Chapter 20

The sound of children's feet hitting the ground could be heard as a small child with white hair and a small bump on her head was running through the forest. She was tired and out of breath but kept running as she could.

"I must hurry before I miss it." The child said as she could feel the twig and rocks under her bare feet. She could feel the moving tree branches hit at her as she continued to push through them. She was in a hurry for two reasons. She was trying to hurry and see the fireworks for the town festival, but at the same time, she didn't want them to find her.

"Amay!"

She could hear the angry voice of her father calling out to her. Yet, she continued to run as she felt herself getting closer to her destination. She could smell the different kinds of food being cooked, along with the sound of people having a good time while having fun. It was what she yearned to see. She could imagine the colors and all the possible games she could play.

Her parents told her she couldn't go because they said so, even when they promised her. They promised her that if she cleaned the whole home and even tended to her chores, that she could go. However, like every year, they changed their minds or found ways to get her in trouble. So she snuck out and ran for it. She figured that her siblings had told on her, like always.

"I can see it." She told herself as a smile came across her face. It felt like a light at the end of the tunnel for her. She could feel tears of joy form in her eyes as she would finally get to see and experience what she dreamt of for so long. "I'm so close."

As she finally reached the tree line of where the festival was, she slowed into a slow walk. The smile on her face slowly faded as she saw someone waiting at the forest line for her. Anger came across her face, followed by disappointment and acceptance, as she realized her goal was gone. She didn't look him in his eyes as she already knew the look he was giving her. His black eyes with yellow pupils in the form of crescent-shaped slits told her everything.

"Why must you do this again, child?" The stern voice of Amay's father said as he looked down at the child who had dirtied ripped, and tore her kimono.

Amay remained silent as she refused to speak to him. She knew she was already in trouble and was waiting for him to get it over with already.

"So I see you finally learned how to keep your mouth shut." He said, pushing his hair out of his face. He then let out a sigh as he began to walk past the child. "Now come along so you can receive your punishment." He told her. He walked past her with no concern for any care for the child's feet or feelings.

"No." The young Amay spoke out against him. "You lied to me, and that's not fair. You promised me I would be able to go this time." She stomped her foot on the ground and looked up at the man's long black hair with whitish-yellow tips.

Amay could feel an immeasurably aura come from the man and felt as if her knees were going to give out. Yet, she stood up for herself against him. She quickly noticed that he had stop and then exhaled. Before she knew it, she felt something hit the side of her face. The hit caused her to fall onto a tree, nearly hitting her head. A small trickle of blood and tears hit the ground as she held her now pulsating face.

"Do not question what I do ever again. Learn your place as a child under my roof." Her father said, turning his head to glare at her while he shook his hand. He showed no remorse or care for the child's well-being. He turned back around and continued to walk ahead of her. "Now come along."

Amay held her face as her tears began to fall from her eyes as she stared daggers at her so-called father. Her anger began to boil as she angrily wiped away her blood and tears. She hated him. She hated all of them. Yet, she was only a child in this big world. So she let out a sigh as she slowly and silently followed behind him.

Pop...Pop.....Pop

The sound of fireworks began to go off behind them as they walked through the dark forest. A tear managed to fall from Amay's eye as she began to follow behind him.

"One day. One day. I will be free and do what I want." She thought to herself as she longed for the day she wouldn't be around them anymore. A day she wished would come.

Present Day.

A twinkle showed in Amay's eyes as she looked at the bright lights of the fairground. She could smell every food bender around, and it felt almost overwhelming. She then looked up at the giant flashy machines that allowed people to reach the sky. The look on most of their faces looked like one of pure joy and excitement.

"Whoa." She audible let out as she looked around more.

Lucas looked back at her and couldn't help but smile. Although his fear of her went down, part of her did scare him. Yet for the last few weeks and even tonight, he saw a different part of her. She had her hair lying down and flat. She had jean shorts and a spaghetti strap tank top along with a red sports bra on. She also had the necklace Elizebeth gave her to be seen along with some small earrings. He assumed because of the visible straps, he could see. He felt a little bad since he was wearing a plain solid green shirt with jean's and she actually got dressed up for this.

