Solitary Man
By Sweet Cari
The day had suddenly turned dismal. A young man was taking a evening stroll around the beach. Looking up at the sky, he saw that the clouds above him had darkened and were swirling together in shades of gray. "I'd better head on home," he said to himself, gripping his coat tightly against the harsh, cold wind.
As he waited at a nearby bus stop, he realized that he didn't bring his wallet with him when he went out, much less all the money in his pockets was just enough to buy a soda or some candy. So instead, he took a shortcut through an older part of the city. Walking through the desolate area, he suddenly had the feeling that he was not alone.
At first, he shrugged it off, thinking that it was just his imagination playing tricks on him but with each step he took, he was sure that he heard footsteps other then his own. He was growing uneasy. Although the footsteps were heavy, they were slowly beginning to pick up speed behind him. He quickened his pace to a jog, but still the footsteps kept up. He could hear the steps ringing in his ears as his jog turned into a run. I've got to get away! He thought, his heart pounding wildly in chest. The footsteps were now getting faster and faster, closer and closer. By this time, the young man was gasping for breath, little beads of sweat forming on his brow, his body slowing down from exhaustion, the only thing keeping him going was the panic-induced adrenaline pumping through his weary veins. Then, all of a sudden, the approaching footsteps ceased.
He paused and listened. Nothing. Not a sound. As he started to catch his breath, his eyes darted around for any sign of movement. There was none. Only the weak flash of a neon sign of a nearby restaurant that said, "Closed". Just thinking about the restaurant made him hungry but he ignored it and went on his way. By this time, the twilight sky was completely overcast by clouds. Checking his watch, he shocked by how late it was getting, and then looking ahead, he saw that his next destination was a familiar setting. "I'm almost home." he said, sighing in relief.
Then without warning, a big hairy hand grabbed him from behind by the shirt collar while the other viciously clamped over his mouth. He struggled desperately to break free, but it was no use. As the assailant took him away, he noticed something very odd about the way the man walked: his footsteps were heavy.
"You're quite the runner, little man," said the stranger, "I almost gave up trying to catch you earlier." As the stranger spoke, he could see his victim still trying to escape his grip, his cries for help stifled against the man's huge hand.
"Don't worry, I'll see to it that my friends give you a nice welcome."
It didn't take long for the pair arrived at an alley, where three trashy-looking men were all spraying graffiti all over.
"Hey, Boss! Slim! Job! Look what I've got!" the big man shouted.
"Alright, Hulk! You've brought a visitor!"
"Yeah, we rarely have folks walk through here, now do we, Slim?"
"We sure don't," Slim said with a crooked grin, "I'm surprised that the kid actually took this route."
He then turned walked up to the captive boy to get a better look at him.
"Hmmm…kinda scrawny looking if you ask me…" Slim then looked back at one of the men, who were observing the process.
"So Boss, since Hulk's brought him here, what are we going to do with him?"
"For starters, we need to make our guest feel more comfortable."
The leader then shifted his beady eyes to Hulk, who immediately released his hold on the young man.
"W-what do all of you want from me? I-if it's money, all I've got is pocket change!"
"Oh no, my dear boy," Boss answered with an unremorseful tone, "we don't want your money."
"We're just itching to have some fun." Job said, throwing his empty spray-paint bottle aside, "I know what, Boss! Why don't we play a little game with our guest?"
"That's an excellent idea, Job! But this time, we each have a turn!"
Quick as a flash, Boss sent a stinging slap across the boy's face; the sudden act caught him off guard, knocking him to the ground. No sooner had he fallen, the gangsters all huddled around him, kicking and jeering at him as he tried to shield himself from their attacks. After about three minutes of kicking, Job and Hulk picked up the young man, and held him up by his shoulders. "You're gonna love this part," Hulk whispered, "This is where it gets fun." As the captive boy numbly watched, Slim looked around and picked up a rusty metal pipe. After looking it over, he charged, and swung the pipe across the boy's skull. A sickening crack filled the air. The force of the blow knocked him over, slamming his head against the brick wall of the alley, where he slumped to the ground. Crimson blood slowly flowed down his forehead, mingling with the dirt.
Job walked up to the fallen figure, when he bent down, he saw a pool of blood saturating the ground as it continued to ooze from the wound.
"Uh...Slim...I-I think you went too far…"
"What do ya mean, 'I went too far'?"
"I mean, you might've killed him! Look at him! He ain't moving!"
