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solelyhephaestus · 4 years

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I need you here

a short story by Samantha Buluran

Trigger warning: this story contains suicide attempts and dark thoughts that the other readers may find disturbing.

“Gab, stop. You know, just being there is enough, just being there for me while I’m lifting myself up, is enough to keep me going, it is enough just knowing you are there but you chose not to and I’m done”. Samantha said as she ran away, leaving Gab behind with her tears streaming down her face. She doesn’t know what to feel anymore with all of the different pains she feels as the memories of them together keeps on flashing back.

Samantha Jane Escabel just finished her degree in Bachelor of law and now preparing for her licensure exam. They knew Samantha for her strong mindset, cheerfulness and independent person that’s why she have so many friends and liked by many people. Her friends described her as a sweet, courageous and a one call away friend.

Kringgg!! Kringg!! Kringg!! Samantha’s phone was ringing as she woke up with its loud ringtone. She checked the time and saw that it’s already 3:34 am in the morning. She answered her phone and heard a girl sobbing and immediately checked the caller ID and saw that it was her friend, Mica.

“Hey, Mics. What happened? Are you okay? Why are you crying?” Samantha is fully awake and the worry in her face is evident because her friend Mica, attempted to suicide many times. “Sam,

I don’t know what to do anymore. I just don’t want to feel anything. The pain is unbearable. I can’t do this anymore. I’m holding the gun of my uncle right now and they will be here any minute now.” her friend said while sobbing.

“Mics, calm down okay? Put the gun down and then breathe. Inhale… Exhale…okay?” she replied. “Sam, help me. Please.” Her friend said. “Okay, I will go there, just calm down and put the gun away and then pray, okay? I will go there right now.” Samantha replied as she hurriedly got her keys and go to the Garcia residence with her worried face. As soon as she entered the room of her friend, Samantha hugged Mica tightly and comforted her all night. The next day, mica calmed down and Samantha assured that she’s really fine before she came back home.

While entering their house, she heard her mom shouting and there she saw that her parents were fighting. She hurriedly goes to her room and overheard that her father left as he closed the door with a loud bang saying he cannot take it anymore, leaving her mother sobbing. As soon as she heard a long silence, she went to her mother and asked what happened. “I think we should take a break and think properly before me and your dad talk again, or else it will be the end for our family.” Her mother said. Samantha comforted her mom despite feeling the pain and sadness about the possibilities that can happen to their family because her parents almost decided to separate and that made her feel anxious. She cried herself out and just felt the heaviness and sadness all night without even telling anything to her friends.

The next day, Samantha and her friends decided to meet in a café. Samantha’s swollen eyes are very obvious and her friends started to ask what happen. “Ohmygosh Sam, what happened?” her friend Colin asked. “Oh nothing, it’s just that everything at home are in full chaos, nothing special, just a normal fam prob” she replied and assured that she’s okay. Her friends didn’t ask more questions because they think that Samantha will reach out to them if she really needed someone and they believed that she would handle it.

The day went by fast and it’s already 6 pm, they don’t noticed that they have been talking for hours because of their different stories. While laughing to the joke of her friend, they heard the wind chimes in the café and unconsciously looked at the ones entering the café and saw Gabriel Servaez with his friends. Gabriel and Samantha met their eyes and smiled at each other. Her friends saw everything and looked at her with their left eyebrow up and a teasing smile on their lips. “OMG, we saw that, the eye to eye with a sweet smile, arghhh OMG, girl HAHAHAHAHA” Grace said while pinching Samantha’s arm. “Something smells fishy, hmmm” Claire added and her other friends continued to tease her.

Gabriel Servaez was her classmate in Senior High school, they used to hang out together and date but it eventually ends and everything just fell apart. When they met each other’s eyes, Samantha felt the tingling sensation, the skipped in her heart and the butterflies in her stomach. That’s when she found out that her feelings for Gab never changed despite being apart all these years.

Samantha explained to her friends that nothing is going on between her and Gabriel and they just saw each other now after how many years. While explaining to them, a quick flashback of her memories with Gabriel crossed her mind.

3 years ago, a boy suddenly approached Sam while eating in the canteen. “May I sit here with you?” the boy said. Sam smiled and said “Oh, yes. Sure.” They began to introduce themselves. “Hi. I’m Gabriel, your new classmate”. The boy said. “Yes, I saw you a while ago when you are introducing yourself and by the way, I’m Samantha” she replied. Samantha noticed that Gabriel is very quiet and really an introvert person. But even though Gabriel doesn’t talk that much, they comfortably began to know each other day by day and became close because of Samantha’s cheerful personality.

Until one day, Gab confessed his feelings to Sam. Luckily their feelings are mutual and started dating. But just like every relationship, they began to fight and mostly their fights is about Gabriel. Gabriel is an introvert person and he’s not comfortable in opening up to someone. He always bottled up his feelings and just kept everything to himself. He tends to overthink things that makes him anxious always. Because of these traits, Sam often asks him what is going on. She felt like what is her role in Gab’s life if he can’t even say the things he’s been going through despite being his girlfriend. She felt unwanted so she decided to leave because she can’t see any progress even how many months have passed and end their relationship.

Samantha just came back to her senses when her friends decided to call it a day. When she got home, she can’t stop thinking about Gabriel and started to reminisce their memories together. While she’s in her deep thoughts, Gabriel’s name pop up on her notification bar. She’s very surprised and tried to slap her face two times just to be sure if what she’s seeing is true. She slowly opened the message. “Hey, how are you? It’s nice to see you again. I hope we can hang out soon”. Gabriel’s message to Sam. “I’m doing fine, how about you? Of course we can, let’s decide when.” She replied. Their conversation continued and started to talk to each other every day and hanged out more often.

