Daniel

"Huh?" she asked, alarmed.

"Come to my house," I offered, "you'll surely be much better off there than here, stranded on the roads, at least until you're able to find Darien."

She frowned and remained silent for a few seconds. Then, she shook her head resolutely.

"No. I can't come," she said, deep in thought.

"Why not?" I asked, puzzled.

She just shook her head again, staring straight ahead.

"Why not?" I asked again, in exasperation.

"I don't know who you are, where you're from, what you're doing. Nothing. I don't even know whether you've got a family or not. I don't know anything about you. You're like a complete stranger to me! Under what circumstances, can I even think about coming with you?" she demanded.

"Well, I think you already know who I am. Daniel Sorrens, and I'm working in my father's IT company. Um, I don't remember much of my life. I lost my memory after an accident, a car accident, about a year and a half ago. I've still got my family's support so I'm not that worried I can't remember much.

My father, as I said, owns an IT company. My mother's a housewife, I mean, she used to teach in a college nearby but she resigned when my elder sister became pregnant and came to stay with us. My elder sister is Isma, I mean Karisma, but we call her Isma. She's a surgeon, and she's the one who looked after me in the hospital after I got into that car accident almost two years ago.

She's married and now, she's pregnant, so she's taken leave and come to stay with us for the next three months. Her in-laws house is very far, at least two hours' drive either way, so they thought that it would be better if she comes here to our house, for the next two months until her delivery, and a month after it. My younger sister, Rina, I mean Katrina, is still studying in college. Is that enough?" I asked.

"Why're you telling me all this?" she asked.

"You said you won't come with me unless you know about me and... my family is basically everything to me," I replied, muddled.

She shook her head, and insisted, "I didn't say that. I said I can't come with you because I don't know you. And I need to find Darien... desperately."

"I'll help you to find Darien. Don't forget you owe me $32.50 for that medicine. I'm not going to accept this watch as your payment. I need solid cash, okay? I'm sure Darien will be able to pay me back later, right? So, I'll help you to find Darien, while you can stay in my house," I said.

I didn't really want her to pay me back the money but I felt pity for her stranded on the roadside. However, I knew, she wouldn't come to stay with me. So, I might as well pretend like I wanted money to make her come to my house, which was definitely better than being stranded on the roads.

"Well, it depends whether he's alive or not," she said, blandly.

"What? I mean what's wrong with you? Is... is death all you have in mind? Earlier, when I asked you why you didn't go back to your parents, you said only their death will await you there. And now, you talk like as if Darien must be dead as well! What's wrong with you? Why're you always talking about death? Is there some serial killer out there to murder you as well or what?!" I asked, frustrated.

"He won't kill me but he'll kill everyone else around me. And Mila is his next target. You too might become one of his victims, if he sees you near me for too long," she warned.

"What?! I mean who? Who is he?" I demanded.

"You won't know him," she confirmed.

I frowned. What was wrong with her? Why was she being so secretive?

"Come with me now," I stated firmly.

She groaned, "What is wrong with you? Can't you... can't you understand what I'm..." Tiara trailed off for a moment. "Daniel, please... please just leave me alone here. Thank you so much for your help, but there's no more reason for you to be standing here with me. Please just go."

"What? You're asking me what's wrong with me? I should be asking you what's wrong with you! Being so secretive... I seriously don't understand you," I cried.

"I don't know what's wrong with me either. I always do things which I believe to be right, but in the end, everything's wrong... because of me. I don't even have anybody now. I don't know what to do. Father and Mother are dead, Darien too is most probably dead," she said.

"But there's no proof whether Darien's still alive or dead," I persisted.

"If there's a reason why I'm still alive, that's because of the tiny probability that Darien's still alive. But if... if he really is dead, the next day I'll be dead," she said, firmly.

"Why?" I asked, blankly.

"Why should I live if Darien is no more? I might as well commit suicide and die too," she said.

"I'm sure Darien will be alive, Tiara. I'll help you to find him. You can trust me, Tiara; you can trust me and my family. We'll look after you. I'm sure my family won't mind. They're always helping people out, I'm sure they won't mind letting you stay in our house. They'll most probably welcome you to our house jovially.

Don't worry; I'll help you to find Darien in no time. Wherever he is, I'll find him for you. You can trust me. You're blind, how can you search for him? Asking random people his name is not enough, they may not even know him. You have to ask the right people, people who work with him and people who live near the place he lives. I'll help you to do that," I offered.

"But Daniel... can I... can I trust you? Seriously, can I trust you? Can I trust that you'll never harm my Darien if you find him? There are so many people in this world; I don't know who to trust. Those that I trusted betrayed me; those that I didn't trust were actually people who were really willing to help me out. I don't know who to trust now. Can I really trust you, Daniel? Will you really help me to find Darien? And, will you only find him for me, and not to kill him or anything? Can I trust you, Daniel?" she asked, anxiously.