"Next in line." The voice of the ticketer said, and it was Lucas's turn.

After buying what he needed for both of them, Lucas went back to the star-struck Amay and gently tapped her on the shoulder. She quickly snapped back around and looked up at him. Lucas then noticed that she had make-up on. This made him hesitant for a moment on what to say.

"Are you okay?" Amay asked him, slightly tilting her head as she moved a little closer to him.

"Ye-Yeah." He said, quickly snapping out of it before avoiding eye contact and looking at the wristbands in his hand. "Here."

"What are they?"

"Right," Lucas said, forgetting her limited knowledge about what they were. "These are free passes to every ride here. This is kinda my thank you to you for helping me with this small victory. I know I still have a long way to go, but I feel like I owe you one."

"Yeah....well...You have to believe in yourself more." Amay said, feeling a slight blush come on. She quickly turned her head away and taking the gift from him. As she fiddled to get it around her wrist, she asked a question. "So, what are we doing first?"

"Well, this is your gift. So you should take the lead." Lucas said, scratching the back of his head as his face turned a little red.

"Really?" She said, actually surprised. Her heart flicked a little as she could tell he was serious about this. For the first time in a good while, someone had allowed her to take the lead on something. She swallowed a little as she could feel her eyes becoming misty. She quickly looked away from him to clear her throat and act natural. "Very well. If you are sure, then follow me." She told Lucas as she took the lead.

"Sweat, lord." Lucas thought to himself as he swallowed hard, and a cold sweat began to fall down his face. He felt as the buckles of his harness were fastened in tightly as the worker gave him a thumbs up.

"Amay, I'm having a serious regret about this," Lucas said as his fear began to set in.

"You said I could decide." She happily reminded him as she kicked her feet back and forward. She could feel her heart began to pump with excitement. "And I wanted to get on this one." She giggled.

"Lord, Help me," Lucas said as he realized his mistake. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

The ride Amay had chosen for them was called Ticket To Hell. It's a 666 feet (203 meters) tall dropper that shoots the person straight into the air before bringing the person back down to each. It brings a person up 6 times and drops a person 6 times, with the last one bringing you back down slowly. It moved at an ungodly speed as well.

"Alrighty, folks. Make sure you don't have anything valuable on you before we start." The man behind the ride said as he kicked back into his chair. His voice was nice and calm, almost like an angel. "Wait, it looks like we have a slight problem."

"Oh, thank God," Lucas said as he could feel himself relaxing as everyone else let out a sigh or groan.

"Yep. Looks like we found a loss bolt." He said with a sigh.

Lucas began to chuckle as he looked down, breathing hard. His face then went white as he looked at a small iron hexagon-shaped object. He slowly looked back up at the man behind the ride who looked Lucas in his eyes.

"See you in hell." The man said in a deep and demonic voice as he pulled the switch to start the ride.

"You motherfu-" Lucas's voice trailed off as he and everyone else on the ride were shot straight into the sky. As he screamed for dear life, Amay started to giggle and scream with excitement.

They began to ride nearly every ride on the fairground, from the roller-coaster, the Ferris wheel, the bumper carts, the house of mirrors, and many more. Lucas was slowly coming around and having a lot of fun. Amay, however, was having the time of her life. Her smile didn't drop once as she pulled Lucas along with her. She pointed at all the new things with joy and delight that Lucas thought she was an overly joyful person.

"Come on, Amay. You got this." Lucas encouragingly said as he folded his arms.

"I know. I know." Amay said as she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. She sighed as she opened her eyes and focused her eyes on the target in front of her. She gripped the ball in her hand tightly as she pulled back and threw it with great force.

Both Amay and Lucas watched in anticipation as the ball flew and knocked over the cans in one go. The woman behind the booth looked in amazement as she had it set up where the ball would have never been able to knock over the cans, but it did.

