Living a past
Alex had a hard time falling asleep; he always did. But what he was feeling now was different. Perhaps it was because of the tiny feeling of comfort he was having. He was used to sleeping on hard surfaces, but now with a soft bed, his…soothe was making his uneasy.
After hours of staring at the ceiling, rolling on the bed and mumbling lullabies to himself, he finally managed to fall asleep.
But instead of the normal sleep he desired, Alex dreamt…
Or more precisely, he travelled back to his past.
One of his powers; the ability for him to go back to his past, in dreams, and re-live it. Before you start getting envious, it is not a good thing, especially for someone with a dark past like Alex.
Imagine yourself fighting a pack of monster hound, this feeling hitting you and you suddenly fall asleep.
Well, it happened to Alex. The only reason he’s still alive is because the monsters thought he was dead and they only feed on preys they hunt and kill themselves.
The sky was crystal clear, not even a hint of impurity visible. It felt like the sky was reflecting his emotion, as that day was one of the best days of his life, if only he knew what would happen next.
Nonetheless, she was standing outside the main gate of the school. Her auburn hair danced furiously as the wind clashed against it. Her piercing brown eyes shone brightly like a charged car headlight, her beaded necklace glowing faintly.
Who’s she? Just a friend. The first person, aside his mum, who treated Alex like a human being. Like a normal person who deserved love and care.
Alex didn’t know why, but there was this feeling he always had around Sarah Noule that made him feel closer to her. Just like the feeling he had with Dylan.
Alex on the other hand was smiling broadly as he remembered what happened at the gymnasium. It was during break, and he and Sarah were hanging out together. Alex said something ridiculous, and Sarah began chasing him. When she was about to catch him, she tripped and Alex tried to catch her. But he underestimated her weight, as he fell, with her on top of him.
Alex felt the two bumps pressing against his chest, her hot breath landing on his nose. And like that, Alex couldn’t say if she did it intentional, but her lips landed on him.
That was his first kiss, if it could be counted as one. Even though he was in his past, he could feel his blood rushing through his ever agitated heart.
“Wouldn’t you say good bye,” Sarah’s soft voice whispered in his ears, as she flicked her long auburn hairs looking at Alex who just stood by the gate, staring at the beauty.
“B…” Alex was about to say something when a thunderous horn resounded in his ears, and a speeding bus ran over Sarah…
“Nooo…”
Alex woke up, still in the room Chiron provided for him.
He looked up and saw Dylan sitting quietly up on edge of his bed.
“Looks like you had a better night I did?” Alex scoffed as he saw the somewhat peaceful look on Dylan’s face.
“You should consider yourself lucky. Believe me, if you knew what dream I had, you’ll probably hang yourself; the rope tied to your stick.” Dylan gave Alex that weird smile that made him feel like a thousand cockroaches were crawling up his skin.
“We should probably get going; I already have a bad feeling about this place.” Dylan stared at the window; the little sunlight that managed to penetrate the curtain painting his face brown.
“Something about the dream?” Alex asked.
“Mmm…” Dylan didn’t reply and just casually walking to the door and unlocking it.
He turned back at Alex, “You comin?”
Alex sighed and got up from bed as he trailed behind Dylan.
Soon they got to the living room, and could see Chiron seated with a cup in his hand, steam puffing out.
“Ah, you’re awake already,” Was Chiron greetings, “I didn’t expect you to be up so early. Kemi, get them some coffee.”
The lady centaur from yesterday rushed and gave the two of them a cup of coffee each.
Alex stared at the coffee, but didn’t drink. Same with Dylan. They had been through so much that they could hardly trust anyone, especially someone welcoming. The only reason they were still at peace here was because of Old Man Jin.
“I believe we have some things to discuss, Mr. Chiron.” Dylan went straight to the point.
“Ah, that’s right. I almost forgot, but…”
Just then, a centaur trotted in, grinning like crazy. He must be one of the students of Chiron because he bowed slightly as he stood before Chiron. There were four bold tattoos drawn on his right arm, maybe it represented his rank,
He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like he’d just been slapped in the face with a beef. “The harpies. They’re at it again.”