I stared at her, overwhelmed.

"Even if you don't trust me or anyone else, you can trust Isma, my elder sister. You can trust her more than anyone else. Even I trust her more than anyone else in my family or friends or anyone else in the world. How much she has done for me as a sister and how much she has done for every single one of her patients as a doctor has always made me envious for not being able to help other people as much as she did.

I was also one of her patients that day when I got into that car accident almost two years ago. My left leg was fractured. My right leg had a deep gash across the side of it. I couldn't walk, I couldn't stand, I couldn't sit up, I could just lie down in bed motionless. I couldn't open my eyes for 2 to 3 weeks whenever I was awake because of the pain my left eye was bearing. I couldn't move my hands for more than 3 months because of the gashes in my hands and the fracture at my right elbow. It was a terrible accident, that's all I know.

I don't remember anything of what had happened during the accident or before it, in my life. Isma looked after me the whole time I was hurt. She even took leave for a few months, when I was discharged from the hospital so she could help me and look after me at home.

Isma returned to the hospital only after I was somewhat able to walk again, at least, with the help of crutches. That is how much my sister has cared for me. She has helped almost all her patients equally but I don't think she ever had a patient as injured as I had been or a patient who had needed as much assistance as I had needed. You can surely trust her, Tiara, she will help you, no matter what," I said.

Tiara just continued staring ahead, expressionless, but I could see misery in her eyes.

I felt my mobile phone vibrating in my pocket in silent mode. I took it to see a missed call from Isma and another from Narissa. I quickly called Isma back. She answered the call almost immediately.

"Hello, Isma, where are you?" I asked.

"I'm at home. Mom sent Narissa to pick you up. Where are you? Narissa just called and told me that she can't find you where you told me you were. She found your car there though, but where are you? She's waiting for you," said Isma.

"Urgh! Narissa?! Are you crazy or what? Why did you have to send her to pick me up?" I demanded, really annoyed.

"I didn't ask her, I was going to come myself. Mom stopped me, saying, 'You are 7 months pregnant, don't you know that pregnant women shouldn't go out on their own in this stage?' You know her, don't you, Daniel? Pregnant women shouldn't do this! Pregnant women shouldn't do that! Gosh! It's like I can't do anything! Anyway, that's when Narissa came over, so Mom asked her if she could go and pick you up, and she agreed, that's all. So where are you?" asked Isma.

"I'm in a taxi, tell her to go home," I lied.

"Taxi?" asked Tiara in a whisper, confused.

"Taxi? She's waiting for you, Daniel. Why did you get a taxi?" asked Isma.

"Tell her to go home, I know how to get home myself," I snapped.

"Daniel, don't be so fussy!" she cried.

"I'm already in a taxi, on the way home," I lied again, indignantly.

"Fine then, you can call and tell Narissa to go back home," said Isma.

"You tell her. Who asked you to let her come to pick me up? You tell her to go back home," I argued.

"No, you tell her. Who asked you to get a taxi?" she insisted.

"No, you just tell her, okay?" I retorted.

"Fine, I'll tell. Why are you so mean to her all the time? She's actually a nice person, you know?" said Isma.

"Yeah, yeah, bye!" I said, cutting the call.

"Who's Narissa? Her name sounds familiar," said Tiara.

I just rolled my eyes. Of course, Tiara would know her. Most probably, everyone in this whole wide world has heard of Narissa.

"Come, let's get a taxi," I said, as I quickly called up an empty taxi coming in a distance.

"You're coming, right?" I asked, as the taxi stopped in front of us.

She bit her lip, doubtfully for a few seconds, and then shook her head, stammering, "No. I can't come, I just truly can't."

"Why not?" I sighed in exasperation.

"I... I..." she started off, but I interrupted her, "Why? Because you can't trust me?"

"No, no. I... I trust you but ..." she trailed off.

"If you really trust me, then you can come with me. I'm not going to force you to come with me. If you want, you can come or else you can stay here if you really want to stay. But remember one thing, Tiara; you are all alone out here. If you come to my house, I'll help you to find Darien and you can trust me and Isma. Isma is the best sister anyone can have in the world, and you can trust her and depend on her more than me or anyone else," I said.

She faked a smile as she murmured softly, "I tried to be a sister like that and this is what I got. My punishment. I became the worst."

"Sorry, what did you say?" I asked as I hadn't heard what she had said clearly.

"Nothing," she said blandly.

"So, what's your decision?" I demanded impatiently.

She sighed. Her face really showed her inner worry and fear. "I'll come."

To be continued...