"PLEASE SPARE US! SPARE MY DAUGHTER AT LEAST!!!"
"...."
Aiden was very confused. Why was she begging him so hard?
Are those rumoured 'bad people' really this dangerous?
Aiden had approached her, hoping to reason with someone much older and mature, which would allow him to gain more information concerning…everything. But, unlike Carla, she seemed excruciatingly more difficult to speak to.
Should I take advantage of her fear and forcefully get her to tell me what I need to know?
No. That's too risky. I don't even know the main cause of her fears yet. She might go wild and turn against me. There's also the father, whose whereabouts I don't know
I've managed to gain the daughter's trust. But, it seems pointless in this situation. The woman is giving me a highly terrified look, too, so I probably shouldn't try to approach her daughter
Hopefully, the fears haven't run too deep, and I can still gain her trust. The best thing is to tell the truth. I'm not very confident in my acting skills
Aiden raised both of his arms in surrender and bowed as humbly as he could.
"I harbour no ill intent towards you or your family."
It would be bad if the dad spawns up without gaining the mom's trust
Carla, who continued to struggle, managed to pass her message through an opening she secured. "See?" She debated. "He's not a bad person…"
"He's like you, Mama."
Unfortunately, even both her words and Aiden's gestures weren't enough to convince her.
"Please!" She continued to plead. "We'll leave. We'll vanish. You can have all our belongings. Just spare my daughter and me."
Aiden bit his lip—not in annoyance but strangely in joy. Her words were just as melancholic as ever, and it sounded like Aiden's act hadn't convinced her. Or that was what the average person would think.
First, she said to spare her daughter. Now, it's to spare both of them. It seems it's working
Of course, asking a 'bad person' to spare not one but two lives signified one thing, if nothing else, trust.
It was slight and insignificant. But she had trusted him enough to actually plead for her life in addition, implying that her dogmatic view of his 'malevolence' had reduced ever so slightly. This was a good thing. If he played his cards right, he could get through to her.
This time, Aiden fell on his knees and lowered his back, kowtowing gracefully. His hair, knees, and palms were dirtied by the wet soil, but he didn't mind. After all, he wasn't particularly clean in the first place.
What if she literally stabs me in the back and runs?
Aiden was obviously being extra with his thoughts and fears, as in unknown situations like this; they were all potentially strong possibilities. But if he were to lessen her negative emotions towards him, he had to make himself appear as small and harmless as possible.
"Please," he begged. "I only seek temporary shelter."
"....."
This time, the woman didn't implore him. Instead, she looked down at Carla, who had her cheeks pressed together between her arms as she stared right back at her.
"Go inside," she instructed. "Lemme introduce myself to your new friend."
Success!
"Okiee…" Being freed from her mother's hold, she obeyed promptly and departed into the peculiar environment of their home. But before she left, she flashed a wide, assuring smile at Aiden, fully convinced that Mama had accepted Mr Long Hair.
That wasn't entirely true.
The door closed shut. And when the woman was sure that Carla had gone away and wasn't eavesdropping by the door, she spoke.
"What do you truly want?" She inquired, looking at the long-haired teen who bowed before her. 'He was different,' she thought, 'Compared to them.'
"Do you want money?" She added, "Or are you after my daughter or me? Are you here to abduct me because I'm a Superior?"
Superior? Yet another unknown
"Two things," Aiden answered, partially dropping the nice guy act. 'Lying that he didn't have an ulterior motive would affect future conversations', he thought.
Aiden lifted his head but remained in his kneeling position.
"Shelter for a meagre amount of time. And a little bit of harmless information will do," He added. "Of course, you can choose not to answer any question I ask."
"Why a short time? Will you rat us out?" She asked.
"No," Aiden replied. "I would never."
"Why should I believe you?"
"I have no cause to lie. I'm the one in need."
"....."
Aiden's words made perfect sense to her and were credible to her hearing. However, his statements were only valid after a logical assessment. Now, it was time for an instinct-driven sentimental evaluation.
Five minutes. That was how long it took. For five whole minutes, she stood there, staring at kneeling Aiden. During those intense minutes that felt like an hour, Aiden suddenly thought that her eyes were like those of an eagle—observant, and witty.
