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My head… it’s throbbing. The pain…

Slowly you open your eyes. You’re inside a car. Your parents are sitting at the front and your grandmother is sleeping next to you. You lift your head that you rest on the car’s window just now.

Where am I?

You peer outside to see if there’s any road sign board that can tell you where you are. You’re going on a straight empty road. On your left and right is only forest. The weather is not really bright. It’s been raining for a while-not a heavy rain just drizzle. The sky is getting darker. You check on the timer at the dashboard of the car. It’s 6.30pm. No wonder its dark outside. Not long after that, the car that your father drive pass an old green sign board. The name of this place is really familiar. You’ve been here before. It’s your mother’s hometown.

“Are we going to mom’s hometown, dad?” You ask, breaking the silence that’s been to long inside the car. You wait for him to answer but he doesn’t. Your father keeps his eyes on the road. You pout and rest back your body to the seat. I shouldn’t have asked. You mumble inside your head.

Your grandmother is still sleeping. Despite the fact that the terrible road condition that makes the car bounce all the way. Maybe she’s already use with this situation. Besides this is the road she’s been used since she was born. This is her birth place after all.

“____, are you excited?” Your mother turns to you with a wide smile on her lips.

I give a nod and she change back her position to face forward. Your grandmother awake by your mother’s voice. She stretches her body and look at you. She blinks several times before shifts nearer to you and shrieks. Your father checks on you and your grandmother through the rearview mirror. 

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Your father asks.

She doesn’t respond, instead she clutches both of your arms and try to hit you. She murmurs words that suddenly cause pain to your body. It’s weird. Why does she do that? This is not your grandmother. No. Your grandmother is much more affectionate than this. Although she is used with the ritual stuffs before but she never did it to her own grandchild. She sticks her eyes direction straight into yours. You can see darkness inside of it and your eyes start to feel heated. It burns. 

You scream and cover your eyes with your hands. “Dad! Help me!”

He let out a long sigh before pull over in front of a small tavern-which is the only building that’s being surrounds by the forest. “Mother, please stop.”  A high tone from your father is heard. Slowly she pulls back from you, but not her eyes.

You open the car’s door and step onto the wet muddy ground. You look around and see a large tree trunk near. Unconsciously, your body is drag to the tree trunk. There’re dents on the tree trunk, as if it being hit by something. You reach out your hand and touch the dent part. Your heart begins to race faster. You close your eyes and only a bright light can be seen and you can hear a girl scream. You widen your eyes instantly and breathe heavily.

What just happened?  You question yourself.

You revolve you body and notice that your other family members, already walk into the tavern, leaving you behind. You quicken your pace and trail them. The wooden door of the tavern is push by you. No one seems to realize that you are entering the tavern. You make your way to the table where your parents and not-the-real-grandmother-you-always-know sit. You about to place your bottom down but you step back when you see there’s no space left for you at that table. There’s an empty seat beside the table they’re at. You amble and take a seat on the chair.  

“Hi there.” A guy next to you greets. You stare at him. He’s tall; you can tell by the way he’s sitting. He smiles when he sees you observing him. You blush and quickly hid your face from him.

What a good looking guy.

“It’s been a long time.” He shifts closer to you. Somehow, you don’t feel awkward or intimidate by his action. You want him to be close. Feels like you’ve known him and always longing to meet him again. Again? You know him from before but who’s he? You recall every friend you’ve got here, at your mother’s hometown, but still don’t get a clue about him.

“Where have I met you?” You ask. 

“You probably won’t remember.” He flashes a grin towards you.

You furrow your brow. “Can you tell me then?”

“No need. Let’s just pretend that we never met and do the introduction of ourselves again.” He reaches out his hand to me. “I’m Tao. Nice to meet you.”

You grab his hand and give it a shake. “I’m  _____. Nice to meet you too.”

“Who are you here with?” Tao questions you.

“My family.” You point to them.

“Why do you come back here?”

Truthfully, you don’t know. All you know is when you woke up earlier, you’re already inside your father’s car and he drove you here. You gap your mouth to answer him but you decide just to keep it to yourself. He might think you lost your mind if you answer it like that.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.” He giggles.

That giggles. That voice. And that smile. Everything is so familiar. Something is playing in your mind. A memory-a blur one to be exact. You can see Tao smiles towards you and utters to you sentences that you’re not able to hear. You squeeze your eyes hardly and get back to your conversation with Tao.

“Are you from around here?”   

“Yes.” He simply replies. “I’ve grown up here.”

“Oh, I see…” You got nothing else to lengthen the conversation. So you decide to ask about the tree trunk that you saw earlier. “Tao, can I ask you about something?”

“Sure.”

“The tree trunk out there…there’re bents on it.” You pause when you read his expression. He begins to frown when you mention about it. You continue with your question. “What happened?”  

A long silence is between both of you. He just stares at you. When, you’re about to ask him again he says, “Your family is going now.”

You look back on your father who is on his way out from the tavern and so does the rest of your family. You stand on your feet.

“____.” He addresses you. “If you want to find me, I’m always here. Okay?” He beams.  

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hey guys... The first chapter is up. Hope I didn't dissapoint you :D please tell me what you think about it you ...