Lost Child

A hand patted down on the small boy's soft brown hair. An innocent grew on his face as he held the hand on his head. His sparkling little emeralds looked up at the young woman standing over him, she was smiling back at the child with kindness.

"Alex, you will always be my little fighter. No matter what, I will make sure no one ever hurts you." Said the young woman as she stroked Alex's head. She lifted her hand only for Alex to grab it.

"You don't need to worry sister, I'm gonna be so strong just like you. One day I'll help you fight the bad people." Alex looked at his sister with smile but with a look of determination in his youthful eyes. She pinched his cheek and laughed.

"With those pretty eyes you're not fighting anyone. You are gonna be my little angel boy." She responded. He frowned and stuck out his tongue and she responded with a kiss to his forehead.

"Kenza hurry up, they're waiting on us." A deep voice called from the door. Kenza quickly gave Alex another kiss on the forehead.

"Coming dad!" she yelled out. "I'll be back later. Go over to Kelsey's house. Her mom is my friend, she'll look after you until we get back." Alex nodded and they both headed to the door to their father. Alex went to his neighbours where he would wait for their return.

This was a routine which happened almost every two or three days. It wasn't all bad as he made friends with a girl a year older than him. Her name was Kelsey and was aged 8. They would play for half the day but would get tired and just randomly walk around the house pretending to fight imaginary ninjas. This was a routine since Alex was 5. He had never met his real mother, so he always saw his sister as his mother figure although she was only currently seventeen.

He marvelled the strength and persistence of his sister. She had strict fitness routine which she had given herself and amazing combat skills. He always said he wanted to be as strong as her. Sometimes she went out solo on 'jobs' and was classed as a top class 'member'. Alex didn't understand what any of this meant but knew his sister was special.

At the age of eight Alex was home with his father whilst Kenza was out. She told him she would take him to get desserts when she got back. He sat in his room to hear his father yelling downstairs.

"What do you mean she's gone MIA! You should've made her return a priority!" He yelled into the phone. Alex stood on the stairs and looked at his father. He put the phone down and reached over to lift Alex. "Kiddo, Kenza may not be coming home today, she's really busy at work."

Alex looked at his father with a smile. "She'll be back tomorrow won't she, she's really strong."

His father looked down. "I hope so."

Alex waited for her return for days, which slowly turned to weeks, months, eventually 3 years had passed, and Alex had started learning basic self defence. His father had told him that Kenza was waiting for him to become strong. With the passion to be like his sister, he put passion into his training until he was strong enough to fight his father one on one. He couldn't beat him but had still made drastic progress until he was 14.

It was a late night both him and father in their rooms. The streets outside had their occasional ruckus of drunks and fights. Alex was sleepless, he couldn't forget about his sister, but knew she was most likely gone even though his father tried to avoid talking about her. Little did he know that tonight was the night he would have his reunion.

There was a smash from the window the room downstairs. He quickly went to investigate and saw a young woman standing in the centre of the room with a black hoodie with the hood up. She looked at him and he was frozen to see a familiar face. His father quickly followed was shocked to see her.

She looked up at her father with a worried expression. "We need to leave, hide, they're coming. Dad we need to go, we're in danger." She urged. "Alex, we need to get somewhere safe."

His father inhaled deeply. "Take Alex. I'm gonna see this through. They're probably on their way now. You two need to get away. You two still have your lives ahead of you." He gave a cool yet sad smile to Alex and stroked his hair.

Alex's eyes grew blank from the realisation of what was going on. "But dad..." Before he could speak, Kenza quickly grabbed his hand and they left for the car. His father waved as he looked out the window leaving the street.

Kenza kept her hood up as she drove kept Alex in the back seat. "I have a safe house in another town. Your friend from your school lives there so you'll be staying with him. The bills are covered by the boss, but you don't have to worry about that." She told him this as slowly as she could so he could process the information, but he remained silent and blank. "Alex... Please, when you get there, I want your story to be that dad was ill and couldn't look after us. I want you to forget this life."

They reached a town that was quiet. A little street near a college was where the house was located. "Get out and tell the person who answers the door your name." She instructed.

"Are you not coming too?" He said with urgency. "You only just got back."

She sighed. "The people know who I am so I'll be on the run. Sticking around will only be dangerous. Now get out." Her eyes watered up. Alex left the car and walked to the door of the building without looking back as tears trickled down his face.

"Why now? First dad and now you. Please come back for me." He spoke.

Kenza held her head on her steering wheel unsure if she'll ever be able to return. She knew how much Alex was hurting and wanted to comfort him. She wanted to play with his hair one more time. But she drove off choking on her emotions.

Alex knocked on the door to be answered by a face he knew well. His best friend from school who moved a year ago. His name was Prince, and he was excited to see him. Prince helped him fight through his emotions unaware of what was going on. They went to college together Alex couldn't forget but tried to live a normal life.