A Promised Neverland

Chapter 1: Colors And Memories A pair of silver eyes stared back at me. The sorrounding darkness and the soft glow from the golden string of sunlight slipping past those fluttering curtains made those eyes even more mysterious and intimidating. It's as though the whole portrait itself is real and the main subject in it watches me from behind those man-made frames. It was not the first that I saw this painting, after all, I am the one who created this. Nevertheless, I still feel something everytime I look at it. I don't know why. Perhaps because in my and everyone else's perspective, it seems so surreal. I'm not complimenting my skills and ability to hold a paint brush and give life with colors. I am merely asking myself my reasons why I even painted it in the first place. Whilst I was so deep in thought I did not noticed a group of people approaching my location. So it surprised me when a voice called out to me and a hand landed on my shoulder. "What?" I said, not even sparing a glance at their direction. Simon, a guy from the business department whose hand is on my shoulder leaned closer to the painting. There's an amused smile playing on his lips whilst his eyes racked the entire painting as though looking for something. I crossed my arms over my chest and remained staring straight ahead, my eyes still glued at the white wolf in the painting. The air conditioner in this hall blared at its maximum, the cold air pricking the exposed skin of my body. I shivered and I exhaled a sigh. It's cold. "You know, I've always wanted to ask you this. Why do you always paint this white wolf?" Asked Simon. I have been asking myself the same thing as well. Ever since I have started to paint I have been painting this wolf ever since. "I don't know." I answered truthfuly, then I looked at him straight in the eyes. Since Simon is a lot taller than me and I only reaches his shoulder, I needed to tilt my head up high, looking up at him I asked. "Why?" He shrugged his shoulders before pulling his hand off of my shoulder, stuffing both inside his pant's pocket. "Nothing. I just think it's kinda..." Simon thought over the right word to use, so to spare him from thinking too much, I answered in his stead. "Weird?" He shaked his head. "No. Maybe unusual?" Cyntia frowned and walked closer to the painting, behind her is Russia sticking close to her like her bodyguard. Cyntia's short dress exposed her pair of long, slender white legs. The sounds of heels from her high heeled shoes echoed in my ear, mimicking that of a grandfather clock with her slow movement. It didn't escaped my eyes how Russia sent a threatening glares at the direction of the men drooling over Cyntia. They immediately backed off upon seeing Russia's threatening glare. If I am in their situation, I would gladly do the same thing as well. I witnessed it first hand how scary and deadly Russia could be. She's tall, even taller than me as she is 6"1 without even wearing heeled shoes and I am only 5"8. With her long limbs and strength from being a taekwondo black belter and our university's taekwondo club's captain, she can easily break anyone's arms or legs. And ever since that day, I promised myself never to get on her bad side. My hands are the most important part of my body and I'm not lossing it. "The dog's cute though." Said Cyntia that made us all frown. "Cyntia it's not a dog. It's a wolf." Said Simon. Cyntia smiled sweetly. "But it's cute." "And it's a wolf." Simon and Cyntia's bickering only stopped when someone spoke with a soft voice. We all stared at Nickolai. He now stand in between me and Simon and I didn't even noticed him. He's so silent that sometimes it even scares us. But we didn't dare tell him that. Nickolai is a very shy boy. If he learns that he sometimes does something that scares us he'd surely cry. And Cyntia's going to kill us if we make the youngest cry. "But it's sad." "Sad?" Simon stared at the painting once again. Wondering why Nickolai said that the painting is sad. I remained silent, anticipating Nickolai's next words. In spite of his weak and shy appearance, Nickolai is a wonderful person. He sees the world differently from how we normally see it. He's a literary student so I guess that's why he has his way for words. When Nickolai speaks, no one can turn a deaf ear to his words, after all, everyone admires him for his intelligence and sincerity that he often express in those brief moments of speaking. "The wolf seemed to have been staring at something longingly." His eyeglasses lustered the blinding light of the exhibition room where all of the paintings in the contest are displayed. This competition is annually held in this university to give opportunities for the art students to show off their skills. I thought I saw something glimmered behind those glasses, like tears threatening to fall. However, when I look again, it's gone. But his eyes still look so sad and sincere though so maybe it's not just my imagination. "It's eyes look so sad. It's as though the wolf is watching something behind those frames. Something it wanted so much." Nickolai stared at me then asked. "Andrew, who is that wolf?" I was really surprised by his last words. Who is that wolf? Why is he asking that? Does he really think that I know it personally? Everyone thinks that the wolf is just a part of my imagination, after all, who would go near that enormous and dangerous looking