So here it is:
Do you remember me?
Prologue.
I woke up in the middle of the woods. An abandoned ranch house. I didn’t know how I got there, I didn’t know who I was. I didn’t know anything.
It was painful to move. I had cuts and bruises all over my body. My head felt like it had been smashed against a hard brick wall repeatedly. I could barely move my body. It wasn’t functioning properly.
So I waited. I waited for a while longer, I let myself heal for a while.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. I figured it’d been a good couple of hours. For some reason I felt like I had to move, that if I didn’t move something, someone would find me.
I wasn’t sure if hat was a good thing of a bad thing just yet.
I’d managed to stumble outside to the blistering heat. My shirt and jeans were ripped, clearly showing the injuries I had no idea how I got.
I was walking down some path. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know anything. I felt so helpless.
I just saw people. They were in a car, driving past me on the road. How can I remember such stupid things and not who, or where I am? It’s all just so confusing.
There haven’t been too many people passing me since the last car. It’s been about an hour now. My legs hurt. It’s getting harder and harder to move. It’s getting hotter.
I’m hungry and thirsty. I don’t know what to do.
Someone please help me.
I watch as a car pulls up beside me. He calls out to me. I keep walking. He follows.
“Hey, kid, where’re you heading?”
“Who’s asking?” I say in a hoarse voice. God do I need a drink.
“What’s your name?” he asks.
“Jeff.” I reply. I’m not sure if this is my name or not. I just say it.
“Right.” He doesn’t believe me. Of course he doesn’t. How many injured kids wandering clumsily down an abandoned street do you see? None. “I could give you a ride.”
“I don’t need a ride. I’m perfectly okay.” I say though I’m not entirely convinced by it myself.
“Right.” He doesn’t believe me again. Of course. “Get in. I can take you to the nearest town. You look like you could do with some help.”
“No. I’m fine. I don’t need your help.” I say, a slight anger penetrating my voice.
“Just get in. Don’t argue. It’s hot. You shouldn’t be out like this.” So he doesn’t care about the fact I’m covered in injuries? He must be completely oblivious.
I obey. He stops so that I can get in. Luckily this road seemed to be abandoned otherwise people would have gotten angry at how slow he’d been driving. He didn’t need to go very fast to keep up with me. “Thanks.” I manage even though I don’t mean it.
“No problem.” He replies. “Here, have a drink.” He throws me a can. It reads ‘beer’. I’m not sure if I’m old enough to drink this. I drink it. In one go.
I was thirsty.
“So how old are you?” The man asks. Not looking back as he picks up speed.
“Seventeen.” I guessed. I could be a lot older, I could be a lot younger.
“You sure? You look a bit younger than that.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I questioned. I looked at his face in the rear view mirror smirking. He smirked back.
“I’m George.”
“That’s nice.” I reply. I didn’t believe him either.
“So, how did you get so banged up?” He asks. Looking at me fully in the mirror.
“None of your business.” I reply indignantly.
“Ouch. No need to get touchy.” He replied. I just ignore him. He’s not worth it. “I can drop you off at the bus station. You got any money on you?”
“Does it look like I have any money on me?” I replied sarcastically.
“Not really. I was just checking. Didn’t want you to rob me. I can lend you some money. I’ll come find you to get it back.” That scared me. What happens if he found me and I still had no money? What would I do then?
“Thanks.” I replied. My head felt quite hazy now. I felt sleepy. Where would I sleep? I don’t remember ever going to sleep. I just remember waking up. Confused.
George pulled up in front of a large bus terminal some hour later. He gave me $10. I thanked him. He left. I didn’t know what to do. I found a bench to sit on and sat there for a good while. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to catch a bus or not.
Judging from my surroundings, the bus terminal is placed quite a way outside of the city centre. Maybe I should get a bus to the centre of the city. I can find somewhere to sleep then.
Chapter 1.
I bought my bus ticket. The woman behind the till looked at me strange. Of course she’d be looking at me strange. I’ve only met two people since waking up and both times they’ve looked at me strange.
Currently, I was sitting on the bench waiting for the bus. I didn’t know where I’d go in the end. I bought a ticket for the city centre. But when I got there, where would I sleep. I have a total of $4 left. That’s not enough for anything.
God, I’m hungry. I can’t afford any food. I can’t afford a drink. I feel so helpless.
Is there anyone out there that can help me? I’m tired. I’m hurting. I’m confused. I just want some help.
“Hello? Kid. Kid. You’re going to miss the bus. It’s leaving for the city centre in a few minutes.
“Wha’?” I said, opening my eyes, when did I fall asleep? “Oh, right. I’ll get right on it.” My body ached as I forced it to stand up. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I guess I’ll find out when I get there.
