XIX (Part III)

The chef's blood goes squirting around the floor when Harris cut his life from his neck. His lifeless body then rests on the top of the black bag with a thud. I take a step back as I feel myself shaking, scared of the event that happened in front of me. I look at Harris, his face is dark and his hand that is holding the knife is up in the air. He is shaking, too, and turns to look at me. Seeing my face, it seems like he has been brought back to his senses. He lets go of the knife and it falls down on the floor clanking loudly. He brings his hands in front of him as he stares at it in disbelief. His hands are bloody. His eyes are so lost. He looks at me and I feel scared for Him.

"Amy..." He starts as I hear his voice crack, "I-I killed a man."

I have to do something. I go near him and pushed him to the side to let him collect himself. I push down the corpse on the floor and drag it towards the storage room although it is very heavy. I think that this is because of the adrenaline in me. I have to at least do something. After I have secured that the chef's body is inside the storage area, I go to Harris to check on him, "Hey." I hold his hands and bring him to the faucet to wash away the stain on it, "Let's get out of here, Harris. Let's wake up."

"I took a person's life," I hear him whisper. I know.

"All of these are just a dream, Harris," I tell him even if I'm unsure of it myself- or even if I'm wrong, I just want to rest myself on the thought that all of these are just a dream and that we can wake up from this nightmare. We should. "That is why we have to make sure that we wake up so we can prove that none of this really happened. We'll be back to our families and Stacey, Steven, and Yohanne are still alive." I turn to look at him and find him looking at the black bag sadly. I hold his hand as I rest my head on his chest and my other hand rubs him on his back. "Shall we put him downstairs?" I can remember the horrendous graveyard.

Harris' hold on me tightens as he raises his free hand to wipe the tears from his eyes. Is he crying? "We don't have much time..." he trails off. "It's almost sunrise now and we still have a lot to prepare." He frees himself from me and goes towards the bag. He carries it on his shoulder and walks on towards the storage room.

"Okay," I can only reply and follow him. Harris lays Steven's body on the steel table at the center of the storage room and chooses not to open it before leaving the room. I take a look at the bag one last time before following Harris. I'll make sure that Harris and I will leave this place, Steven. I promise.

Outside, I see Harris turning on all the faucets he can find in the kitchen. I look at it and notice that he has covered the holes in the sink.

"What are you doing, Harris?' I pry.

Harris looks at me as a smile slowly forms on his lips, "Darling, water is a good conductor of a grease fire," he pauses, "if we want to burn this place down, water is our best shot."

I stand there beside him... stunned. Not because he knows about grease fires nor how water can be a great way to worsen a fire. I stand there stunned because for the first time, he has called me darling, and that... that made my heart race and feel butterflies in my stomach like a teenager. I laugh awkwardly. I know that if we are in a more stable situation, things would have been so different. We have only known each other for a night. I have only known him for a night yet I feel like I have known him for my entire lifetime. I know that this is absurd but... after everything that has happened tonight... I have gone to care for him and I would do everything so we can get off here unscathed. It is obvious that I like him.

I like him for who he is and the type of man he has shown me. He is usually calm and somehow has his ways to think more rationally than me. Also, he is not afraid to show his emotions. He is happy when something good happens. He cries if it is bad. He gets angry at times yet he... he tries his best to protect the people he cares about. What's there not to admire about this man?

He brings me to sit at the top of the now cleaned table and goes back to explore the entire kitchen area. "Stay there," he says. I look down and I notice that he has already wiped it clean however, there are still pools of blood on the floor. I look for Harris again as his back faces me this time while he is checking out the cabinets around us. It feels like it has been a while since I have properly taken a look at him. He's only wearing his bloodstained white t-shirt now. I think we lost his jacket somewhere along the run. I did not notice. His soft-toned muscles on his back move along with him. I look at his arm which the chef has managed to cut earlier. It is no longer bleeding. I also think that Harris has also forgotten about it.

"Harris?" I call out to him. "I've been thinking."

"What is it?" he answers me while he still keeps on checking out the cupboards. What is he looking for?

"There you are!" He exclaims when he spots a white box with a red cross printed on it. He then goes to me and lay the box beside me. "Let me see your wound," he says.

I reach out to his arm-completely ignoring what he has said- and caress the cut he has, "What if when we wake up, I won't remember you?"

I remember what they told me earlier that when people usually wake up from this dream, they will also forget everything that has happened here just like a dream so they can go on with their lives guiltless and embarrass-free. "I don't want to forget what we have built during this, Harris. As much as it has been horrifying, I want to keep the memories I have with you."

I can't look at him in the eye. He's just standing there in front of me with his hands on the table supporting his weight. I can feel his intent gaze as seriousness begins to fill the room. But I get surprised when I hear him giggle. And that giggle turned to a laugh. What's going on? Why did he laugh?

I look up at him and I can see that his face has gone red from stopping himself, maybe, from laughing harder or something? "What's funny?"

"You see, there is something that you don't understand, Amy," he says as he tries to gain his composure. When he has calmed down, he then looks at me again, meeting my eyes as if he's been meaning to tell me what he is about to say since day one.

"I will remember you. And this time, I will find you," he tells me with assuring eyes, "I will be there for you. Just like how we were during that bus ride home. I will go and find you, Amy. And I won't let anyone harm you."

What did he mean? The bus ride home? Is he-?

"That man who woke me up during the travel when I decided to come back here, was that you?" I am taken aback. I have never thought that it has been him. In fact, everything has been a blur back then. I can't really remember. All I know is that someone just let me cry during the entire travel and asked not a single word. He just let me pour my heart out and let me-

"You fell asleep on my shoulder that time after crying so much. I didn't want to creep you out. When the news broke about that rumor about you and your ex-fiance, I immediately went to the outside of your apartment complex to check up on any news about you... but there wasn't. I figured that you might have just wanted to escape. I thought about your hometown so I decided to come. It was a miracle that I saw you inside that bus," he pauses after explaining.

"Amy, I have always been... in love with you. I just got lucky I got the chance to be with you right now. I am not going to waste everything this time. You can rest assured that you got me in either both worlds."