2 Cairo - The First Step (1/2)

I remained still for a moment. Perhaps it was longer than a moment, but no words came out from under my tongue. I made sure to keep my eyes away from hers; I couldn't let her see into them again.

”I'm sorry, Rina.” I turned, and headed for the exit. I knew there wasn't much hope of staying for the night, as the outdoors would be my bed for this evening.

”You can't just walk away from me!” She yelled behind me like a little girl who just got her lollipop stolen.

The thing is, she knew I could. I paid for my meals, my stay, and my comfort. If I wasn't paying, then I wouldn't stay. I swung my travelsack over my shoulder, and just as I was about to swing the exit doors open, she stopped me.

”You were in the war… Weren't you.” She said, slowly and calmly this time.

I took my hand away from the doors, but I kept my back faced to her. I didn't really know what to do, or say. It wasn't a question as to how she knew about the war, but why she would ask me. She had to have known what happened to the survivors. There was no other explanation.

”I was a victim too…”

I couldn't see her face, but I could tell she wasn't lying from the tone of her voice. I could tell she was desperately clinging onto the memories from before the war, or perhaps the ones she lost inside it. Either way, I didn't care.

”Many fell victim.” I replied in a rather cool voice. ”Many lost lives. Many lost hope. Many stopped searching.” I turned back around, making sure my face was still hidden under my hood.

She looked confused for a second, as if she didn't have a reply, but desperately wanted to give one. ”What do you mean by stopped searching?”

To be completely honest, I didn't know how to describe my answer. Luckily, Cartuja gave me the splendid favor of explaining it horribly from the back of the bar where he sat, drinking his pint of beer like a broken sailor. ”He means they're weirdos who wear hoods and don't speak a word!” He laughed to himself, but he wasn't necessarily wrong. He basically got every part right except the only one that mattered.

”I'm still searching…” I whispered, but they could both hear me.

Rina started coming closer, and I started backing up. She stopped unexpectedly, glaring into the shadows of my hood. ”Your eyes…” She spoke like an angel from the heavens. An angel that I always wanted, but never found. ”I want to see them. Please, let me see them.”

I thought to myself if I should really do it, but I knew it would only make it worse for both of us. I noticed my grip tighten around my travelsack, and my teeth began to clench with anticipation. That's when I knew that I've stayed for far too long.

I grabbed three pennies from my travelsack, and placed them on the nearest table to pay for the Fo. ”Thank you, Rina.” I said, and walked out.

…

It only took me about ten minutes or so to wander through the empty streets until I reached the edge of the woods. It would've normally taken twice as long if it was midday, but the nighttime emptiness made my walk go smoothly without any interruptions.

After stepping foot into the densely packed trail and reassuring myself of my surroundings, I whistled with a swift motion of placing my thumb and forefinger into the edges of my mouth.

It wasn't loud in the slightest, as I was still practicing daily to get the perfect pitch, but it got the job done. It was a quiet whistle, like that annoying sound ringing in your ears when there's too much silence. I let my fingers dry in the soft breeze of the trees around me, and waited patiently for Mooks to show.

However, I noticed something out the corner of my eye in the distance. It was barely visible, but the longer I hesitated, the clearer the image became.

Two red eyes appeared from the darkness like glowing flames in a crawlspace. They rushed toward me, approaching closer and closer with every breath I took.

I went on the defensive instantaneously, dropping my travelsack and making sure my knees were ready to launch me in any direction. I felt the dirt below me soften as my boots gripped the ground like a pair of shovels, notifying me that I would have to put more effort into my movements.

However, the red eyes had already leaped off the ground into the air, and all I could see were the vicious white teeth of a deadly beast glimmering under the moonlight above me. I could even see the drops of saliva hit the ground from the jaw of the beast, almost as if he could smell the remains of the Fo lingering in my stomach.

I wrapped my hand in my cloak as quick as I could and stuck it out for the beast to bite on. I felt the teeth sink into my arm, but there was no gruesome pain that followed the bite. Instead, it felt as if the beast just grabbed my arm with its teeth, kind of like a binky of some sort.

The beast let go, and both me and him felt stupid.

”Mooks?” I raised a metaphorical eyebrow.