I got a strange feeling that I was being watched on the bus. Why would I be watched? Well, I kinda have to ask why I’m all beat up, but nothing seems to be going my way at the moment. It’s not like I can run home to my parents. I don’t know who they are. Life sucks, and I’ve only remembered the last couple of hours of it too. An old lady is sitting next to me. She keeps giving me strange looks too.
“Hello, dearie. What’s your name?” She asks. I guess old people don’t get the ‘I don’t want to be bothered’ look. Hm, I guess everyone’s different.
“Jeff.” I replied. I didn’t want to be rude.
“That’s nice. Not too many young Jeff’s around these days. I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere before. Do you come here often?” She asked. Great. She thinks she recognizes me.
“Not that I’m aware of. I don’t think I’ve been here before.” I reply.
“Sorry, I guess I must be mistaking you for someone else.” She replied. She left an awkward tension in the air. I didn’t know what to say to get the uncomfortable feeling away. “So what’s in the city centre you want?” She asks. Great. Now there’s going to be more tension.
“I’m not sure too yet. You never know what the future brings for you.” I say to her, staring off into space.
“Right.” She replies. “I’m going to visit my grandchildren. Well, grandchild. One of them’s gone. They don’t know where she went.”
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I know she’ll come back eventually.”
“What’s her name? If I see her, maybe I could tell her your waiting for her.” I said before I could think about what I was saying.
“Her name’s Holly. Here’s a picture.” The grandmother said showing me a picture of a young girl, she looked around sixteen, seventeen. She had short blonde hair and deep brown hair. Nothing distinctive I could find about her. I’d need to keep a keen eye out for her.
“Okay, I’ll keep an eye out for her.”
“Thank you. That’s very kind of you.”
With that, we fell into a silence. At least it wasn’t uncomfortable. I still had a feeling that someone was watching me. I quickly glanced around the bus. Nope. No one seemed to be paying attention to me.
I got off the bus half an hour later. The old lady waved at me as I turned in the opposite direction from her. I waved back.
I looked around the place. There was a park not too far away from me. I’d probably end up sleeping there. I got there with some hopes that I’d recognize at least something. Nothing seemed familiar. My hopes were crushed. Not that I’d had much hope. Nothing seemed to be going my way lately. Well, nothing seemed to be going the way I wanted it to since I woke up this morning.
I wondered some close by streets for a while before deciding that it was getting late. I needed some rest. I had nothing for people to steal so I would be okay. I hoped.
At the park I decided to sleep on some bench. It was quite damp. I didn’t mind. I was filthy in any case.
My mind was in overdrive. Or what I thought to be in overdrive. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I couldn’t just turn up somewhere, first off, I didn’t know who I was, how I got to that ranch. I didn’t know how I got all my injuries (which were still aching me like crazy, especially now that I’d done some wandering), I could have been in some serious trouble, I’d probably go to jail. I didn’t want that. I had to help that old lady find her granddaughter.
With those thoughts accompanying my mind I drifted slowly and uncomfortably off to sleep.
Chapter 2
“Look at him. Do you think he’s stoned?” I heard a voice ask as my mind was surfacing to consciousness. I opened one eye slightly, it was still dark outside.
“Probably. Look at all those cuts on him. He must have been in a fight.” Another voice said.
“Hey, kid, you can’t sleep here. It’s our spot.” The first voice said.
“Says who?” I asked, a sleepy haze in my mind.
“Says us. Now scram.” The first one replied.
“No.” I replied. I don’t know why I said it. I was going to say ‘okay’ and move on, now these guys were grinning down at me. It was dark so I couldn’t see them properly. They were big though. Muscled. Probably very good fighters, very good at fighting dirty. There’s just no end to my pain.
“Well, I guess you chose wrong.” Before I could even think, the second man picked me up and punched me hard in the gut. In an old wound. I was temporarily wounded, doubled over in pain. But before I could blink, they first one punched me, his fist colliding with my skull. Stars flashed across my head. I was feeling distinctly dizzy. Nauseous.
I didn’t know how to defend myself.
That’s when I started panicking.
How was I going to stop myself from getting killed?
There was no one out there to help me. I was all alone.
The pain intensified as both of them started attacking me at the same time. Punches and kicks came from every direction. Bruising my bruises. Cutting my cuts. I could feel the blood run down my head.
When would it be my time to have a saviour.
“Leave him alone.” A new voice shouted. Quickly stopping the assault. My saviour. At least I hoped it wasn’t someone who was coming to get dibs on me.
“Give me one good reason?” The first of the men asked.
I fell to the floor. Weak. Defenceless. Unconscious.
The chapters are deliberately short and spacey like this. There will be a reason for this later on in the story. I've planned that much out so far.
So I'll be honest, one of the main reasons I'm posting this is because I don't want to talk about my sister, even though I know there's a lot of things I would like to say about her. I'm just going to stay quiet. For tonight I've decided it's her life and I should worry so much. It's her own fault if she hooks up with some paedophile or something. Not my issue.
So, on that happy note.
Night!
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