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66.66% A Day in the Life of Laurie / Chapter 10: Finding Lou

章 10: Finding Lou

The sunlight was slowly fading. It was becoming pale compared to what I saw earlier when we came at this precise moment of the past.

If not for us being invisible to other people, I would think I am just wandering around the mall.

But no.

We are looking for Lou. And it was hard not knowing where to look first and to try not to think of the possibility that Lou had abandoned us. It was also harder not to get distracted by the items on display that I wanted to buy. Window shopping is what I do whenever I want to entertain myself.

Thankfully, Cid would drag me away whenever he saw I was distracted. And that often happens because I see interesting items I hope to buy for our house.

We will then resume looking for a kid with caramel blonde hair.

I sighed.

I am getting tired. 

I was almost out of breath when I spotted him.

Lou was looking at something straight through a glass window.

We could not call his name for fear that he might run away again.

I am thankful Lou could not hear our thoughts or even sense our presence as we approached.

Cedric positioned himself on the other side while I tried to approach his left side.

I saw his face. 

Lou is crying.

When I looked at the people he was looking at, it was clear who they were.

It was his parents. Both are still young, probably mid-thirties. And they were talking to the younger version of Lou as if asking him which toy he wanted to have. He picked up the teddy bear. The same one that the current Lou is gripping now.

I walked near him, and that was when Lou noticed me.

He was about to run again when Cedric blocked his way and held his shoulder.

I feel bad.

It was like we were trapping a deer in a corner.

"Will you please leave me alone?" Lou asked us irritatingly.

"We would love to do just that if we are in the present moment," Cedric said sincerely.

It will lead to another chaotic conversation, I suppose.

Cedric looked at me as soon as he sensed what I was thinking.

"I am not trying to pick a fight with him," he defended.

"I know. But what you are doing is not helping either," I replied.

Lou looked at me and then at his cousin.

"What now? Did you guys become close friends all of a sudden? Why don't you two get a room? Oh. Right. Both of you are stuck with me here," Lou said sarcastically.

I sighed. It was the kind that meant I was also losing my patience.

"You were right. I did not know what happened to you."

Cedric and Lou looked at me as if they got lost in our conversation.

"I do not know about your past. I should have just shut my mouth. But you seem in pain, so I thought of offering an aide. And right now, I am about to say something that I might soon regret again. But let me ask you, are you ready to listen to me and deal with it no matter how painful it is?"

"No."

"See. I told you being blunt is always—"

"Fine! I'll listen to every word you will say!" Lou yelled.

He is turning into a brat again.

"Do you see Cedric as someone reliable? Someone like a big brother?"

Lou looked at Cedric before he turned back her attention to me.

"That's what I thought at first," Lou said, looking disappointed.

"Do you think he will gladly be there for you?"

"No, he won't. If he does, he won't try to leave in the first place."

"Did that hurt you?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you bother looking for him?"

"Why are you asking me these questions?!"

"Because I want to know if my conclusion is correct."

"Which is what? That I'm pathetic?"

"That you tried for Cedric to play a role he never asked in the first place."

They were both stunned.

"From what I gathered, you wanted Cedric to be a part of a new family you were trying to build. But did you ask him first about it?"

"Why? Why would I? He was also like me. And we are considered as a family, right?" Lou asked in a broken voice.

"How did you know he was like you?"

"Because I saw his past!"

"When did you—" Cedric forced Lou to look at him. "When did you look into my past?"

Cedric seemed angry. Lou suddenly looked guilty.

"I… I saw it last month. I thought you were in your room. I tried calling you for dinner. But I…"

"Which of my things did you touch, Lou?"

"The frame. The one with the photo of you and your parents."

"Damn it," Cedric let go of Lou and stayed away from him. He seemed to be trying to compose himself. Cedric looks mad, then embarrassed, and Cedric does not know what to say to Lou. He even forgot that Lou might run away again.

Cedric, you're scaring him.

Cedric looked at me before looking back to his cousin.

"I'm sorry. I was just curious about who you were. I…" Lou was shaking while crying. "I didn't mean to know too much. If you want, I'll ask Zyren—"

"Forget it. Just forget about it, and don't ask Zyren," Cedric said while calming himself. "And promise me not to look into my past again." 

Lou was nodding.

He was ashamed of what he had done.

Then, he cried harder. He was trying to stop himself from crying. But the guilt and shame that he felt were too much for him. Aside from that, Lou realizes that he is indeed lonely. 

And alone. 

