Chapter 1 : Escape

He was running away in the middle of the night, trying to escape his hellish reality.

In that dark forest, he clutched his bag to his chest. Far away there was a small light glancing at him, leading the way to the end of the jungle. He couldn’t see clearly that far clearly as he lost his glasses while running.

A gleam of light shone in front of his eyes, making him desperate to reach that beam of light like a mayfly. He sped up, hoping to end his sufferings, checking around to see if anyone’s there, tumbling over a puddle, spraining his left ankle. He couldn’t let a sound off his mouth. Withstanding the pain, he kept on leaping around that sprained ankle. Eventually, he saw that beam of light up close. It was the street light of the road where the forest ends. He panted, drooping on the ground, sweat and dirt dripping all over his face. He left a long sigh, murmuring, “I reached the end! Now no one can find me.”

Though it wasn’t the end of his escape, he took a quick break on a large stone right below the street lamp. There was a bus stop beside him.

Sitting on the stone there, he took out a crumbled sandwich, wrapped in a plastic foil, he had in his backpack. It won’t make him full, but he only had this at the moment.

He took off his shoes to see his left ankle swollen and reddened. Small bruises all over his feet from scratching on sharp branches made it unbearable to watch. He wrapped peony printed handkerchief tightly on the wound it was given to him. Placing his leg on a small stone like a footrest, he rested there for a while.

A white bus stopped at the bus stop in front of him, waiting for him to get on. That road was always quiet, no people uses this bus stop ever. So if someone’s been waiting for something in the middle of the night there, it must be this bus, as it’s the last bus for that night, to the next city.

Hurriedly, he put on his shoes, took his bag and got on the bus in one jump, feeling numb down his feet.

This bus was quite old, the fabrics on the seats were torn at places, but it’s the only bus to go next city in that midnight.

He sat at a window seat in the very back of the bus, his heart still pounding from both excitement and fear. His legs trembled as sweat dripped all over his body.

The tranquil icy breeze brushed his face, making him calmed for a moment.

The bus was almost empty at this hour, with only a few passengers here and there. It was too dark inside. He looked out the window.

The bright full moon lit up the entire forest. He smiled as the leaves on the tree waved him goodbye.

At the next bus stop, a young man sat beside him, wearing an expensive tuxedo suit. The way his suit gleamed, even a child can say it’s an expensive or limited edition one. His bitter face made him look like a young CEO of a big company, but it was unusual for someone like him to be on a bus and in this middle of a night.

 He couldn’t think much, just hid his face beneath his hoodie, staring at the window. Slowly, he fell asleep, enjoying the breeze.

Two young boys, around 5-6 years old, were playing in the sand on a sunny day in an empty playground. One of them couldn’t make a sand castle no matter what. Though his friend helped him, his castle fell down repeatedly as soon as he built it. That place was as quiet as a desert.

 “Ryan, let’s play something else,” his friend asked him, tugging his arm.

“What should we play?”

“Hm… We can play a role-play game as a family. Ryan, you be my wife. I’ll work for you and you’ll cook me food.” They were playing by themselves for quite a long time when his mother called him over from a distance, “Ryan, let’s go home.”

Their mothers were chitchatting while they were playing. Ryan waved his friend Darius a goodbye and went with his mom.

His dad was reading a book in their study room when they reached home. They were a loving, happy family with a big house, comfortable and cozy. One could feel warmth in their everyday life.

He dashed to his father, laughing and talking about how he spent his day playing with Darius. Suddenly, he heard something breaking down behind him, turned to see his mom, standing at some distance while the walls crumbling in front of her. She faded away in front of his eyes, his face saddened, eyes filled with tears. He cried and ran to save her. Only to notice his father too was disappearing, he ran to catch his dad, but to no avail, he lost his perfect happy family in front of his eyes.

Ryan woke up from a sudden yell beside him with teary eyes. Looking around, he saw the familiar shops leaving behind, where Mr. Dayholt took him to buy all of his favorite stuffs, when he noticed the guy beside him yelling at his mobile.

“How the hell did you get to be my manager? You can’t even take care of my car…” That guy shouted at his phone, “In this middle of the night I can’t even get a taxi.”

