CHAPTER 2: VAGUE MEMORIES
1978 Words
XIAO'S POV
I didn’t breathe. Not even a little.
My hand was still over Nolan’s mouth, and I could feel his breath against my palm. It was fast and shaky, just like mine.
The man’s shoes were right there. So close to us
If he just took one more step….. or leaned just a little bit..
“Nothing here,” another voice said from the other side.
The man in front of us didn’t move. I felt my heart climb into my throat.
“Check the next alley,” the voice said again. “They couldn’t have gone far.”
There was a long, scary pause that followed after.
Then the man’s shoes turned away, my eyes widened slowly.
He was leaving. Oh my goodness. That was a relief, at least for now. I still needed Nolan to get treatment immediately.
Their footsteps were slowly moving away, one by one. Their voices faded into the rain.
“Find her….. check over there.”
“Don’t mess this up….”
“ The boss won’t be happy…”
Then nothing again, just the sound of the rain. I remained still, just in case they were nearby waiting for us to come out.
My body felt stiff, my legs were hurting me already and my hands were still shaking.
But still I waited. I wasn't going to take any chances and risk our lives.
A few more seconds, then a few minutes, and finally…. I slowly removed my hand from Nolan's mouth.
He let out a quiet breath.
“They’re gone,” he whispered.
I nodded, but I still listened.
Nothing still, no footsteps, no voices. They were really gone. I let out a sigh of relief finally because I knew how long I had been holding my breath.
“We're okay,” I said softly. But even as I said it, it didn't feel true.
“Nolan, can you stand?” I asked.
He tried to move, then he flinched.
“I’ll try,” he said. I helped him up slowly, he leaned on me again, heavier this time. His leg was still bleeding, more severe now. And the rain wasn't helping matters at all.
“We have to go home,” I said.
“Yeah…. Home.” He said faintly, he was losing a lot of blood and I had to do something fast before he would pass out.
I hurriedly flagged a cab to take us both home, then paid the driver his fare from the money I stole from the guy earlier.
I kept looking back to make sure those guys weren't following us secretly, I was so scared that they'd come back or suddenly appear in our homes when we'll be sleeping.
But they didn't. We stayed close to the walls and avoided the main roads. Like shadows. By the time we reached our building, my arms were already tired from holding Nolan up.
Our apartment was small and old. The stairs made sounds when we climbed them, like they wanted to break or something.
But it was the only place we had.
I pushed the door open, we stepped inside and finally…. I felt a little safe.
“Sit here,” I said quickly, helping Nolan to the bed.
He sat down with a painful groan.
I looked at his leg, the blood on it made me want to gag.
“I'll fix it, don't worry,” I said, trying to reassure him.
“You always do,” he replied with a weak smile.
I didn't smile back. I moved fast to get the materials I needed to treat the injury.
I took an old cloth, warm water and a small box that contained antiseptics and bandages.
We didn't have much but at least we had the most important things to treat the wound for now before we'd go to a proper clinic to have it taken care of.
“Hold still,” I said.
“I am,” he replied, but his voice shook.
I cleaned the wound slowly, he kept flinching.
“Sorry,” I said.
“It’s fine,” he said quickly. “I’ve had worse.”
That was true though, we both had.
I dipped the cloth in the warm water and wrapped it around his leg, my hands started to slow down.
My head felt quite strange. Like something was trying to come back, something I couldn't hold on to.
I blinked and then suddenly…..
I saw something soft, white and smooth…. Like silk sheets. I paused a bit, my hands stopped moving and the room around me was fading a little.
Not like the bed I and Nolan shared, it wasn't rough or old but clean, beautiful and warm.
Then I heard a voice, so soft and gentle, calling out my name.
“Xiao….”
My heart skipped a bit, I looked around, but I wasn't in the room anymore. I was somewhere else but couldn't see clearly. It was just shadows, and light movements.
“Xiao….” I heard the voice call out again.
It was a woman's voice. She sounded so kind and familiar, like someone I knew but I couldn't remember.
“I…” I whispered.
Then suddenly…. Hands grabbed me, I was pulled fast and roughly, I tried to scream but I couldn't, something was covering my mouth. Everything became blurry, I was scared to death.
“Xiao!” I blinked hard. The room returned to normal, my small apartment and the rain outside.
Nolan in front of me looked worried, his hand was on mine.
“Xiao, hey what's wrong?” He asked.
I stared at him, what was that I just saw? Was I in a trance? Whose voice was that? My chest was rising fast.