"Hell yeah!" Lucas exclaimed. He then watched as Amay happily jump up and down at her own work. He then watched as she Amay did something unexpected.

"We did it." She said, hugging him.

Lucas was shocked. He couldn't believe she was hugging him. He could smell her flower-like perfume and could see parts of her red hair. Lucas also noticed how warm her hugs were and how tightly she was hugging him. He was lost on if he should hug her back or just raise his hands.

Before he could decide, she pulled away, remembering she won a prize. She then went back to the woman and decided on her prize of a zebra backpack. After grabbing Lucas by his arm, again, they moved on to the next game.

Lucas soon learned two things this night. Amay was not afraid of height, and the money he saved up took a major hit with all these games here. He couldn't believe how much fun this was having someone here to share the experience with. He honestly never thought he would see the person that scared him nearly for a week straight turn to this fun, free spirit girl right before him. He was glad she wasn't this full bloodthirst demon he thought she was.

After what felt like only a few minutes turned into some hours, Lucas and Amay found themselves on the bus heading back home. Amay's zebra backpack was filled with different things she's won, along with things he won as well. The only prize that couldn't fit in her bag was a small teddy bear with a tophat and microphone. Lucas actually got that prize by asking a question the person behind the machine didn't know.

"Comic knowledge for the win."

Lucas was looking outside of the window, making sure they didn't miss their stop with Amay sitting next to him. He had one earphone in and was sharing his music with her while she tried to stay awake. He figured she just tired herself out as her body had finally caught up. As he looked out of the window he felt something lay against his shoulder. He looked over to see that it was Amay. She must have lost her fight and was resting peacefully on him.

Lucas could feel his heart pumping a little fast from having a girl resting on him. He didn't tell her, but he did think she looked pretty tonight. His eyes then trailed off as he found himself looking over at her chest from looking at her. He also saw the tip of the scar that she tried to hide. He never asked her about it since it was none of his business, and he didn't want to trigger any bad memories. Lucas let out a sigh as he could feel his face starting to blush. He then turned his focused back on the road as the light post kept passing by.

Soon the bus came to a stop, and both found themselves at the bus stop leading down the dark wooden path to their home. Amay had all her stuff in her backpack with the bear's head visible poking out. While Lucas stretched a little to get ready for the walk ahead, Amay had gone silent as she just looked into the black void.

"Well. We are almost home. Let's go ahead and get this walk over with." Lucas said as he was about to start but felt Amay grab his hand. He paused for a moment, starting to blush, but started to feel a sharp pain in his hand.

"Amay...You're hurting my-" As Lucas turned around to tell her to let go, he paused at her face.

Amay's eyes had dilated to small pupils, and she began to look back and forward as if she was unsure. She was breathing heavily and quickly. The color in her face was completely gone as sweat began to cover it. Her body began to tremble as she forced on holding his hand. For the first time since she was awake, Lucas could see that she was visibly scared. He could even see her hand visibly shaking as she tried to pull him back into the light of the lamp post.

"Are...you alright?" Lucas asked, knowing full well she was not okay. He stepped closer to her, so she could fully see him better.

"I'm....f-fine." She lied to him. Lucas could see it in her eyes that she wasn't.

Lucas thought for a moment. He could visibly tell she wasn't alright, yet she was lying about it. He figured she must not want to let him know or show that she was scared, so Lucas had to use his words carefully. "Do you want to hold my hand while we walk?"

"Not because I'm scared. I just want to make sure you're safe." She said, and Lucas could feel her grip tightened slightly but quickly relaxed a little. Yet, she refused to take the first step.

"Alrighty then. Then do you want to stay close to me then?" Lucas asked, carefully picking up on her wording. He could see her slightly nodding to him.

Lucas stepped close to her, and after making sure she was comfortable, they slowly walked together into the darkness. Amay was holding onto him tightly as they walked more into it. Lucas could hear her teeth moving as she began to shake with each step they took.