Few months from now, the licensure exams are coming up and Sam can’t avoid to put so much pressure on herself because of the high expectations of her parents and also the current situation of their family. These past few days, Sam can’t helped to feel the heaviness and sadness in her heart because of what was happening in her life, she always cried at night until she fell asleep. And this night was no exception, while scrolling through twitter with her tears streaming down her face, Samantha saw the tweets of her friend, Colin and it looked like she’s in real pain so she decided to message her just to check if she was okay. Samantha stopped herself from crying because she knew that Colin needed someone right now. She chose to comfort Colin and avoided the sadness she’s feeling just to be there for her friend.

After 2 months, Samantha and Gabriel still hanged out and stayed in touch. Until one day, Gabriel said that he wanted Samantha back and his feelings for Sam never faded despite all those years and Sam didn’t think twice because she thought that the Gab right now is far from the Gab in the past and just confessed that she felt the same way and they both decided to come back together.

Gabriel started to open himself to Samantha. One day, Gab’s father has been diagnosed with a stage 4 cancer and Gab was so devastated. He experienced sudden breakdowns, anxiety and panic attacks every day. Sam is always there by his side and never got tired to comfort Gab. She cannot even comfort herself because Gab needed her right now as he experienced the most challenging part of his life. Because of the situation, Gab depended to Sam in everything that he do. He saw Sam as a strong person because of everything she’s been through, she can still manage to stand still on her feet and now he thinks that he is a weaker person because of how he behaved.

Gabriel’s father died and Samantha assured that she will be there for Gab until he’s fine.

Months have passed, the licensure exam of Samantha was just one week from now and all of the pressure she’s feeling was twice heavy than the past few weeks. She was studying in her room when she heard her parents shouting. Her parents were fighting again so she went down the stairs and asked her parents what’s going on. “Your dad and I decided to get divorce. I’m sorry, but we can’t go on like this. Please respect our decision. You already finished your college, so everything will be fine.” Her mother said. Samantha was shocked and can’t utter a single word but hear tears started to flow in her rosy cheeks. “No, mom. You didn’t even think of me, you just decided for your own good. So what if I already finished college, am I not your daughter? How could you decide for this family without even telling me about this.” Samantha replied to her mother and ran to her room. As soon as she entered her room, she called Gab to tell what’s going on and she cried herself out while Gab is listening.

A few weeks later, it’s the licensure exam day of Samantha. After the confrontation of Sam and her parents, she can’t focus on her studies because she’s thinking everything and got distracted that’s why she is not confident in taking the exam.

After how many months, the result of the licensure exam will be announced this day but Samantha is crying because they just talked about the divorce of her parents. Despite understanding the reasons of her parents, she can’t help but to feel all the pain and sadness. While crying, Gabriel called Samantha to remind her girlfriend that the results of the licensure exam will be released today. Calming and convincing herself that everything will be okay, Samantha is waiting for the results. As she keeps on scrolling, she can’t find her surname and that’s when she knew, she failed the exam.

Samantha was experiencing her most challenging time of her life. With her parents getting divorce and her, failing the licensure exam. She felt like her whole world suddenly collapsed and she didn’t know how to stand now or what and how to feel everything all at once. Everything is a mess. She needed her friends and her boyfriend but suddenly, she don’t reach Gabriel. His number was out of reach and all of his social media accounts has been deactivated. She don’t know where to find herself or where to begin helping herself because the only person she had right now is herself.

Samantha cried her eyes out every day but now, she just felt numb. She wanted to cry but unfortunately, her tears no longer drop. Some days, she felt everything at once but some days, she felt nothing at all. Her friends was surprised when they heard about what she’s been through. They didn’t expect all of it because Sam always assured them that she is okay and everything was just fine. Gabriel was nowhere to be found. No texts, no calls, no communication at all.

Day by day, Samantha learned to accept things. She began to fix and face all of the failures she experienced. She learned to accept that she’s not strong as she think she is that she also needs someone. And that it’s okay not to feel stable and be strong all the time. Her friends also realized that despite being a strong person, Samantha also need someone to lean on.

As she’s fixing herself, she finally decided to end things up between her and Gabriel. She messaged Gabriel to meet her in the usual café to talk about their relationship. Gabriel surprisingly came with his worried face. “Gab, let’s break up” Samantha said, as soon as she saw Gabriel. The surprise was very obvious in Gabriel’s face when he heard Samantha as if he’s not expecting it to happen. “No, Sam. Please, let’s talk. The reason why I left is because between the two of us, you are the strongest one. And how can I possibly encourage you that everything’s going to be okay knowing that I am the weaker person here.” As soon as Samantha heard what just Gabriel said. She felt betrayed. She thought that he’s being unreasonable. “You know what, I did not expect you to lift me up when I’m down. I just expect you to be on my side while I’m trying to lift myself up.” Samantha replied. Gab tried to hold the hand of Samantha but she removed it instead. “Gab, stop. You know, just being there is enough, just being there for me while I’m lifting myself up, is enough to keep me going, it is enough just knowing you are there but you chose not to and I’m done”. Samantha said as she ran away leaving Gab behind with her tears streaming down her face.

She don’t know what to feel anymore with all of the different pains she’s feeling as the memories of her and Gab keep on flashing back but she knew to herself that she will going to be fine and this chapter of her life will become a stepping stone for her to become a stronger person and to be able to finally fix herself. She realized that at some point we have to protect ourselves, at some point we have to stop ourselves for trusting the people who kept on disappointing us, at some point we have to stop giving all we have when we don’t get nothing in return and just choose ourselves first.