I am guessing that what he saw in the past helped him know how to deal with his cousins. It lifted the loneliness he felt by knowing they were not total strangers. He found two people with whom he could relate because they also had their share of pain and sadness.

But his way of finding out about it is inconsiderate.

And he learned about it the hard way.

It was always shameful to violate the privacy of someone.

I walked towards Lou.

I felt like a mother wanting to soothe a young child.

I knew I had no right to hug him, so I held his hands instead and tried to see his crying face.

"Lou, it will be okay. You only made a mistake. But you can change. That is if you wanted to."

"W-what?"

"I mean… you can try to accept those who like you and let go of those who cannot like you back. And do not ever think that Cedric is abandoning you just because you violated his privacy. He intends to do that even before he found out you did."

"I swear, you are a better mind reader than I am," Cedric said.

I looked back at Cedric.

"You were thinking about saying it?" I asked him.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Because it was obvious you wanted Lou to stop crying."

Lou wiped his tears and tried to compose himself.

"I'm sorry I looked into your past. I will not do it again."

Cedric looked at his cousin. Lou was back to being a mature kid. And that suited him better.

"I'll trust your word on it," he said as if he wanted Lou to keep his promise. "Can we go back home now?" 

Lou nodded. "Let's go."

I smiled when I saw he kept holding my hand as we walked towards an escalator.


next chapter

章 11: Going Back

We followed Lou until we reached the parking lot on the fourth floor. When he went to the edge and looked down, Lou seemed to be searching for something.

"There!" Lou said while pointing at something we could not see at first.

"What do you mean there?" I asked.

"Do you see that rotating mirage?"

Again, I looked at something he was pointing at a distance. There was indeed a moving mirage that seemed to appear and disappear into thin air.

"The gateway stays in its place. It only rotates continuously. But it will lead us back home.

We were shocked to see Lou stepping on the railings of the building. He will instantly fall to the ground if he does not keep his balance.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Cedric and I screamed.

"We are going back home. That is our way home," Lou said. He acts as if what he is pointing again is not a mirage in mid-air.

"You mean… you mean…"

I could not say it out loud for fear that my understanding was correct.

"We all need to jump from here to there."

Cedric and I were speechless.

"Do you often do these? Whenever you travel back to the present?" Cedric asked.

Maybe to buy us some time to build our courage.

"Yeah. Why do you think this exhausts me?"

I gave up. There is no point in prolonging our conversation. 

We are going to jump from that building. And we are going to die.

"Hold on! If we fall on the ground, we won't be hurt. Right? Because we could not touch anything or anyone while we were here in the past."

"Hmm, I haven't fallen on the ground before. I always jump exactly on the spot where the mirage is."

Is Lou kidding me? No. He looks serious. But I refuse to believe it.

"Come on. We need to go before the day ends and begin again."

"What do you mean?" I asked as if forgetting what we were about to do.

"This timeline is fixed. When the day ends, it will resume. Everything will keep replaying as it is. We might disappear if we stay since we are not part of it. So, let's go."

"So that was why you keep coming back," Cedric commented.

Lou smirked.

"Unlike you, I realized I am not ready to disappear for good," Lou replied. "And I still like to hang out with you and Zy."

Cedric smiled.

"Good to know."

The wind blew. It was as if to remind us where we were or how high the building was.

Cedric and I looked at each other.

We are so not prepared for this.

Lou touched something from his pocket. When he looked at his palm, we saw a pocket watch. It looks modern despite the antique design. He seemed to be visualizing something before he put it in his pocket.

We all held hands.

"On the count of three—"

"Wait! Wait! Do we jump as soon as you say three or after?" I clarified to Lou.

"We jump after I say the word three."

"Okay."

I took a deep breath as I heard Lou count to three.

"One… two… three!"

And we all jump.

It felt like we all committed suicide.

And I wanted to cry.

But I felt a sudden change in the wind as if we went inside a vacuum. But it was gone the instant I opened my eyes again.

It was shocking to see all of us in that old house again.

The one I should have never stepped on in the first place.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!!! I thought I was going to die! Oh, my God!"

"It's okay—"

I heard Lou say to Cedric. He was panicking as if we were still at the edge of the building. We became so quiet that he must have let his body move as we jumped.

But we were both terrified since it was the first time we did it.

I was also still in shock that I could not say anything. That was the thing I noticed about fear. It numbs the mind and shakes us to the core until we can only scream. 

Since we bottled it up and did not scream, it piled up inside me and Cedric. Then, the following reaction I have is paralysis. I could only move again once I convinced myself it was over. 

We are back. We are really at the present time. I keep telling myself.