"What's your name?" She finally asked. "You're definitely not 'Mr. Long Hair', are you?"
"Well, since your daughter has renamed me, I might as well go with that," he joked. "My actual name is Aiden."
"Ai-den. It's an interesting name," she remarked, lifting her gaze from him.
Phew!
Aiden didn't need a spoken confirmation. From the fact that she had looked away from him alone, even though he was supposedly 'dangerous', he knew what was up.
Trust, of course. She finally trusted him.
The woman nodded to herself and reopened the door that Carla had closed.
"Come in."
...
The first thing that hit Aiden's senses was the tantalising, mouth-watering scent that wafted in the air, drifting from the half-open kitchen on the right. It smelled like roasted meat—no, it was chicken, alongside several other, unknown foodstuffs.
The living room appeared more spacious than the image he formed in his mind. A thick rug made from fur covered the expanse of the ground. To his left, a bit further ahead, there was a fireplace that wasn't lit, with several handmade wooden chairs sitting around it like an audience to a speaker. In the central space, there was a low table made from a tree stump. There was something unusual about that table, but Aiden couldn't place his finger on it.
The woman gestured to the right side, which he hadn't seen.
The right side was larger and wider than the left, as it consisted of both the kitchen and dining room— a single collection of four wooden chairs around a wooden table. The woman invited him to a seat while she sat on another. But, Aiden's eyes were…busy.
He was searching for any signs of the dreaded 'Papa', as he could appear at any time.
Sitting before him, the woman spoke. "Do you mind if I ask a question first?"
"I don't. Go ahead."
"Where are you from? Were you sent by someone, or did you stumble across us by accident?"
"I…don't know where I am from. I woke up in the middle of nowhere, and it was your daughter who led me here."
Hearing that, the woman shot a glare at her daughter, who seemed very embarrassed. She was sitting by the fireplace, playing with a handmade doll when she glanced at Aiden with a look of betrayal.
"Ahem!" Aiden cleared his throat and avoided her eyes, acting like she didn't exist.
"Didn't I tell you to avoid those areas?" The woman scolded. "What were you doing there?"
"Umm…" She stuttered, dropping her doll. "Carla got lost."
"Don't lie to me."
"Carla wanted to see what Papa and Mama were hiding."
The woman slapped her forehead in light frustration. "So…how long have you been going there?"
At first, Carla refused to speak. Then, she started counting her fingers. "Two weeks." She said, answering her question.
"Ah…so three weeks."
"....."
"Papa will hear of this."
Carla suddenly seemed agitated. "No! No! No! Don't tell Papa."
"No. I will tell your father."
"No! No! No!"
"Then what are you supposed to say?"
"I'm sorry…."
Being the third party in the mother-daughter exchange, Aiden thought their conversations were lovable and lively. But he was uneasy. He didn't trust Mr Papa, and so, he couldn't afford to waste time.
Aiden pretended to try speaking and then coughed in a raspy voice instead. Of course, this act drew attention to himself, and their conversation was dissolved.
"I'm sorry," the woman apologised, "I have terrible manners. Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Water," Aiden requested since he truly did feel extremely thirsty.
"Carla will do that!" Carla cheered as she scurried past them towards the wooden door that led to the kitchen. When she left, her mother looked at Aiden with a wry smile.
"She tends to be…very energetic at times," her mother explained. "We'll let her handle it."
She was mindful enough not to ask any further questions until Carla returned with a wooden tray. On it, there was water in a wooden cup and a handful of roasted nuts in a bowl, garnished with unknown spices.
"Thanks," Aiden appreciated her hospitality with a brief smile. Without thinking, he grabbed the cup of water and chugged down its contents at once.
Aiden's gaze turned serious.
"I have no memories. I don't even know if I lost all my memories. So, it's best to assume that I don't know anything. That's why I came here, because I see several things that I find to be odd."
The woman seemed sceptical. "If you have no memories, how can you find something odd?"
"I don't know," Aiden replied, "Just the same way that I can identify and do several things without knowing why I can."
"So you've most definitely had a partial memory loss," she presumed, "Are there any striking things at all that you remember?"
"Not at all."
"That's fine," she responded. Then, with a light sigh, she crossed her fingers and spoke.
"You're on planet Earth," said the woman, "And this is a Deadland."