Chapter Text
The room is dimly lit and a young boy is sitting in the corner, clutching a stuffed bear to his chest. He looks scared. An older boy paces up and down in front of him, his movements agitated and erratic. He’s mumbling something under his breath, as he slips in and out of the shadows in the room. He suddenly turns to face the younger boy.
“They’re watching us, X. Always watching. We have to be careful.”
X -the younger boy- looks up at him, a mixture of confusion and panic in his eyes.
“Theres no one else here, EX. It’s just us,” he replies softly.
EX looks at him, his eyes wide and manic, “One day you’ll understand, but now, we have to protect ourselves, no matter what.”
X glances at him worriedly, but chooses to not say anything else.
~~
“X! Xisuma? Anyone in there?”
X jolts back to reality and looks at the waitress in front of him. She’s staring at him, with a mixture of amusement and slight worry in her eyes. He’s at ‘Tara’. The coffee shop. He’s in the queue. Oh right- he needs to order!
“Sorry Pearl, don’t know what came over me then,” he says, forcing a laugh.
“No worries mate, what would you like?” Pearl, the waitress, asks.
“Just a black coffee, got quite a bit to do today.”
“Of course, coming right up.”
X nods and goes to sit at a table. What was that? He doesn’t even remember what the memory was, it just washed over him suddenly. It was something about back then, wasn’t it? Whatever. He didn’t want to remember in that case.
After a short while, his name is called and he goes to collect his drink.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Don’t worry about it this time X, it’s on the house,” Pearl replies.
“Are you sure?”
Pearl nods assuringly.
“Okay, thanks! Say hi to Gem for me.”
“I will, have a nice day!” Pearl turns around but then calls out, “X, wait up.”
X backtracks back to the counter and looks at her expectantly.
“One of my friends, Cleo, is part of a band. They need a new guitarist, you play, right?”
“Yeah, but I’m not that good, I don’t know, Pearl.” X replies.
“X, they literally play in the basement next door, I doubt they’re picky. Plus, you’d get to meet new people and it’s a bit of extra cash.”
“I’ll see, No promises, though.”
“Thats good enough for me.”
~~
X took a sip of his coffee and pondered over Pearl’s offer. He could play guitar and he did need cash. Also, meeting new people would be good. Living by yourself was always tricky, but it’s not like he had any other choice.
The earlier flashback was still haunting him, even though he could barely remember it.That had never happened before. Since he left, he’d been free from it all, at peace, away.
X took another sip of his coffee, the bitter warmth doing little to dispel the chill of the memory that lingered in his mind. The offer to join the band tugged at him.
But the memory... it was like a shadow creeping back into his life, he had to banish it before it engulfed him again. He shook his head, this was his fresh start, it wouldn’t take over him again.
Maybe the band was what he needed. An even fresher start, a different job to do. He looked over the small card Pearl had given him. It detailed where the band met. They were meeting tomorrow according to the card. X still had his guitar somewhere, maybe he could fish it out. He’d need to practice, that’s for sure.
X’s mind was made. He was going to join the band. That he didn’t even know the name of.