Riaz’s Point Of View
If you’re wanted there, you’d find your way yourself, she said.
The melody is from Red Orleans, she said.
I’ve been walking for seven days and nights! I’m freaking tired. I feel like I would die any minute from now. I’m hungry and fucking thirsty. My bones are giving out by the minute and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go on.
“Ah,” I winced as a pang of pain shot up my leg. I looked down and realized I stepped on a thorn. My shoes would have prevented this but they are so worn out. I’ve been dwelling on wild fruits and unclean water for about three days now. The food and water Granny gave me are finished.
I’m sure my insides are filled with countless bacteria and infections. Closing my eyes, I pulled my food out of the thorn. Damn, that hurt!
I crutched down to take a good look at my injured foot. I just hope the thorn isn’t poisonous or anything. I let down my bag and tore a part of my trouser to wrap my injured foot. Just then, I heard a very eerie noise coming from the bushes. I stood straight in fear and looked around.
“Who is it?” I asked but I got no reply. The sound came again and I jumped in fear. Oh goodness, that doesn’t sound good. I strapped my backpack and looked around with my super eyesight. I could not find anything or anyone approaching.
“It’s just my imagination,” I tried to convince myself. “It’s just in my head.” I sniffled and pushed my hair away from my face. I continued walking. I kept looking back and forth cautiously. My foot was hurting the more I walked. It got to a point I couldn’t walk again. I collapsed by a tree and raised my foot to get a good look. My veins have turned black and they were almost bulging out of my leg. I let out a cry as the pain intensified.
I called it. I knew that thorn was poisonous. The eerie noise from before sounded again but this time, it was more intense. I tried to stand but I fell back to the ground. A cold breeze blew past me and I shivered. I began to hear a loud thump. It sounded like the footsteps of a giant. Oh shit! This is bad. Very bad.
I gathered all my strength and stood up. I rested all my weight on my right foot to prevent hurting my right foot more. I began to limp forward slowly, trying to get away from whatever was approaching. I looked back and what I saw almost made me fall. It was a huge bear. A very huge one.
It stood on its hind limbs and roared menacingly.
“Fuck!”
Despite my hurting foot, I took to my heels. No matter how fast I ran, the bear caught up with me. He swung me toward a tree and I crashed on it. I yelled in pain as I felt something break at my back. I could not stand it anymore. He raised his paw, ready to crush me to dust. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact but then, a painful roar erupted throughout the forest and something landed with a huge thud at my feet.
I opened my eyes slowly and looked down. The bear was dead at my feet. I let out a breath of relief and looked up at my savior. I could not get a good look at his face as I lost consciousness immediately.
***
I don’t know for how long I slept. But in my sleep, I saw my mum. I could not see her face. She had her back facing me and her beautiful long white hair flowed behind her.
“Mum!” I called and when she turned to me, my eyes fluttered open. The throbbing pain in my head was enough to render me unconscious again.
“Ah,” I winced in pain as I tried to stand up. My back felt like it was being hammered with a mallet and my feet felt like they were being poked with needles.
“You shouldn’t be up.” I heard a voice say. I turned and saw a man. He had his back turned to me and he was crushing something with a grinding stone. His hair was golden brown, messy, and wavy. It stopped at his shoulders. He was shirtless. His muscles flexed as he rocked the grinding stone back and forth.
“Who are you?”
I cringed inside at the sound of my voice. It sounded sour and coarse. One would mistake me for an old man.
“I should be asking you that question.” He said as he turned to me. “You’re the outsider who trespassed.” He said. The colour of his eyes matched his hair. His skin was tan like caramel. He had a bristle that fitted his diamond-shaped face. He stood up and came to me.
He was tall. Freaking tall. Seven feet if I’m not mistaken.
He sat by my side and helped me sit up. He placed the bowl he was carrying close to my lips and said, “drink up.”
I glanced at him and then at the green fluid. Uhn uhn. There is no way I’m drinking that. It looks like water from the sewers.
“Drink up.” He repeated and I shook my head. He pulled the bowl away from my lips and shipped it. I thought he was going to drink it but what he did next shocked me. He placed his lips on mine and forced the content into my mouth.
I was so shocked that I choked on it. “What the hell?” I snapped but that didn’t do my back any good. It hurt more the louder I talked.
“You should have drank it while I was nice.” He said nonchalantly as he dropped the bowl.
“Where… where am I?” I asked.
“What were you looking for in that forest?” He retorted and I gulped.
“I was on a journey. A journey which I must return to.”
“In that state?” He taunted. I looked down at my body and sighed. Almost every part of my body was bandaged.
“You’ve been unconscious for three days.”