creature? Nickolai's words made me really think over those neglected thoughts that has been bugging me ever since the first time those silvery eyes appeared in my dream. Who is that wolf? I don't know. I have no idea. It's just there, always waiting in the depths of my mind, appearing right after I close my eyes. The wolf is always there and I don't know who it is. I unconsciouly stared worriedly at the painting--- at the wolf inside the dark room where only a small amount of sunlights slipping past those fluttering curtains brigthens the room. "I don't know." I answered truthfuly. "Well, it's not really that important, right? What's important is that our buddy here won the first place again!" Said Simon truimpantly. His huge smiles seemed to have brightened each other's moods as well as they started to congratulate me and talk about how talented I am for always winning the first prize. However, that night I couldn't feel at ease. Nickolai's words were like a cold bucket of water suddenly poured over my sleeping brain, waking it in a sudden manner. It is pitiful of me how I am letting Nickolai's words bother me, knowing that I don't really know the wolf personally. Maybe I'm just being paranoid since the wolf has been appearing less and less this past few weeks in my dreams. It seems like I'm just afraid of a dreamless night. "...drew... Andrew?" I was forcefully dragged from my train of thoughts when I heard my mother's voice. I looked at her. "Huh? Ah sorry, what was that?" Mom looked at me worriedly for a moment before giving me her sweet smile. "Andrew congratulation for winning." "Thanks Mom." This time it's Dad who spoke and I laughed at what he said. "You know what, son? Sometimes I really doubt if you really are our son. Neither me nor your mom knew how to paint and you just happen to be so good at it." Dad looked at Mom. "Honey are you sure we didn't accidentally swiped our real son with this talented young man here?" Mom laughed at Dad's remarks. Seeing them like this makes my heart warm and not long after the thoughts about that silver wolf vanished from my mind. "Silly, of course he's our son. Have you forgotten? Papa is an excellent painter!" Mom exclaimed. "Ah, yes. You're right. And speaking of Papa, Andrew won't you go to your Mom's hometown to go visit for your Grandpa's tenth year death anniversary? Your Grandma's expecting you to go this year since you haven't been there for a long time." "Ah." I thought of my schedule and when I realized that it will be summer soon and university would be finished that time, I agreed to go with them to visit grandpa's grave. It's been a long time since the last time I visited that place. I guess having a trauma for moving vehicles really got the best of me. But now that I'm a lot well than before, I guess traveling from long distanced places is not that a problem anymore. Additionally, I also feel bad that I haven't been visiting Grandpa's grave for the past years. He's wonderful man and I really love him. It's just sad that we lost him a lot sooner because of an accident. In the middle of eating, Mom suddenly spoke as though she just remembered something. "Oh, honey." She looked at Dad who didn't stopped eating but attentively listened to what my mother wanted to say. "Isn't that white wolf in Andrew's paitings looks so much alike David?" ...David? Suddenly, I felt my heart fluttered violently within my chest. And my chest feels heavy. I don't know how to describe this feeling. Surprise? Sadness?... Excitement? I don't know. That name sent a terrifying chills all through out my body though. As though I just heard a name of a lover I haven't seen for a long time. "David? Oh yes." Dad set his spoon down. His eyes were in a slit as though he's thinking so much about something. "Now that I think of it, that wolf really did look so much like David." When I can no longer hold my curiousity, I spoke. "Uh, who's David?" "David? Hm, I guess you still haven't remember him yet huh." Dad took a sip on his water before continuing. "David was your grandpa and grandma's neigbhor's pet. Everyone knows it was a wolf but everyone really adores David. He's a good wolf." Dad chuckled. "I remember you won't even go home unless we drag you back because you love that little white wolf so much." It's so sudden that I don't even want to believe it either. ...so that white wolf was real? Is that the reason why it often appears in my dreams? "But... why don't I remember it?" "Why? Because you lost your memory of the summer ten years ago. You were just a child then when that accident happened." Mom looks so sad. However, I still wanted to ask something. "Is that the same accident where grandpa died?" "Yes." Mom sadly answered. "Then... where's that wolf now?" "It died." After dinner I went straight to bed feeling uneased... and sad. And I don't even know why I'm feeling like this. It's not like I have so a reason to feel this emotions towards the white wolf. It--- the wolf is nothing but just a small portion of my distant past that I happened to have forgotten. I think I will just sleep this off. I'm sure tomorrow this feelings would be gone. I don't need to be this devastated over something so... unimportant. With that in mind, I turned the lights off and instantly fell asleep upon closing my eyes. The exhaustion and worry instantly lulling me to sleep. The next time I opened my eyes I was instantly greeted by the darkness. Nothing