With each step, Amay seemed to panic more and more as they went on. Her ears slightly twitched as she heard something moving, and it nearly caused her to jump out of her skin. She moved so close to Lucas that she was holding his entire arm. This caused Lucas to slow down as he found it hard to move with her on his arm.

"W-Why a-are y-y-you slowly down!" Amay asked while her teeth chattered as she started to breathe heavily and panic.

"I can't move with you holding my arm like that," Lucas answered her.

"So you want me to let go and be in the dark by myself!" Amay said loudly as her worries started to get the best of her.

She heard another rustle in the wood and basically hugged Lucas. He could feel her shaking so much that Lucas was nearly losing his balance. He could feel her heart pumping against him. He couldn't see her eyes, but he could feel what he could assume was tears on his shirt.

"Please don't leave me alone. Please don't leave me alone. Please don't leave me alone. Please don't leave me alone." Amay began to repeat over and over as she held on tightly to him.

Lucas could do nothing but hold the girl and just comfort her as she tried to relax. He couldn't help but feel bad for her. This was a mind-blowing moment, but his focus was just to comfort her and hope she would calm down.

As they stood in the dark, Amay slowly began to sync her breathing with his. Little by little, she began to calm down. She could feel her senses slowly force on Lucas. She could smell his shampoo and deodorant. She had her eyes closed as she focused her hearing on his heart. While his heart was excited, Lucas himself was relaxed and calm.

Lucas could feel Amay slowly relaxed to the point she was calm down and stopped shaking. He couldn't be mad or upset with her for being so scared. When she first met him, he was scared as hell about dying. This only made him realize that everyone had a fear of something no matter what or who you are. It's just how we are.

"I guess we are the same," Lucas thought to himself as he looked down at the girl's red hair that was slightly visible in the dark.

"Amay?" He asked her.

"Yeah." She said, looking up at him. As the clouds above had slowly moved away to reveal the moon, some light broke out on them and allowed a clear path into the forest.

Lucas looked down at Amay as the light allowed him to see the girl fully. Some of her hair covered part of her face, yet he could fully see it. He could see where some of her makeup had run from her tears. He then noticed her red lips perfectly match her lips as well. "She beautiful ." Lucas thought to himself as his face slightly turned red.

Amay looked up at Lucas and was able to see his face, thanks to the moonlighting. She noticed that while his hair was shaggy, it wasn't a mess. She noticed a little patch of hair forming on his chin, but her main attention went to his eyes. When she looked into they were soft, caring, and kind. She felt like they were hiding so much untapped potential, but she felt safe looking into them above all. Those are what grabbed her attention when he saved her. And this caused her to began to blush as well.

They both looked at each other for a few minutes without saying a word. They felt their hearts pumping in unison as they waited for the first one to make a move. They both felt this pull towards the other, almost like magnets. Then Lucas made the first one. He used his thumb to wipe away her tears gently and carefully. Amay didn't flinch and allowed him to do so. She felt as his hand rested on her face, nearly cupping it. Both of their hearts sped up more as they could feel the tension grow as they both expected what came next.

Yet, Lucas was the one to back down. He let out a sigh as he broke his contact with her and pulled himself back while removing his hands as well.

"I'm sorry. But I can't. " Lucas said in a sad voice, looking away from.

His pull-back caused Amay to snap back as well.

"No. No. You're fine." Amay said as she began to fix her hair and wiped her tears herself.

"Are you okay?" Lucas said quickly, going back to what was more important.

"Yes. I'm fine now. Thank you for that." Amay said, looking away from him. "The moon is out, so I should be fine to walk on my own."

"That's good. If you need a hand, just let me know." Lucas said, clearing his throat a little.

"Right," Amay said, pausing for a moment before walking ahead with Lucas following behind her. She then thought about something for a moment. "Thank you for today."

"Don't mention it. I'm just glad you had fun." Lucas said as he caught up and walked next to her.

They both walked silently back to the house, but both of them did think about what just happened. Without saying a word, they decided not to speak about it again and agreed it was the heat of the moment.

"Or was it?" Both of them thought to themselves as that moment played in their mind once again.