#shortstory #creativewriting #moreyou

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solelyhephaestus · 4 years

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LOCKED UP MEMORIES written by Celine Hyacinth Hamor

Aminta

"Miss Lane, may I speak to you for a moment?" Professor Wood said while every single one of my classmates just smirked, knowing full well why I'm being held back to talk.

"What can I do for you professor?" I asked although I already know what this is about.

"Your family history... You've been in this university for years already. Why haven't you submitted any activity each year requiring about your history?" He said while sighing.

"It's not my fault, Professor, if I don't know anything about my family history. Why is it always me that is required to pass that activity, when this school knows I don't know anything." I said to him. Every year.

"Did you even try to learn about your family?" He asked.

"You all know, I've been doing that. And it's always the same." I said. How many times will I have to explain this to every history teacher I get?

"Well, the principal said that if you don't submit your activity regarding of your family, then you won't graduate." He said.

"Why the bloody hell did she say that? There are tons of kids out there who couldn't submit the activity for years as well, why am I being pressured here?" I asked. This is utterly ridiculous.

"Because as you know, Miss Lane. You have the oddest family name this school has, especially you and your mother have lived here in England for years and none of the people around know anything about the Lane Family. You know what kind of school this is." He said.

"But--" before I can even protest, he put his hand up in order for me to shut up.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lane. You have 1 month and 30 days to submit your activity. You better find something about your family." He said sternly before leaving.

I just sighed and walked out of the room. It's always like this. The school always required me to submit some stupid activity about my history. How the bloody hell do I do that when my own mother won't tell me anything?

If it wasn't for the fact that I love my mother, dearly, I would have thrown a fit already. She always gave me the things I want and need, even if it's cheap and has always supported me with everything. Because of that I have always respected her when she tells me "No." Especially when this revolves around the topic of our family. Although I do respect her, I just wish she told me a little bit about it.

As I was thinking what to do with that ridiculous of a task, I notice a car outside our house. Is she home already? I thought she said she'll be gone for a week or two? It's only been 4 days though.

I quickly ran to our house and took out my key and unlocked the door. As I was about to call her, I noticed one of her co-workers, Daniel. He was standing at our living room, talking to someone on the phone.

"Yes, I am waiting for her daughter to tell her the news." News? What news?

"The girl is 18 already, I'm sure she's going to take it a bit well of her mother being M.I.A" Oh. I thought something bad happened and-- wait. M.I.A?

"What do you mean M.I.A? Where's my mother?" I quickly asked. He turned around shocked.

"Uh, she's here. Call you back later." He said on the phone before ending it.

"Daniel, I asked you a question. Where is my mother?" I asked once more.

"As you know, your mother went into a mission with us. The mission should have been easy but... she suddenly went M.I.A, we could not find her." He explained nervously.

"How did she go missing in action, Daniel!? She is with you guys all the time." I exclaimed.

"I know that. But something happened when our attention got diverted, she just suddenly disappeared."

"Then why are you here? Just go and find her."

"There is another reason why I am here. Joseph said that because you will be home alone more than usual, you cannot trust anyone that will approach you. If someone comes here, call us immediately."

"What? Why? What's going on?" Why are they also being dodgy here?

"Just do as Joseph says. We will find your mother, just lay low, okay? Act like your mother isn't missing."

"You people think that I will wait like an obedient and skive girl? I am 18 already! I am not just going to wait around hoping for you to find her! I am going to investigate it in my own terms."

"Aminta--" he was about to talk more but we heard a knock on the door. Who was that?

I was about to answer but Daniel pulled me and motioned me to stay hidden in the living room since the front door won't be able to see the living room immediately from here.

I heard him open the door. "Who might you be?" He questioned.

"We are Felicity and Aminta's relatives. Are they here?" A woman answered. Relatives?

I was about to go out but saw Daniel's hand was on his back, was facing me, motioning me to not go out.

"Aminta and Felicity do not have any relatives. So please leave." He rather said coldly.

"Oh my... you are a tosser. How can you be so sure? We have been family for years now." I heard a man say.

"I've been friends with those two, for years, and as Felicity has stated, they do not have any relatives that are liars." What?

"I beg your pardon? We are not liars. You are just a friend of theirs. So, move, we will wait here for them." I heard the woman said but Daniel must have pushed her because she suddenly gasp.

"What are you doing pushing my sister?!" I heard the man yell.

"Aminta is already 18 years old, she can file a restraining order against you if you so think so much as trespassing in here without any approval." Daniel said rather sternly.

"If she will do that then why are you here? You are also trespassing as you are here without any of them home yet." The woman said. I feel like she's smirking or something.

"Oh I forgot, not only am I their friend but I own the buildings here. They pay their rent to me." Daniel said while chuckling. This guy switches emotions too fast.

The two people outside went quiet and then I heard their footsteps walking away. I peek at where Daniel is and saw him close the door. He turned around saw me looking.

"Daniel, who were those people? Are they really my relatives?" I asked.

"Can't answer that, sorry. Only your mother can explain it to you." He told me while walking to get his coat and bag from the couch.

"But what if they came back? And—" He had cut me off.

"Just don't trust anyone, Aminta. If they come back or if anyone claimed to be your relative, do not trust them." He told me before leaving.

3 days later...

It's not really the first time that I skipped school. I skipped it most of the time because of my history teacher. History and politics are really not my thing. So now I am at my mother's office since they closed it for a while to find her.

