At first, Jasmine wondered where they were heading; they went inside the municipal hall; the rain poured down as soon as they entered the door. They'd met a series of job employees inside who bowed their heads in greeting. She followed him silently.
He was a short man and his pacing was too slow. They entered a room that said on top "MEETING HALL". There was none when the glass door swung clear. However, the man continued going inside the empty meeting hall. She thought of nothing while following his slow movement. They came across a long table with six chairs each adjacent size and one on each edge. He didn't say anything, so she was.
She examined the room, the wall was empty and painted with brown color. It had no designs. What caught her attention the most was the ancient clock that was hung on its wall. She looked at the time. Its long tail stretched on the number "12" while the short tail pointed on the number "1". 1:00 PM, Jasmine whispered in her mind. She was about to put off some spooky scenes in her mind when something fell from the table.
"Jesus,"
Jasmine heard him picking the thick cards that were spread on the floor.
"Let me help you."
Jasmine hurried my feet towards him.
"You don't have to."
He immediately pulled out his hands to stop her from nearing him.
"Why? What's wrong?" Jasmine asked, forcibly jerking towards his angle.
"Jasmine, this is none of your business. You stay there." His voice was dry and hoarse.
"I just want to ask? Care if you'll tell me?" she protested.
"Stayed there child. This has nothing to do with you."
He calmed down.
"Oh-okay…"
Jasmine paced back her shoes.
Jasmine left him picking the photo cards on the floor. With every crinkling sound of the thick papers, her headache. She didn't understand, but its sound and the smell seemed familiar. Dejavu, I thought. But, not. She couldn't discern in her memory that she had been in a scene like that before. She ventured her fingers on the shiny wooden brown long table. She was almost lost in her balance. Every whack and the smoke of paper seemed familiar. She knew that I knew it, but she didn't know how and why she knew it. Her head growled. It felt like her cerebrum was wanting to separate from the entire organs composing my brain. She wasn't facing him; he's at the back. However she could hear his heavy whiffs, like one in a minute, someone might catch him.
The dosage of familiar smell and sound filled her eardrums and nostrils. The waves of impulses mixed barking on her head upside-down and back and forth.
She looked back, but before she succeeded.
"Stay there. Never look back," the man ordered.
Her body stiffened. She was hypnotized.
"1:15 PM," a rough voice appeared.
Jasmine stopped. He stopped. They both heard a stranger's mouthpiece. Sour. The perfect adjective she ould describe is his voice.
Jasmine eyed above the ceiling, hoping she could find some piece of audio record. None. There was none. Her face was about to turn back on him.
"I said stay there."
He was breathing so fast at the back. Her curiosity pulled him to see him, but with every movement of her head, he stopped.
"Who are you?"
Jasmine's knees broke down; her body crashed; her heart sank. She recognized the unknown voice.
Slowly, she tore. But before she could turn to confirm the owner of the voice, a loud BANG was unleashed.
She thrashed her trunk on the floor. She was left with none. Her tears pulled off from their origin. It endured all the humility of revealing its frailty.
"Apology for being too late, Frank."
Jasmine's consciousness went away.
***
The engine pulled over from the driveway. The sun was getting back from hiding behind the clouds. The heavens were closed to clear out. The moisture brought by the rain glistened as the sun's rays swept it. It was like a fresh morning sun, late occurring in the early afternoon.
"My gosh, Austin what are we doing here?"
He was close to deaf when she yelped seeing the huge sign on top of the institution.
"What's that reaction? This place belongs to us, Shakkira."
He paddled towards the basement.
"Not anymore for me, Aus."
She shook her head.
"Maybe we should go back from the beginning."
He unbuckled the seatbelt.
"I'm leaving, and I ain't gonna come back anymore," she scowled.
"No, you are staying."
Shakkira faced Austin.
"I am. I am no longer your property Austin. My life, my decision."
"We shared it way back then, so what's the point?"
"There is always a point we can't fathom Austin. Can't you see? I just want to live a normal life."
"This place is our normal world. We must deal with it."
"You go alone. I'm living." She threw the pillow at the backseat and unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Shakkira, I have no time for arguments."
"Then, why did you fetch me? Austin, can't you comprehend? It's been ages."
She attached her head roughly and rubbed her face.
"Shakkira, you don't understand."
"I do. I completely do. Even before, I do."
"I hope that "I do", you'll be saying on our wedding day."
She was statuesque.
"What are you trying to say?"
She lowered her voice.
"We fix and continue what we started."
"Austin, I already finished it. It's over now. We can't go back from the past."
"I have to go now."
She started to open the door, but we stopped by the tight grip of his hands.
"You're not going anywhere, Shakkira. Can't be now."
She eyed the masculine hand gripping on her wrist.
"Let me go," she demanded.
"I already did. But, this time— never again."
"Crap with your vagueness Austin," she dropped her voice hardly.
"It was crystal," he hardened his voice, tightened the grip, and met the fullness of her eyes.
Then, he pulled her closer to him, and harshly rubbed his face, slipping towards her ears.
"She's in danger. We've got to help her, Shakkira," he whispered in her ears. She is stunned, seeing the black car beside the car they're riding.
"We need a person like you, Shakkira. We need your skill. Please, give us one more chance. And, we'll let you soar in places you would desire to go."
A tear fell from his left eye as his voice faded. It spilled on the corner of her face.
"They're gone," she whispered back.