A Pause In a Rewind

Chapter VIII : Chime

While the whole plaza is lit on fire from the skies, a nimble man runs through the putrid alleys. Wearing a bonnet, the boy ran across the street with his pale skin shining out in the darkness of the night.

He pants as he sprints rapidly. As he glances back, he sees two men dressed in dark attire. The men chase after him with plans to capture him. In the pursuit, the boy turned his back on them as he runs. He took something from his pocket and a blast looms around, and suddenly, everything slowed down.

The mysterious boy's image fades as everything around him gets distorted in time in the tick of a clock. He vanished in thin air along the almost slowness sky. The melting snow showed the boy's footprints, yet his pursuers were lead to a dead end.

The men chasing him were shocked to find out they were misled. They searched the whole place as they panic. But their attempt was to no success. One of the men removed his hood and his crinkly face full of scars and burns caught light under the moon.

*Static*

He calls someone over the phone and said, "He got away..." in a malevolent voice. He just nods and puts down the phone and the two walked away. After the pursuers left, the boy peeks on a wall. Shivering in the cold. He breathes deeply and scoffs. He stares at his wristwatch and its numbers glitch.

In his distress, he wanted to shout, yet he restrains himself. As his mind was full of problems, a firework exploded in the sky. It caught his attention and he ambles towards the town plaza. The plaza is filled with people and lights. And also where two love-birds sleep soundly under the night sky.

While in his arms, Perry stared into Nil's eyes. Silently calm and sound asleep. The boy then hovers his palm atop the sleeping beauty's hair. He stopped as he hesitates to stroke her majestic dark hair, yet he can smell the scent of flowers on her.

He holds his grip tighter and his eyes would start to succumb to slumber. The lad tries his effort to remain in his consciousness. He can see only the heavens alight with the blaze of colors and the hair like that of blustering meadows.

The boy couldn't get any content. He just smiled and moves his head to lay on Nil's. He then closed his eyes, too to feel the inner peace. As Perry peeks to see the last blast of the fireworks, he sees before him a familiar face standing patiently.

"W-Who are you?" Perry asks the lad in front of them. The boy standing approached them and waved at the two. As he leans forward, his dark black hair stands out. His jewel eyes peek on Nil who is fast asleep while on Perry's grip. Perry slowly moves his arms away and let the girl lean on the seat.

Perry stood up and greeted him. The pale white boy just shrugged and pulled Perry by the sleeve and moves him a bit away from the sleeping Nil. As he drags Perry, he then talks to him, "Hey, Paul. You seem to be having a great time." Perry just chuckled and scratched his head.

While the two chat, Nil squirms. Perry glanced back and proceeds to ask the boy, "I think we've already met, right?" with a shrug to accompany his confusion. The boy nods and he pulled out his phone. "You know this profile, right? It's me, Oliver. I'm the guy who woke you up while you slept on the road" the boy explained. Perry just agreed with him with a nod saying, "Ah...I see."

"So you're the one who saw my sketches, Oliver?" Perry asked Oliver.  Oliver replied while in a hurry, "Yes, Perry, I actually came to you because I needed your help." Perry was perplexed. Oliver pats Perry at his shoulder and sighs. He grabs Perry by his forearm and pulls it out revealing his pocket watch.

Perry immediately hides the pocket watch from Oliver's sight. "I need your help, Paul," Oliver said to Perry. Perry explained, "It's Perry, Oliver. P-E-R-R-Y, Perry" Oliver just nodded and glares into Perry. "I need you to come with me. I have to tell you something. It's important," Oliver said to Perry.