Looking through her files, I can say that her job is very dangerous. I look through the drawers and took out all of the files there but I couldn't find anything about the recent mission. They must've taken it, knowing full well I will probably go looking for it here.

I was about to put back the files when I noticed a little gap on the drawer. Was the drawer broken or something? I push the gap to open and saw black folders. I took them out and placed it on the desk. There was something written over it in gold. Tutelage of Aminta.

Tutelage? Where have I heard that before?

"What are you doing here?" I heard someone asked. I looked up and saw it was a guy, he seems to not be that far from my age though.

"That is none of your concern." I answered while slowly putting the black folders in my bag. "It is my concern because I'm investigating a missing person's case. Someone named Felicity Lane, went missing in action on some called 'mission.'" That made me stop.

"How do you know about my mother going missing? No one filed a missing person case to the police." I said looking at him skeptically.

"Two people filed them last night. Claimed to be your mother's cousins." He casually said.

"Cousins? We do not have any relatives. It's only been me and my mother."

"Then who are this people?" well that was a stupid question. "I don't know."

But... How did those two know about my mother going missing?

"Tutelage of Aminta. Hm..." Huh?

"Hey! Don't touch that!" I immediately took it away from his hands. I can't believe this guy just walked up to me and looked through my bag.

"What do you need protection from?" He asked suddenly.

"What?" What nonsense is he spouting now? "Tutelage, it means protection of someone." He pointed at the words on the black folder. Suddenly my head started to hurt.

It means protection of someone

"Stay away from her!"

"Stop! Get her out of here!"

"This will be Tutelage of Aminta. She can never know about her family."

"Tutelage?"

"It means protection of someone. In this case, protection of Aminta, my daughter."

"Hey, are you alright?" I heard the guy asked.

"Uhm... Yeah... Just suddenly had a headache." I answered. What was that?

"It looks like I wouldn't be able to get answers from here. I will go now." The guy turned around and was almost at the door when I asked, "Who are you?"

He turned to look at me and just said "Azrael Ortiz." Before walking out. Oh... When they said he was a young psychologist and detective, I thought he was around 22 or something. He is almost just the same age as me.

I just shook my head and put the black file back inside my bag and left the office in a mess. Mother will probably kill me but as of right now, I need answers.

Azrael

Aminta Enid Lane, 18 years old, been living in London for 18 years. She and her mother used to live in the Philippines. No records of her father so I'll assume he is either dead or just left them. No record of relatives either.

No other records of them aside from their medical records. These records are missing parts of it. It seems.

Medical records... All clear on the physical part but it seems she went to a psychiatrist without her mother's knowledge. She has stated 'I just suddenly have these visions of people that seems familiar but I can't put my finger who they are.'

So, she has locked up memories. Our brains remove part of our bad memories to protect us from any more pain. In her case though, 18 years already and it still happens. Meaning she remembers something even when she was just a mere baby.

"Azrael, how did the investigation go?" I heard the old man asked.

"The daughter was there. Claimed they do not have any relatives and do not know this two people that filed a case." I answered.

"The daughter could be lying to hide where her mother is."

"Doubt it. She isn't stupid, Inspector. I can tell she was telling the truth." I said.

He looked at me confusedly and asked, "How so?" I gave him the file of the Lanes.

"Maybe she is just discovering they have relatives?" He suggested.

"Don't be a wanker, Inspector." I only said before standing up to leave.

"I am not a wanker!" He yelled but I ignored it.

I haven't witnessed someone with a case like her. Why did her brain lock up some of her memories and how is it even possible? Especially for an infant.

I walked towards the address of Miss Lane's house. I noticed from afar that the door is open a little bit. Did that girl forget to close it or...? Wait, that's the car of the two people that filed a case of Felicity Lane going missing.

I quickly walked up to door and knocked on it. No one answered. I knocked again but no one was answering it.

"Miss Lane? Are you in there?" I called out. It was silent.

I opened the door quietly and walked upstairs, I heard noise downstairs like someone was rummaging a lot on the place but I ignored it and tried to find Miss Lane.

I saw a door full of design of dream like colored. I knocked and opened the door. Miss Lane is asleep. Given that she had a headache a few hours ago she must have slept faster than usual. I shook her body.

"Miss Lane, wake up. Wake up now." I said.

She opened her eyes slowly but shut them immediately out of possible pain in her head. "What are you doing here, Mister Ortiz?" She asked rather annoyed.

"Someone is in your house. Did you let anyone in?" I asked.

"What are you talking about? I locked the door when I got home. My mother isn't here so why would I let someone in my house?" She said.

"You need to get out of here then, the people downstairs are the ones that filed a case of your mother going missing." I said.

"What?!" She quickly sat up but winced in pain. Idiot.

"You better move fast. I'm going to have a talk with your 'relatives'" I quickly went out of her room and walked down the stairs. I can see those people are looking around the drawers. Hm.

"What are two doing?" they quickly turn around shocked. "Uh, we were looking around the place, in case our cousin left a file to where she could possibly be." The man answered.

"Did Miss Lane even let you in? I knocked but the door was already open." I coldly said.

"She did but she left immediately, looking like she was late for school." The woman said. Gotcha.

"Really then? Because I met Miss Lane a few hours ago, did not go to school and had went home because of a headache." I said while slowly walking up the drawers they tried to open.

"Why are you rummaging the place like animals?" I asked.

"Because we have the right to! We are her guardians so it's best to stay with her." The woman said.

