“Griff’s group seems to be getting more violent. It might be best if we changed locations.”

Eli lifts his head, startled by Audrey’s sudden mumbling. He gives her a worried, rather unsure look. A hesitant glance of apprehension that fills his dim eyes with the briefest flicker of emotion. His strained voice speaks calmly, if a bit reassuringly, as he attempts to reason with the young woman.

“Is that really necessary Audrey? It should be fine as long as we stay out of their way right? Wouldn’t it be more dangerous trying to find a new place?”

“You don’t understand Eli. You’ve only been living this life for a short while, but I’ve lived like this for most of my life. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that you do not want to be around when powerful groups like Griff’s start to get rowdy. First they’ll start disturbing the lives of everyone around them, then they’ll expand outwards, getting involved with gangs in other parts of the city. It’s when this happens that things really start to get serious. Territory wars will break out, people will die, and when large groups of people start dying that’s when the real authority steps in…”

She trails off, her argument fading away as a look of subtle fear layers her face. Seeing this, Eli stops what he’s doing, setting down the pail and brush and pushing away the pile of dirty cothes. He turns his body until he’s facing her, then, with a look of utter seriousness, questions the girl in a small quiet voice.

“What happens when the authorities get involved?”

Audrey shivers, then with eyes darting towards the cave entrance, she speaks, her words barely above a whisper.

“The rulers of this city aren’t the nicest of people, I'm sure even you are aware of this. If you want to really describe them, some could even call them psychotic… When they feel their rule is threatened, be it from direct opposition or causing disturbances around the city, they’ll use any means necessary to shut down all operations… Even if it means innocent bystanders are harmed in the process… You might say it's hypocritical. They get so worked up over people dying, but their actions completely contradict their words. It's sickening.”

“... What is it that they do, though?”

“Haaah… Well, for starters, they’re not afraid of setting off explosives around parts of the city. They have no problem massacring people in the street, killing hundreds of civilians just to kill a single high ranking member of a troublesome gang. They’re willing to hire third party hitmen to take out the leaders of the gangs, as well as order members of the police staff to suicide bomb during undercover operations… The rulers of this city, of all the cities around the globe, all think like this from what I've heard."

Eli is dumbstruck. But… How? How is such a thing possible? He just can’t believe something like this is even allowed without protest. From what he understands, nothing should be more important than the lives of one’s citizens. He can't imagine such behavior going unchecked, and yet, not a word has been spoken from he what he understands. They would go so far just to call themselves King and Queen?

“But… Why have I never heard about this? I go to school. I pay attention to the news. I’ve never heard of something like this ever happening, yet you speak as if it’s a daily occurrence!”

“Well, in reality, outside of the little buildings called schools, it is a daily occurrence. Stuff like that happens every day in varying degrees of severeness. Just the other day, less than two weeks ago, a district about 30 or so blocks away was gassed. Everyone in their homes during the attack died without exception. As for the reason why you never hear about such things? Who do you think provides you the news? All of your info comes directly from the mouths of those in power. I bet you’ve never heard a single ounce of truth in your life. Ha ha, and you call yourself educated?”

A slip of smugness, mixed with a sprinkle of annoyance fills her venomous words. Eli, noticing such emotions, reflects on his actions in regret. I’ve known her for less than a week yet I still haven’t learned the right things to say… I should have known not to bring up my education. This wasn’t the first time Audrey’s acted in such a way. A few days earlier Eli had tried to pry a bit into her past, asking her whether she’s always lived on the streets or if she’s gone to school at some point during her past. In response, she gave him a snark laugh, along with the words, “You think I look like an educated person? Why don’t you think next time you ask such a stupid question?”

Despite possessing the ability to look at the past, Eli’s control over the power is weak at best, and useless the majority of the time. Yes, he can utilize it to a certain degree, but to be able to specifically target certain times requires understanding both the target and the ability itself. He needs to be in a state of complete calmness, have an understanding of his surroundings, know his target on an intimate level, as well as understand how to tell the difference between times. For people like his mother the process had been fairly simple. He is very familiar with his childhood home, and knows more about his mother than anyone alive. The process of selecting the correct time had been completely instinctual at that point. Should he try to read the past of a complete stranger, the best he can possibly do is gather some vague information by observing a randomly selected scene. If he doesn’t know how to use the ability, then it serves no purpose. This doesn’t even touch upon that face that, for some strange reason, his power is incapable of reading Audrey’s history.

The problem is that I can’t just interrupt my day by practicing the power. It requires me to understand what it is I’m doing on a deeper level of comprehension, but I just don’t have that kind of time. And so, that leaves Eli with no choice but to simply ask his fickle companion more and more questions about her past, much to the detriment of their relationship. If he had a choice, he wouldn't ever press her to such an extent, but his blindness towards her leaves him on edge. If anything, he's even more impressed that Audrey is able to comfortably live with him, despite him being a complete stranger and her being a completely normal person. If he were in her place, he wouldn't ever want to be around a suspicious person like him.

“... I’m sorry, I’ll watch what I say next time.”

