12 Survivors (2/2)
A woman's voice made us shrieked. It was already night, and the store had no light so we did not notice any sort of presence. We never thought some woman had made that store into her hideout.
I looked at her closely and sighed. She wore a thick, red s.h.i.+rt under her brown winter jacket, paired with baggy black jeans.
”No, we're not from outside. We're the same as you, the people of this town,” explained Hope.
”I see. I'm sorry if I startled you.”
”No, it's fine,” I a.s.sured her.
She smiled. ”There's not a lot of children in this town.” She offered her hand. ”I'm Luca.”
I reluctantly took her hand. It was warm.
”I'm Ava.”
”Uh, I'm Hope.”
”My, my, what interesting names you both have. Come on in. It's cold outside.”
We took her invitation and went inside, away from the cold night. Inside the store's office, there were a little girl and a thin man. I a.s.sumed they were the woman's family. A huge lantern that was placed on the floor brighten up the room.
”Let me introduce you. She's my daughter Alice. And he's my husband.” Luca looked over them, a.s.suring we were no threat to their safety. The husband stood up and we introduced each other. Apparently, his name was Jack and the little girl was nine years old. She wore thick clothes, all grey. The father wore the same attire as Alice and the entire family had the same hair color of black.
”We promise we won't bother you. We're just sleeping here for tonight. Tomorrow morning, we will not be here anymore,” said Hope.
”Ah, I see. Make yourself comfortable.” Jack gave each of us a candy stick. I had the red one while Hope got the green one.
”Ugh, this stick reminded me of BEATRICE.” Hope glanced at me. ”It's green. Same as her hair color.”
”Want to trade?”
”Of course. Gladly.”
Hope ate half of the red candy stick and grimaced.
”It's sour.”
”This green one is sweet.”
I ate a piece of it before putting it away in my oversized black jacket's right pocket.
The little girl, Alice had not said a word. She hid behind his father, Jack.
Jack stared at my jacket.
”Isn't that jacket, and your pink dress too big for you?” he asked.
”It's not mine, Mister. I borrowed it.”
”I see.”
We were all sitting on the floor gazing at the lantern, our only source of light.
Looking at the family, I remembered the time I had dinner with Mommy and Daddy. We were happy, although all we had were potatoes. It was the same thing every day, yet they never complained. I was glad to spend the time with them. I hoped they were safe somewhere out there.
”You're the owner of this store?” Hope asked.
”No, we're not. We were using this place as it is,” replied Jack.
”This Beatrice girl,” said Luca suddenly.
Hope and I paid our attention to her.
”What's her last name? Is it Garcia?”
I looked at Hope. He just shook his head at Luca's question. I wanted to answer, but I only knew Beatrice, as in, her first name.
My heart was telling me that Hope lied to Luca. He knew that was Beatrice's last name, but he kept quiet.
”Um, what about Beatrice? You knew someone with that name?” I said.
”I know a certain Beatrice Garcia. She's my first daughter.”
Hope's half-eaten red stick fell to the floor. I gasped. Jack and Alice looked down after Luca said that. It was as if they had lost her a long time ago.
”Er, just out of curiosity, is your full name Hope Domitius?” Luca asked even further.
Hope picked the red stick up and shrugged. He threw it inside a bin near the office's door.
”Nope. Don't know any Hope Domitius. My full name is. . . Hope Perceval. Yes.” He nodded at his own lie. He clearly made that up on the spot.
'Why Hope lied about his name?' I thought.
”. . . I'm sorry. I have mistaken you for someone else.” Luca then narrowed her eyes at the lantern.
”Can I tell you a story?”
Hope and I looked at each other before we s.h.i.+fted our positions to listen to Luca.
”My Beatrice, she was a kind girl.”
Hope coughed loudly. ”Sorry, Ma'am. Please continue.”
”Although, she was a bit abrasive. She also likes to help people. When she's thirteen, she got caught in a fight with some teenage boys around our neighborhood because they were bullying another kid. I remembered the kid's name was Hope Domitius.”
Luca smiled at Hope before continuing her story.
”He was a shy boy. People liked to play pranks on him. But when Beatrice was there, she would always, almost certainly, protected him from them. Beatrice always talked about him when she had the chance. I laughed when she said she wanted the Hope kid to be her brother.” Luca stopped. She was considering to not continue the story after that.
”She died about four years ago,” said Jack all of a sudden.
Luca wept behind both of her hands.
”She went into the jungle at the edge of town by herself and had not returned since. We even asked for the town chief's help to search for her, but she was nowhere to be found,” explained Jack sadly.
Luca was shaking.
”It's my fault. She ran away from our home to the jungle. If I had stopped her then, all of this would be-”
”Honey, it's not your fault,” said Jack. He hugged Luca, and Alice joined in to hug her mother too.
”Let's go to the store's front,” Hope said to me.
I agreed and both of us were out of the store's office and were looking at the different snacks lined up along the shelves.
”Why do you lie to them, Hope?”
He was looking really hard at a snack, trying to figure out its name in the darkness.
”I don't know. When I heard the name Beatrice, I just felt uneasy.”
”Did Beatrice's mother told the truth?”
”She did. But there's another side of the story that she didn't know.”
”And, what is that?”
”After Beatrice had made the boys go away, she later beat me up without anyone knowing. And on any other day, she did the same thing over and over. She's a two-faced demon. I hate her.” Hope opened the snack he held in his hands and munched it in his mouth.
I ate the remaining piece of the green candy stick.
”Her mother said she ran from her home. I wonder why.”
”Who knows what she thought at that time.”
”Yeah.”
We slept at the storefront later that night. I used the school bag I had brought with me as a pillow. It was a bit cold, but I slept throughout the night peacefully.
We woke up at dawn and had a few snacks as breakfast. Silence filled the store's office as we all ate.
”Um, I'm sorry,” I apologized to the whole family.
”Why are you apologizing Ava? You did nothing wrong,” said Luca.
”No. I made you cry yesterday. I made you told us that story. We shouldn't have agreed on that.”
Luca glanced at her family members.
”No, it's fine. I'm just a bit emotional. That's all. You know how things are going right now. It's pretty bad for the town.”
”There are people fighting the army right now,” I convinced her.
”Yes. That's true. I just hope all of this will be over soon.”
The young girl, Alice went over to her mother's side after she'd finished her food.
”Hope,” called Luca.
”Yes?”
”May I ask you a favor?”
Hope looked at his food. He put it away and met Luca's gaze.
”I'll see what I can do.”
Luca nodded. ”After the army leaves this town if that even happens, can you take me to this Beatrice that you spoke of before?”
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