"Really then? Because, Miss whoever you are, I clearly remember Miss Lane turned 18 around April. According to her file of course." I said. They turned to me. While I noticed Miss Lane going down the stairs quietly with a different clothing and 2 bags with her.

"The name's Miss Re—"

"I don't care who you are. But you two should leave now because you have trespassed someone else’s house. Also, she had already stated that she does not have any relative and they don't have any records of relatives." I gave a cold stare.

They looked shocked and nervous, avoided meeting my eyes. "So, Sir and Madam please leave this house before I call my colleagues to arrest you for trespassing."

"It's Reginald and Rebekka." The man said.

"Have I not said already that I don't care who you are? Leave." I said sternly.

They immediately ran out. Now, where did Miss Lane go with those bags?

I quickly walked out of the house and locked the door, if I'm not mistaken, she would probably go to a cheap hotel. I walked up to the station, got my keys and took my car. The most near cheap hotel here is behind her school. People will recognize her there.

I drove my car to the location and made sure I'm not being followed. Once I was done going to different directions, I stopped at a parking lot of the hotel. I quickly got out and went up to the front desk and asked for the cheapest hotel room. The woman turned around and that gave me the opportunity to look through her log book. Tamina Neal. Room 23B. 1:27PM. Bingo. The lady gave me a key to Room 25B and then I paid for the room. I went in my room, put down my bag and went out to go to Miss Lane's room.

I knocked on the door and heard footsteps. It stopped for a minute before the door opened and she pulled me inside.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I came here to make sure you're okay." I said while sitting on her bed.

"Why do you care?"

"Because your mother is missing and I'd rather have you as my client than those two daft cows."

"Why do you even want to help me?"

"Because."

"That's not a reason."

I sighed. "It's because as everyone knows, I am a psychologist, and your case of lock memories has intrigued me."

"You read through my medical records." She stated. I knew behind her passing grades; she is smarter than she seems.

"As I've said, I am here to make sure you're okay but clearly you're not."

"I am fine. You can go now." Liar.

"You clearly are not. You're in shambles with how your hands are shaking."

"I'm not going to stay here much longer. Tomorrow I'm leaving."

"For what?"

"You clearly seem to know everything, why ask?"

"You really think you will find anything about your family's history?"

"It's the last place where they were before we lived here. According to that file."

"Then I'm going with you."

"What? No!"

"You don't get to choose. I'm older. See you tomorrow." I stood up and heard her scoff. I walked out and got my things ready for tomorrow's flight. According to her laptop she is going to the Philippines.

The next day

How long does a woman get ready, really? I've been standing here beside her door for 30 minutes now. If this girl thinks I don't know her time of flight than she is fairly mistaken.

I heard the door unlock and she quickly got out while turning her phone off. She looked at her left and saw me. "Of course, you'd be here already." She said and sighed.

We both got down and gave our keys to the front desk before leaving. I took one of her bags with me and had put it in the backseat of my car. She just sighed and put her other bag inside. She sat at the front and I sat at driver's seat. We both put on our seat belts and I drove to the Southend Airport.

I can feel and see her with my peripheral vision, looking at me and then just looking outside the window for past 20 minutes. She's wondering.

"In the trunk." I just said. She raised her right brow at me.

"What?" she asked.

"My bag of clothes." I only said.

"K." she only said before looking outside again. I just shook my head.

It took 33 minutes before we got to the airport. I unlock my trunk and took out my bags while she took out hers from the back seat. I gave my keys to my colleague that knew I was leaving. We nodded at each other and went our separate ways. Me and Miss Lane lined up to get our tickets and while waiting I took out my phone, put some notes in it until suddenly Miss Lane was sticking to me.

I looked up and saw how uncomfortable she was despite her face not showing any emotions. I looked at the line beside us and noticed an old man's hand reaching out, hidden, on his jacket. I immediately pulled her hand and hid her away from the man's vision. I glared at him and he walked away, grumbling.

I let go of her hand and looked at her.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Y-yes." She stuttered while biting her lip.

I walked back behind her and we both immediately took our tickets. We sat down and I noticed her wincing. Probably got a vision again and caused her a headache.

"Sleep for a while. I'll wake you up when it's time to go." I told her. She just closed her eyes and head falling on my shoulder.

I wonder if her memories will unlock on its own if we force it to be remembered.

Aminta

"Aminta be careful! Don't run around like that." I heard my mother say. I nodded at her and played around with the other kids in the park.

Some of the kids were pushing me but I immediately kicked them to stop. I played around the swing set while playing tag with the others. We played around for a while until we heard the sound of Nestle Ice Cream. All of them ran to their parents to buy them an ice cream while I sat on the swing set.

I waited for few minutes for them until a man suddenly went up to me.

"Hi Aminta, I'm your Uncle David. How are you?" he asked while kneeling in front of me.

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers like you." I just said bluntly.

"But I'm not a stranger. I'm your Uncle. I'm close with your Mom." He said while smiling. Fake smile. He put his hand on my thigh since I was wearing shorts.

"If you are, then what is mama's favorite snack? Favorite soft drink? Favorite color and what's are our secret code?" I asked immediately. He looked gobsmacked with the questions.

"Uh well..." He couldn't reply but his hands were going up my thigh.

"If you are my uncle you will buy me ice cream." I rudely said.

He nodded and got up to buy some while I stood up and ran to our house. I saw Mama waiting at the gate so I ran up to her and hugged her while crying. She asked what happened and I told her everything. She took me inside and sat me on the couch while putting a metronome in front of me.

"Aminta, look at the metronome. As it ticks." I heard mama say. I looked at it and felt very sleepy. "When I count to ten, you will wake up, okay?" She said while I groggily nodded. Feeling very heavy even more.