Cedric seemed unaware of my thoughts because Lou was still pacifying him.

I was panting while I tried to sit on the tiled floor. We are in the living room, where we first put down Lou.

Cedric is still shaking and panicking when Lou slaps his cousin.

"Snap out of it! We are back. We made it back!"

"But I… I was…"

Cedric could not seem to gather his thoughts together. It was also his first time to know how Lou operated while using his skill as a time traveler.

"Stop whining, or else Zyren will wake up!"

That made Cedric shut up.

Zyren. It was the name of their other cousin. 

"No need to concern yourself if you will disturb me. I'm already awake."

We all froze. 

We all look in the direction where a man speaks.

It was beside the kitchen area.

He is wearing a set of plain dark pajamas. He is holding a phone as if he only ended a phone call. On his other hand was a big pool skimmer net. And a few dried leaves are still caught in it.

Was he cleaning before we arrived? Or was he searching for something in the pool area? 

"So… what are you three up to?" Zyren asked as if suddenly appearing in the living room was a usual occurrence in that house.

Maybe it was given how Lou can appear and disappear whenever he pleases.

Still, none of us can move.

The three of us sat on the floor and watched Zyren approach us. 

He looks pale but not as white as Cedric. His golden blonde hair needed a haircut, yet it suited his face. His eyebrows were thick, and his eyes were blue.

He is a handsome guy. If only we do not tremble upon his presence. It was like looking at a tiger. It looks astonishing yet still terrifying. No matter how tame or calm it seemed, the fact remained that it was still a predator, and we were its prey. And it could bite when triggered, either by hunger or the need to protect itself.

Zyren moved to put the net back to its storage in the kitchen. He was still holding his phone when Zyren dropped to one knee. He looked directly at me. 

"May I ask your name?" he said to me.

His voice seemed natural and calm, yet his eyes were scrutinizing me.

While staring back at him, I can feel his cold stare.

"Laurie…" I replied while trying to normalize my voice. The shock from our travel is slowly fading. But the presence of Zyren is overwhelming me.

"Hmm…. Laurie," Zyren said while memorizing my name. "What brings you to our house, Laurie?"

"I was here to deliver something. But I think I got the wrong address. Then, I met Cedric and Lou, and we…"

I looked at Cedric and Lou. They seemed scared and unsure of what to do.

I do not wish to tell Zyren all the details. For some reason, I got torn between being honest and wanting to protect Cedric and Lou. But something tells me Zyren already knew everything. And he was only interrogating me to prove his theory. 

"Go on…" Zyren said as if he was encouraging me, so I looked back at him. Something is forcing me to look at him in the eyes and tell him everything. 

But nothing was encouraging with his tone.

He looks like a bully with a pretty face.

"That's enough!"

Zyren and I looked at Cedric.

Cedric and Lou moved and stood near us to stop Zyren from what he intended to do with me.

Zyren held his open palm to his two cousins.

Zyren stood as he spoke. "I wasn't even doing anything. Right, Laurie?" Zyren said with a polite smile.

"You're scaring her," Cedric said.

"Was I? I didn't notice," Zyren responded as if he was clueless. "Besides, why would she be scared of me? We haven't met yet."

Cedric and Lou could not respond. They knew, we all knew, that if we said anything, we would give away the truth that I know about their skills and how they regarded Zyren.

And that was what Zyren wanted to hear.

The three of us fell on the tiled floor of the living room before Zyren walked in. Is it possible that he knew where we were? Did he already look within the house? Or did he start searching for his cousins outside? It could be that Zyren sensed something was wrong when he woke up. Seeing an outsider like me hanging around with his cousins proves that things have happened. 

I could not blame him if he threatened me.

I think I am getting used to their reaction now. And I understand them somehow.

Hey, Cedric. Pretend you cannot hear my thoughts. And no, don't make it obvious. Just brush your hair if you agree with what I'm about to tell you. It was forbidden to tell anyone about your abilities and know your existence. So being here is a big nuisance to all of you, correct?

Cedric brushed his hair upward while standing beside me. 

Zyren noticed it.

I saw his reaction because I continued looking at him.

He is so observant. 

"Make us some lunch, will you?" Zyren said to his two cousins.

It was not a question but a command the two must follow, even if they did not want to.

"We will talk while having lunch. And Laurie…"

"Yes?"

"Don't try to escape. It will only be harder on you."

"Is that a threat?" I casually asked.

Sometimes I forget to keep my mouth shut.

Zyren meekly smiled as he looked at me.

"It's up to you."


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