Retrace

Chapter Three

Eri asked us to give our final farewell to Amy. Amy would be buried on top of the hill near our house three days from now.

Eri didn’t need to tell this to us personally. Even without her coming to inform us, of course we’ll be present. The real reason Eri came is because she wanted to talk to me.

We sat outside the house like we used to. Gil stayed inside and prepared us some food.

“Are you not telling me something, Keishi?” Eri started.

There are many things I’m not telling Eri. Of course it’s something I can’t tell her at any costs. “What are you talking about, Eri?”

She sighed. “Two people came in the village asking every family about a certain person.”

“They came to your house too?”

“They came last night, just before I went to bed.”

“Who are they even finding for? Shouldn’t they have asked the village chief first?”

“The village chief can’t help them.”

“Why not?”

“Because the person they’re finding for isn’t even in the village registry.”

“Wait. Who are they actually finding for?”

Eri sighed again. “Someone that goes by your last name.”

I stopped for a while. “Dyseige?”

Eri nodded.

“Two people are looking for us?” I asked, bewildered.

“No, not the two of you.” Eri twiddled with her fingers. “They’re looking for someone named Kyreil Dyseige.”

Right after Eri said that, I felt lightheaded. I grabbed Eri’s hand for support. Eri looked at me, a bit puzzled.

My body had the same reaction just like when I tried to remember the image of my father. This time, it’s a name I know I’ve heard before. The name Kyreil sounded vaguely familiar.

“Keishi!” Eri gasped. “You’re pale! What happened to you?”

I tried to say I’m fine, but Eri shushed me out. Then she called for Gil, hollering his name as if he wouldn’t be able to hear Eri.

Moments later, Gil carried me back inside the house. What happened after was all a blur. I just realized later that I’m lying in a bed with Eri spoon-feeding me.

I’m starting to lose it. In these past few days, things have been going completely out of my league. Or should I say, things have become completely weird for me to understand. Ever since that day when I woke up wearing clothes I don’t normally use, I can’t understand anymore. Ever since that day when I forgot my name, I feel as if I’m not really myself. And ever since I learned that someone tried to kill me, I already asked this: Should I exist right now? I had thought that it is possible for a person to forget why he had ended up in a certain place but, it just isn’t possible for someone to only forget who he is. It just isn’t normal. Then it came to Amy’s sudden death. I had heard that no one actually knows why she died. It’s what everyone calls the ‘sudden death’ that is caused by a curse. People have died with this curse in the past already and Amy had fallen victim to it. Also, it’s something about Gil’s sudden change in personality. That Gil that I know in the past is now gone. He’s become more of a fatherly figure already. Lastly, it comes down to the whispers I hear from the villagers. I’ve heard them many times before and normally I’d just ignore them because in the first place, I have no idea what they’re talking about. But it’s something about me being a ‘cursed child’. It’s a word I usually hear from them.