Fire & Flame

Chapter 6 : Familiar Face

Rachel snorts. “Try your best? It’s compulsory! I already told Alderic that you’ll be attending, so if you bail on me, I will kill you for real.” 

~

‘Should I, should I not?’ 

Konnor fiddles with his thumbs. Tomorrow will be Rachel’s engagement party and he still doesn’t know whether or not to attend it. He is a very indecisive person, at least that’s what his parents always tell him. When he was younger, his parents used to take him and Rachel out for ice cream once every month. Rachel would easily pick out her favourite ice cream flavour and a few toppings. On the other hand, he would be stuck choosing the flavour he wanted that day. Most of the time, his indecisiveness would cause the line to be held up.

Konnor sighs. ‘Why is it so difficult to make a decision?’

If it were two years ago, he would agree to attend the party in the blink of an eye. However, this time, it was different. He is chased by police officers. Even though there’s a high chance any police officers won’t be there, most of the guests might recognise him. After all, he has been part of the headlines for quite a long time.

Konnor taps his left foot impatiently. He looks around his messy apartment as he bit his thumb’s nail. ‘Should I, or should I not?’

Konnor leaned on the torn couch and pinched his nose bridge. He could feel a wave of headache coming the longer he thinks.

‘PING!’ His wristband makes a noise.

Konnor’s eyes travelled to his wristband, and read the message that popped out.

‘Whatever you’re thinking of, tone it down. Your head needs rest <3’

Konnor bit his lower lip. ‘If I could, I would. So much for your help.’ 

Finally, Konnor resigned from thinking too hard. He decided that he would go to the party, and if a police officer is there, he’ll just say he’s been planning to rob the engagement party for a long time so Rachel won’t get implicated.

Konnor stood up and headed for his wardrobe to see if he had something to wear for tomorrow. 

Obviously, his wardrobe consists of only T-shirts and tracksuits. His most expensive clothing would be his leather jacket. And that used to belong to his father.

“Well, this is bad,” Konnor muttered.

Konnor closes the wardrobe before heading to the bag filled with items he has stolen. Unfortunately, he never thought of stealing proper clothes in the past.

“It’s okay, I can just go steal one right now.” Konnor consoles himself.

He grabs his hoodie, cap and mask before walking out of his apartment.

The mall he chose to go to isn’t very far from his apartment, but he still has to walk for a while before he reaches there. If all goes well, he could get a suit and dinner at the same time.

Konnor took his time to walk to the mall. At the same time, his mind travelled back to memories of his young self.

*Flaskback*

“Konn-kun, let’s build a sandcastle together,” a little girl says with a toothy grin.

Konnor nods his head seriously. “Okay, let’s do it!”

Both of them dug their shovel into the sand and began scooping big chunks of sand into the tiny pail they had until it was full. Then, they flattened the surface of the sand by hitting it using the back of the shovel. Normally, there is no need for so much force to be used. However, the two children barely had any strength, hence they were using all their might to do it.

“Phew, that was a lot of work!” Konnor grumbled.

Rachel laughed. “We’re not done yet, Konn-kun. Help me lift this and place it upside down.”

With his chubby hands, he lifted the pail and set it down. Konnor wipes his sweat off his forehead. His cheeks were turning rosy due to the heat, making him look ten times more adorable.

“Thank you, Konn-kun!”

*Flashback ends*

Nostalgia is like flying down a high place using a parachute. Some people feel excitement to dance in the core of themselves. Some might be afraid, but eventually they overcome the fear and make the best out of it. Nonetheless, once you land, you’ll realise the excitement is over, and that’s when you know you have to move forward and stop looking into the past.

‘Oh, I’m here.’

Konnor looks at the giant building in front of him. He had to understand the layout of the mall in order to execute his mission smoothly. This mall is relatively smaller than others, therefore making it his number one choice. As he took a step forward, his eyes widened.

‘Isn’t that the pain-in-the-ass?’

Officer Louis is waiting right at the front entrance. He didn’t look like he was there to catch Konnor because he kept looking at his watch.

“Hm, it looks like this mall is off radar,” Konnor frowned.

He could go to another mall, but he wasn’t quite sure how much time he needed to walk there.

Konnor’s eyes travelled to the shop lots available a few blocks away. He remembered there was a thrift store somewhere. Maybe he could just hide there until Officer Louis leaves.

Konnor looks at the mall again in hopes Officer Louis is gone. Unfortunately, Officer Louis stayed rooted at the same spot.

Konnor sighs as he turns around and walks to the thrift store.

‘RING RING’

The front door bell rings as Konnor enters the store.

“Welcome to Lily’s Thrift Store!” An automated voice greets him.

Konnor looked for the source and saw a small robot waving in front of him.

“Right, I forgot robots still exist in some stores.”

The robot continues to say, “Please help yourself with the items here. If you need any help, you can call for me. I’m build to help humans navigate in the store better.”

Konnor just walked into the first aisle and pretended to be a patron in the store. He picked up a blue box and opened it.