“Don’t you dare pretend to know what I’ve been through.” She spoke firmly but quietly, staring into his eyes. “I know you scientist people, you always think you are able to read someone just because you have the brains. You all think you know how someone is feeling, what their life is like, what their past was, just by studying them. Well you don’t, and I’m tired of saying it to you people.”
Her eyes suddenly softened and she covered her mouth, quickly averting her gaze. “Wow that didn’t mean to come out… I’m an idiot.” Why had she said something like that to someone who was only trying to be nice to her? Perhaps it was for that very reason— he was being nice to her. In Iris’ experience, people were only nice if they wanted something in return. Like that woman…
Surprisingly, Aki was unfazed by what Iris had just said. He just shook his head gently. “I don’t know what you’ve been through. At least not as clearly as I say I do. But I know you’ve been through a lot. I know you’re tired. Let me and this little project between us be your escape if you want,” the scientist spoke with a smile under the mask he dared not pull down. “Call me stupid for trying but that’s the point of this ‘project’ after all,” with that, he took his phone out and sent her something via email.
It was an image, one taken from the top of a cliff. From first glance there would be nothing interesting in the photo. But of course, there was more than meets the eye. Zooming closer to below the ledge was a body which had most likely fallen from the cliff the photo was taken.
He then quickly kept his phone and turned back to Iris. “Like my hints and clues I give, I’m much more than what meets the eye,” he spoke, hesitantly reaching forward to take Iris’ hand.
Her entire body jolted as he touched her hand, and she pulled it back out of instinct. Doing so made her feel a little guilty…
“Either you’ll hurt me or I’ll hurt you,” she muttered, reaching into her pocket for her phone. “I’m not your average insane person, hell I didn’t even know I was insane until two years ago.”
She opened the email and clicked on the picture. At first she thought nothing of it, until she zoomed in and saw the body. “Poor guy, was he chasing a butterfly or something?”
The scientist shook his head. “He was chasing dragonflies,” he corrected. He then turned his attention back to what she said before she talked about the image.
“I won’t hurt you, and I don’t mind if you hurt me. I’m not human after all,” as he said that, his eyes flickered softly. “Insane or not, again, I don’t mind. I live and eat with a talking statue, you’re not someone who surprises me too much,” he added with a grin under his mask. “Is there something you want to do while we’re here?”
“Not human… That sounds nice.” She whispered, looking dreamily at the sky. “Human…”
She sat in silence for a moment before she twitched. Funny, those didn’t usually happen when she was calm. “What did you ask me? Sorry, I’ve completely forgotten.” When she turned to look at Aki, her eyes seemed to be a lot darker than they usually were; even the whites didn’t look right. They looked almost bloodshot, but it wasn’t as if Iris was aware of all this. “Oh, you asked what I wanted to do… I have no idea. No one’s ever asked what I want before.”
Aki had taken mental notes of her sudden changes and nodded to himself before sighing at her claim. “That’s really sad to think about but I hope that can change,” he mentioned with a small smile, again, under his mask. He stared at the pond for a long moment before tapping Iris’ shoulder again. “I’ll be going now,”
Her heart sunk; well it was either her heart or her stomach, both were aching and one was growling from starvation. “Will I see you again?” No that’s not what she meant to say! Though really she didn’t know what she had wanted to say. She just didn’t want him to go.
“What about the suitcase? You’ve mentioned nothing about it…”
The scientist stood up from the bench and gently ruffled her hair. “The next spot to go to, as in, your first hint to the password, is just down the road. There’s a tailor shop near here. Head there and look for the promotional clothes. One of them is different from the rest, and you’ll see then as to why,” with that, the man slowly walked away, his hands tucked in his hoodies.
You’re not ready yet… I can’t let you wake up like this. Everything will repeat itself.
“Don’t leave…” she whispered, her eyes wide as he walked away. She sat in silence for a good ten minutes after he left, wondering what on Earth she had gotten herself into. Not because of the fucked up nature of the things she was being given and told, but more because she was actually feeling emotionally connected to someone for once. It was a strange feeling, and it hurt, but she wanted to know why she felt like this. Perhaps she would find out one day, right?
With a heavy sigh, she picked up the suitcase and made her way to the tailors. In complete silence, she looked around the racks and shelves of clothing to try and find the one that stood out.