"1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10. Wake up—"

"Miss Lane, wake up already. We're about to go." I heard Mister Ortiz said.

I quickly sat up and took my bags. That was a really weird dream. Since when did I call mother, mama? And who was that guy?

We both walked up to the stewardess that was taking our tickets and walked towards the plane. This is going to be a long day or night probably.

After the flight

We walked out of the airport and called for a taxi. Mister Ortiz told the driver where to go and I just looked outside the window. Opening my phone is dangerous. Daniel and the others will be able to find me if I, as much, opened my phone. I don't think they knew I have my credit card with me, so at least that's safe.

"You didn't tell your mother's friends where you were going." It wasn't a question. It's a statement. A fact.

"No, I did not. I don't see the reason why I should." I only said.

"Then you should probably not use your laptop since they can easily access it." Why does he know everything?

We both got out of the car and he paid for it. "Since your so-called family came from the Philippines, we will share a room. We can't take a risk for a separate room. With how your mother has been keeping your history a secret, it just means your family might not be so innocent." I heard him say.

I can't really disagree with him, what he said makes sense and besides if he tries to do something, I'll be able to protect myself. Mother taught me since I was a child how to fight.

He talked to the front desk as I looked around. I noticed an old woman looking at my direction. I looked behind me but no one was there. So, she really is looking at me. She looks familiar. Who is she?

Suddenly I felt a tug on my hand and looked at Mister Ortiz.

"Here you go, Sir Razale. Enjoy your suite with your girlfriend, sir." Said the lady at the front desk while giving the keys.

"She's my client, actually." Said Mister Ortiz.

"Oh sorry sir, you both seem to be a couple with your hands holding like that." We look at our hands and we immediately let go.

We just started to walk to the lift and he pressed the 6th floor. "Who was that lady?" He asked suddenly.

"I don't know. She seemed... Familiar though. Like, I've met her before." I said.

"How did she make you feel?"

"Sad. I don't know why."

Once we got to our floor and went to our room, I immediately took some Philippine money out of my bag.

"Where are you going?"

"Computer shop. Be right back." But before I could leave, he pulled my hand and made me wear a mask.

"So no one will recognize you if ever your family is really here and they will probably know in an instant who you are." He said.

I just nodded and left. As I went down, the old lady that I saw had got on the lift. She noticed me but ignored me in the end. She wouldn't recognize me since I zipped up my jacket, so the clothes she saw me in, wasn't visible to her.

When we got down, I immediately asked the front desk where is a near computer shop. She took me the hotel's personal computer shop and I paid 400 pesos for unlimited time. I logged on to my second accounts on social media that secretly follows my mother's friends' social media accounts. They don't post much about what they're doing but they do post pictures or videos to where they were. Even my mother's social media accounts I had followed secretly to see what she posts there. And honestly everything is cryptic. But it's not hard to solve. The things she posts a lot were 'Taken jobs in defense plants and factories', 'Women's new sense of power', 'Just like before', 'Migrated before', 'She has become a warrior against the unjust.'

Honestly, I don't understand what those things mean. But I probably should search about it. Maybe it'll make sense.

"So, you learned to anagram words because of your mother." I suddenly heard behind me. I jumped and looked at Mister Ortiz looking at screen.

"Can you not do that?" I said to him. He only looked at me and smirked while shaking his head.

"It seems your mother post a lot of things regarding of the past women." He said while sitting down next to me.

"What do you mean?" Past women?

"She's posting about the women from World War 2. Every Women was required to take jobs while Men were required to go to war. Women found a new sense of power because of it. Childhood knowledge." He explained.

"Why would she post something like that?"

"Well you don't know about your family history, right? That's probably part of what she knew."

After what he said I immediately searched for those words. He was right. Why was mother interested with the 1940s Women? What did she know?

"Your mother's knowledge seems like a secret pocket that you just found. It surprising of what is inside her head." He commented. Secret pocket? The secret pocket on my bag!

I logged out of my social media accounts and turned off the computer. I pulled him up and ran up to the lift. I can't believe I forgot.

" You just remembered about the secret pockets on your bag, didn't you?" He said with a deadpan face.

"Again, why ask?" I said to him.

When we got to our floor, I pulled him in front of the door, he immediately opened it and I took the bag my mother gave me. I removed the gadgets there and pulled the extra zipper on the bag. I put on my hand inside and felt papers inside of it.

Once I got a hold of the papers, I took it out and I was right. My mother placed all the important information of our history that she wrote down for 2 years. Inside. My. Bag. She knew I would forget about this extra zipper and would keep using this bag without acknowledging the extra pocket.

"Are those..." I just nodded at him. I looked through the papers while he sat on the bed, looking at his phone.

These... people in our family. For years, generation to generation, they've been doing these kinds of stuff. For money, for inheritance. No one wonder why mother refuse to tell me anything. It's not something I can tell the whole class about.

"You didn't tell anyone, not even your teachers where you went." Mister Ortiz said.

"What about it?" I asked him, confused why he was saying this.

"You're on the news in London," He said. Showing me an article on his phone. “You and your mother have been reported missing.”

"What?!" I only said while looking at his phone.

"You better message your school though. So, you won't be considered absent for the days you'll be gone." He said.

I was about to get my wallet when he gave a laptop. I glared at him.

"You could've let me borrow that awhile ago, you know?" I said.

"You want to use it or not?" He only asked.

"Tosser." I only said while taking the laptop. I placed the paper back in my bag while putting my stuffs back as well and closed it.

