HUNT, OR BE HUNTED

CHAPTER 39: THE FIRST DATE

He rapped loudly on the bug-infested wooden door. Splintered wood crumbled at his feet. “Kora?” he called, knocking some more.

There was no sound, or any movement. “Ko-…Dana? I’m here,” he tried again.

And then he heard the shambling of feet, and the door creaked open, to reveal a very filthy-looking girl. Her hair was crazy-it was as if she had been tying it, and then gave up halfway, leaving it hanging loose all over the place. Her clothes were old, and dirty.

But it was unmistakably her, the girl he had loved all his life.

“Hi,” she smiled, reaching a grubby hand forward. Her fingernails were stained black-it was like she had never washed in months. She beckoned him to come in, and then shut the door behind him.

“Uh, hello,” Jacque felt awkward all of a sudden.

Was this the Kora he knew? Why was she acting this way? And for God’s sake, why did she call herself Dana?

“You’re Jack, right?” she pulled up her spotted sleeves. “I’ll…get you a cup of coffee.”

“Jacque,” he slurred his name. “And no, it’s fine,” Jacque held up a hand. “I came here to see you.”

“Me?” Kora patted the sofa edgily before sitting down. Then she looked up at him shyly. “I’m afraid we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Dana. Dana Richards.”

“Yeah, about that,” Jacque made a tsk sound, and leant forward in his seat. “What happened in the past five months, Dana?” he flinched at the name.

“I…I,” Kora stopped, tapped her chin with her index finger. “Nothing,” she replied slowly. “Nothing happened in the past five months, Jack. Why? Is there something…wrong?”

Everything is wrong! What the freaking hell is wrong with you, Kora? Have you lost your mind? Why are you acting like this? Why are you freaking me out?

“It’s just that, you seem….different,” Jacque said, managing to hold the rude words in. “You don’t remember me? You’ve never met me before in your life?”

“I’m sorry, no,” she studied his face closely. “I’ve never seen you before,” she shook her head. “You seem to be a pretty nice guy.”

Are you kidding me? How could you have completely forgotten about me? Am I that easy to forget?

“My face doesn’t ring a bell? Any bell at all?”

Kora laughed-this was something he hadn’t seen in months. She was faking this very well. “You’re funny, Mister Jack. I haven’t seen you before, so of course your face doesn’t ring any bells. How do you even know who I am when we’ve never even met?”

“Okay,” Jacque took a deep breath, let it out with a loud whoosh. “You have to listen to me, okay? We’ve met before. We’ve been together before. And we’ve broken up before.”

“What?” her eyes were wide and confused. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You do, Kora. Either you’re playing some stupid game with me, or you’re faking all this crap. Your name is not Dana, and you very well know who the hell I am,” Jacque narrowed his eyes at her. He expected her forehead to crease into a frown, her mouth to curl into a pout, or anything that told him that she was the real Kora.

But to his utter surprise, she had a very scared expression on her face, and she looked so cornered that all he wanted to do was to take her in his arms and comfort her.

“I don’t understand,” she cried. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say to me. I don’t understand!” her cries became wails, and then she put two hands in her hair, and tugged, hard. Tears began to stream down her face. “Why are you doing this to me?” she sobbed. “Why are you yelling at me?”

Hell, no. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be happening.

But Jacque knew. Kora was Kora no more.

She had gone mad, and Jacque wondered if there was ever a solution for insanity.

He was holding her in his arms, stroking her hair. “You should get yourself cleaned up, Dana,” he said gently. “I’m sorry I haven’t popped by to ask if you were okay.”

“It’s okay,” she was still quivering. “I’m sorry I…I freaked you out.”

“It’s alright,” Jacque said, and lightly moved backwards so he could look right into her eyes. “I’ll wait for you here while you clean up, and then we’ll go and have dinner, okay? And then you can tell me everything that is going on with you.”

She nodded sheepishly. “Where will you take me for dinner?”

“Don’t worry,” he gave her a dazzling grin. “I know just the place.”

The restaurant was fully booked, and the only seats left were the ones outside. Jacque pulled out a chair for Kora, and she sat down, smoothing her skirt. “Thank you,” she beamed at him, a wide smile on her face.

“No problem,” he straightened his coat before sitting down. “So, what do you want to eat?”

A waiter came to their table, took their order, and left.

“Wait, how’d you know of this place? How did you know that this is my favourite restaurant?”

“I know this may seem crazy to you, but you brought me here on our first date,” Jacque said, taking her hand. “I know you don’t remember, but that was the best day of my life.”

“Our…first date?” she gave him a look that made him melt. “I thought…this was our first date.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “This is.”

“I’m truly sorry, but I can’t recall anything about you, or our first date.”

“That’s alright,” he gave her hand a squeeze. “All that matters is that I’m here, with you.”

“The thing I don’t understand is…What is happening to me? Why am I losing my memory?”

“Do you remember being depressed, or stressed, or angry at someone? That could probably be the cause of it,” Jacque said in a concerned tone.

“I…” she looked up into the night sky, tapping her cheek as she began to think. “I only recall being really mad, and really heartbroken. But I don’t recall why, or who the person was.”

“Is it this guy right here?” Jacque showed her a photograph of Jared, and the caption under it read ‘Wanted for Murder’.

“Who…Wait, he looks…Oh God,” Kora jumped back, as if she had been bitten by some sort of insect. “Oh God, that’s him, isn’t it? The guy…the guy who broke my heart. The guy who destroyed my life.”

“His name is Jared,” Jacque said, and he couldn’t help grinning at the look on Kora’s face. She was definitely furious at Jared-she was raging with anger. “He’s charged with murder, but I believe there isn’t enough evidence to keep him in jail.”

“Jared, yes. The son of a b- broke my heart, and ruined my life. I’m not surprised if he actually did murder somebody. I’m going to have to make him pay for what he did to me,” she curled her hand into a fist.

“What do you intend to do to him, Dana?” Jacque hesitated on the name.

“I want him to be punished,” she said gruffly. “I want the son of the devil to get what he deserves.”