The Reincarnates

Chapter Two: Thread

“Mama! Mama! Please wake up!” I shook her lifeless body. “Mama, please!” Blood covered my hands. Then I was being picked up and carried away.

“Put me down!” I said, crying, but the grip only became tighter.

I was taken to a place I had never seen before. “Hide here, and don’t make a sound,” the man told me. Following his orders, I sat quietly, holding on to my teddy bear, fear rushing through my mind. A minute later, I heard screaming, doors being knocked down, and other loud sounds, making me even more scared. I hid under a nearby bed, hugging my toy even tighter. It made a squeaky noise; one I’d never heard before. I threw it away to get rid of it, but the bear hit the wall and fell to the ground, making the noise again. Suddenly, five men were crowding around the bed, bent over to stare at me.

“Ugh,” I groaned as something heavy suddenly landed on top of me. Opening my eyes, I pushed it off. “Turning to where it came from, I saw the dumpster lid up, and a person peering down at me. She screamed and ran away, which was my cue to get up.

I stood, grabbed my small drawstring book bag and teddy bear, and scrambled out of the dumpster. I walked around the corner and down a few blocks until I found a fire escape. I took a deep breath before jumping up to reach for the ladder. It took six tries, but I finally grabbed it and pulled it down. I climbed up and began checking the windows. The first one I passed was open, but I could hear the TV, so I figured someone was still home. I continued until I reached the eighth floor. The window was open, and there was no screen, so I hoisted myself inside.

Before I did anything else, I checked each room. The place was empty. My next step was to take a quick shower. Once I was done, I dried off and searched around for clean clothes. The ones I found were a little snug, but I didn’t want to waste time trying to find better-fitting ones. I pulled my toothbrush out of my bag, and when I was done brushing, I returned it and my dirty clothes to my backpack. It never hurt to keep a spare set.

In the kitchen, I fixed myself a bowl of cereal and turned on the TV. After I was done with my third helping, I put the bowl in the sink with the rest of the dirty dishes, scoured the bathroom, and turned off the television. Satisfied I wouldn’t be leaving any signs of my presence, I mentally thanked the apartment’s owners for the help they had unknowingly provided as I climbed out onto the fire escape.

My thoughts were on my next move: how to keep myself entertained. I went to the library and read some books, starting in the history section, and making my way around. The one book I found the most interesting was called Rebirth. It was an autobiography about a person who claimed to have been born again. An interesting read but seemed to be nothing more than pure fiction. The man talked about all sorts of things—guardians, Angels, protectors the most interesting thing was when in life 12 he killed a lion by ripping him apart from the mouth.

I spent hours reading in the library, and soon, my stomach growled. “How am I going to get food this time?” I asked myself. I was sure people were starting to remember my face from when I stole from local shops, and I didn’t feel like walking back to the apartment I’d visited that morning. There hadn’t been much besides cereal, anyway.

I left to roam the streets until I came across a park. I saw some kids sitting on a bench. Approaching them, I heard one say, “You promised if we skipped school, we would at least finish our homework.”

“I know,” the other kid said. “But I’m getting bored, and this is hard.”

“No, it’s not. C’mon, what’d the defense parliament of war do?” the first guy asked.

“Stopped women from joining the military,” I spoke up from behind them.

The two boys turned to me. “Limitations of accepting?” one said back.

“The test that would allow them to join,” I responded plainly.

“I’m sold,” the second boy exclaimed.

“On what?” the other asked.

“He could do our homework for us!”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Look, we can go hang out for a bit while he does it. I’m trying to show you how fun skipping school is, and I can’t if we’re stuck doing homework most of the day.”

“What makes you think I’ll do your homework for you?” I interrupted the boys.

“We’ll pay you.” The guy took out his wallet and held out a wad of cash. I agreed immediately, taking the money.

The other boy hesitated, then pulled out some math homework and asked me if I could answer one of the questions. I quickly solved the problem, and with that, he was on board. “I’ll give you my half when we get back,” he said.

The two kids ran off. I started their homework, but after a while, I got bored and filled in the rest of the questions with random answers. Once done, I packed their stuff up and sat there waiting for their return. Time went by and I kept myself entertained by reading some books I found in their book bags until I saw a mother and father enter the park with their two sons.