“Sorry Mr. Davenport, it was my negligence. I am driving there to pick you up,” his manager replied over the phone, his voice trembling like he can predict it’s the last day of his job.

“No need, you go back, I’m already in a bus, I’ll meet you at my office, don’t waste time anymore… And take my car from there and arrange my flight ticket for tomorrow evening, don’t forget,” he hung up the phone.

Ryan stared at his sharp jawline, which made his face more graceful the more he looked. That guy was a tall and bulky one, unlike Ryan, a skinny skeleton.

 Hours later, in the early morning he reached the next city, a calm breeze blew through him, freshening his mind. He didn’t want to remember any of his past that happened in these few years, though it haunted him every second.

Ryan’s father was a high-ranking employee in a famous company five years ago, but he lost his job. He harassed a female co-worker in a year ending party. After losing his job, he started gambling with his saved up money, hoping to earn a lot more money without even working, but blew them over in a blink of an eye.

 Even to put food on the table, money, he gambled over their house. They lost both their house and dignity.

 They moved to a small room apartment after being homeless like that. But his father’s temperament worsened. He went mad for even a tiny bit of mistake by his wife or son. Beating them whether he was drunk. The only difference was when drunk, he acted like a beast, breaking everything in their tiny house, beating anyone he find in front of him.

 Every time his father went on a rampage, his mother put him in their small bedroom and locked him. That room was small, with just an old mattress on the floor lying. Ryan cuddled in that mattress, covering his ears. He never wanted to hear her screaming like that.

When his father beat her enough, then he started a hunt for his son.

Ryan looked at a scar on his hand near his elbow and thought, “I shouldn’t dwell on my past… I am going to live my life fullest from now on”.

He walked past an alley searching for the said address on the small note he had in his hand. The next alley was the one. He put aside the note in the front pocket of his denims.

That narrow alley could only fit two people walking together through there. He walked down there, passing two apartment buildings in the search of 25/A/1 B Lane.

 At a corner of an old building, he found the written address, but it was too old and rusty. All over the writing, he couldn’t read it properly.

Without hesitation, Ryan rang the doorbell. No response came. He was about to call his friend’s number when he heard the door opening sound. He stood there properly straight and neatly to greet his friend.

 “Darius! At last I found the correct place,” Ryan sighed, as it relieved him to see him.

“Well, come on, my room’s on first floor, let’s go,” he guided his friend to his room, walking through those narrow stairway.

“How long have you been living here?” he almost stumbled over while stepping on the step of stairs.

“Hmmm… about 3 years,” Darius noticed him, taking his hand. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ryan’s feet were numb and swollen, but somehow he tried to walk as normally as possible. His friend might worry about this small thing.

“Dad and mom are working all the time, so I have to live on my own anyway,… so here, I’m living,” He smiled at him, unlocking the door of his room.

“All by yourself?”

“Yeah! It’s easy, don’t worry, you’ll get accustomed. Well, I’ve got a roommate for the first time you see.”

They entered a relatively enormous apartment. It’s Darius’s room. Relatively big because the apartment Ryan lived before with his parents was only an apartment with a small bedroom and hall cum kitchen with a cramped bathroom. But Darius’s house is a lot bigger, with a bedroom cum study room. Although piles of books scattered literally everywhere, clothes all around the bed, chair and also from the cupboard hanging.

“It’s quite messy now I know,” Darius hurried to gather his shirts and stuck them in the cupboard, stacking the books and comics on the table, “Now, now, you sit here.”

“Um, this is a single bed.” Rubbing the bedsheet, Ryan looked around to find another bedroom but there wasn’t any, “It’s quite small.”

“Yeah, I’ve talked to the owner. She will manage another bed. It’ll come in the next few days, so adjust for now, haha.” Darius brought him a bottle of water while talking.

“… Thanks,” for Ryan. He was the savior. It’d be troublesome for him to find a place when he didn’t even have enough money.

Darius realized he might feel guilty. He smiled, “You can stay here as long as you want, don’t take any stress about anything. If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll be at your service,” he chuckled.