“I…. Sa..” I stopped. My head was hurting me now.
“I saw something,” I said slowly.
“What was that?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. And that was the honest truth. I was so puzzled. It felt so real, not a dream but a memory, a broken one.
“Are you okay?” Nolan asked.
“Yeah…. I'm fine.” I nodded, but I wasn't sure.
I finished wrapping his leg.
“There,” I said. “It’s done.”
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
I sat back on the chair close to the bed. My hands rested on my lap, but my mind didn’t stop thinking about the silk sheets, the voice and the hands that pulled me away. What was that about? It felt so real like it had happened before. I looked at my hands, they were still shaking, I tried to calm myself down at least. My stomach started grumbling. Damn right! I gotta eat now.
“Xiao,” Nolan said softly. I looked up at him.
“Yeah?”
He hesitated, then he asked…..
“Do you remember anything?”
“Anything about what?”
“Before,” he said. “Before the streets.”
The question made me uneasy, I looked away.
Like something I didn't feel comfortable speaking about. I wasn't really sure how I ended up on the streets but I just woke up one time and found some kids my age staring at me, I only remembered my name was Xiao and nothing else.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Have you tried,” he said gently.
“I am trying,” I replied.
I closed my eyes, trying to think and remember. But there was nothing, just plain darkness and an empty space.
“I don’t remember anything,” I said quietly.
Nolan didn’t speak right away. He just watched me.
Then he said,
“Okay.”
We sat in silence for a while, as the rain kept falling outside.
“I remember when I first saw you,” Nolan said suddenly.
I looked at him again.
“You do?”
He nodded. “Yeah.” He smiled.
“You were smaller,” he said. “And quite grumpy.”
“Grumpy?”
“Mmhmm!” he said with a small smile. “You tried to steal from me.” I felt so weird when he said that, I remember that day as fresh as any other one.
“I did not.”
“You did,” he said. “But you failed.”
I crossed my arms.
“I never fail.”
“You did that day though,” he said.
I tried to argue, but then a small smile came to my face.
Maybe he was right.
“I don't remember,” I said, smiling slyly.
“Oh I know you but you choose not to speak of it.”
Well he knows damn right I don't.
“I guess after that day, you stayed close. Shared your food one time with me and since that day, we've been so close.”
Nolan brought back a lot of sad memories we shared together, I remember when the other kids bullied me so much. Nolan would step in and help me out, I was so young and small. Trying to survive all on my own, I'm so thankful for him till today.
The silence between us returned again. And suddenly I remembered what happened earlier, the man in the alley.
“She's worth money.” My smile faded slowly.
“Nolan,” I said quietly.
“Hmm?”
“Why were those men chasing us like that?”
Nolan seemed to have the answer to everything. I looked up to him like an older brother.
He didn't answer me immediately.
“Honestly, I don't know,” he said.
“But they didn't care about you,” I added.
He looked at me.
“They kept saying her, like I was needed for something.”
“Yeah I heard that too,”
“Why me though?” I pressed further.
“Xiao, weren't we running together? How am I supposed to know?”
I stared at the floor, I felt sick.
Something felt off and it didn't make sense .
I was just…. Me, an ordinary girl from the streets that stole to survive. So why me?
“They said I was worth money too,” I whispered.
Nolan didn't say anything, he was getting tired now. His injury made him weak, he needs rest after such a chaotic day.
He was slowly dozing off.
I hugged my knees, my thoughts were racing so much, the memory, the voice, the cat and mouse chase and the words. It all felt connected somehow.
But I didn't know how.
“I don't remember anything,” I said again. Almost like I was saying it to myself.
Nolan opened his eyes lightly then he said,
“Look Xiao you don't need to, relax and give yourself time. Don't stress about it, okay?”
I nodded.
“Try to get some sleep too.” He said as he turned to his side to sleep. I looked at him.
“Goodnight love.” I said
“Night cupcake.”
But no matter how hard I tried to sleep I couldn't forget those memories. I didn't know where I came from and I didn't know who I was before this life.
I don't understand why someone would chase me. Or why they would say I was worth money.
All I knew was….. just the streets, hunger, poverty and Nolan.
He was already sleeping now, looking so tired and drained.
I looked at him.
“We’ll be fine,” I said finally. I wasn’t sure if I believed it.
But I said it anyway.
The rain didn’t
stop that night. It fell harder this time.
And for the first time in my life, It didn't feel like I was running from trouble.
But it felt like something had finally found me
- Writer
