Chapter 9. Stay Away Part II. (II)

He was stunned.

He turned around and saw Lin standing there, smiling at him.

"They don't say such nice things about you, that's why you're always here alone, right?" she asked.

shocked, he was not prepared for such a question. He didn't expect to speak with her again at all. He didn't know how to answer. He wanted to say something. Anything. But couldn't. So many questions popped into his head at that moment, so many scenarios, that he didn't know how to choose one. As a result, he just sat there and stared with his mouth moving but not making a sound.

"It's okay. You don't have to worry, I'm not afraid of you." Lin said with a cheerful smile.

Loy's eyes opened even wider.

"You're not…?" he asked apprehensively.

"Nope." Lin replied, walking over to Loy's side, and sitting down next to him. Her silken brown hair reached the ground. Leaning on her knee, she looked into his eyes, as he looked back at her.

"To tell the truth, when they told me that story… yeah, it scared me. The descriptions they described made me scared.” she admitted.

Instantly, she saw Loy's gaze changed and became depressed. “But,” she quickly interrupted, "As soon as I linked those words to you, it didn't make sense to me. It didn't feel right…" she added.

Loy was surprised and looked at her with wide eyes. He could not hide the smile that automatically appeared on his face. He didn't want to either. Contrary to everything he thought, she is here.

"From the very beginning... I recognized something was different about you. The moment our eyes met in the classroom... at that moment, I felt a feeling that I had never felt before… A spectacular, powerful feeling. The truth is... even before that. Even before I entered the classroom. Through the door, I felt that feeling." Lin recalled as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"But as soon as I looked at you, the feeling got stronger and stronger. I didn't understand what I was feeling, but I felt where it was coming from. It came from you. At that moment, I didn't understand what it was. I tried to understand. I really did! But I couldn't explain what that feeling was and why it directed me to you.".

She stopped for a moment to take a breath and turned her gaze back to Loy.

"But now, I think I understand. It could be that what I felt was… your loneliness." she said apprehensively.

"I know it sounds weird... that it doesn't make sense… but I genuinely think it happened because we met when we're both at a point in life where we feel completely alone…" she struggled to complete her sentence as her lips pursed sadly. Loy opened his eyes in shock.

"Someone like her? Alone?" he wondered.

He looked at her and his eyes spoke to her. She saw that they were looking to understand what she meant.

"I was forced to move here after what happened in Saraf… Back there, I honestly had a great life… until that day… until that night." she recalled with her eyes wide open. Loy looked at her quietly, giving her all the time she needed.

"That night..." she repeated when she closes her eyes in pain. She paused for a moment as her mind replayed everything that had happened.

Flash of yellow-white light. Late nighttime. Everything is dark. In her memory, she briefly sees a black human-shaped silhouette. The pools of blood spilled on the floor were reflecting in the moonlight. A bright flash of purple glow. A woman cries out for her. Reaching her hand forward. Blood splattered. Flying onto the house broken walls. Blazing purple eyes. Pure hatred.

Her palm clenched into a fist. Lin's body began to tremble. She clutched her face as tears began to flow down.

"Lin? Lin?! What happened?!" Loy asked apprehensively as he noticed the sudden shockwave in her body. She didn't respond. For a moment, it seemed as if she was stuck in a trance. He put his palm on her shoulder.

"Lin?! Are you ok?!" he asked worriedly. She opened her mouth, but she couldn't speak as she choked on her own tears.

"Breath Lin, breath!" Loy called out as he saw her suffocating.

"Concentrate on your breathing, think only of it!" he called out worriedly.

She closed her eyes. Taking a few forced deep breaths, she tried to compose herself. Moments after, her look was relieved.

Loy leaned beside her. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked apprehensively.

"Yeah…" she reassured. Exhaling another long breath.

"I... I never told anyone about it. Even to myself, I didn't dare to bring it up again since it happened... As soon as I recalled it, it flooded me again... I didn't expect it to happen... I'm sorry Loy... It hurts too much... I'm really sorry..." she said as she began tearing up again.

"You have nothing to be sorry for!" Loy waved his hands demonstratively, "I'm fine! You went above and beyond!" he exclaimed worriedly.

If his memory served him right, this was also the first time he comforted another person. He watched others do it from the sidelines.

In shopping. At funerals.

He watched and learned, but he didn't know if he would be any good at it himself.

"What do I do now? What do I say? Was what I said enough, or should I let her talk instead?" he pondered apprehensively as she wiped away the rest of her tears.