Aurora | ✓

23| No longer afraid

"She's been waiting for him, she just didn't realize"

✿

Aurora

"Samuel?" It can't be. Oh my. I'm gonna pass out. I completely blocked my memories from Matilde's group home because it was just awful but...how could I not recognize him until now?

"Yeah...my full name is Phoenix Samuel Thompson. I didn't like to say Phoenix back then because it's the name my father picked. Mom chose Samuel, I don't care now though"

"B-but how can it be? What are the chances that I met you and then your brother — who by the way was sent by Riggo to sabotage me?" I say

"I know. It's crazy. Do you remember it all?" He asks

"Yeah, I think so" I answer

"Tell me what you remember" he says so I do..

"After being hit by Matilde, I woke up in the cell. You were beside me but I'd never seen you. The whole thing was too blurry but I did know someone helped me"

I remember his voice, I remember the e pain from my punishment and the screams of the girl Matilde was about to punish.

"I remember after Richard left from telling us our sentence you said 'hi Aurora, it seems we'll be stuck together for a while' I agreed and I can't remember much of the conversation but..you said to call you Samuel"

I was so scared of being alone in those cells but when I found out I had a companion I felt relief from not having to spend the month alone in the dark.

"I cried every night and you were always there, your favorite color was blue as mine, favorite animal tortoise, you loved reading, your dream career was to help all of those like us, you snored in your sleep, washed your teeth like 5 times a day and I had to share my toothpaste with you when you ran out. It was a struggle to pass it along"

I still remember arguing with him trying to convince him to save his damn toothpaste but he would've budge. I thought he was a weird kid

"You said your favorite food was chocolate and what you hated the most was..people. I had nightmares back then. Not as bad as I do now but you were always there to soothe me. I remember wanting to be able to be held by you"

Those times were awful. I've always remembered our conversations but I thought by now the Samuel I met would be in another country or something.

"Every meal they brought was not enough for us to be full and sometimes you gave yours to me. Richard found out you started to care about me so he beat me up in front of you to punish you"

God I wish I could forget that, mostly Samuel's cries. He begged for Richard to stop. Offered to take it for me...I remember the sound of his nails scraping on the stone trying to open the cell to get to me.

"I never saw your face but I remember your hands from when we managed to hold each others through the little brick you took out of one corner. Only my hand fit so I passed it through the hole until I reached yours"

We had to push our beds to the wall so he could comfort me when I woke up from a nightmare.

"I remember a lot about how you were back then but mostly, I remember your voice. It was enough to calm me down. Sometimes when I wake up from a nightmare I can swear someone's singing to me like you did"

"Now I know those were memories, in my dream I pictured your voice to be able to wake up from the nightmares"

"Phoenix you were everything to me back then until I was taken away. They didn't like our friendship so they made sure we never saw each other again. They transferred me to another group home."