Asazi
Chapter 6
Xynan?!
My breathing became fast and my face displayed immediate anger. "You're not Xynan! Xynan was old and—," I paused, confusion surrounding me, "—how do you know Xynan?"
He smiled and said, "He told me that you were like this. Exuberant. Not happily exuberant but exuberant.
You are right; the man you met was not Xynan but he knows me and he looks for young people that don't have homes. He just happened to be at the same hotel as you." Then scooted over right next to me and whispered into my ear, "If you want to kill, you better know how to do it."
Ice-cold fear ran through me. It really was him. And the man at the pool was just Xynan's friend. I'm in love with the person who will take me in…it's perfect! I threw my arms around him and hugged him. I was so happy; I had a home, a good person to live with…it was perfect.
So that's what all the suffering was for! To see how long I could endure it. And I made it. Now my life is going to be perfect! Absolutely perfect…
He could tell I was happy and I ran my fingers up and down his chest, tickling him. He laughed and tickled me back…I was laughing. Actually laughing…
"Bet I could beat you to the ocean," I suddenly shouted with joy and started sprinting toward the shoreline. He had fallen off the bench and it took him a few seconds to get back up, but he was next to me in another few seconds. I giggled and splashed into the ocean, the salt water flying around me and him creating a picture right out of the movies.
Usually at the end of the movies too. So now the movie is over and I'm gonna have a happy ending. I laughed again but fell against a huge wave, the water engulfing me.
I surfaced and he laughed at my dripping, brown hair. "HEY," I shouted and started splashing his black hair back. "Get wet," I yelled. I sounded so silly but I was having fun. Enjoying the day.
Not to mention I wasn't hungry.
He splashed back but salt water got in my eye and I stopped, blinking rapidly. He stopped and sloshed through the water toward me. He had stopped laughing.
I had actually gotten the water out and was planning a surprise tackle on him. When he was close enough, I whirled around and jumped onto him. He lost his footing in the water and fell back and landed on his back in the water, his face barely above the surface and me on his chest trying to pin his strong arms.
I wasn't near strong enough. He laughed and said, "So you want to play, eh?"
I snarled a funny snarl at him and he laughed hard…then his arms moved so fast I couldn't see them. In half a second I was flung away and landed in the ocean water, a lot farther from the shore than I was. I wasn't hurt or anything; it was a gentle but powerful push. I surfaced and treaded, looking around.
He was getting up about fifteen yards away. He flung me fifteen yards, and it wasn't even painful. He's really strong…
He saw me starting to swim back and shouted, "I'll take you in but there's a catch, okay?"
When I reached him, I raised one eyebrow and said, "What?"
He bent down and sat in the water. "I teach you how to kill. How to get rid of people like that Uncle Shawn of yours, and drug dealers…basically, I train you to take out the bad guys. It'll be very hard work but I promise that even though sometimes I won't seem like your friend, we'll always reward you when you do exceptionally well."
It sounded like a boot camp but if it had Xynan involved, I was there. "Deal," and offered my hand for a handshake. He took it and gently squeezed my hand.
"Today will be your first day okay," he asked.
I replied, "Okay…what're we doing?"
"Having fun," he shouted and tackled me back. My head went under the water and I tried to breathe but got salty water instead. I started to choke. Why was he doing…? My throat began to burn badly and suddenly the pressure was gone. I surfaced fast and spat out the water in me. I breathed in blessed air and was relieved.
"That was your first lesson," he said in my ear. "You must always be alert and ready for anything."
I nodded, still choking a little. Then he said, "I won't do that anymore today, okay? I just felt that I had to do that right now or you'd never learn it…"
I shook my shoulders, gesturing 'who cares'. "I'm okay," I said. "So…let's have FUN," and I splashed him. He laughed and splashed me back…
-_-
We played for hours and hours that day, until the sun began to set, turning the skies bright red and orange. We had a lot of fun, playing volleyball, marco-polo in the water and all sorts of other fun stuff.
When he said that it was time to go, I said, "Where?"
He smiled and shook his head. "To your new home."
I smiled back and tried to tickle him in the ribs as we walked toward the beach's parking lot. But it didn't work. He didn't even show that he felt it. His face was blank, completely unreadable. I followed his gaze to a very nice car.
