Noah

Chapter 1. He Is Noah

The boy, who was about 10 years old, stood frozen in front of his bedroom door. His eyes didn't blink at all. He wasn't looking at something pleasant in front of him, but rather something that made his knees tremble.

Pyar...

The sound of something being thrown could be heard, echoing throughout the room. The boy remained frozen in place.

"Dad, Mom, stop! Don't fight like this, why are you scaring us?" said a girl with two braids in her hair, trying to get between her parents as they argued.

"Shut up, Nat!" snapped a beautiful woman with shoulder-length hair. "You're still young and don't know what's going on here. So be quiet!" She snapped at the 16-year-old girl again.

"Sandra! Don't snap at your daughter like that. She's an adult and has the right to know everything," snapped a man with jet-black hair.

"She does need to know everything, everything about what you've been doing out there. You're disgusting. I don't want to be with you anymore, and Noah will come with me later. He won't live with a jerk like you!" she shouted in a high-pitched voice.

"Noah... Noah, where are you?" The woman walked towards her son's room. Noah was stunned to see his mother's tear-stained face. She sat with her knees supporting her body, her hands tightly holding Noah's arms. "Noah, you're coming with me. You don't have to stay here anymore."

The little boy's hand reached up to wipe the tears from his mother's cheeks. "Mom, why?"

"Mom is fine, dear. Now take your bag and let's leave this house." The woman stood up and grabbed the black backpack on the study table. She put some of Noah's clothes into the bag and took Noah's hand, leading him out of the room.

The man with black hair just stared silently at his wife and young son. "Mom, I don't want you and Dad to separate. Noah and I still need you. Please, Mom," Noah's older sister held her mother's hand tightly, begging her not to leave the house.

"Let go, Nat!" The woman shook her hand off roughly. "You should go with your dad, because Mom is only taking Noah with her."

"Mom, I'm staying with Nathali," Noah said softly.

"You're going with Mom, Noah. We'll leave them behind, and if you want to see Nathali later, Mom can take you."

Noah and his mother walked towards the exit. As his mother was about to open the door, Noah's father shouted loudly. Instantly, Noah and his mother turned around. There they saw Nathali's body lying on the floor with her hands covered in blood.

"Nat!" Noah's mother screamed. Noah could only stand there in silence, completely shocked to see his sister's motionless body as his parents called out her name.

Noah could only watch as his father carried his sister's body out and into the car, while his mother tried to talk to Noah, but Noah seemed unable to hear clearly what she was saying.

"Noah, wake up... wake up, Noah!" someone's voice called out to Noah, and instantly Noah opened his eyes, drenched in sweat.

"And, this—?" Noah immediately woke up from his sleep, sitting next to his best friend.

"Did you have another nightmare? Was it about your family?"

"Damn it! I want to forget that past so badly." Noah rubbed his face roughly.

"Come on! That happened years ago, you have to forget about it." The man patted Noah on the shoulder.

It had indeed been a long time ago, and now Noah was no longer a naive and awkward little boy, he had grown into a very handsome man with a sturdy physique, but the memories of his past were truly a nightmare in his sleep. Those memories had changed Noah into a different person.

Noah took a deep breath. "I do have to forget about it. I even have to forget that I ever had a family like that." Noah got up from where he was sitting and went to the refrigerator to look for his favorite alcoholic drink.

“Noah, what are your plans for this morning? We don’t have a single penny. Should we just go to your stepfather’s house and, as usual, ask him for money?”

"I don't want to, let's go to the race track tonight, where I'll challenge Bruno and Hugo to a race, and I'm sure we'll make some money there."

Daniel, Noah's best friend, threw himself onto the bed. "Then what are we going to do this morning?" he asked lazily.

"I want to go somewhere today."

"What? Go somewhere? Then I'm coming with you." Dan immediately got up from his spot.

"Sorry, Dan, I can't take you with me. I want to go there alone. You stay here." Noah grabbed his black jacket and the motorcycle keys on the nightstand.

“Are you hiding something from me, Noah?” Dan asked suspiciously. “We’ve been friends for a long time, ever since you ran away from home. We decided to live together like brothers, without any secrets.”

Noah just gave him a smirk and left the room. Dan lay back down, already knowing his friend’s nature.

Noah had arrived at his destination. He parked his motorcycle and walked slowly into the cemetery. It was very quiet there; Noah was the only person in sight. He stood at one of the graves without a name on the tombstone.

Noah sat down on his haunches beside the grave. "I'm sorry I never came here, but I will always remember you." Noah was silent for a moment, his memories of the past seemingly replaying clearly in front of him.

"Why did you lie to me all this time, Mom? I hate you, I even want to forget that I have a family. You are not the parents I hoped for!"

Tlit... Tlit...

Noah snapped out of his reverie. When his phone in his pocket rang, he saw a familiar name on the screen.

"Hello."

"Noah, can you come here later?" asked someone on the other end of the line.

"I can come tomorrow morning, but I can't come now. Is everything okay?” Noah asked with a worried expression, hoping everything would be fine.

The man on the other end of the line, who was calling Noah, didn’t answer Noah’s question. It seemed like he was still thinking about what to say to Noah.

“Why aren’t you answering me?” Noah repeated again.