"They answered my questions, they told me stories. But I know it's not the whole truth. They're hiding something."
Stark darkness, mysterious faces, and memory loss. A girl wakes up all alone in a strange place, and she doesn't even know where to ru...
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I can see a challenge in David's eyes, but I shouldn't fall for it.
"You can't," I say, continuing to walk away from him, but our distance remains the same: he's still following me.
"Can't what? Can't say the truth? Well then, you're wrong. That light," he pointed at the candles, "It drew me near it. Then I found you. That's the truth."
"What I mean is you can't fool me! I won't put out the candles just because you told me there's more people like you."
"Hmm." He looks up, as if thinking. He scoffs, then shrugs. "At least I tried."
He's still following me, and I really want to reach that group of buildings Anaïs was talking about, but it's like I'm on another never-ending walk, just like in the hallway in that house. Forever going.
"That's right, just keep walking." He smirks. I glare at him, to the point that I'm scared my eyes will combust and he'll drop dead with two smoking holes through him.
"You know what? I don't know where I am, what's going on, I don't even know who I am so just stop! Stop bugging me and go away," I growl.
"Unfortunately for you, I don't go away that easily. You gotta try harder." He's still smirking.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" I say through gritted teeth and slow down to a pace that looks like I'm not advancing at all. I actually want to stop but I can't, remembering what Anaïs said. I shouldn't even have stopped earlier. If I did, this boy with me right now wouldn't be here. At least that's what it looks like.
He stops walking, stopping almost two meters away from me. The distance between us is enough, but not to the point that I'm comfortable. Frustrated, I breathe in loudly, trying to calm myself down by closing my eyes for a moment. I think I'm actually doing pretty well for someone in this kind of situation where everything doesn't make any sense at all. I should be proud of that. I exhale and let a small smile appear on my face, even if it seems out of place right now. There's nothing a little self-praise can't fix.
I bring myself to say, "Then can you just shut up and make yourself invisible somehow? I don't want anyone with me right now, especially with the likes of you."
I wait for a reply, but there's nothing. The surroundings felt eerily calm and quiet, and I remember how I felt in the dark in that room earlier. All alone, swallowed by the shadows. But I'm definitely not alone, and I know the candlelight is still bright against the dark even with closed eyelids. For a moment, a weird feeling stops me from opening my eyes like if I will, I won't like whatever I see. I'm scared. Everything's starting to sink in little by little. I'm lost, all alone, with weird people in a weirder place. There's no sun or moon, no occasional chirping of birds or honks of cars.
Still, I open my eyes. I'm holding the candelabra in front of me, and behind the glowing candles, David is standing still like a statue, expression rigid, eyes looking straight ahead. He looks like one of those mannequins placed to be seen through store glass windows, with faces that's almost real and capable of blinking or even moving for the next second but it actually doesn't. And David doesn't move at all.
