111 Trespassing Memories

He walked along a path; his own, no other's. But every now and then, it crossed with another's.

{ JENZAYA EDUCATION }

He stood outside a familiar building. Right at the base of the Heart of Jenzaya.

"I never even got to… graduate here…"

He walked inside. Going through, he knew he wouldn't be able to access that many floors as usual. He was long gone from being a student there. But walking through the nostalgic halls, he was reminded of that fateful day he'd received the call.

It was during a class. His teacher handed him a phone with a call from home.

"Abel… Your father and I have some really bad news…"

"What is it mother?"

"That group of people we borrowed money from, well… we haven't been able to repay our debt on time…"

"H-Huh? Is everything alright?"

His mom sobbed. "No, no.... Not at all… You need to come back home now. Right now, please."

He'd told his teacher about the issue, and left the classroom. Abel didn't know that it would be his last time ever being there.

"W-What!?" Abel dropped his bag.

"I said that we plan on killing you parents right here!" The man pointed a gun at his mother's head. "Do you hear me!?"

"Yes! Yes! I hear you! I hear you! Just please, hold on a second!" He fell to his knees, pleading. "Don't harm my parents. I beg of you, please, just don't…"

The man began to laugh. "They took a big chunk of money out of my boss y'know? And they didn't pay it back on time. Nothing, absolutely zero. You know what happens when you mess with a mafia, right?"

Abel nodded, trembling in fear.

Click!

The man's gun fired a blank, right into the ear of his mother.

"STOP!!!" Abel fell forwards, his face splashing against the floor with tears. The rest of the men there began laughing. It was one sick joke.

"You're lucky buddy. This gun's got no bullets loaded yet." He reached into his pocket, loading a magazine into the pistol. Cocking it, he now pointed it at Abel. "Tell me why I shouldn't just end your life right now?"

Abel's eyes grew. He'd never been sent into such a state; one of fear to a point of painful paralysis. He couldn't move.

"Well? Go on, speak boy."

Abel tried to mutter, but his voice croaked.

"What are you, a frog?"

"I-I-I d-don't want-t to d-die—"

"THEN TELL ME WHY YOU SHOULDN'T!"

"STOP IT!!!" His mother now screamed.

"What's this?" He looked down at her, now aiming his gun back towards her head. "I hope you know that this is actually loaded now."

"STOP!!! I'LL DO ANYTHING!" Abel put his head onto the floor. "ANYTHING! PLEASE! JUST SPARE MY PARENTS!"

"Too bad kid, your mom dies right HERE—!"

"Stop." A thick man walked into the room.

The man with the gun immediately set at ease. "Boss?"

"You say you'll do anything, boy?" The thick man asked Abel. He nodded in response. "You're lucky I'm feeling generous today. Your parents owe a deep debt to me. How would you feel if you were given the chance to repay that for them?"

Abel nodded again. His desperation was too high.

"And you'll do that by... Hmm... How about being a servant in my household? The more time you serve me, the more I remove from your parents' debt, understand?"

"Y-Yes…"

What Abel didn't know was the information given the following day. A day where he was already established in the household of his 'master', a day where he was now established as a servant, and a day where he was established to be stuck for the rest of his life.

"Every day you work for me is $10 off your parents' debt."

Abel nodded. "I understand, sir. If you don't mind me asking, how much is my parents' debt?"

His master looked at him and smiled. "$950,000"

"H-Huh?"

The man broke into a roar of laughter.

It was over for Abel. He'd be spending the rest of his life in that house. The house that had a garden, where he spent most of his days working. Always in the sun; white, yellow, orange, red; he sleeps. He wakes up, and it repeats. Over and over again, day after day, he only knew the sentiment of heat. The heat of the sun that scorched his skin, and the heat of the sun that blinded his eyes.

"So… bright…"

It took two years for Abel's eyes to fully adjust to the sun's brightness. By this time, he could now look directly into the sun without squinting.

"You are not my enemy anymore."

It was soon after that Abel stained the white roses red; a day that would change his life forever for a second time; a day that would lead to where he found himself right now.

"Full… circle… Right back where I started…"

He followed the halls out into the back; a place where younger Nexi were allowed to play.

"Recess…"

Abel's happier memories began to unfold. His younger days where all was innocent. His days fond of playing with his younger Nexi friends.

But it was here that Abel made the mistake of crossing paths with the memorable territory of another.

"You fucking SUCK!" He was punched in the face, beat to the floor. "The answers you gave us for the examination were all wrong. And now we're all gonna fail because of you." The boys began throwing kicks at him as he curled into a fetus position on the floor.

"What is… this…?" Abel watched the memory unfold. But he didn't recognize it as his own. It was overlapping with his joyful memories of playing with friends.

The group of boys continued to kick him, bruising every single inch of his body, and possibly fracturing some bones in the process.

"My friends never did this…" Abel recognized that this memory was not part of his past. "This never happened to me… or did it…?" He now began to second-guess himself.

"When did… this happen to me…?"

Abel now found himself unsure. He considered the probable fragile state of mind he bore. After all, he'd been roaming the country homeless for over a year now.

He shook his mind off, turning away from the gruesome memory that took place. One of a boy who didn't even look like him. One of a boy he didn't know, but really did.

"Maybe I haven't slept enough… or maybe I'm just hungry… starving…"

As he walked away from the area, he felt his heart grow in heat. He clutched his chest, noticing the unnatural sentiment. "What is this… feeling…?"

He barely recognized it. But he did remember harboring it once, or too many times. The last time he'd felt this in his heart was over a year ago.

"That day…"

The day that he saw all white. White walls, white floors, white ceilings, white bodies. But that same day was filled with fractures in his memory. It felt as if his memories intertwined with another's, leaving blanks in his mind, but also heat in his chest.

The same feeling could be felt right now.

A growing rise in anger within; one that wasn't his, and one he didn't bear.

"Where is this growing grudge I feel, coming from…?"

Abel walked it off. He left Jenzaya Education having seen memories of two. He left Jenzaya Education with the emotions of another.

He didn't realize this yet though.

"Mother… Father…"

He walked off into the distance, in search.