Rewriters [Completed]

Chapter 3: Vestige

The moment Lysa took his hand, Kaleo felt as if something was thrust through his heart. Even though it was only for a brief moment, he felt the unusual roughness of her palm, wondering whether it was a scar.

Barely a few seconds later, she burst into a fit of coughing, ceasing his thoughts. Hurriedly, he opened and handed her a bottle of water which she drank - thankfully - without question.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Probably..." She let out a weak cough. "... not."

"I'll get a taxi. You don't look like you can walk any further." As soon as he said those words, she shook her head, standing up straight and proceeded to limp off.

"Wait, come back..." he trailed off uselessly and sighed, figuring that it was better to just catch up.

When Kaleo got out of the alley, he noticed that Lysa was heading in the direction of the town square and ran up to her side. As he opened his mouth, she stopped abruptly, her eyes fixed intently on something in front of them.

Following her gaze, he found himself looking upon the statue of the legend himself, Alexander Dale.

Every citizen of Vale knew his story. He was but a humble firefighter until a great disaster struck the town of the old. Gripped by fear, the people could only run for their lives, but not him. Unlike the heroes - more accurately, superheroes - of today, that man had no outstanding talents, no special power, yet he fought against the elements and saved the hearts of many before his death.

The survivors honoured his memory by renaming the town. That was how Vale came into existence, and why Alexander Dale was known as the First Hero.

Staring at his statue, the figure of him with his right arm raised to the skies, a wave of dispiritedness washed over him.

Kaleo already knew that he could never be like him. Every time he looked at that statue, he would be reminded of that fact. It was pretty ironic; a symbol of inspiration was a symbol of discouragement for him.

He turned to Lysa. "Let's go."

The sun, which had recently risen above the horizon, casted a deep shadow, behind the statue where they stood, that masked her expression.

Squinting his eyes, he saw that she gave him a slight nod after turning away. When she stepped into the light, he wondered why the expression on her face seemed so familiar.

At last, they reached at an apartment building.

He was very relieved. The distance from the hospital to this building wasn't particularly long, but as Lysa was still recovering, it must have taken a lot out of her, as he heard from her heavy breaths.

As Kaleo helped her along a corridor, he halted at the sight of a rather elderly lady holding bags of groceries. Before he could offer his assistance, she dropped her bags in shock.

"Lysa... is that you?" Her voice trembled.

For a while, there was silence, until a sign of recognition appeared on Lysa's face. "Mrs... Alvin-"

The old lady rushed forward, ignoring his presence, and embraced her in a hug, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm... so glad you are safe. When you stopped talking to me, I thought you..."

Lysa slid out of her embrace and stepped a notable distance away from her.

The old lady, Mrs Alvin, seemed to understand. "I'm sorry... I got carried away. But please tell me what happened. I tried calling you but it never got through."

Lysa moved her hand as if she was going to search for something in her jacket pocket, but quickly realised that she was not wearing one, blinking in confusion.