Chapter 11

The next morning, Uriel volunteered to help Olia Isema prepare for their breakfast.

Somehow, the old woman's chatty attitude hadn't irritated him then.

Though, he could not follow through all the stories and random stuff she was telling.

Maybe because he had a tight and good sleep last night prior to his crying since meeting the azure ghost.

He had been really tired and stressed out lately and a great rest helped a lot recover his state of mind.

After breakfast, he followed the old woman around even towards her crops and silently observed how she was tending to it carefully. He wanted to ask a few questions, but got too shy to even speak a word.

And so, he kept quiet about his interests and curiosities.

The old woman would look back at him from time to time and smile as if a sign of assurance telling him that everything's fine.

Soon after she was finished with her business outside, Olia Isema walked up to the boy and pointed towards a nearby corner where an old, rundown cabin sits.

"Do you see that little cabin over there?" She asked.

Uriel politely nodded while looking at it, wondering what's supposed to be in there.

"You mustn't open that," Her low-toned voice said. "No matter how curious you get, do not open that cabin, alright? That's the only payment you can give me for letting you stay in with me, child. Is that crystal clear?"

Right after hearing those words, something seemed to sit uncomfortably odd at the back of his mind.

But his guilt and realization were clashing together with that peculiarity in the air, so he just compiled and nodded obediently.

"Yes, I understand," He whispered, barely audible.

The old woman patted his head with a pleased smile. "Now, that's a good boy. I trust you'll keep your word like a man, then."

They both went back in the house and cleaned up a bit.

It was a long and boring day after that morning. He just played around with the white puppy all day long, while observing the old woman's routines silently.

They'd prepare meals, eat together, and lie around doing nothing.

Sometimes, she'd blurt out stories all of a sudden and he'd be forced to pretend to listen to her, so he won't have to be considered rude. And soon, like an inevitable force pulling in, nightfall came.

Uriel went out and looked up in the moonless sky.

The clouds were heavily covering up the twinkles of the stars and insects started chirping around. The birds are lying at their nests right now, peacefully guarding their offspring.

Uriel preferred flocks of birds flying high up in the sky on a fresh morning, but it's nice to see them at their rest too.

His mind had been interrupted with the puppy's weak bark, so he returned inside to go asleep.

As soon as his head lay down at the soft pillow and his body had been covered with the thick blanket, fear crawled up through his neck. He just forcibly ignored it by squeezing another pillow between his arms, shutting his eyes close.

For the first few minutes, he was truly scared.

In the next hour, he was scared. In the following hour also, he was scared. He was scared a lot until he wasn't anymore. Before he could realize it, he was already soundly sleeping.

The next day, morning rose up as usual.

They ate their breakfast, had their morning routines, and finally sat at the sofas, facing each other. The old woman is drinking her espresso, while Uriel was offered an orange juice.

"You really can't remember any details?" She reiterated her question. "Even the slightest clue isn't there?"

Uriel gulped down a lump before shaking his head slowly. "I really can't remember anything about it."

"How were you able to know that you murdered someone then? If you stabbed someone, a knife and a bleeding flesh would inevitably get linked to your memory, wouldn't it?"

"I know. I understand where you're going, but it's true. Even I find it weird. I just know that I killed somebody, but I don't even know how I did it or to whom I did it. I'm really sorry."

"Alright, dear, no worries. Don't go beating yourself to it. I'm sure we'll get through the bottom of this. But do you think there's any way we could figure out how to retrieve your memories back?"

Uriel looked up shyly and hesitantly. "L-Like I said, it might be better to seek a professional to handle this."

"Uriel.."

"Well, it's technically a health condition, isn't it? The doctors can surely be a great help if we ask them."

The old woman sighed, shaking her head in disapproval.

"No, we can't do that, dear. You're not getting out of this house to seek someone else's help! Besides, you have no one else but me, so I'm the one who has a say in this. After all, you can't seek their advice if you're penniless. More so if you go without at least an adult as a guardian."

Uriel clenched his fists together and bowed his head down.

He feels ashamed and wronged about this.

Olia Isema went on and on with her 'alternatives,' but none of those got inside Uriel's head.

He politely asked to stop the conversation and let it be just as it is.

He said that things will surely and inevitably work out if time allows, anyway.

The old woman wasn't against the idea, so she just went up to her room without another word.