The bony thug narrowed his coal-black eyes at the lifeless form, then shifted his sight to the brick wall and shrunk back in terror. A patch of fresh blood was etched onto the wall from where the young man collided, ricocheted from being hit with the pipe.
Before Slim could say a word, police sirens sounded the air and were fast approaching the area.
"Let's get outta here!" Boss shouted.
On the leader's command, the three gangsters quickly grabbed their spray-paint bottles along with a few belongings and fled out of the alley.
…
The wind was blowing harder now. Much harder. It raged fiercely, howling to heed warning of the storm yet to come. As it billowed through the city, a noise rambled in the distance of the empty street.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Back in the alley, unbeknownst to the thugs, the young man was not dead. He slowly came to when he first heard the noise, except it seemed to be getting closer.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
As he began to get up, he wobbled slightly due to his head injury, as he gazed around his surroundings, he became very scared. He could not remember why he was there; he didn't even know who he was. But now, the sound was heading right towards him.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Terrified, the young man ran out of the alley, not daring to look back at what was heading in his location.
However, after he had gone a great distance, he never discovered that the noise was actually the footsteps of a patrol officer, armed with a flashlight. As the officer looked around the empty alley, his eyes caught sight of the brick wall, the ground, and pipe, all coated with warm blood.
"Those crooks said that they left a body here…" the officer said, pulling out his walkie-talkie to alert the other patrol men, "It's possible that they disposed of it somehow…"
…
Thunder crashed and started to rain during the night, the young man got caught in the storm while trying to find his way back home. He was thankful to be out of that no-man's land when he saw the lights of the city, with the cars bustling in and out of the highways.
As he continued to walk against the rain, he was clutching his head from the wincing pain.
Why can't I seem to remember who I am? He wondered, the only thing I remember was that I was struck by a heavy blow and I woke up back in that alley.
"It's already midnight…" he groaned, glancing at his watch in disbelief.
By this time, he was completely drenched head to toe and was shivering. In addition, the lateness of the hour would make it harder to find help.
But when he looked up, he saw a flower shop close by that still had its lights on.
"Maybe whoever lives here can help me out,"
He walked up to the shop and rang the doorbell, hoping someone would answer it.
At that very moment, Sora was reading in her room when she heard the doorbell ring.
"That's strange," she said, "I wonder who could be at the door at this hour?"
Her mother was in bed recuperating from a recent trip which left her exhausted, so Sora approached the door herself and opened it and was shocked to see Matt, beaten and battered.
"Matt! What happened to you!" cried Sora.
"Matt? Who is Matt?" he said with confusion.
"That's your name." she replied, "You don't even remember your own name?"
"Well, I don't know who you are." Matt said reluctantly, just before a sudden sneeze racked his wet frame.
This is weird, Sora thought, He's lost his memories somehow!
Then, she looked up at Matt and saw his head wound that he kept putting his hand on.
"Matt, you must have got hit on the head and somehow lost your memories." Sora said looking down at the floor.
"I think you're right." he replied, "Because I was walking down the street through an old part of town, when I was suddenly knocked unconscious in a dirty alley."
"And that's when you woke up not knowing who you are." Sora added.
"Yeah," said Matt, "that was it."
The rain suddenly started to pour harder the longer the two stood there.
"You might want to get back home, Matt." said Sora observing the weather behind him. "Your dad's probably wondering where you are."
"Well, if I knew where my house was." Matt replied honestly.
Luckily for Matt, Sora knew the directions to his house from hers.
"Well," said Matt as he started for the door, "thanks for helping me out."
"Wait!" cried Sora, "I forgot to tell you my name!"
"Yeah that's right, I can't thank you properly if I don't know your name." said the blonde.
"My name is Sora." she said. "Sora Takenouchi."
"Sora," said Matt, he paused for awhile after saying the name.
"Anyway, thanks."
The storm began calm down as Matt began to leave her in the night.
As Sora watched him disappear off into the distance, her heart filled with dread.Who would dothis to Matt? How would Tai and the others react when they find out? More importantly, what will his family going to do when he doesn't recognize them?
Well Matt, thought Sora, I hope you get your memories back soon.
Then a sudden glimmer of hope came to her, You can get them back! And you will! I love you and- she halted at the thought. Love. Love is the key to his recovery! Me, your parents, T.K., everyone, we'll all help you whatever it takes, we'll do it!
-The End
Author's note: I hope you have enjoyed this remake, since the original ending of this was a total flop. Something I must apologize for…