Someone I'm Not

16 [pt.2]| Importance of Pens and Recalls

"Are we there yet? It's like this is taking forever-" she was just about to complain when the door is opened for her quickly catches her attention. And that moment, Phoenix from the present reacts inside her.

'The place I discovered!' Phoenix from the present does remember this as his hideout. And it made him recollect the thought of yesterday, the main reasons why he goes there.

"So, what do you think?" He asks, but before she could even reply, she feels an alien force suddenly pushes her from the chest, but too strong that made the soul possessing her separate from her body. Phoenix gasps for air as if everything when in slow motion and a deafening ringing of the ears like the after sounds of a big explosion. It was too painful for his ears, but as time extends, the sound slowly then changes into a smooth brown noise that quickly massages the pained ears of the static sound.

Now, he finds himself standing at a step away from the body he is possessing. It made him feel a bit free from being caged, but is this a bad sign? Something is ostensibly not right. How come this happened?

"This place is. . . breathtaking," he watches as Soroya replies to the Phoenix in front of her.

"How did I separate myself from-" he asks himself as he was about to take a step forward and try to touch Soroya by the shoulder in hopes of getting himself back inside her body. But then, he hears her voice inside his head.

"Phoenix?" The sound seems to be struggling for a specific reason that he couldn't identify the cause of the person's suffering.

"Soroya?" He asks inside his head, figuring out if he's imagining and or hearing things that aren't present. But to his astonishment, the person replies.

"Please, let me go-"

"Ggaaahhhh-" And in an abrupt move, he feels someone pulling him back and is now attached to the body once again. Now, being Soroya, she jerks his head downwards as she starts to become her head as she feels it heavily pounding until the vertical pinching pain from her stomach begins to envelop next. She winces in pain as she realizes that something unquestionably happened there, and she needs to find out what it is.

"Soroya?" Phoenix from the past comes to check up on her as he places a friendly touch over her back. "You okay?"

His simple question felt like medicine when the pain suddenly disappeared. Another qualm is raised in her head, not knowing what to trust anymore behind safety and curiosity. Will this happen again? Or did it precisely occurred?

"Yes. . . Yes, I'm fine." She says before standing back up, regaining composure. She then fixes her hoodie as she breathes out, then looking at Phoneix. "I just felt something strange, that's all." She explains before giving him a smile. "I'm sorry, where were we?" She asks to change the subject. On the other hand, Phoenix wanted to insist on asking her what's wrong but hearing her talk makes him feel her despondency to move forward.

"Okay. . . Well, come. Let's sit under that tree." He says as he gestures her to follow his lead. They did walk towards the tree to have a more beautiful view of the landscape. They sit there as they both inhale the fresh air.

"This is just the scenery that I needed to see." Phoenix from the present says as he remembers how endless he goes there before just to see that clear view.

"Uhm, I happen to discover this place when I was just trying to give myself a tour after the first day of classes. It was precisely five o'clock when we had class dismissal, and since I still haven't had made some friends before, I decided to explore every edge of the school, and when I found this spot, I took the opportunity to make this my safe place." He explains that makes Soroya look at him.

'He is right. I did found this the first day I study here.' Phoenix from the past agreed.

"But long story short, I met my friends, but I didn't let them know about this place because. . . Well, I'm not selfish, I just want to have space for myself when I'm in a bad situation. I just want a room where I can breathe on my own, shout the problems that only I can hear. . . Until this tree here became my companion who I complain about everything." He says as he pats the tree behind them. Soroya then was about to ask when Phoenix decided to clear his throat.

"Back to the main reason why we are here. . . So, what do you want to talk about?" He asks that made her shake her head and remember their purpose.

"Oh right. Well, about that. . . You still remember what I good you about my dream that you-"

"Yup. That's the reason you're here, to find clues." He continues.

"Yup."

"So. . ."

"So, we should cooperate with this because I find it a bit hard for only me to make a move and that it will also be best if you also take precautions since ill be just here for weekends. Okay?"

"Okay?." he asks but made sure it sounded like a statement, still not sure if he should believe It entirely or not.

"So, first, I need you to be cautious about everyone who is acting a bit creepy around you. Even Nico, Bret, and Philip."

"Wait. . . Let me just get my phone so that I could type these as my reminders." He says that made Soroya rolls her eyes.

"Seriously? Can't you just memorize it with your head?" She asks only for him to shake his head. For some personal reason, it made her smile, remembering that it was really him—the same Phoenix who lived with him two different times.

"Okay. Well, have you typed that already?" She asks when she didn't receive any word from him. He's too focused on his phone screen for a few seconds before looking back at her.

"Before the rules of staying away from creepy dudes. . . Can you tell me more about this dude who you claims to have done something wrong to me?" He asks that made her nod.

"So, you believe me then?" She raises the question with the slightest hope she could contain. But then, he shrugs his shoulders.

"I still don't know but. . ." ‘you're starting to convince me little by little.’

"But?"

"But the spotlight is not for me, so how about you tell me all I need to know now, and I'll key you know if I already believed you." He responds that made Soroya grin.

"Playing hard to get? Hmm, you know I don't give up so easily. So, OPERATION: CONVINCE PHOENIX is on!" She confirms openly that made Phoenix chuckle.

"Okay, smarty pants! Let's talk about the important deets now." He says as he prepares himself from typing. "Just tell me what you remember."

"Okay. . . So. . ." she pauses as she rubs her chin using her thumb, trying to recall everything that has happened. She closes her eyes to concentrate on the darkness.

"Uhm, what are you going? Are you going I sleep on me?" Phoenix asks but instead of getting a reply, she shushes him. "Okay." He whispers in response.

