Lost Memories

I made my way upstairs, placing the box under my bed to keep it out of Hiroshi’s curious nature. I wanted to take a peek inside the box, to see what my father had sent me. A few plushies and manga I had left behind were inside. There was also an old MayStation 2 inside, with videogames beside it. I did not remember ever owning the console, I thought that perhaps my father had forgotten to mention that I played games before my accident.

“I don’t want to face, Misako just yet.” I began, “I won’t hurt to take a look at the games I had as a kid.”

Perhaps I was jealous. I did not put it passed me to be a jealous man. I wondered if Misako had ever met the Lawrence person. I wanted to ask her, but I knew it would appear as me being too invested in a person she just played videogames with. I picked up the old console, connecting the wires into the television in my room. Luckily, the television still had the compatible ports to support the old system. I noticed that I only had one controller, so I believed I never played my games with my siblings. Plugging in the console, I pressed the power button.

“Let’s see if it turns on.” I said.

The logo flashed on the screen, I was happy it worked. I dug through the old games, thinking about what disc I should try first.

But before I could decide. The console loaded a game.

“There’s a game inside the console?” I asked myself.

I waited to see the game that was inside. Moments passed as I waited for the console to load.

And my heart stopped.

‘Human-Hunter: co-op edition.’

“What the…”

My vision grew blurry. And my eyes watered. A waterfall of tears rolled down my face. I touched my face, seeing the tears on my fingers.

“Why am I crying?” I asked myself.

The tears continued. I was scared. I did not understand what was happening to me.I wiped my tears away with my shirt ferociously. I wanted to know the truth. The worst had begun to happen to me. Both my hands had begun to shake with a ferocity I’d never seen before.

“Not now…please.” I said to myself, smacking my arms to try and silence the tremors.

The tremors turned up to a pain level I’d never experienced. I wanted to yell out, but I forced myself to groan in silence.

“I need…to know…the truth…” I mumbled; my words were stumbled.

I used my strength to move my hand onto my controller. I pressed the accept button to open the game.

‘Continue?’

I selected accept. And there it was. My character name.

‘Lawrence: Last played 8 years ago.’ The game projected on the screen.

I thought my brain had imploded within itself. My migraine came in like a speeding bullet train. My skull rattled my spine.

“What is this, what is this, what is this…” I repeated over and over.

I thought I were going to die; I could have given into the pain. But I did not want to. I pleaded to the gods for the pain to subside. I stumbled across the floor, looking for medication Mister Takahashi had given me some time ago. I remembered placing them somewhere, but I could not find them. I scrambled on top of my bed, accidentally pulling my bedsheets onto the floor. I needed a breather, but my tremors and migraine controlled my system.

I wanted to die, I wanted to die, I wanted to-

“We should meet one day!” a voice said.

I lifted my head up to inspect who had spoken, but no person was inside my room. I believed myself to be hallucinating. I wanted to enjoy the evening, I wanted to enjoy it, I wanted to enjoy it-

“DAVIDDDD, WE HAVE ARRIVED!” Hiroshi yelled.

Then, my mind snapped out of a spiralling loop.

“We have a mission; we are in need of a demon’s assistance.” Yuta said.

I could hear Hiroshi and Yuta downstairs; they made a loud noise that disturbed the foundations of the house. It thankfully pulled me out of my spiral.

“David, let’s go!” Misako said.

Her voice was what I needed. I could feel strength stir within my soul.

“Misako…Misako…” I mumbled.

I was not going to let her down, ever again.

I mustered the strength to get up on my own accord. I was not going to miss our time together, even if it killed me. I stumbled to my cupboard, taking a thick jacket so I could hide my shaking arms. I decided I would have to mask my throbbing headache, so that others would not notice.

“I’ll get the medication tomorrow.” I said to myself.

Making my way down slowly, I placed a hand on the wall to guide myself down. As I reached the bottom floor, I could see Misako ready to leave, as she was seated in her wheelchair. She was glowing, I could see her plump cheeks, her makeup, everything. She was magnificent.

“You ready?” Hiroshi asked me.

I placed my hands in my jacket pockets to hide the tremors, it seemed it worked as no one had noticed.

“H-Hiroshi, can you push Misaki’s chair? I will guide us through the crowds tonight.” I asked Hiroshi.

“Sure, bud.” Hiroshi accepted.

I could see Misako recoil. She was surprised at my request, as I was the person to always push her around after I had taken over Mister Takahashi’s role. But I knew she would notice my tremors if I pushed her, I needed to hide them as much as possible.

“L-Let’s go.” I replied, not trying to think about Misako.