As Iris reached the tailors, a lot of the clothes hanged there were normal as they should. One of them though, a simple red shirt, had a tag on it which looked like it had been added after the shirt was already hanged there ready to be purchased. It would seem like the owner was unaware of this as well as they were still setting up the shop for the day. The tag had a golden color and something written on it.
After finding the shirt, she leaned in and squinted to read the writing on the tag.
The tag had a number on it, it being the number ‘5’ and as for the text written—
”This shirt shouldn’t be here. It reeks of blood. If father hadn’t killed me. This shirt would’ve been the white it should’ve been.” It was true… the redness on this shirt seemed darker and more messy than the others.
The owner of the tailor was a man in his late forties and had noticed Iris looking at the red shirts and had came to her with a smile. “Looking through our simplest collection, sweetheart?”
“Sweetheart?” Iris asked, looking over at the man with a confused expression. “Uh… Yeah, I’m looking around.” She moved so that her form was somewhat covering the shirt she had been looking at. Was the owner aware that the shirt was part of the ‘collection’?
The owner smiled brightly at Iris before his eyes fell on the shirt she was looking at. “Ah! You’re looking at the special shirt we have. It’s one of a kind that one. My own son told me he wanted one and I gave him one but he said he didn’t like it and decided that he wouldn’t wear it and so here it is. It is a darker shade than the others since it’s made to order,” the owner claimed with more than innocent grin. “Interested I assume?”
Iris slowly nodded, keeping her guard up in case he—or something else—decided to attack. Why was that smile on his face so unsettling? It was a smile that Iris herself had seen so many times in her nightmares that it should have been normal…
“Yeah… Would I be able to buy it?”
“Of course sweetheart! My son doesn’t need it anymore. Please, it’d be my pleasure if you bought it,” the owner spoke with a bright grin on his face. “Let me go bag it for you yeah?”
“Uh… Sure.” Her voice was hesitant but after lightly shaking her head she cleared her throat. Surely there could be no harm in asking a question or two— not that she really gave two shits but for some reason it was polite. “What’s your son like, if I may ask?”
“Hm? Oh him? God, I don’t even remember anymore,” the owner claimed with a small shake of his head. “He’s a treat, that was all I remembered. He used to play around a lot, never actually paying attention to his education or whatever. Not that I care anyways. If anything, he’d be running this tailor shop if he was still around,” the owner said with a rather sad smile. “Would you like anything else?” He had bagged the shirt for Iris already.
“I’d like to see a picture of your son, if you have one? And to know his name.” Iris asked rather genuinely, before covering her mouth. “Pardon if I’m touching on a sensitive topic, I know talking about the departed can be emotional for some.”
The owner of the shop thought for a bit before going over to his working desk and getting out a photograph which he handed to Iris. The photo showed a university graduate taking a picture at his graduation. He was smiling at the camera, his hair a silky and nice reddish color. “His name was Gavin. I suppose he’s a nice kid, despite his aggression from time to time,”
“I suppose he looks like a mischievous boy.” Iris noted, smiling a little at the photo. She suddenly remembered the tag on the shirt… The shirt had belonged to Gavin, Gavin was dead… The father killed him. What would drive someone to kill their own child? Iris took a deep breath and faked a very convincing sympathetic expression. “What happened to him, if I may ask?”
“Ah, a drink and drive situation,” the father answered, sighing softly. “It’s rather unfortunate how he died of such a bad cause,” he added. “Anyways, thank you for your purchase,” the owner of the shop shook his head before nodding and handing Iris the paper bag.
The woman took the bag with a deep breath, smiling softly to the man before making her way to the door. Upon opening it, she turned to look at him, and smiled a rather grim grin. “Killing your own son… Humans are such nasty creatures.”
On that final word, she left the shop and strolled down the street, praying to the devil that he wouldn’t come after her for making such a bold statement. “I swear if I get into trouble Aki I’m blaming you for leaving me alone.”
After a moment of silence, another email came. Of course, from that person. Once again, it was a voice file.
“I swear, I’m not the one who told you to say that but oh well. Anyways, let’s head somewhere a bit more safe. That place being the local school not too far away. Not the university, the school. Today the kids shouldn’t be there, at least not so many of them. Head there and I’ll tell you again what you’re looking for,”
“The infant school, middle school or the junior school?” Iris asked in a bored tone, meaning it as a joke. Not that she ever made jokes. She walked rather leisurely down the street and sighed. “Why aren’t many of the kids going to be there?”
