sentence. He fell to the ground with a hard thud and didn't move again.

"Men. Always so difficult!"