As Soroya focuses on the darkness, Phoenix from the Present takes over as he goes back to memory lane. When he opens his eyes, he's already seated at the bench, the same area where he waited for Soroya. The same bench he sat at before finding himself lying on the cold cemented ground outside the bathroom he used.

He stands up as he embraces the cold breeze of wind that brushes into his hands. He's wearing the same brown jacket as the same paper bag filled with bread he ordered for Soroya.

His eyes roam around every bit of corner as he enjoys reminiscing. He remembers everything.

But before he could get lost in his memories, he decided to stand up from the bench and went straight into the bathroom to where he used. From that tiny alley, his eyes watch as he tackles the man with a gun.

"How could you kill an innocent man!? He's done nothing wrong!" He tries to talk to him, trying to steal the gun.

"You don't know anything, kid! If you're in my position, you will do the same thing! And id do anything to save my family!"

He pays close attention as he leans down to lift the man's hoodie. To his astonishment, the man has no eyes, no nose, no mouth. He quickly steps back as he realizes that he didn't see his face even he's been on top of the murderer.

"You should have spared his life instead! You didn't have to kill him! He's pleading for his life, and yet you've taken everything away from hi—"

He watches as the man aims the gun at his chin. His eyes widen as the man demands him to stand. Phoenix obeys as he moves away from him. When the man in a hoodie made a great distance, they both rise to their feet as they still aim the gun at him. Phoenix raises both his hands. The man in a hoodie fixes his black cap before smirking.

"His smirk!" He thought to himself. "How come it looks so familiar?"

"You know, kid, it still doesn't make sense as to why you think of him as an innocent man. . . Why? Was it because he was the one who got shot and not me?"

"Look, sir. You don't have to—"

*Bang!*

The shot of the gun echoed around him that awakened his lost soul. His eyes were wide open when everything happened. The bullet pushes himself inside his chest as blood starts to soak his hoodie.

"I'm sorry, kid, but you should have just been contented to giving me your money."

He couldn't bear watching himself fall on his knees, and with the numbness starting to envelop his body, he falls right to the floor as he bathes himself with his pool of blood. The man slides his gun inside his pocket before running away.

"Soroya?"

She opens her eyes to find herself being pulled back into the grass, where she is facing Phoenix from the past.

"Are you—"

"Brown jacket, black cap, five hundred dollars, a white plastic bag filled with bread, green hoodie, and an alley." She says in one breathing.

"W-what? I stop sinking in your words in my mind from the white plastic bag. Could you repeat it?"

Soroya then repeats her words until he gets them in every detail. When hes done typing, he looks at Soroya, who is looking at the sunset.

"Why did you gave me this kind of details? I was kind of expecting MORE detailed notes."

"Just trust me. If you remember those details soon enough, you'll understand."

"Why can't you just give the detailed ones?"

"Because that is for you to find out. . . Well, if my dream was correct at giving me details. . ." she pauses as she inhales deeply before sighing long. She then turns to face Phoenix as the orange light collides with his hazelnut eyes. "Can you stay in that position for a second?" She says as he's about to ask again when she brings out her phone.

"Let me just. . ." she didn't finish her own sentence when she presses the snap photo.

"Hey! Did you just took a picture of me!?" He asks that made Soroya chuckle.

"What!? It's not like you had yourself injured when I took a photo!" She says as she laughs. Phoenix then secretly takes his phone out, and in three seconds

*click!

"H-hey! Did you just took a picture of me!?" She asks that made Phoenix laugh. When Soroya realizes what she just said, it was Phoenix's time to answer her.

"What!? It's not like you got yourself injured when I took a photo of you!" He mimics her. They both laugh at it as they enjoy the moment. Just then, Soroya moves closer to him as she hands her phone up.

"Let's take a picture." She suggests.

"N-no."

"Oh, come on! What if I'll die tomorrow? Then you'd be most likely to regret that you didn't even have this picture with me! Let's take advantage of this golden light, shall we?"

Without accepting his protest, she leans backward as she clicks the button a few more times, even to get his stolen shots.

"Hey, that's enough! What if your BOYFRIEND Nico sees this? He might get jealous." He says, which he regretted saying afterward.

"What?"

"N-nothing! What are you even talking about?" He fakes his laugh as he leans his back on the tree.

"First of all, he is NOT my boyfriend. Maybe we got so close that early, but that's just because hes so easy to talk with, and he's such a gentleman. Second, I already got my eyes to someone else for a long time now."

"You mean, Eduardus?" He asks, letting his curiosity runs her.

"What!? Of course not!" She says, which made her remember something. "About Eduardus. . ." she pauses.

"What about him?" He asks as he crosses his forearms around his chest.

"Well, let's just say he's a man who came into my life suddenly, but not as a soon-to-be boyfriend kind of thing. Besides, he has his eyes captivated by Vianne— I mean, my sister's charm." She admitted.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It just complicated. . . But you'll know soon enough. What matters most now is that you should be cautious about the people around you and NEVER forget about those details I've told you earlier. It is very, and I mean VERY IMPORTANT. Got it?"

"Hmm. . ."

"What!? You still have doubts?" She scoffs in disbelief. "I'm your friend!" She points at herself.

"I know," he answers as he acknowledges the fact that they're best friends.

"But?" She asks as she waits for his reply. Phoenix's eyes then shift to the meeting to get eyes again. He then exhales before answering.

"I just can't believe that you're here with me. . . And because of that, this might be the BEST DAY of my life." He gives her his usual yet unique and sweet smile that she would fall for every single day.

"And I'm happy to be here with you, Phoenix."