I stared in awe as the man held one of his sons on top of his shoulders, and the mother kissed the scratch her eldest son got from falling. They had a small snack break nearby and despite the eldest child being tiny himself, he adored his baby brother and tried to pick him up and play with him. Eventually, the family moved on, leaving me alone in the park again. Finally, the two boys came back. The boy who gave me his math homework checked his bag and skimmed through the answers. With a sigh of satisfaction, he gave me his half of the money. I thanked them and left.

Counting the money, I realized it was a lot, at least, more than I had ever had access to.

I went into a gas station and bought some food, and afterward, I felt like it was time to take a nap.

I was on my way back to my dumpster when a thought suddenly occurred to me.

I groaned, mentally facepalming. “Where do I go now? That lady probably said something.” I backtracked toward the apartment I was in earlier. On the way, I saw the family from the park in a restaurant, and I stopped to watch them, my eyes filling up with tears. Blinking, I took one final look before quickly walking away, refusing to turn back. I hung my head low until I found the place, then I climbed back up the fire escape and into the apartment. Before looking for clothes that would fit a little better, I checked to make sure no one was home.

Sitting on one of the beds in the apartment, I took my backpack and pulled out my teddy bear, who I had named Freddy. I looked at Freddy, and everything within me was unleashed—pain, anger, sadness, frustration. I was beyond tired.

“Stop!” Tears dripped from my eyes. “Please,” I begged out loud, clutching at Freddy. “I’m all right,” I whispered. I started smiling, remembering how my mom would hand him to me every time… every time… I didn’t know. All I remembered was yelling, red, and suddenly my mother was holding me close while I held Freddy. She’d told me everything would be all right. I wiped away my tears and lay down on the big bed, wrapping my arms around my worn toy. It took no time at all for my body to adjust to the soft, comfortable mattress, and my eyes fell shut.

I found myself walking around a house—one I knew very well. One of my foster parents’ homes—actually, the best one. I pushed a door open at the top of the staircase and saw my foster mother lying on her death bed with a doctor and our family by her side. I quickly slammed the door, turned around, and angrily stomped down the stairs.

I shoved open a different door, and this time, I saw my mother. I froze, watching her as she quickly carried me away from something. It was just her, me, and Freddy in the middle of the night.

Without warning, the door slammed shut on its own. Feeling a strong presence behind me, I jerked my head around. It was my grandparents.

They stayed silent as my grandmother took my hand as if I were a child again, and we followed Grandpa. We walked up a different set of stairs, one I hadn’t seen before, and at the top was another door. My grandfather opened it, and I let go of my grandmother’s hand and stepped closer. We all walked in, and my grandmother closed the door behind us.

It was the scene from before. My mother set me down and held my hand while we continued walking. We passed a*****e, and I begged to go inside and get some candy. After I pleaded a bit, she agreed. We walked into the busy store, and she began picking things out. A man came inside. She glanced at him, then rushed me into a janitor’s closet.

The man waved a gun around and yelled, “Where are they?” After a few moments of looking around, he found my mother and stalked up to her. “Where is he?” he demanded.

She didn’t answer.

“Is he my son?” the man screamed. “Well? Is he?”

I left the closet. “Daddy?” the younger version of me called.

My eyes widened as my mother whirled around and screamed, “Run!”

Just as she did, a bullet was fired, and she hit the floor, splattering blood everywhere.

“No!” the younger me screamed.

I tried to run over to her, but my grandparents held me back.

I awoke coughing and panting. My heart was racing, so I held still, waiting for it to slow down. I put my hand over my chest, trying to catch my breath. Once I finally did, I checked the clock on the bedside table. It was around 5:00 p.m., but I still felt tired, like no time at all had passed between closing my eyes and reopening them.

Instead of going back to sleep, I grabbed Freddy and my backpack before leaving. I didn’t want to be in the apartment anymore.

I spent the next few hours roaming the streets, climbing up fire escapes, and watching people’s TVs through their windows.

I stopped to get something to eat before deciding to head back to my home. Hopefully, my dumpster wasn’t full. The walk was short, but I wished it had been longer. I turned down the alleyway where my dumpster was to see two strange, suspicious men. They spotted me and called out. I turned, frightened, and ran away, only for them to chase me. I grew tired quickly and knew I had to find somewhere to hide. Luckily, there was an empty pickup truck nearby. I climbed into the bed and lay down. It felt like hours passed while I held my breath, waiting to hear some sign of the men figuring out where I was. Eventually, despite the tension straining my muscles, I fell asleep.