Wicked Desire

37- A memory from before

We were walking through the town center laughing and being stupid. Making our way through crowds, shop to shop, I was getting carried away in a story.

My attention was abruptly brought back to the street as someone bumped into me, head-on with full force causing me to stumble and fall. "Clo!" My friends a few paces behind me shouted.

Slightly disoriented I started to stand as I felt a rough pair of hands and a broad chest behind me, lifting me up. "Oh-uh I'm fine no need," I said awkwardly, but he guided me up nonetheless.

His hand rested under my upper arm while his other was tentatively on my waist. "Sorry, I got distracted." His low voice said so quietly only I heard it. I came to a stand and his fingertips grazed across my back as he set off on his original path. 

I whipped my head around at his voice as I just missed his face, being met with his strong looking back and his height, he must be about 6'3. But no glance at his face.

"Are you ok? That was a bit weird..." my friends are at my side now. "Yea yea I'm good, just wasn't looking where I was going that's all" I kept turning back to see him as we walked on, but the most I got was a quick side glance in which I saw the start of a stubbly beard and that's about it.

Something felt so strange as he picked me up. His voice too. It was like I'd heard it or felt it before. Eventually, I brushed it off and stopped looking back at him, I probably looked like a creep.

//

HIM

She eventually walked on with the rest of the group I turned around to take one last look at her. My hand that lay on her waist was tense, remembering the feeling of her small frame.

I wasn't actually distracted, I was waiting for a good moment to brush by her. I didn't expect her to fall the way she did but it worked out nicely as I got to hold her.

A phone call came in suddenly "hey everything alright over there?" A male voice rang through the phone

"Yea, all good for tonight" I paused as I watched her turn a corner up the street. "I saw her today, and bumped into her," I said with a light chuckle

"And? Did she see you?"

"No I just- I helped her up, she stumbled. Closest I've been to her since I found her"

"Just one more day, keep it together for tonight. Anything out of line and not timed right you could seriously risk being caught."

"Yea I know I know, I've got it all sorted."

"Ben..." the voice rang again

"what" 

"Does she look like Clara?" his words echoed in my head.

After a brief pause, I took a breath "yea... yea she really does" was all I could manage 

"well then bring her home," he said as he hung up. 

putting the phone back in my pocket I turned to continue on my path but everything seemed a bit hazy and contorted. I stopped dead in my tracks. A frail young girl stood a few meters away, her skin so pale that the purple under her eyes made her look sick. She stood in her pajamas, she must have been about 13. I blinked and lost sight of her momentarily as I rubbed my eyes again. 

She reappeared but now held the hand of a smaller girl, with the same hair and skin, the same eyes, but she couldn't have been more than 5 or 6. I would know Clara anywhere, but I think the smaller one is Clo. Everything felt like I was falling suddenly and I desperately looked around to find the two girls and then- nothing.