C3 Chapter 2

I watched him. He looked sure of what he was doing, like he had the path memorized at the back of his mind. I saw him take a turn towards the right and I got curious. I kept my distance as I followed him.

The trees on the new path were much closer to each other and the branches almost closed over the sky. Only a couple of rays of sunlight were able to make it through the grounds. And then, I saw that the path led to a beautiful lake.

The place was magnificent and quiet. It was like an entirely different world out there. I couldn’t help feeling at peace. The place was so serene; it felt almost ethereal.

I continued walking, enjoying the sight around me. Suddenly, I collided into a solid surface again. I realized that the boy had stopped walking, and I closed the distance between us because I was no longer watching where I was going.

“Well, hello, clumsy!” he muttered.

“So-sorry,” I murmured.

He turned around to face me. “Why are you even following me?”

“I wasn’t,” I said defensively.

“Hello, liar!”

“Okay… I was curious,” I admitted. “I mean… why would somebody like you stray so far from the center?”

“Somebody like me?” he echoed, and his voice sounded like he really found that offensive. Then he replied, “So I would not be bothered by somebody like you.”

I sighed. This guy sounded like he hated it if somebody pointed out or even mentioned his condition. But he couldn’t deny that. He was blind. How could he be brave enough to go as far as this place without somebody looking out for him?

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” I said. “But… well, shouldn’t somebody be looking out for you? You could get lost or you could trip over something.”

He didn’t speak for a while. But when he spoke, his voice sounded serious. “I don’t need anybody. I’ll be just… fine.” There was emphasis on the last word.

“Alright,” I said. Then I turned to the line of trees in front of us. A few feet away, I saw a bench and a wooden table. It was right there in the center of the woods, in the middle of the trees, facing the lake. I walked past the guy and went to the bench. I heard a groan behind me.

“Can you… go back to where you came from?” he asked.

“Nope,” I replied. “Why? It’s beautiful out here.”

“And now you’ve ruined it!” he muttered.

I turned back to him and started glaring. I knew he couldn’t see me anyway so I could make faces all I wanted.

Just then, I saw his lips curve into a small grin. “You’re glaring, aren’t you?” he asked.

My eyes widened. I had to wave my hand in front of me to check if he really couldn’t see. But his head didn’t move at all. He just stood there, smirking.

“And now you’re waving your hand in front of me to check if I couldn’t really see,” he said. He sighed, “Well, I wish!”

“How in the—”

“I just know,” he replied, not letting me finish my question. He walked slowly towards the bench. Then he sat down slowly, placing his walking stick in front of him. I sat down beside him and stared at the swans swimming in front of us. I’ve always thought that swans were regal creatures—beautiful and magnificent.

“You’re not going to leave, are you?” he asked.

The place was too peaceful and it provided the comfort I didn’t even know I was looking for. And also… suddenly, I didn’t feel like leaving him behind. What if something happened to him and no one found him?

“Nope,” I replied.

He let out a sigh of frustration.

I groaned. “Come on! You can just ignore me. I won’t talk. It’s not like you can see me, anyway!”

The second that left my mouth I regretted it.

Nice shot, Alice! That was really sensitive! And not mean at all!

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he said, to my surprise. “It’s not like it isn’t true, you know. And it’s not your fault I am like this.”

I bit my lower lip. I kept quiet this time. I directed my attention to the swans in front of us.

“How many are they?” he asked.

I counted the swans in my head. I could feel my heart slightly breaking for him. He came here—in this little piece of heaven—and he didn’t even see the magnificent view before him, and the wonderful creatures that played in front of him.

“Six,” I replied.

He nodded slightly.

“Did you know what they are?”

He nodded again. “I’ve always admired them. I grew up in my family’s lake house and we always had swans. Back then, I didn’t care how beautiful they were. Had I known my time to admire their beauty was limited, I would have stopped at least one minute every day just to look at them.”

When I heard him say that, I felt like he was not just talking about the swans anymore; he was talking about life in general. And I have to say I feel exactly the same.

I thought I had a lot of time too. I thought that life was going to be as perfect as it always had been. I thought I would always have the things that I didn’t worry about losing before. Now… they were just mere memories. And no matter how much I tried… how hard I prayed… I could never get them back.

“So what’s wrong with you?” he asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“What?” I asked back.

“Okay, I think I know what,” he said, smirking.

It took me a moment to realize that he was actually joking. I looked at his face and it was the first time that I realized how handsome he was. His skin was smooth, flawless. His hair, the darkest shade of blond, it actually looked light brown. He has these aristocratic features that made him look angelic and devilish at the same time.

“I’m not deaf,” I finally said to him. “And I’m not from here.”

“So what brought you to the world of the freaks if nothing’s wrong with you?”

My lips curved into a smile. He was not the only one with a sense of humor so I said, “I actually escaped from an institution that houses dangerously insane individuals. I haven’t slaughtered anyone in a long time and I’m just… dying for a kill right now. I thought CRC is a good place to look for a prey.”