My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. “T.. three?”
He nodded. “It’s a miracle you’re even alive. You were severely malnourished and dehydrated. You had lethal cuts and wounds. I thought I would have to amputate your leg too.”
“A.. amputate?”
He nodded. “Luckily, it didn’t lead to that.” He said as he came to sit by my bed. “Thanks to your unique blood.”
I batted my eyes lashes in confusion. “Huh?”
“You have the blood of a wolf in you, that’s why you could heal faster.”
“Ah,” I said in realization.
“You should be able to walk in the next three to four days.” He said and I nodded. “You should go back to sleep. You need a lot of rest.” He said as he stood up. I grabbed his wrist when he turned to leave.
“Thank you,” I said and his gaze lingered on my face. “Don’t thank me.” He said. “I don’t know why I saved you. I shouldn’t have.”
I had no idea what he meant by that. “Thank you for saving me even when you shouldn’t have,” I said. He took my hand away from his and left the room. Gosh, I forgot to ask where I was. I can’t even move away from this bed. I looked around the room I was and noticed how old it looked.
“Gosh, what is this lonely atmosphere?”
I lay back down and adjusted my head on the pillow. I fell asleep before I knew it.
It went like this for the next few days. My savior, whose name I still don’t know, comes to change my bandage and dress my wounds. He’d feed me my medicine and food then leave. He doesn’t talk or smile. He is the definition of expressionless. His cold aura is so intimidating that I can’t even ask all the questions in my mind.
I wonder who he is.
Where I am.
What his name is?
I wonder how he could be so cold yet comforting in some way.
Three days later, I could move my back now. My foot too is healed but not fully. I can walk a few distances but not long ones. I can feed myself now and go to the bathroom by myself.
As usual, my savior is not in. He is outside. He never stays with me unless he needs to dress my wounds to give me food. I climbed down the bed and slipped my feet into the slip-ons I was provided with.
I supported my ribs with my hand and walked to the door. I stood by the door and watched him split wood with expertise. He was not only huge. He was also strong. Damn! Look at those muscles. What’s with this guy and being shirtless?
“I told you not to come out.”
Ah, I forgot to say my savior can detect any presence. Even if you hide behind a tree, he knows you’re there. A cool ability if you ask me.
“I feel suffocated. I’ve been in that stuffy room for a week.”
He sighed and turned to me. His chest rose and fell as he breathed heavily. His eyes zeroed in on my feet and I crossed them.
“What?”
He looked up to meet my gaze and he shook his head. “You look fine. When are you leaving?”
“You want me to leave already? That makes me sad.”
“I thought you said you had a journey ahead of you.”
I nodded. “True. I’m going to resume that but first, where is this place?”
“What do you mean?”
“The name of where we are right now. Where is this?”
He looked away from me and continued to split the woods. I hissed in and went to stand in front of him.
“Come on, tell me.”
“New Orleans,” he replied and my heart skipped a beat.
“N… New Orleans?” I asked to be sure and he nodded. I squealed in delight and punched the air in happiness.
“Ouch!” I yelled in pain as I felt a crack at my ribs.
“Only an idiot jumps around when they have a rib injury.” He said and I rolled my eyes.
“Well, messy hair, looks like I’m going to be with you for a long time,” I said and he raised his brow.
“Messy hair?”
I nodded. “You never told me your name so you’ll be called messy hair as from today. Unless you tell me your name, I’ll continue to call you that.”
He stopped splitting and he said to me. “Call me whatever.”
“Really? You don’t care what I call you?”
He shook his head.
Gosh! To me, he certainly looks like a person who would care about that. If he won’t tell me his name then I’ll just have him tell me. I closed the distance between us and looked at him straight in the eye. My eyes glowed and I stated my wish.
“Tell me your name.”
He looked at me in a daze and I smirked smugly. He’ll spit it out now.
“Do you think your witchy tricks would work on me?” He asked and my jaw fell. My spell didn’t work on him?
“What in the world are you?” I gawked.
“Close your mouth, flies are outside.” He said as he arranged the split woods in a sack.
“No, you don’t get it. Nobody has ever escaped my spell. They always fall under it.”
“Well, I’m not nobody. Can you leave my way?”
“No! Not until you tell me what you are.” I deadpanned and he sighed in frustration. With one swoop of his hand, he tossed me aside and walked away.
“You this overgrown man! You don’t treat an injured person like this!” I yelled after him but he didn’t wait. He dabbed a sack of wood over his shoulder and continued to walk. Hell no. There is no way you’re leaving home today. I pulled up my trouser and increased my steps. If I faint, he’ll carry me home. I have to follow him to wherever he’s going.