It’s only after she shoots him a strange look that Eli realizes his response was beyond belated. He had somehow spent what must have been several minutes in thought, not even realizing that Audrey had resumed her work of sorting through her bags. Even so, after comprehending what it is he’s apologizing for, she simply shakes her head with the shadow of a smile on her lips, surprised someone would care about her feelings enough to apologize, unaccustomed to such sympathy.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. The truth is, I became an orphan less than a year before I was able to be admitted to school, and the orphanage I went to didn’t have the best education system. Honestly the topic of schooling just brings back unpleasant memories, so… I’d like it if we just avoided the topic, if that’s alright with you?”

Having no way, or reason, to go against her wishes, Eli simply nods in understanding before resuming his work, taking the rag and a nearby article of clothing, and dunking them into the pail of water next to him. Watching him work, Audrey feels her lips curl into a small smile. It’s not often she feels this way. In fact, it’s been several years since such emotions thudded within her chest. A small fragment of a thought flits about the back of her mind. It’s been forever since I've had someone to talk to. It's so strange. Everybody is too interested in themselves to care about my past. Nobody ever cares enough to ask me how my day was, or what my dreams are, or what I’m interested in, of what I've done to get here. Nobody wants to actually know and understand me. I can't really blame them. In a way, I'm the same. Survival is the main priority. But even so, if we don't have our past, what do we really have?

Time passes. Though the sky is perpetually cloudy in this city, it’s relatively easy to tell when night arrives. The sirens signaling curfew sing, which nobody ever really follows unless you’re living in the inner city. The perpetually gray sky gradually darkens until it eventually blocks all light and bathes the world in impenetrable darkness. It’s just as the distant sirens fade away and night finally arrives that Audrey brings up the “proposal” once again. She speaks as though in discussion, but in reality Eli has no standing power in their partnership and can only nod his head in compliance.

“I’ve packed my things, we should get ready to leave by tomorrow morning.”

With his back to the wall and shoveling a can of beans into his mouth, Eli lowers his head in silence. Now understanding what happens when someone tries to fight against the very city itself, he has no choice but to quietly nod his head in agreement. After chewing, he speaks up, his voice a mixture of longing and hopelessness.

“You know… This place isn’t too far from my old home. These past few days, I’ve been, well, hesitant about leaving. I have no idea what I’m going to do… Everything just seems so unfocused and confusing…”

“Well, I suppose this is as good a time as any to ask. But you might as well tell me why you're wandering the streets when it sounds like you have a home of your own. It seems a bit unreasonable to willingly choose homelessness in a city like this.”

Eli shivers. He knew this question would come, and he’s honestly shocked it took her so long to ask. But that doesn’t make him any more prepared. Still, he does understand that he needs to say at least something about himself. Giving no information completely ruins any possible development between them. He can’t allow them to grow distant, not when he doesn't understand how to live this new life of his, and not when he can’t even control his powers well enough to find out why Audrey’s strings are silver.

“I ran away from home. I couldn't bear living another day in that house. And I, well, almost did something unforgivable… So I, ah, just packed my things and left…”

There’s a long silence in the cave. The light has completely faded away, leaving the interior of the cave is complete blackness. The two of them are laying on the cold ground, a stack of clothing under their head to serve as pillows and heavy coats covering their bodies as blankets. After an unbearably long moment of uncomfortable silence, just when Eli is beginning to believe that Audrey had fallen asleep while he had been speaking, the girl's voice eventually whispers into the blackness. It carries a marked hesitation, as if she’s afraid asking such a thing is a mistake, which strikes Eli as quite odd considering her attitude towards him.

“Ummm, well, were things really that bad? Would it be impossible for you to make amends with the, um, people you’re living with? Life on the streets doesn’t really suit you… I’m sure coming to terms with whatever you have at home would be easier, right?”

The silence resumes, only this time, it’s Eli’s turn to respond. In all honesty it’s something he’s thought a lot about over the past week. Could I go back…? He’d always repeat the same question, over and over and over again, spinning the question like top, swinging the answer like a pendulum. Could he go back? Not considering the actual difficulty of the returning trip, could he actually bear to live in that house? School has only just ended, so all that awaits him now are endless days of studying, enduring the constant screaming of his mother, and trying to face each day without wanting everything in his life to just disappear. He can no longer escape to the classroom like he used to. Thinking back on the near decade he lived such a life, he can at least confidently declare one thing.

“No. There’s no way I’m going back. There’s no way I’m putting myself through that again. Call me a coward if you wish, say I’m irresponsible, say I’m disrespectful, it doesn’t matter. Leaving was the best choice I ever made in my entire life. I can understand this now.”

Audrey listens to his voice in shock. The deep tone mixed with the jarring sense of self assuredness punches the girl like a jab to the gut. She nearly questions the identity of the voice. That confidence, that hopefulness, it’s completely unlike the Eli she thought she understood. Is this who he really is…? I wonder, what is it he leaves behind? Audrey finds herself nearly asking a very familiar question to the young man. The gentle night settles into a quite stillness as time creeps ever forward. Within that darkness, a question churns within both of their minds. They stare into the abyss before them, thinking but refusing to speak, lest they break the peaceful moment. It's a question neither are sure they want the answer to, but one they both deeply sympathize with.

What is it you’ve gone through?