Remind Me

Chapter Eight

I don't know where I'm going. All I know is my feet hitting the hard cement, rushing down the stairs, into the light outside. My eyes are blurry with tears and my ears are ringing. My mind is running through possibilities of what Owen could be keeping from me. My body feels exhausted.

I don't know how long I run. All I know is that it makes me feel better. The wind blows into my face. It's crisp and keeps me in reality when I don't want to be. It cuts through me like the words and looks I've been given lately.

Eventually I stop, unable to continue. I put my hands on my knees and take in deep breaths. Even with my hair pulled back, it fall into my eyes. My feet are numb. I don't know if that's because it's getting late and cold or if it's because I've been running a long time.

I finally look around. It's dark now, night having completely taken over the daytime. It looks like a town. Not like one I'm familiar with. Then again, I'm not familiar with much anymore.

There is a gas station across the empty road from me. No cars are in sight. The lights above flicker, adding to the eeriness of all of this. A small restaurant with only two cars parked inside is next to that. I stand in front of what looks to be an old warehouse. Maybe a factory. I don't see any other people.

Maybe I should call Clarin. This place is freaking me out, and I don't even know how I got here. I can't possibly retrace my footsteps. By the looks of it, I must have flat out sprinted for a full hour, with no regard to where I was going.

I must have a habit of leaving my problems and getting myself lost, like I did after school the first time I really 'met' Owen.

Owen.

His name throws a wrench into my gut.

No, don't think of him. Don't think of his words. His mistrust. His desire to have someone he'll never get back. Don't think of it.

I see a flicker of the lights again, and my heart starts to pump harder and faster. My shaky fingers reach down to my pocket where my phone was last. But it isn't there anymore.

I think my heart skips a beat. My head is spinning. I can't feel my feet. My knees go weak. I drop to the sidewalk, and sit, staring at nothing. There is no way for me to contact help.

I could always go inside and ask someone to borrow a phone. Then again, almost nobody seems to be here. And this place might not have the most trustworthy of people.

After about three minutes of contemplating, I decide it's better to go ask someone, anyone, than sit out here in the dark and wait to be kidnapped or murdered.

I stand to my feet and begin walking towards the restaurant that now looks to me like a barbecue house. I open the front doors once I've crossed the street. A little bell jingles once I've entered.

Besides a bearded man working at the counter, holding a bottle of beer, there are only three people inside. Quiet music plays in the background and the people mind their own business, either snacking on food or taking swigs from a bottle.

I don't know who to ask. Two of the customers have their heads turned away from me. By the looks of it, they're both men. For some reason instinct tells me that the woman facing me is my safest option. Perhaps that was something my mom taught me when I was younger, to always trust a woman more than a man in a dangerous situation.

I slowly walk up to her. I notice now, that she holds a book in her hands. Her attention doesn't verge away from it until I'm right in front of her. I clear my throat and she looks up.

"Hello, um, I'm sorry to bother you but I'm lost and forgot my phone... I was wondering if you had one I could borrow," I say. My voice sounds stiff and restricted. Then again, that's how my entire body feels.