Opening Story - 006

The two of us were quite hungry, which isn't surprising since neither of us have eaten since yesterday. There isn't much in the house, so we head out to have breakfast. Or perhaps it's already late enough that we can call it lunch? Or brunch?

Anyway, the two of us walk in silence for quite some time not saying a word to each other.

That shouldn't be surprising. It isn't like we really know each other that well at all.

We only met yesterday.

We only met by accident.

In an extreme circumstance.

At any rate, we walk in silence most of the way there. At one point I asked her where her parents thought she was.

Apparently, she told them that she was staying at a friend's place.

Once she had explained that to me, however, the two of us once again fell into a pattern of silence.

I hadn't really been paying attention to the way we were walking, nor had I really thought about it, but I realised that we were walking along the street where we met last night.

Of course, we were. The closest place for food is the shopping mall and the area around it where I work. And on the way to and from my home, is where I met Tayla. All but entirely by accident.

I come to a stop in front a patch on the ground. You can't even tell what it was that was dropped on the ground here, but I know.

I can tell, instinctively, that there was a pool of my blood right here last night.

I look over at Tayla. She's also come to a stop, and looks a little pale.

"Are you okay?"

"Mhmm, just… thinking about what was going to happen last night… if you hadn't been there…"

I can see tears welling up in her eyes. Something inside me makes me take a step towards her, and pull her into an embrace.

Why?

Why am I hugging a complete stranger like her? What kind of person am I? I wonder what we look like to people on their streets, or watching from inside their houses? How embarrassing.

I can tell that Tayla's still crying from the way her shoulders stiffly move every now and then, and the muffled noises coming from her mouth.

"Don't worry. They're not here anymore. It's okay."

I try to calm her down saying things like that. I don't know if it really worked or not, but eventually Tayla stops crying. Her eyes are still red and watery, however, when she pulls out of my embrace to wipe them.

"Why are you being so kind to me?"

"I don't know… I guess because I want to be."

"Why do you want to be?"

"Because I don't want to be the kind of person who would just walk past if they saw something like what was happening last night. I don't want to be the person who does that anymore."

"But no one could blame you for that. Everyone does that. Everyone sometimes just… pretends they can't see what's right in front of them."

"Even so, I don't want to be that kind of person anymore."

"Is that right? Aren't you such a nice and kind person?"

"I read in a book once that that's the kind of thing you say to a person without a personality."

"Really? Oh… maybe you're right?"

"Did you just inadvertently say I don't have any personality?"

"Who knows? That's definitely how you seem: a nice and kind person," she says, shrugging her shoulders, "maybe I just don't know you well enough yet."

She smiles dazzlingly, as she says that last sentence. It reminds me of someone else, just for a moment. I wonder if she does things like that on purpose too.

"I see," I say, turning my face away from hers, "come on. Let's keep moving. I'm hungry."

When we arrive at the shopping mall, we find it relatively empty. It isn't even midday yet, so it makes sense for it to be this desolate. We eat at Donald's, mostly because its' cheap.

I don't have much money, and Tayla doesn't have any on her, so we didn't have much of a choice. That also means I'm paying for her.

You would expect her to therefore be modest in her food selection, but that isn't the case. Tayla, contrary to my expectations, chooses a full meal. Burger, sides, and drink. I, on the other hand, choose to have just a bagel from the all-day breakfast meal.

By unspoken agreement, we don't talk as we eat. The two of us are as ravenous as wolves, and I think if we weren't in such a public setting, or knew each other better, we'd be stuffing the food down our throats.

With my much more modest choice, I finish my meal quite fast. Tayla still has quite a way to go before finishing hers. As I watch her, a thought that I had earlier resurfaces. She really does look like someone I knew back in Wellington.

"Ahh…" I clear my throat, "do you have any relatives that live in Wellington?"

"No. All of my relatives live in England or Germany."

"Faust is a German name, isn't it?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"It's the name of a man in a German legend."

"Really? I didn't know that. How does it go?"

"Well, I haven't read it myself, but from what I've heard, he sells his soul to the devil in return for using his powers to gain pleasure from life."

"Like the genie in the lamp?"

"I guess you could say that."

I feel like we're getting off track. I just wanted to know if she was indeed related to that old friend of mine, but I guess that isn't the case. They do look very similar though.

Same eyes.

Similar facial structure.

The resemblance is striking.

In any case, it seems like she's calmed down a bit.

"So, who were those guys last night?"

Tayla goes silent again. She returns to eating her burger, though she has a somewhat muted expression. I guess that makes sense.

It isn't my place to poke into people's business. Or at least that's what I always used to tell myself. Sometimes you have to, however. Or else nothing would ever get solved.

That's what I learnt last night by helping Tayla out of her predicament. Or rather, doing my best to, and failing miserably. She might be a stranger to me, or find me intrusive, but I still want to help her. If I just left her alone now, and something like that happened again, I would hate myself for it. I don't want to have to regret something like that ever again.

I'd rather not regret anything ever again.

When she finally speaks up, Tayla says, "I know them from a group that I attend. They offered to walk me home, but eventually they started pressuring me… and then… and then…"

Although I feel bad, it's like I'm interrogating her, or something, I ask another question. It feels like the better choice compared to forcing her to finish that sentence. It's still raw for her. I think, right now, she must still be scared. She still hasn't gone home since that night, I remember. The best thing for her right now is probably to go somewhere familiar.

"Then can't you talk to the leader of this group? Tell them what happened. Surely they can do something about it."

She shook her head, "one of those guys is the leader's son. I don't think he would believe me."

"That's horrible."

It doesn't help putting it like that, but there isn't anything else I can say. Or rather, you could say that that's the only way to put it.

"What about the police?"

She shakes her head, "I don't want to. That would only make things worse. If I were to bring the police into something involving the Order, that would only make things difficult for my family."

The Order? Just what kind of group was it that she was involved in? Calling it something like that, made me think it was some shady organisation or the like.

"What's the Order?"

"The Mother's Order? You haven't heard of it?"

"No."

"Really? Their quite well known around here."

"I'm not from around here."

"Hmm… are you from Wellington?"

"How-"

That's right. I did bring up Wellington before. That's how she was able to guess that. She's quick.

Tayla's smiling, as if she can tell what I'm thinking right now.

"So, what's the Mother's Order, then? What do you do there?"