Fateful Encounter

Faye's attention shifted to the person standing next to her who was also reading the same magazine.

She was a young woman with common brown hair that reaches her napes. The pair of charcoal-colored eyes remind her of someone.

She simply watched her enter the store and took a seat on one of the offered tables.

It didn't take long for Craig to look for her.

"Don't wander around. Remember you are a good target these days."

"Yes, sorry."

***

Nikolas woke up with a chill as cold August air blows into the classroom. He had fallen asleep in the middle of class but it continued as if nothing happened.

The professor didn't even bother glancing his way, ranting away about history that could have been altered as the generations passed. Then his classmates pretended to listen, occupied in their own little worlds.

Just then, the bell rang to signal the end of class. The professor walked out of the classroom after the students bid their goodbyes. They gathered their belongings and prepared to leave.

He looked outside of the window beside his seat, the silhouette of his classmates turning hazy as he looked far away to the distant mountain that looks it would crumble under the pressure of the clouds.

The laughter died down soon and the room was now quiet, the kind of peace and freedom Nikolas could only feel when alone.

He watched as the sky was colored in different hues of orange and red as dusk approaches. He wished this moment would last forever as a painting stuck in time.

As the sun finally set, another set of bells rang and echoed through the whole capital. It came from the cathedral's tower, the Campanile. Its eerie 'dongs' signal it is twilight, the moment when the sun's light and the night's darkness overlap, believed to be the moment when the underworld overlaps with the land of mortals. It was also the time for his solitude to end.

He walked down the dim and quiet corridors, the halls becoming a familiar place to him as he found recluse from the attention of society and family.

It was already dark when Nikolas got to leave the school. The moon has waned and only a single star illuminates the night as a billion others hid behind the clouds. Lightning sparks could be occasionally seen, attempting to escape and struck.

Under the bleak sky is the fully lighted city of Aarti. At its heart is the city center composed of the Academy, the Cathedral, the Public Library, and the chain of business establishments and mansions of nobles.

For someone like Nikolas, it is another unwelcome and hostile environment. He was already wondering how he accepted and thought of stepping into this place. But he knows where to stand. No, to be exact, it could not be forgotten.

He walked not in the crowded streets with those proud wealthy people, instead, he crawl in the filthy alleys leading to the old downtown area, that now has become the slums - a place for the poor, the homeless, and the outcasts.

Nikolas entered an apartment complex with several rooms to rent and climbed a flight of stairs that creeks as rusts fall. Then he stopped before a certain room.

The foul smell of alcohol, tobacco, and human waste greeted him the moment he opened the door. He had the urge to retch but held himself before changing into his indoor slippers and walking to the living room.

A bottle of alcohol rolled when he accidentally kicked it along his way, rolling towards a few more other bottles. Ashes and tobacco butts are scattered. But he could not see his deplorable father.

Did the man go out to buy another box of alcohol? Nikolas clicked his tongue and decided to follow his father. He could not care if the latter drank another jug, but it would be troublesome if the man got into an accident or fight against the neighborhood thugs.

He went towards his room to leave his things but an unfamiliar woman was there instead, moaning and having lost her sanity, writhing in pleasure at every thrust of the man he was looking for.

Her moan turned to pleas in Nikolas' hearing. Her submission changed into defiance and resistance in his eyes. Until he thought he saw his father strangle the woman until she was gasping for air. She looked at Nikolas for help, eyes streaming with tears, her fingers bore into the sheets as she clutched this for air.

Nikolas could not watch longer as his vision started to blur. The guilt, sorrow, and regret build up from the pit of his stomach and he found himself running away, covering his mouth to not throw up.

Tears fell from his eyes as he sobbed and uttered his sorries over and over again. His pain and cries were mirrored as the sky trembled at the thunder's glory and the rain has finally come.

The water was cold as it trickle down the sides of his face, drenching his clothes and making it feel even colder.

The scar of the past is aching. He thought it has healed but it is coming back again. The memories he thought he had locked away are attempting to break free. The relief of thinking he had escaped was just pretense after all.

He ran as if he could run away from his past that he did not notice a person going his way and eventually bump into the latter; his knees gave way and he fell to the ground, disgorging the little food he consumed for the day.

His vision is blurred and hazy, thinking the rain has stopped as a pair of dark gray eyes look down at him.

He stretched his filthy hand, watching to touch the latter's form, afraid to lose her. "Ni... Nikki"

The person caught his hand, the warmth from their palms traveled to his body and brought peace to him. His chaotic thoughts disappeared, his heart beating steadily.

"Nikki. Don't leave me." He mumbled before losing consciousness, his head resting in the person's warm palms.

***