Her New Memories

Chapter 2 [Phoenix]

Pine. A smell only recognizable up close.

Green. A color that was often associated with jealousy.

Two distinct features of the mystery man. He smelled strongly of pine but only up close, the green in his eyes looked as if they never had anything to be jealous of. Nothing to resent.

His hands were rough and calloused, the hands of a hands on worker rather than just another office worker.

A tall build that would make you wonder how he managed to get us away from the crime scene unnoticed, especially when his image was everywhere we turned. It was obvious nobody knew what his face looked like though as we walked on.

He stood tall, confidence radiated off of him.

Every few moments he turned back to glance and make sure I was following but all I could do was follow and look at all the lights.

Across the street from us was a neon sign advertising a salon. Beside it was another neon sign but it had no words, only a glass of wine. Further down was a flashy restaurant with tables outside on a small patio, a line of people waited outside in short dresses and formal wear. I glanced down at my clothes to find them rather dirty. I brushed them off and fixed my hair to seem more presentable.

A hand brushed my arm and I looked back at the man only to see him follow to where my gaze was nodding slightly before continuing on.

The walk was beginning to seem longer than I expected after a while. But we walked past so many different shops, each having a new and interesting thing to look at. One thing that set me off about them was how I didn't remember any of them even if the area had a sense of familiarity.

"Mom, look! It's the super lady!" A child exclaimed excitedly grabbing my attention, she jumped up and down tugging at her mothers arm while pointing at a large screen. I let my gaze follow where the kid was pointing.

A girl with long blonde hair sent an arrow flying across the screen at a man. But the man wasn't just anybody, it was the guy I was currently following.

"Can you try and remember her real name?" The mother smiled down at her daughter, "The Iron Archer?" The girl watched the screen more intently once she remembered the name. "Nice job, now remember him. He is The Black Phoenix. Any time you see him run and hide....."

I slowly stopped listening to the mother and daughter.

The Black Phoenix.

That was his name I guess, it didn't entirely fit him. The black hair and dark clothing did, but where did the phoenix part come in? It couldn't have been his eyes, they were green after all.

I looked back for him only to see he was ahead of me crossing the road. I began to jog towards him, as I got close he turned around to look for me only to see nobody there. To him I had escaped.

He began to look over people searching for me frantically until he felt my hand tug gently on his coat from his side. A sigh escaped his lips as he looked down. His hand covered mine as he pulled me close, walking towards a skyscraper.

Once we had entered he slightly nodded a hello to the reception before entering an elevator labeled as staff only. He then clicked on the button reading 57. He didn't seem relaxed but rather anxious standing beside me holding my fist in his. I glanced down at our hands before looking back up at him being met with his gaze.

"You scared me back at the crosswalk." He mumbled trying to start a conversation. "Sorry, I saw something interesting and I didn't know you kept walking." I don't entirely understand why I'm apologizing but it made him smile slightly.