And then I saw why he was staring. The windshield was cracked and the side windows completely knocked out. A large rock was sitting on top of the hood of the car, in the crater of a dent. Someone had beat the shit out of his car.
He jogged toward it and looked inside. He reached in, unlocked the driver's side and opened the door. There was broken glass all over the seats and floor. I started to look to my right when I…there was a piece of paper in the air conditioning vent.
I frowned and tried to get it out with my little fingers.
"What're you doing," Xynan asked.
"There's a piece of paper in there…I can't…reach it though," I replied, pulling my hand away and sighing. He reached over with his strong arms and broke off the front of the vent with his fingers. He pulled the paper out and unfolded it.
As he beheld it in front of his eyes, his hands started shaking and the longer he held it, the worse the shaking got. "Are you okay," I asked, my voice startling him and causing him to jump.
"Oh, uh…yeah, I'm fine…just a little shocked that's all."
I frowned and closed my eyes. It was the first time…probably not the only time that he would do it either. He had lied to me. He wasn't shocked; I could read it in his eyes.
He was scared. Of what I didn't know but there was absolute fear in his eyes.
He suddenly got out of his car and began carefully scraping the broken glass out of his seat. I did the same but on my second sweep a shard cut me and dug into my skin. I winced but tried not to show it. It started pouring out blood and Xynan noticed.
"Uh oh," he said casually. He sat down in his shardless chair, reach over, opened the glove compartment and—
I jumped and bumped my head on the ceiling of the car. There was a gun in his glove compartment. A nine-millimeter, just like one I had seen in one of the movies I had watched while in the hospital…it could kill.
Why would I have to learn how I kill when there was an instrument that I could use to kill? Why couldn't I just become good with the instrument? Or, should I say the gun?
He moved the gun over, revealing a mini-first-aid-kit. He told me to give him my hand and I held it out, the blood dripping onto the floor but he didn't seem to care. He bandaged it up. It hurt but I didn't show it. I had gone through greater pain than—
"OW!" Pain filled the back of my head as blood ran down my back. The bump on the sealing had reopened the gash on the back of my head. It bled too and he noticed.
"Wow…you take a lot of hits don't you?"
I smiled and said, "Funny how they're both self-inflicted."
He made no comment to that but continued fixing my hand. When he done, he said, "Turn around so I can see the back of you head; that gash." I did as he told me too but something didn't feel right…something felt strange.
I didn't feel anything but I just knew that someone was staring at me…or at my short shorts.
Xynan was saying something, "…hmm, looks like you're gonna need stitches for that gash in your head. I'll bandage it now and when we get home, I'll stitch it…okay?"
"Sure," I replied trying to sound confident. Actually, I had never heard of a guy stitching you up but…I bet that Xynan could do it without a problem. He was, after all, perfect.
His hands left the back of my head and the car starting up was my cue to sit back in the chair and get my seat belt on. My life is going to get better and better until it's perfect. So perfect…
It really was sad that I thought this so long ago. I was, after all, six and by birthday was coming up…I don't remember my actual birth date. I forgot it when my parent's died but I was determined that it was sometime in September…
As we drove down the road, I made notes of how he turned, what streets he was taking and what city we were going to. That way I could find my way back to the beach.
Silence filled the car as we left the beach, me, and probably Xynan too, thinking about the fun that we had here at the beach. "Well…," he said, trying to start conversation.
"I have a question, if you don't mind me asking it."
"Go ahead," I replied simply.
"How did you get away from Uncle Shawn?"
I hesitated and he knew it. How did I escape from Shawn? Should I tell the truth or say I beat him up and ran? After a few seconds of debate, I decided on the truth. "He was killed by his friend drug dealers. They were going to—," my voice stopped…I couldn't talk for a few seconds…it was strange. "—going to rape me when they were done but they forgot as they left. They made it look like suicide."
He nodded as if in complete understanding. "Umm…it just occurred to me that I don't know your name. And neither did the guy that met you at the pool. So…what's your name?"
I started to say it but it hit me. What's my name? I had never told Shawn my name and…I forgot. I have amnesia…but from what? I realized it a half-second later. When I knocked myself out back in the hotel room a few nights ago.
"I don't have a name," I replied and he nodded again, as if in understandment…
Author's Note
Alright! It's getting better…well, I think it is. But there are many more shockers to come so keep reading—and reviewing.