Terrestrial Alien ✔

Chapter 7: Till death do we reunite

     "Hey!" A female voice startles me from behind, and out of the corner of my eye I can see the driver has gotten out of her car. She must have gotten over her shock, because now she seems angry.

     "Wait!" She yells and lunges forward to grab me, but I quickly dodge under her arms. I'm focused on only one thing as I race away from her, and it's certainly not politeness. I move away from her too fast for her to catch without actually chasing after me, and I know she's not going to. I don't care if I'm being a horrible person for running away from an accident I caused, I can't let him get away.

    My heart is racing as I weave through the few startled people on the street who'd witnessed the scene, and I push myself to go faster as I turn down the side street as well. I can see him ahead of me now, and as he looks back to see me chasing him, the fear sparks anew in his eyes and he inexplicably speeds up. Gritting my teeth, I race after him with a desperate need that I can't stop to understand now.

    He's a murderer, so why do I suddenly want to see him again so much? He's not a murderer, he's a monster, I keep trying to tell myself as we dart down street after street, but I don't know how that's any better. My endurance is starting to wear the longer we go, and yet I still can't stop. I can't let him get away again, and I just can't stop thinking about all those days when we were kids, how close of friends we were despite everything else. That one life changing day I discovered the truth about him doesn't seem to want to surface in my memory yet. Not just yet.

     I'm breathing in heavy rasping gasps now, but I'm gaining on him. Sundo, or grown up Sundo, or whoever it is, is starting to make even more rash decisions as he runs from me, his anxiety seeming to grow with each stuttering step. We're in the back streets now, and he practically runs into a dumpster as he turns down a narrow alley way between two buildings. As I follow him, we both find that it's his last mistake in this chase. At the end of the alley is a high chain link fence, the gate locked together and the wires at the top intimidatingly sharp.

     Sundo comes to a violent stop before it. I can see him visibly steeling himself to climb it as I skid to a halt behind him, and I end up wincing as the cleats in my bag slam into my back at the sudden stop. Before he can take a step towards the fence, I finally call out to him.

     "Stop!" I shout between panting gasps for air, and I can see him stiffen. "Stop... You... You're him... aren't you. You're... Sundo."

    He doesn't move at the statement, aside from starting to just barely tremble where he stands. I take a step towards him, and at the sound he finally whips around to face me. I feel myself pale as I finally see him fully, and there isn't any denying it anymore even if I want to; it has to be him. But as I see his expression, I freeze.

    Like me, a thin sheen of sweat has broken out over his skin from the exertion of running, and his breathing is similar to mine if not slightly more excrutiated. Except, unlike me, he seems almost queazy. He's hunched over slightly and holding his stomach, his head tilted up to look at me with wide, distressed eyes. And then it hits me. I finally remember that day, remember the same pained look and hyperventilating breaths, and I remember what happened afterwards.

     My eyes widen slowly, and stay locked onto him as I hesitantly start to take a blind step back from him. My own fear starts to trickle back up my throat like acid, and it probably shows on my face as his expression shifts to alarm. It's then that I finally turn heel, and it's then that I realise how much of a horrible idea this was. But before I can actually flee, Sundo finally speaks up.

    "Wait!" He croaks desperately, "Joshua, wait, please, I'm fine."

     I freeze instantly. Dear God, his voice. He doesn't sound the same at all.