but the darkness. I roamed my eyes over the place but there was nothing else. I took a contemplating step. "David?" Nothing responsed to my call and fear instantly started to invade my chest. Where is David? "David where are you? Come on, let's play." My small voice resonated through out the dark place. There was a tremble in my voice. I don't like dark places. It's scary. But unlike me, David prefer dark places. He doesn't want to go out that much. From the corner of my eyes, I saw something white moved and emmerged from the darkness. I happily faced that direction and soon enough I saw a beautiful young wolf staring back at me. It's beautiful white fur looks so much like the snows from the other countries we sometimes go to. But David's fur is the best. It's so smooth and soft. And David is warm. That's why I like him so much. I smiled at David, then stared happily back at those pair of silver eyes. "Come, David, let's play. Mom said I can play with you as long as we don't go to the woods." I remembered how angry Mom was when she found out I walked David to the woods. They always think something bad is going to happen to me but David always protects me. Like when there's a huge bug on my head. David saved me. But he bit the bug though. So I told him not to do it again. He doesn't need to kill the poor bug, after all it's just probably resting on my head. I slowly walked towards David who, unlike always, didn't even moved from that spot. Why? Does he not want to play with me? I was worried that David is sick that's why he can't move, so I walked faster. Then I stumbled over something and the next thing I knew I was already falling down. Out of fear of falling onto the floor, I recklessly waved my hand to grab for something. Fortunately, I got a hold of something and successfully avoided falling. I thought I heard someone screamed 'no' but before I can look at the person who spoke, a sudden surge of light filled the place. I closed my eyes and when I opened it again, I can already see the place clearly. The room was spacious. But it looks simple and warm. Like David. Yes, this is where David and I always sleep at. Granny, David's owner, said this was her son's room. But her son is no longer here. "Andrew." I heard Mom's voice. I looked out of the window and saw Mom looking at me. She offered me her hand whilst still smiling at me. I happily reached for her hand and accidentaly pulled the curtain even further. I sudden cry from the far corner of the room caught my attention and I instantly looked back. David retreated back into the darkness. But instead of a paw, what I got a glimpse of before the darkness completely concealed him was a pale white hand. "David?" I was about to go to him when Mom spoke again. "Andrew let's go. Dad's waiting for you." "But David is..." A horn of a car was heard. It blared from a distance and I knew it was Dad's car. "Come on, we're leaving now. Don't worry, next time you can play with David again." Easily convinced like the kid that I am, I agreed to her. However, I still feel sad that I'm going to leave David alone in this dark place. "Okay." I quickly reached for Mom's hand again. But then a human hands covered in fur emmerged from the darkness and embraced me from behind. The warm palms resting on my chest as though feeling the beating of my heart. Then a voice said: "You promised An. So why did... you left me?" I was gasping for air when I wake up. I was also covered in sweat as though I had just ran a marathon. What was that? That was really different from my many other dreams about the white wolf. Normally, I would just stare at the wolf. Or we would just going to sit by each other's side. Never once did we talked to each other. But this dream, I called the wolf by its name and it called me An. Damn. This must be the effect of thinking too much about that wolf. I went out of bed and into the bathroom with my heart still fluterring violently within the safety of my chest. I immediately washed my face before facing the mirror. Then I stared at my own reflection. I reached for my chest where those hands covered in fur landed whilst I'm being embraced from the back. 'It's warm.' ...David. "Did I really promised something?" I whispered unconsciously whilst still staring at my own reflection. "An, you did." I was taken aback by those words and fearfully roamed my eyes over the bathroom. There was no one here but me. I tightly closed my eyes and shake my head. 'Get a grip of yourself, Andrew.' Damn it! I quickly took a shower, wore my clothes, retrieved my things on the floor then went to the university. I did not bother to eat my breakfast even though Mom insisted that I do. I'm not in the mood to eat. When I arrived at the university everything seems normal and it was just really me who looked like a damn zombie. I was out of it and did not even understood a single thing althrough out the day. Even when at lunch I did not participated to my friend's bickering because the dream was still bothering me. And when the night comes and I closed my eyes. I was honestly anticipating another dream where there's only me and that beautiful white wolf. However there was none. And even after another nights. And another nights again. And just like that a month has passed and university ended. Summer approached so quickly it's as though I was still in a dream. But I knew I'm in the real world. Because there's no white wolf in here.