The Search for Freedom

"Oh! Cain, if that's really you, then tell me why I can touch you now?" I asked.

"Huh?" His jaw drooped as he seemed to know nothing about the thing I was talking about. "I'm also surprised by what you're talking about. I'm curious about how you can touch me now." "This is mysterious..." I thought. "Did you do something that it happened?"

"I did not." He chuckled. "It might just be your hallucination. Why won't you try to touch me again so that we can know if you can really touch me?"

"Are you sure you won't be mad if I punch you?" I asked.

"Of course not." He chuckled.

I attempted to punch Cain in the stomach, but my hand was just passing by on his body. It made me think that maybe he was right that it was just my hallucination, or he might be making a monkey of me again.

"Look what happened," he gasped. "Why did you think you could touch me if it's impossible because I'm a spirit? I'm telling you that no human can touch me, even do whatever they would do." His mouth curved into an ironic smile.

I shook my head and said, "Maybe you're right, there's no human who can touch you, and I'm not a normal human because I can touch you."

"I told you, it was just your hallucination. Why won't you just believe me?"

"Why won't we just search for the next person instead of debating about useless things? Are you sure that the second person lives in this place?" I asked.

"I didn't... yeah, I guessed it. Why did you ask me?"

"Did you see those people there? They seemed to be foolish."

"I know, but don't underestimate them for the things that they are doing, because we don't know what kind of people they are."

"But it can be seen in what they are doing as what kind of people they are."

"You have a point, but we should search for your enemy."

Though I thought those people were fools, I also knew that probably, in their eyes, I was the foolish one. They might become curious about why I'm different from them. I was wearing a plain shirt, gray trousers and slippers. If they saw me like this, they might think I'm a famous actor.

Those people's gazes would undoubtedly be drawn to me, and they might be perplexed if I'd appear to be different from them. Until it entered my mind to pretend as one of them, so that I could not attract their attention and also focus on searching for the second person who was destined to fight me.

I saw that Cain started walking towards them. Good for him, he was free to do everything he wanted because nobody could see him. Perhaps he noticed I didn't joined him, he stared at me and go back to where I was hiding. "Lil, why won't you help me in searching for your enemy? Have you forgotten that we need to do it in order to have freedom from the curse?" Cain asked.

"How can I forget it if that's the reason we're here?" I replied.

"If you don't, but why does it seems you want to give up?"

"You mistook it. I can tell you if I want to give up." I sighed.

"Then tell me why you won't help me in searching for the second person if this is the only way to get rid of the curse."

"Don't you see those people there? Look and tell me if what you think are the differences between me and them."

"Why won't you just tell me about the exact thing directly? You are just wasting time on saying useless things," he complained.

"Do you notice that those boys and men there are wearing G-strings? Look at me. I'm wearing this shirt, trousers, and slippers. They can easily recognize that I'm not part of their tribe, and they may hurt me because of it." "You worried too much just because of that? You already know how to teleport right? Why won't you use that if they are going to hurt you? You can also wear a G-string if you want and pretend to be one of them." "That's what I'm also thinking about. I want to pretend to be one of them, so that I can easily go near them without attracting their attention. Why won't you give me a G-string?" I asked.

"Are you sure that you want to wear a G-string only? Won't you be ashamed? We both know they look different from you. They have black skin, while you have brown. You still cannot pretend to be one of them," Cain reminded. "See? It also came out of your lips that I cannot pretend to be one of them, so why do you let me wear a G-string and pretend to be one of them if they can still recognize that I'm not?"

"I admitted that you're right, then tell me what you want to do?"

"I want to do nothing. You're already of age if you need my help in searching for the person who was..." I had not finished my words when Cain turned to leave.

I knew he was squealing because I didn't want to help him, though we could both benefit from doing this. But he could not go against my decision. It wasn't my mistake if this happened. There were countable people who lived in this place, they could not reach a thousand; I was sure he could easily find the next person who was destined to fight me, if that person really lived here.

There was nothing else I could do now, but to wait for his comeback. I hoped he could find that person quickly here, so that we would not need to go to other places to search again. If I could only use the power of my hearing, perhaps the second person had already bitten the dust.

I didn't know why my power would not tell me anything about those people who were destined to fight me. The curse didn't totally set me free, because though I could kill people with my own hand, I could not choose who I to kill. Cain was right that it was destiny that decided everything, but I would do my best not to be guided by destiny, especially if it was going to a bad destination.