Chapter 10: Chapter 10

"Maive!" I heard Uncle Silas scream my name.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself perfectly standing on the ground with no signs of any pain or scratch from a bad fall. My mouth fell open when I realized that my reflex was able to jump from that tree without hurting myself. It seemed like I fell from a high place but... I was able to fall on my feet as if my body was so light.

I was perfectly sure though that I would land badly, b-but how..?

"Are you alright?" I was still so confused when Uncle Silas attended to me. He looked at me to check if I had any fractures or scratches from that fall.

I nodded, still shocked by what happened as my heart tells so, it was beating fast and loud. The fear was still evident, however, it was dominated by confusion.

This was one of the mysteries happening to me.

I could see that Tobias was shocked too, his face was filled with disbelief. His mouth was slightly open, probably not believing what just happened. I could call it one of the miracles in my life.

The cat that I was embracing meowed. I smiled at it as I patted its head. It made me remember Sheon. Now that I think of it, I felt a pang of pain in my chest remembering Sheon, my one and only bestfriend.

Those villagers took everything away from me.

"Why are you roaming around the forest, hmm?" I spoke to the cat as if it could understand me.

The cat meowed as a response. She, then, licked my finger, probably grateful that it made me slightly laugh from her gesture.

"Let's head home. It's getting dark," Uncle Silas stated.

I nodded and they continued pulling the cart while I held the cat with me.

The walk did not take long. Before I could think of it, we were already on the muddy road in front of our home.

Aunt Vera greeted us as soon as we stepped inside the house. "What's with the quiet ambiance?" She said after realizing that we were all quiet.

Uncle Silas slightly shook his head. He, then, extended his hands as a gesture for them to head into their room. They are probably going to talk about something... probably about me.

Damn, I was so careless as to make them worry.

Tobias and I went outside after that, giving them the privacy that they needed.

"Psst! Tobias..." I called him gently, avoiding making noise that might interrupt their conversation.

He raised his brows at me... trying to give me an expression asking what I need.

I bit my lip as I looked down. I released the cat from my grip. "Could you... take her?" I asked shyly. I am actually too shy to ask him that favor, but I feel too shameless if I take it with me when Aunt and Uncle are just letting me stay.

Tobias looked at me as if he was reading my expression. I bit my lip once again, "I mean... If you only love to... I could bring it back to the forest if not." To be honest, I don't want her to be back in the forest. It is too dangerous for a domestic animal like her to be near the wild animals especially since her body is still small. She is only probably months old.

"I'll take it," he answered as he lowered his body to reach toward her, who is currently licking her paws.

"Really?!" I jumped in joy upon hearing those words.

I squatted as I looked at the cat innocently licking her paws. "Do you hear that? You have a home now..."

She meowed as if she understood what I just said. I smiled at her.

When I looked at Tobias to thank him for accepting the cat, I was taken aback when I found him staring at me. He looks seriously looking at me. I got so conscious with his look that I pinned some strands of my hair at the back of my ears.

"I am grateful... really, Tobias." I said as I slightly bowed my head.

He smiled at me, "If you are really that grateful, you should visit her at my house sometime."

I immediately nodded at him, "I will!"

"Then we are settled," he gently said.

I smiled, grateful to have him as my friend.

"We now shall go home. It's getting late."

He gently fetched the cat and held her in his arms.

I waved back at them as he started to walk away. Before finally getting out of my sight, Tobias turned around and winked at me.

I headed inside the home. I found Aunty Vera now cooking dinner. I headed towards her and helped her chop the carrots. She is probably going to cook a broth soup.

"I see that you are starting to get used in here," Aunt Vera said enthusiastically.

I hugged her from behind. "Thank you, Aunt Vera... for accepting me."

She caressed my head. "You'll be fine here..." She assured me as if she knew that I ran away from our village.

My eyes began to water from those words as I found comfort.

That's how Uncle Silas found us. He chuckled when he saw us. "Getting all sentimental without me, are we?" He joked around.

Both of us laughed at the remark of Uncle Silas.

I am extremely lucky that they get to be the person who I ended up with. I am extremely grateful to Sir Arman for that. I haven't seen him again after my first encounter with him. I often ask about him at Aunt Vera but according to her, he rarely visits them because he gets too busy working as a driver from an elite family.

Somehow, a part of me was curious about that elite family she was talking about but I shook it off.

The day went on and the nightmares from that horrible night visited me again in my dreams. Again, I choose to remember everything because that's the only way my family would be remembered. I cried in the middle of the night thinking of how my father was killed, how I was badly beaten and the news of my brother being killed. It was as if all those events were still fresh in my mind that are hard to forget.

After a moment, I get up from my bed and drink some water... I never got to sleep back again after waking up. Probably that's how I will live my life.

I went outside quietly, making sure that Aunt and Uncle would not wake up in the middle of the night because of me. I just wanted some fresh air... I wanted to relieve myself from the stress of that terrifying night.

I then decided to sit on a wooden bench in front of the house and stare at the moon up in the sky. Today, it is incredibly beautiful. It was on the full moon, illuminating the light more brightly than ever. There were no stars though.

I sighed, however, I almost jumped in surprise when I saw a black expensive car stopped in front of me, just parked at the roadside. I was confused as I stared at it, I waited for a person to get out of the car, maybe it was some visitors of Uncle Silas and Aunt Vera. But, it was the middle of the night, how could there be a visitor? Except that there's an emergency. And so I prepared myself for anything that could happen, though I am not afraid of dying.

But to my dismay, no one came out of the car. It just parked right there, probably, the driver decided to take some rest. Probably.

But... Why am I feeling this again? As if someone was watching me. On the other hand, that feeling doesn't scare me which was another confusion for me, because instead of fearing, I was even feeling safe. Like I felt protected, gosh, what's happening to me?

It's so strange.

Realizing that I was scaring myself from my thoughts, I stood up from my seat and decided to go back to the house. When I was near the door, I heard the engine of the car start and it left the place.

I was dumbfounded as my heart started beating erratically.