Remember

Wait! Something is missing. I quickly did a scan of the living room before my eyes landed on the almost forgotten item. Shoot! After checking that bag multiple times, you still nearly left it. As I picked up the silver heart-shaped locket, I paused. As I ran my fingers over the scratched metal and worn-out chain attached, I sighed. Get yourself together, seriously. With the thought of forgetting another valuable or needed item, one last check of the house didn’t seem like such a bad proposition.

Upstairs first. Placing the locket in my pocket, I walked up the creaking stairs and into the first out of three rooms. The bed sat long abandoned in the middle of the room. It was dirty but gave me some of the best sleep I’ve had in months. Again I examined the space but, this time to my slight relief, I found nothing overlooked. I guess you are somewhat intelligent. Onto the next room!

10:00am.

We need to get going so we have some time to get a little ways out of city limits. Right. Pulling my shirt over the small black watch, I finally put my hand on the doorknob. At the same time, I turned the handle and pulled my mask onto my nose. Outside was, thankfully, like usual. The dirt roads had no sign of much human life besides a few footprints and old food wrappers. Closing the door behind me, I swiftly walked through the deserted neighborhood. I continued until I found my favorite store before this all happened. Not many people knew about this store. I walked into the store cautiously. Be careful. Just because we were here before doesn’t mean no one else was or still is. I nodded before taking out the pocket knife that hooked onto my belt loop. Gripping the metal base tightly, I slowly walked through the door. Nothing. At least from what I could see at the moment. Relieved, to some degree, I began walking through the aisles, picking up only long-lasting food and drink items. As my eyes grazed the multitude of chips, the color of one bag caught my attention. My favorite flavor. Without a thought of disagreement, my hand went to grab the desired bag.

Creak. My body completely froze as I heard the creaking of the glass door of the store opening and closing. Slowly, while pulling out my knife again, I crouched down and crept to the aisle farthest from the door. Footsteps. That was all that could be heard by whoever as they walked aisle to aisle. Knowing their location inside the mart was quite a way away from me, I contemplated whether I should continue hiding or creep my way out of the door. We need to leave. If we stay, they might find us. Do not be stupid. Agreeing, I began to lift from the ground and position myself into a stance where I could walk but still hide from their view. Again the tap of footsteps sounded throughout the empty store but in a different direction, behind me.

I began speeding up with the distance of me and the door becoming smaller each step. “Hey,” was all I heard before becoming paralyzed with fear from the voice of a male. Quickly turning around, with the knife pointed in front of me, I made eye contact with a tall guy. I stared, examining his face, body, and stance to tell if he was dangerous. He had all black clothing with black hair almost covering his eyes. He stood hand out and a slight smile on his face that read, “Hi, I am a nice guy”; this thought didn’t make me let down my guard though. I looked down towards his hand. Sitting on his palm was my locket. Without pondering my choices I snatched the item from his hand and held it tightly in my grasp. Shocked by my sudden actions, he jumped with his eyes wide in fear. Seeing his actions somehow made me feel bad for scaring him. Apologize, or at the very least say thank you. You don’t want to seem like a jerk. “Thank you and...” I hesitated in completing the sentence, “and sorry for scaring you.” Silence. I looked up at his face to see his reaction. As our eyes met again, his small smile was replaced with a wider one as he quietly chuckled out, “It’s okay.” Remembering the necklace, I opened my hand to, in a way, check on it.

Broken. The chain that held the heart was split in half. It must have snapped when it fell out of my pocket. Sadness enveloped my body as I stared at the piece. “I can fix it for you if you’d like,” said the boy now with a concerned expression plastered on his face. He must have noticed my disappointed face. I, again, looked into his eyes this time, though, to tell if he was genuine. Come on. He seems like a nice guy. Give him a chance but still be ready. Remember what I taught you.

Before I could utter a reply my attention turned towards the chiming sound of a door in the back of the store as it opened. I ducked behind a shelf and pulled the boy down as he looked cluelessly at the evident danger in my eyes. I put a finger over my mouth to indicate silence before trying to listen. Currently, I heard loud voices along with heavy footsteps. They sounded familiar. Like I had met them before. Then came a deep laugh. My eyes widened.

I remember. This duo was a part of a locally known group. This so-called gang was a small pack of people around my age who like to terrorize everyone they encounter. We all should leave. We have dealt with them before and that dude won’t last a second. I nodded before grabbing his sleeve. He quickly turned his attention towards me. I quickly signaled to him that I was planning on getting out of here, he instantly understood. With no well-thought-out plan, I began to slowly crawl towards the front while still holding onto the hem of his sleeve. When we finally got to the front door without notice, we faced the ultimate challenge; getting out of the door without a sound. I knew from coming into this specific store many times to count that the door will always make a sound no matter how careful you are. So, I could only think of one thing that might have a positive outcome. Run.

I quickly picked up my body, which caused him to be forcefully lifted also, and pushed the door open. “Run!” I yelled as I began sprinting in the direction of the house I had been hiding out in. After about a minute or two I looked back to check on the male to see him beginning to catch up with me. No one was behind him. Thankfully.

We stepped inside of the house breathing heavily. Going over to the nearest wall, I slid my body down to the ground. He did the same except on the closed door. “Thanks,” he breathed out while still trying to control his breathing. Silence filled the room as it did in the store. Minutes passed before one of us spoke up. It was him. “Can I ask you something?” he said, now looking directly at me. I slowly nodded as I was rather curious about what he would say. “Why do you sometimes nod and whisper to yourself?” That question greatly shocked me and made me panic trying to remember when I made my action so obvious. Then the memories of what happened beforehand flooded my mind. I looked down embarrassed. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. You don’t have to answer,” he said quickly. Again silence. I hesitated. It’s okay. You can tell him. With that, I began to explain my story. “My sister died about a year and a half ago. Ever since then, I have heard a voice in my head. It is my voice of comfort and protection.” I smiled to myself before saying, “It kind of sounds like her too.” As I looked up from my lap I was surprised to see the male smiling at me. A look of confusion formed on my face. Why was he smiling?

“I remember my voice too,” said the male. He paused as if he was thinking of something from his past before continuing his statement. “It was my mom though.” He laughed at his own words. I laughed also but much quieter than him. Silence engulfed the room again but this time it was almost comforting.

It felt as though it was almost an hour or so of no spoken words. Then a yawn. The boy blinked slowly, obviously showing that he was sleepy. “Hey. You can sleep on the couch if you want. I can tell you're tired,’’ I said, trying to sound as nice as possible. Noticing the caution in his eyes, I gave him my most friendly smile. With this, he slowly walked over to the couch and laid down.

I sat hugging my legs with my back up against the same wall I had been at. It would be best to stay here for a while. I yawned as I was also tired but was too scared to allow myself to doze off. It’s okay. For some reason, I trust him. You’ll be fine. Now get some shut-eye kiddo. I smiled before finally closing my eyes. As I sat there slowly drifting off to sleep, memories of me and my sister together flashed through my mind. I am determined. I will always remember you, sis.