Chiron frowned. “The harpies, eh? I see those old ladies wouldn’t learn until we burn down their landscape”
“But they’re not alone” the centaur said and Chiron widened his eyes.
“Not alone?”
“Yes. They’re with the Tropin tribe”
The slight frown of Chiron’s face suddenly twisted into a stoic one, void of expression.
“Did you say Tropin Tribe? What are they doing here?”
“They keep saying that you stole something for them, and they would not leave without getting it.”
There was a long silence as Chiron scratched his chin. He turned to the centaur. “Milf, perhaps you should keep my visitors company while I go talk to the –eh, harpies” he turned to them “boys, this is milf, my foreman. And milf this is, ah, I do not know their names, silly me. Just make them feel comfortable”
He galloped out of the room leaving a long trial of dust. Kelto trotted after him screaming. “Wait up. Do you think you can handle those old ladies all by yourself? To top it, you’re dressed in your nightwear.”
Milf looked at the two humans and frowned, “I have to help the boss.”
With that he also followed after Chiron, completely forgetting the order his boss gave him.
Alex and Dylan looked at each other before coming to a final conclusion. Their heart was already racing from knowing what could happen.
IT didn’t take them long to find the scene, due to all the centaurs there.
They managed to push through the crowd of agitated centaurs. They had to cower between their legs to avoid getting trampled. A couple times, Alex almost got stampede if not for Dylan who was there to save the day. They finally got to the front and saw some centaurs –no they only look like one. Alex stared from Chiron to them, the difference was clear.
They were also half horse and half human but they had tattoos drawn all over their bodies, had no shirt on as they displayed their hairy chest, and were armed with all sort of dangerous weapons that would put the top bandit group to shame. They looked exactly like the razz version of Chiron.
Hovering above them was another set of confusing and ugly creatures. They were ladies –old ones. They had sticky and shaggy hairs; their face was badly wrinkled like someone mistakenly left a hot pressing iron on their face. Their rest bodies were that of a bird. Their legs were rough and filled with little strands of hair making them look like and under fed day old chickens.
Chiron stood by the border, his bow drawn. “I advice you leave now.” He said in a low tone. “I’m beginning to let loose my patience.”
A razz centaur walked out. He held a long double edged axe and beat his palm on the surface of the blade. He had the tattoo of a three headed snake drawn on his chest, arm and pretty much every other part of his body. Below his left eyes stood a red scar like he was clawed in the face with a one fingered lion.
He let out a wild laugh, which was probably enough to make Alex sick for several weeks. “Do you think we’re here to joke?” He said. “C’mon Chiron, we’re only here to take what’s rightfully ours.”
“And food! Food!” a harpy screamed “we want food.”
“Yea, and if you could also help us with some supplies,” The Centaur laughed nervously.
The earlier harpy dived toward one of the thug centaur who was with a cheese. She snatched it up and flew high in the air where half a dozen other harpies met her and began fighting for the cheese.
Milf stepped forward and stood behind his master. He now wore a black armor, his sword drawn over his head like he wanted to smite Chiron on the head. “Get away Attropis” he said to the other centaur. “Just yesterday, your men killed seven of our –” he paused like he was about to say students, suddenly forgetting he was also a student. “My friends. We let that slide all because we didn’t want war. But if you don’t leave now we’ll be forced to –”
“Calm boy.” Attropis interrupted, which only made Milf angrier. But he could only grit his teeth and watch Attropis maliciously.
“Like I said, we’re only here to take something of ours you have with you. But if you wouldn’t give them up in peace, then...” He raised his axe in the air. The centaurs behind him also brandished their weapons, ready for a fight.
Chiron’s students could only look at him, waiting for orders, but he only stood there calmly.
“What is it we took from you?”
“Yesterday, we saw some …..”
His eyes suddenly landed on Alex and Dylan who were hiding behind some centaurs.
“Who knew you would be sore thoughtful to bring them to us” Attropis said with a large smile.
“WHAT THE FUCK!” Alex almost screamed as he took a few steps back.
* * * TO BE CONTINUED * * *