I opened my email and constant emails showed up. Some from Teachers and the Principal, some from classmates that I don't even talk to nor am I close to, and 2 emails from Daniel and Joseph. I'm dead.

I opened the emails from the teachers and the principal, all of them are asking where I am. I wrote back to them and told them that since they wanted me to learn my history, I am going to search for it. I also told them I will be back soon once I finally got something to submit.

I ignored the messages from classmates and read the emails from Daniel and Joseph. As much as I want to reply to them, I can't. They'll immediately find out where I am once I replied. So, I ignored it for now.

I log out of my email and gave the laptop back to Mister Ortiz. "So, what now?" I asked.

"There is more than what your mother wrote in those papers. We will unlock your memories." He said.

"What? Why are we doing that?"

"Because."

"Again, that is not an answer." I told him.

"Because your family is as mysterious as those unsolved cases of serial killers. And we both know you want to find out what happened in your past." He only said before turning his back on me.

"How long will that take?" I asked.

"A week or two." He only said.

Great. Just great.

2 weeks and 3 days later...

I am knackered. Why did I put up with him again? Oh yeah, because I need to.

Unlocking my memories is the barmiest thing I have ever agreed on. I wish I didn't remember and now I know for a fact my attitude has changed. Whenever a memory unlocks, he asked what happened but... I just can't tell him. I don't even know what his motives are now. Why is he doing this? When he sees how I am slowly suffering from having my memories back.

For today though, we went to a museum. Looked at the painted arts. What caught my eye was the pictures and painting of the people in World War 2. What was written was about how everyone had fought hard and stayed true to their country.

"It's fascinating, isn't it? How the people here fought and stayed loyal." One of speaker here said.

"That's not true." I whispered but apparently, I was heard.

"What do you mean, Ma'am?" The speaker asked.

"Nothing. Forget what I said." I said before leaving.

I saw how Azrael had followed me but we lost each other in the crowd. I stopped, waiting for him to get here. But then someone grabbed a hold of my arm. I'm your Uncle David. No, I need to get away from him. Fast.

"How are you my sweet niece?" He asked while smiling. A fake smile.

"I don't know you. So, stop touching me!" I said coldly.

"I'm your Uncle David." He said. Those words make me sick.

"I don't have an Uncle. Especially someone like you." I said before kicking him at the center. He lets go and I ran away from him.

"Come back here, you brat!" I heard him yell.

I kept running until a hand held onto mine. It was Azrael.

"Aminta, what happened?!" He asked.

"Can we just go, please?" I said shakingly.

He just sighed and nodded. Once we got back to our hotel room, I just sat at the bed. Refusing to talk. While Azrael was holding on the bridge of his nose. He's pissed.

"You shouldn't have separated with me. Now, look what happened. You can't even talk." He scolded me.

"Can you just shut up?" I muttered.

"what?"

"I said shut up! You think I wanted what happened?! Many things already happened to me, Azrael, and you are not helping me at all. I am just test subject to you!" I yelled at him.

"Why would you think that? And how come am I not helping you? If it wasn't for me, your memories would have been locked away forever!" he yelled back.

"I agreed on it because I thought it will give me peace to asking who I am, but it gave me more stress and pain! And why do I think that? It's because every time I wanted to stop the hypnotizing session, you ignore it and still want to proceed to do it! I am emotionally and mentally drained already!"

"Before yelling at me, do you even know why I persisted to doing those sessions? I don't do it just out of curiosity anymore! I do it to help you!"

"If emotionally and mentally killing me is to help me, then I don't want it!"

"You never cared, Azrael. So, stop acting like you do!" I yelled once more before going out.

"You don't even know what I went through! So, you don't have the right to judge people like all of them are evil!" he yelled before I closed the door.

I just stomped out of their and went to the lobby. He is so infuriating! Argh! He tells me I don't have the right to judge him when does the same to me.

"Are you alright, dear?" I heard someone say to me. I look in front of me and noticed the old lady from 2 weeks ago, sitting at the other sofa.

"Uh... I'm fine. Me and my... Psychologist just got into a fight." I replied.

"Psychologist or friend?" She asked while smiling warmly.

"I can't really call him that given that he doesn't really care about me and is just doing his job as a psychologist." I said.

"Really?" She asked. I nodded. "Because I always saw you two together and I noticed how each day he showed genuine care towards you while acting cold to others. You're the same, except behind that cold attitude, you showed more care to others secretly."

"How did he show genuine care to me? He's a selfish jerk." I said.

"Did you only focus on the way you suffered and not noticed the things he has been doing for you?" She asked. Which got me thinking. I kept complaining for those weeks I suffered. I never relaxed.

"Given how it took your time to answer, you did only focus on it." She said then gave me a warm smile.

"It just seems like to me, he only cared about unlocking my memories and trying to make me tell him about my history." I told her.

She smiled and shook her head. She makes me feel sad but warm at the same time. Who is she?

"Your friend cares about you, you know why I know?" She asked. I shook my head.

"It's because I watched you two interact for 2 weeks prior. Whenever you have a cold, he goes out to buy you medicine. If it's chilly for you, he wraps his jacket around you. Whenever you get yourself into an accident, which is very frequent, he is always there to prevent you from getting more harmed. He immediately knows for some reason when you’re thirsty or hungry. When you feel exhausted and unaware of your surroundings, he puts his arm around you to keep you steady." She explained.

As she said that though, memories of the little things he did, came to me. Every session, I’ve had a mental breakdown and he immediately stops and distracts me with random questions, or questions that will rile me up. Whenever I stare into space, he puts something cold on my skin, making me forget what I was staring into.

