A Forgotten Past

An Old Friend

He dropped his knife and pulled me into a hug. A tight one.

Three words.

'Strange and Random.'

But I just can't resist the urge to hug him back. I gripped the back of his coat tightly, causing it to wrinkle a little, but that didn't matter. I missed him. I missed having a friend.

It all came back to me now.

We were very close, despite our age difference. He's a young adult, about twenty, and I'm just a teen of sixteen. We're best buddies, that's for sure. From the beginning 'till the end. He works as an assassinator, which obviously meant he took lives before. Yes, he's dangerous. Not a type of guy to mess with, especially when he loses his temper.

He helped me a lot in those days... those days of which I cannot remember clearly of.

He let go of the hug, but his hands were gripping my shoulders. "It worked," he said happily. "It really worked,"

I smiled, letting him know that I recognize him as a friend, no longer an enemy or a crazy maniac.

"... and for a second there, I swore to myself that if you still didn't remember me, I really am going to kill you," he said as he picked up his knife and tucked it in his boot. I was shocked, but seeing his laughing, playful eyes, it was obvious he was joking.

"Don't scare me like that," I whinned.

"Scare? Pfft. In the past, you'd never be scared, or petrified. We used to play 'Hide and Kill', remember? Whenever I find you, you won't run away. Instead, you'd kill me."

I closed my eyes.

Yes, I remember those times. Makes me think, 'Why was I so scared before this?'

The moment I hear our giggles playing that game, my eyes opened, and I was smiling at the ground. I used to be brave, unmerciful. In fact, Ben's the only one whom I show my bright side to. No one has ever seen me smile. Not one but him.

"It makes me want to laugh seeing your face. God, it's priceless! Do you know how much effort it took me to stop laughing at your horrified face? When you dropped out of that locker and ran away, I actually took the time to laugh first before chasing after you. I've never seen you like that," he went on, laughing in between his sentences.

I playfully punched him on the shoulder. It ain't one small punch, but a nice, hard one.

"Geez, relax. You still got your great strength, amazingly." He said as he rubbed his shoulder.

I smiled sweetly at him. My face then scrunched up of confusion.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked curiously.

"Never did. Coincidentally, I saw you, or what I thought it was you, walking in the cafe. When I confirmed that it was really you, I decided that we should play 'Hide and Kill' to bring back your memories of me,"

"And how did you know that I had already found out about my forgotten past? You said I was a murderer, before you were going to 'kill' me,"

"You ran away. Pretty obvious,"

"Oh," I said slowly, but loud enough for him to hear.

Then there was silence. I guess you could say it's an awkward silence. I mean, the two best buds who have never seen each other for quite some time is pretty awkward. The both of us sat down, leaning against the wall along the corridor, where a light shone above us and the rest of the ceiling lamps were broken. Basically, on our left and right, it's totally dark.