Never Let Go [Hiatus]

Part II, Chapter 1- New Life

The boy awoke with a start. For some reason, he froze when he heard the unfamiliar sounds of the night. Confusion seeped in. What---Where---Who---

He grew dizzy from the countless questions that bombarded him. Scrambling to his feet, he surveyed his surroundings, taking in the vast open field that seemed to stretch forever. Out of the blue, something hard came crashing down on his head. As he fell to the ground, a few pair of hands roughly patted him down, feeling for valuables he might carry.

'Geez... this guy has practically nothing!' a voice exclaimed.

'Aw man! Then how are we supposed to pay back the money we owe?'

'Dammit!' another cursed, kicking the bleeding boy in frustration. The boy curled up in pain. He did not understood anything at all- how he ended up in this situation and all.

'Why not sell his organs! That's bound to get us lots of cash!'a new voice suggested. The boy wondered exactly how many of them there were.

'Huh? But... that's really dirty money. We---'

'As if what we are doing now is not dirty enough!'

'But...but we will have to kill him for that! It's murder!'

'Oh shut up! If you don't want to do it, just get lost and find your OWN way to pay for YOUR share!' The boy recognized this voice as the one who had kicked him.

'I...I have a family to consider. I can't just commit a crime. What if we get caught?'

'Damn you! We all have families and the disappearance of this lost, dirty child will not make any difference to the world!'

'Demo......'

'They've warned us,' someone said in a menacing tone, 'that if we don't pay up in three days, they'll come after our families. And I'm sure you know what they're capable of...'

'SO, don't be such a fucking hypocrite! YOU choose. Right now. YOUR family, or this boy!'

There was a moment of silence as the man tried to reach an answer. Try as he might, he just could not convince himself of the rightness of this murder. The boy looked around 18, the same age as his son...

The boy looked up at them with pleading eyes, tears streaming down his face. He wondered why people could be so cruel to one another. Sure, he didn't understand a thing. He didn't know who he was, where he came from, why he was here... But he did know that he didn't want to die.

'Urgh!' someone pushed the man out of his way.

'Get lost you pathetic piece of shit! We'll do it while you can just stand there and watch!' he bellowed, taking out his pocket knife. His comrades immediately pinned the struggling boy down. The boy's eyes widened in fear at the blade that glinted in the moonlight.

'LLIIEE!! TASKETE! DAREKA! TASKET --- AAAH!' the boy's desperate screams for help turned into that of pain as the man plunged his knife deep into his chest. Blood poured out of the wound and his vision turned white. Every gasp of air brought stinging pain to his chest.

'Slice his throat, bro. It'll be easier. Neater and faster. Do you even know how to kill properly WTF.'

No... Not again.. Why didn't you guys finish me in one blow just now...

He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for that cool blade to slide mercilessly across his throat. He didn't dare to breathe.

But it never came. Just as he thought he was going to die, he heard surprised grunts as the people holding him down suddenly released their grips.

'What the-'

'Who-'

The boy slowly opened his eyes as far as he could. His murderers barely had time to register the situation nor react to it when they were swiftly cut down by men in black outfits, the lower half of their faces masked with black cloths. It was all over in an instant. One of them knelt down next to him, inspecting his wounds. The boy winced in pain as the man moved his arm aside to look at his chest. Taking off his mask, the man started shouted orders to the rest, and it was then the boy realized the man was in fact a woman.

'Hurry, he's losing too much blood!'

She turned back to face him.

'Don't worry, son. We'll save you. Hang in there, okay?' she assured him in a gentle voice that was unfitting to what she was doing a few moments earlier. The boy was surprised in her change of character. Just a few seconds ago, she had appeared as what the boy thought to be a ruthless killer.

'What's your name?' she tried to keep him conscious by talking to him. He looked at her in daze and confusion. He searched through his memory for an answer to that simple question but found none. In fact, there was nothing in his memory in the first place. It was blank. Nothing.

'I don't ...know...' he replied, his vision getting blurrier.

'Hm..? Hey, stay with me honey...'

And that was the last thing he heard as he slipped into unconsciousness.