Kill the Lights

When Mason first met Noah, it was a place that didn’t suit this man at all. It was a smelly old women restroom. That time Mason didn’t live next to the slum he lived in the slum. It was a street where lots of Hispanics were there, but there was a white woman walking with a weird expression dragging a big luggage. If it was usual, he wouldn’t care whether someone was carrying or dragging a luggage, but she was little strange. Her expression was total off, and she was reacting very sensitive to police car siren sounds and walked faster looking around the area.

The reason why Mason followed that woman was purely a whim. That day he was especially bored, and he was free until his part time job. He thought if she goes too far, he won’t care anymore, but unexpectedly she went inside a close building restroom. That restroom was a very old and smelled rotting. It was a place where not too long ago two drag queens overdosed and died. After that the building owner kept the doors locked and watched for people, so there weren't that many people using it.

Inside the stall, there was some rustling sound and murmuring sound. Should I go in or not? Outside of the restroom, Mason thought about it for a short time. A person who has a knife whether it’s a woman or old person it is dangerous. I refuse to get involved in it, but…..

‘Whew.’

A small sound that I heard while following her lingered in my ear. A weak scratching sound that came out from inside of the bag. It seemed like I’m the only one who heard the sound, and if I ignore that, I won’t be able to sleep peacefully tonight.

When he went inside the restroom, the very last stall from the three stall was locked. Mason didn’t hesitate and knocked on the door.

‘There is a person inside.’

Along with the rustling sound, there was a calm voice from inside. It was so natural that if I heard it without knowing anything, I would’ve thought I made a mistake. Wow. This woman is amazing. Mason smirked and knocked on the stall again.

She knocked back and said, ‘I told you there’s a person inside.’ End of her voice was little shaking. Mason thought about it little bit and went inside the next stall. He went up the toilet seat and looked inside.

A woman drenched in sweat covered the bag and looked at Mason. Mason clicked his tongue. If you are trying to hide it, you should’ve hide the knife first, you lady.

‘You know you can’t kill a person here?’

Mason glimpsed at the knife and the bag. Inside the luggage, something shook in between a small gap. Was it my imagination that I met my eyes with a child’s teary eyes?

She screamed and wielded the knife, and Mason took his hands off. She tried to open the stall that Mason was in, but she realized she couldn’t and hurried left.

‘What an amateur.’

Either kill the witness too or shouldn’t even have tried it. Mason murmured, but he didn’t follow her instead he jumped off the toilet and came out from the stall and went inside the stall where she was in. A big luggage bag was standing in front of the toilet.

Mason felt his heart was trembling little bit. What do they call this? Fear? Thrill? He didn’t know what it was, but Mason slowly opened the bag with a strange feeling.

‘……’

When the bag was half opened, Mason suppress his exclamation and felt anxious. Inside the opened bag, a young pretty boy was shivering and looking at him. Six? No, he looks like he’s like seven years old. The child’s pure blond hair was wet due to sweat and little bit of blood. His face looks like he got beaten up because it was swollen and messy, but Mason thought the boy was the prettiest person he’d ever saw.

Did she steal him because he’s pretty? If it’s that, I think I could understand. –The child was sparkling pretty that made him think of something stupid. If the child’s sneaker brand wasn’t Gucci, Mason probably seriously thought he is a fallen angle.

Mason carefully undid the green tape from the child’s mouth. After taking out a cloth in his mouth, the child sighed and took out his tongue.

‘……….’

‘Are you okay?’

Mason thought he asked something useless. The child’s face did not look okay at all. Mason took out the child who was so dehydrated that he couldn’t even cry and panted harshly from the bag and untied his arms and legs. He took off his shirt that he was wearing and wrapped it around the boy.

The child raised his shaking arm like to hold him, and Mason hesitated little bit and held him. He smelled a child’s smell and saltiness of his tears. Mason felt weird hold hot and sticky child. Is it because he saved a person? Mason calmed his shivering heart down and said, ‘It’s okay now.’

‘It’s okay now. Everything is okay.’

Mason pat and awkwardly murmured, and the child cling on to him more breathing heavily. The child couldn’t even put strength, but he tried his best to cling on him. Mason thought about it for a while and put the child down. The hospital was too far to walk. He thought it was better to go to a public phone and call for an ambulance or a police first.

But when he put down the child and said, ‘Wait for a second. I’ll call for people,’ Mason couldn’t move.

‘….Don’t…here.’

Don’t leave me here. It was because the child clung on to him with a hoarse voice. The child was holding desperately onto his pants and crying continuously. Mason moved his lips like he was about to talk but instead held the child again. The child’s body was extremely hot and shivering like he’s going to die soon. He thought he have to call hospital as soon as possible, but he couldn’t leave him here and go. If he put him down, he thought the child is going to die soon, so he couldn’t put him down.

Losing this pretty child. I wonder how the mother feels right now. Because Mason is an orphan, he didn’t believe in maternal love, but if someone lose this kind of pretty child, unrelated to maternal love, anyone would feel miserable. This kind of expensive shoe to a child, there are people who spend money in this crazy way? They should’ve given that money to me. He always had this kind of mind, but because the shoes on the child’s feet were very pretty and suited well, he thought it worth the money.

‘……’

The child got dehydrated that he couldn’t hold it for long and fell asleep. Mason put the child down on the floor and carefully stood up. It’s probably okay for a short time. He couldn’t run to the public phone with the child. It was too far, and it will shake when he runs. It a problem if the child gets worst.

‘…I’ll be back soon.’

Mason was little hesitant but stood up and ran to the public phone. It was pretty far, but he ran fast as he could and reported. When he came back to the building, it didn’t even past 3 minutes.

Three minutes. It was a very short time, but he couldn't hold the child’s hand again. The police have already caught the kidnapper and already put the child in the ambulance after they rescued him.

It was way later until he found out the child’s name is ‘Noah.’ For a while, the world was pretty loud because of the kidnapping incident. That time Mason was pretty interested, so he bought few newspapers. But after he found out the child was recovering fast but lost his memory because it was a big shock for him, he didn’t care about it anymore.

While thinking, ‘It is better to forget about that kind of horrible memory. It’s good. I hope he lives well.’

And he didn’t have contact with him at all after that. Mason was 27 and Noah was 17, it was all when he guarded him for about a month. That was all their connection. It wasn’t even a month. Ten years and ten years again, during those 20 years, Mason sometimes thought about him. That’s how much Noah was in his mind.

Noah slightly opened his eyes. He felt strange seeing Noah’s long lashes slowly went up and his wet beautiful eyes appeared.

“….You call him like you’re very close.”

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Yay~ Noah and Mason's past!