"Do you even know why he does what he does?" She asked.

"No..." I said in an almost whispered tone.

"Why?"

"I never asked him. I got so mad at him; I didn't listen." I said. She smiled.

"There is nothing wrong of what you felt and had said. But remember to listen to his side and understand him, you have to look into the littlest details he has done for you. The little efforts are more important than the big things he has done. Good or bad." She said while standing up and walking towards me. She held my shoulders and gave it a little squeeze. The little details.

I looked up at her and smiled. "Thank You." I said before standing up, going back up to our room.

Azrael

That girl is so annoying. I don't get on what I did wrong. I was helping her. What did I do that wasn't helping her?

I went up to the rooftop of the hotel to take a breath. It was relaxing for a few minutes until someone spoke behind me.

"Where's your friend?" an old man asked.

"Friend?" I asked back.

"The girl you're always with." He said.

"She isn't here. Probably went off somewhere to unwind herself." I said.

"Why? What did you do?" He asked.

"What makes you think I did something?" I coldly asked.

He chuckled. "Maybe because what you say is different to what you do for her. She will misunderstand your intentions because of how hard you are to read."

"That girl overreacted to something so trivial. Accused me for thinking she is a test subject to her and killing her emotionally and mentally. And told me I haven't helped her one bit when she refused to tell me what she remembered or what happened to her."

"Well do you even notice if what you two are doing are breaking her? Did you look at her perspective why she said that? Was she even comfortable with what happened or what she remembered?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I was really focused on helping her remember, I didn't think it was causing her more pain."

He smiled and said, "You know if you really want her to understand your intentions. Explain to her why you do what you do. She can never understand if you don't tell her your full intention. Tell her why you are doing this. Let her open her ears for you. She's a girl. She has trust issues with a lot of people."

"I have trust issues as well."

"But you can be mature than that, right? You treated her so well, even if it's little efforts. I'm sure by now she realizes that. You both have to trust each other. Be open to one another to understand the other." He said.

I hate to admit it but he's right.

"Fine... I'll apologize to her." I said while walking towards the door but before I left, I turn back towards him and said, "And thank you... for the advice." He just smiled at me.

I walked back towards our room and opened the door to find her sitting on the bed with her mother's papers.

"Aminta... I—" She cut me off.

"Azrael, I'm sorry. For not listening. I just got so stressed that I never realize the little things you did for me. I'm so sorry. And thank you. I take back what I said. You did help me a lot." She said sincerely while looking at me.

"I'm sorry as well. I should have put your feelings into account. I... didn't want you to suffer any longer with your locked memories like my big brother. He ended his life after just finding out about who he was before my parents adopted him. And I wasn't sure before if you really had locked memories or were just dreaming or imagining things. I wanted to be sure before I helped you." I explained.

"What made you sure though?"

"At the airport, you were talking in your sleep. At that moment I knew it was locked memories."

"I'm so sorry I judged you like that. From now on, I'll listen to you before yapping out my anger. Also... those memories and the things I found out about my past. Its something terrible to learn." I gave her a confused look. It took her a few minutes before I said, "Get on with it."

She chuckled and said, "So impatient."

She began explaining everything to me and I was gobsmacked about what she said. I never knew that kind of side to the other people at World War 2. I thought every one of them were loyal to their country.

"... So, now I read up to my mother's recent papers. And my grandparents are here. There's an address." She showed me the paper and there really was an address.

"Then let's go tomorrow. Right now, we both need rest after today." I said and she nodded.

The next day

We went to the address and there was security. "How are we going to get inside?" She asked.

I looked at her and smirk before walking up to the security.

"What are two doing slacking off?" I asked. They were surprised. They stood up straight.

"What are talking about? We are not!" they both said.

"Oh really? Because I saw a someone opened the gate you are watching over and ran up inside." I said showing an edited picture.

They both panicked and opened the gate and ran inside, forgetting to close the gate. Aminta looked at me with a deadpan look.

"You are such a trickster." She said before going inside.

"It comes in handy." I said while following her.

"Let me guess, your father taught you that?" She said.

"Father and Mother." I proudly said. She just shook her head.

We looked through the windows and saw two old people there talking to someone. Her back was turned so we can't see her. Those two... I recognized them from the hotel. This is their house.

Suddenly, Aminta's eyes widened and she quickly ran up the door and opened it. "Mother!" She exclaimed. I looked at the woman and it's confirmed. It's her mother.

"Aminta? What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Her mother asked.

"With the help of your tweets and papers you hid in my bag. And also, the help of Detective Ortiz here." She replied.

Her mother stood up and walked up to her, smiling before hugging her. "I am so proud of you my little warrior princess. You manage to take care of yourself without me." She said.

"Well, Azrael kind of took care of me as well. I'm accident prone, remember?" Aminta said chuckled.

Her mother looked at me and smiled. "Right. Thank You, Detective for taking care of her and helping her." She said.

"You're welcome, Ma'am. But you two will need to get back to London. You both were reported missing." I explained.

"We will." She said.

"We got a long way to go though, right?" Aminta asked.

"You will. But at least you got each other. Both ended up in each other's life, so unexpectedly." The grandmother said.

"Well. In life, you will always receive something you did not expect to be part of your life." The grandfather said.

All of them smiling at us. Aminta looks at me and asked, "Ready for long ride?"

"Solving mystery is my thing. So, yes." I said.

She smiled and then hugged her mother once more. It really is unexpected on what we'll receive.

#CreativeWriting #shortstory

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