He turned towards my direction. I expected him to run away or wave his walking stick towards me as a means to defend himself. But, instead, he raised his hands in the air and said, “Go ahead. Knock yourself out.”

He was either calling my bluff or he just didn’t care about his life anymore.

“I was kidding, you know,” I said.

“I know. You don’t strike me as dangerous. Mental, maybe. But harmless, nonetheless,” he said. “But then again… if you weren’t kidding, I’m not stopping you either.”

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you?” I asked.

He sighed. “If you’ve lost as much as I did… there’s nothing much going on for you.”

I sighed. Who was he to talk about losing a lot in life? I lost everything and yet… the only thing I did was cave in… keep it all inside me, because that was the only way I knew how to survive. Repress the memories. Run away from the nightmare and the pain. But I never thought about giving up the fight. It never even crossed my mind.

“You’re not the only one who lost a lot in life,” I argued, misery enveloping my voice. I don’t know if he noticed.

“But at least you could still see the things you have left,” he argued back.

I took a deep breath. “Seeing them is not always a gift,” I murmured. “Because it also reminds you of the things that you can never see anymore. It will always remind you of the things that you used to have… the people who used to be with you and were… not there anymore.”

For a long while he fell silent, absorbing the words I just said. Then he asked, “What’s your name?”

“Allison. Allison Harley,” I replied. “What’s yours?”

“Hunter Vaughn.” He extended his hand to me.

I reached forward and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Hunter.”

After a while, we were both quiet again. I was staring at the view in front of us… Hunter was listening to every sound around him.

I couldn’t help feeling safe here… in this place. It looked like a different world for me. And it gave me the real peace that I had been craving for, for more than a year.

I didn’t mind that I was not alone. Hunter was lost in his thoughts, too. And he never interrupted mine.

I felt comfortable that way. No one was looking at me and whispering behind my back. No one around me was curious about the scars I was hiding and the horrific story behind them. I was not being judged or pitied on. I was not being pressured to open up about the things I bottled up inside.

No one was telling me that it was okay for me to cry… saying that they felt sorry for me and they understood exactly how I felt… because hell! They didn’t! They did not go through the things I went through. They didn’t go through all the pain and the abuse. They weren’t rescued from that nightmare only to wake up and find out that another one was just beginning.

No one was telling me that everything was going to be just fine… because how could it be? The two people I loved the most in the world were gone. Things will never be the same. Things were most certainly not going to be okay!

My phone suddenly rang, interrupting my thoughts. It was Meredith.

“Alice, where are you? It’s time to go home. I have to finish some reports.”

“Okay. Meet you in the parking lot in a few minutes,” I replied.

I turned to Hunter. Although he was not looking at me directly, his face was inclined to my direction, indicating that he was listening.

“That was my aunt,” I said. “I have to go.”

He stood up from the bench and gathered his walking stick. “I’ll walk you back.”

I found his statement both endearing and surprising. For a guy in his state to offer chivalry was indeed… rare.

“Really… it’s okay,” I said. “I can make it back.”

“Nonsense. You might get lost,” he insisted, and this time, I heard amusement in his voice.

We walked side by side in silence. With all fairness to Hunter, he didn’t look like he needed a walking stick at all; he looked agile and it seemed like he memorized every step of the path.

“How often do you come here?” I asked.

“At least two times a day… for the last two hundred days,” he replied.

“No wonder you’ve memorized the way. How did you even discover it?”

“Did you hear anybody say that when you lose one sense, your other senses try to make up for it? I didn’t know it was true until I got to experience it.”

“If… if you don’t mind me asking… how long have you been…” I trailed off.

“Almost a year,” he replied. I didn’t miss the bitterness in his voice.

I couldn’t help reaching out for his hand and squeezing it. “I’m sorry,” I said very gently.

He squeezed my hand back. “I am too.”

I released his hand and we walked in silence again. We finally reached the grounds of the center.

“It was nice meeting you, Hunter Vaughn.”

“It was nice meeting you too, Allison Harley.” He paused for a while and asked, “You said, you weren’t from here. So what were you doing here? Were you visiting someone?”

“No,” I replied. “My aunt volunteers here at least twice a week. Today, she pestered me to come with her. She was afraid that if I don’t talk to anybody soon, I would… lose it.”

“They don’t understand that if they force you to lose the lid on the emotions you bottle up inside… you actually will end up losing it,” he said, but I knew he was speaking about his own emotions… not mine.

I realized that Hunter and I… we’re not so different. We were both angry. And staying away from the world of people with perfect lives was the only way we knew how to cope up with the pain. Repressing misery and keeping it at bay were the only way we could get hold of the rage that we felt inside.

“Will you come back tomorrow, Allison?” he asked.

I nodded even though I know he couldn’t see me.

For some reason, he knew what my answer was. I saw a faint smile cross his face. “Then you know where to find me,” he said before he turned to walk back inside the building.