Noctura

eleven

jinwoo

AFTER MINHO leaves, I sit on the couch for a long moment, thinking.

I don't remember anything about a world with Nocturas and screenings and house searches. I don't remember anything.

If only I could just remember something, maybe it would explain why I feel in my gut that I'm not a Noctura.

But Minho's right. I am hungry.

I've been hungry ever since I woke up on that train. And even though I want human food to cure my hunger, it's not doing anything.

Nothing.

I stand up and walk over to the kitchen. I open the fridge and look at how empty it is. If Minho is supposed to keep up his human act, he's gonna have to go grocery shopping soon.

I grab one of the three apples in the fridge and take it back over to the living room, biting into it.

The taste of the apple is good, but it does nothing for my hunger.

Minho was right. Human food is doing nothing for me.

Maybe...

No.

There's no way I could be a Noctura. I could never feed off a person's life essence. That's just... impossible.

But I'm so hungry...

I sit down on the couch and continue eating the apple. I pick up Minho's phone and then set it back down on the coffee table.

What am I supposed to do? I'm gonna have to do something at some point. I can't just hide in this room forever.

And...

What happens if I don't eat?

I shudder and continue eating my apple. I don't want to think about it.

After I finish eating my apple, I walk over into the kitchen to toss the apple core into the trash. As I walk near the front door, I look out the front window.

There's someone walking by on the sidewalk, holding a large dog by the leash.

I move closer to the window and see that it's a woman, holding onto the leash as her big dog happily pulls her along.

It's a golden retriever.

My eyes widen and I suddenly gasp.

I'm sitting in the grass, my back against a tree. There's a large golden retriever lying in front of me, next to a large textbook. I reach out and rub the dog's belly as it rolls over.

"Tucker! Come on!" A woman's voice calls.

The dog gets up and runs toward its owner.

I stare out the window until the golden retriever passes.

Then I move into the kitchen, putting my hands on the counter to steady myself.

That was a memory. That was most definitely a memory.

It looked like I had a normal life before this. I was sitting in the grass with a textbook. I must've been studying. I was probably going to school before... before I lost my memory.

But how? How did I lose my memory?

I can't answer my own question because seconds later, there's a loud knock on the door.

I jump and my heart feels like it's going to fly out of my chest.

I quickly bend down and press myself against the cabinets, out of view of the front window.

There's another knock, this time a bit louder.

I wait for a voice to call into the home, but no voice comes.

My heart continues to race for a long time. Once I'm sure the person has left, I shakily stand up and peek around the corner.

There's no one outside.

I move back over into the living area, grab Minho's phone, and then go into his bedroom. I shut the door behind me and make sure to close the blinds and pull the curtains over the window.

My heart is still beating quickly.

Someone was out there. Someone could've seen me.

I don't know if it's really that big a deal. It was probably just someone selling something. But if it had been someone else, like someone from the AAN...

I don't know. I don't wanna think about it.

I sit down on Minho's bed and put my head in my hands.

How did I get here? How did I get myself into a situation where I completely lost my memory?

That's just the thing. I can't remember.

There has to be someone I once knew. It looked like, in my memory, that I was a student somewhere. That means I had to have some friends or something. Someone had to have known me. Teachers or peers or someone.

Someone must know what happened to me.

But I don't know who would've known me. I don't know anything, really.

I do know that my memory can be triggered by certain things from my past. I'm not sure why a golden retriever would be the thing that triggers my memory, or why that memory is important enough for me to remember it. But that's not what matters. What matters is that I can remember things. I just have to be reminded.

But why haven't I been reminded by the other things, then?

I shiver.

Surely I would've remembered something about Nocturas. My memory would've been triggered by that Noctura I was fighting, right?

So, why wasn't it?

I let out a loud sigh and lie back on Minho's bed.

Nothing makes sense.

I close my eyes, thinking about that golden retriever, the dry grass, the cloudy sky, that woman's voice.

I have a past, somewhere.

I just have to figure out how to find it.