hostage

Chapter 8 (A Little Fluorescent)

meow-

Hearing a faint but cute cry, the boy who was sitting in front of the window, scribbling something on the set up drawing board couldn't help but look around.Suddenly, he saw a group of black creatures lying on the door of the room, with eyes as bright as amber, staring at him bewilderedly.

The boy was only about seven or eight years old. He raised a pair of long and narrow eyes that seemed to have a unique and mysterious color, and looked at him. After a while, he stood up quickly as if he had been overwhelmed by cuteness, and walked quickly towards the group. The little thing walked over, squatted down his small body, carefully stretched out his little hand, and rubbed the head of the little black cat tentatively, it was soft, soft, and then again and again, he couldn't put it down, and he couldn't help giggling laughed.

"Xiao Mo, do you like it?"

Hearing a gentle female voice from the top of his head, the boy immediately raised his head and looked up. It was a beautiful woman with long hair in a shawl that naturally fell down as he leaned over. Her eyebrows were curved, and she looked at her with the same gentle expression as her voice. boy.

The boy immediately returned a similar smile and nodded vigorously.

"It will be your little friend from now on."

"Ok!"

"You dote on him too much."

Then another deep male voice interjected, as if complaining to the gentle woman, but there was no tone of reproach at all.

"What's the matter? It's just a kitten. I couldn't help it when I saw him playing with the stray cats there yesterday, reluctantly..." The woman turned around with a slight coquettish feeling in her voice. Turn around and say in a straight voice, "Mr. Xu, you are still talking about me. Didn't you find this little thing after searching there for a long time?"

"Ahem...Xu Mo, listen carefully, because you like it, Mom and Dad gave you this little guy, but from now on, it is also a member of our family, and it is not only your friend, It is still your responsibility, you must not get tired of it after a few days and leave it alone, do you understand?"

The boy gently picked up the kitten, stood up straight, held the kitten tightly in his arms, and looked up at the man who was talking.The man is very handsome, with distinct facial features, his eyes are very similar to the boy's, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, with a gentle appearance, he is looking at the little boy he called "Xu Mo" seriously at the moment.

"You're too serious." The woman looked at the two men, one big and one small, as if they were facing each other, and couldn't help but want to make a noise.

"Well, I see, Mom and Dad, thank you!" The boy replied obediently and loudly.

The man showed his face when he heard the words, touched the boy's head, narrowed his narrow eyes, and smiled contentedly and gently.

Xu Mo was standing in an exhibition hall in Lianyu City at the moment. He leaned against the edge of the table behind him, put his hands in his coat pockets, opened his eyes suddenly, blinked, looked at a large screen in front of him, and was introducing Knowledge of fireflies.This exhibition hall is very special. Two-thirds of the top area is covered with glass. Through the glass, the tree shadows are scattered and fluorescent.

But in Xu Mo's eyes, apart from the light, there is only darkness and emptiness.

He remembers this place. When he was a child, his father often brought him here to play. At that time, there was no such technologically advanced house. It was also like a paradise, with lush green plants, fragrant birds and flowers in spring, a summer resort in summer, romantic and gorgeous in autumn, and winter. No sense of decay.At that time, there were always a lot of friends, everyone gathered together to sing, dance and play games, and what he loved most was to sit under the camphor tree that seemed to be marked by him with a drawing board, and record everyone's laughter .

And it was at that time that he discovered the kitten he later named "Hei Hei".When everyone was playing games in a circle, they rushed in, and everyone scattered in all directions, some were a little scared, and some were curious. At that time, the kitten seemed to have lost its way just after learning to walk. He looked tired from running, so he lay tremblingly on the grass. No child was willing to come forward to look at it, only he, stepped forward and rubbed the cat's head. The kitten narrowed its eyes comfortably, but it didn't take long for it He realized something all of a sudden, opened his eyes nervously, looked around, jumped up in an instant, and fled away.

When he was a child, Xu Mo just wanted to chase after him, but a small hand grabbed his sleeve. Looking back, he saw a little blond boy who didn't speak, but just shook his head at him.He knew that child, that child was a few years younger than him, and he didn't talk or laugh, but he always liked to follow him, or rather, follow his father.

Yes, at that time, it was not an exhibition hall of fireflies, but an orphanage, an orphanage managed by his father.In the limited memory he can think of, his father is a rigorous yet gentle person, perhaps because he has been with innocent children for a long time, in his eyes the father has always been kind, with a soft heart Xin, however, pays great attention to his own growth, and he can slow down, but he is not allowed to go astray in the slightest.

In fact, his parents love him very much, and he once had an ordinary and happy childhood.Since when did it change?It seems that from the day he saw a few people in black clothes who were particularly conspicuous coming out of his father's office, his father was not as strict with him as before, and he didn't like to squint and smile at him. He often looked at him silently, It seems that there are thousands of things on my mind, and I don't know where to start.

In fact, after that day, he never saw the little blond boy again. Whenever he saw Hei Hei coming over to act like a baby with him, he would still think of him. At that time, he just thought maybe he was adopted, after all that The child is so cute, but thinking about it now, although he was keen as a child, he was ignorant after all, and his thoughts on the world were so beautiful and innocent.

What happened later was probably the biggest nightmare of his life. If possible, maybe he would rather hope that he didn't remember it. However, he may have the ability to erase it again, but he can't, he can't forget it.

"It's very close to that place."

Hearing the familiar cold voice from behind, Xu Mo turned his head and saw Miyano Shiho's pale, slightly haggard appearance. He was silent in his heart, with a faint smile on his face, and then turned his head back to face the big screen in front of him. While waving his arms in the air, he asked,

"Hmm. Didn't sleep well?"

I don't know what kind of magical switch Xu Mo activated. The originally dimly lit exhibition hall went dark for a moment, but Miyano Shiho saw green light dots filling the dark space, like stardust in a dark night, and the big screen also turned on at the same time. , a row of large letters appeared:

"Black Swan"

Miyano raised his eyes, looked at the back of Xu Mo who was one step away from her in disbelief, turned around, hummed softly, and said,

"Knowingly asking."

Xu Mo remained silent, as if he was waiting for Miyano Shiho to speak. Miyano was stunned for a moment, obviously understanding his intentions. She recalled the images in her dreams. She had too many questions. He tangled every thread of his thoughts into a ball, and couldn't pull them apart, so he just asked the question that was most eager to come out.

"You...can control my dreams?"

"What do you think?"

"So... those are the things you want me to see?"

"Not all, there is something else I want to know."

"Ah."

Hearing Miyano Shiho's calm reply, Xu Mo looked back at her in surprise.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"In that organization, I have been afraid too many times, and I have already become numb."

"...It's still different."

"No, there is no difference. No matter what method or ability, we are the same to the organization behind you and me. We are just pawns on the chessboard."

Xu Mo looked at the girl in front of him with some surprise. He thought that after dreaming of his childhood, she would be more or less frightened and deterred, just like when he remembered his childhood past, he felt the fear that enveloped him. The panic of the dark shadow, which is almost unknown, is more or less wanting to retreat.

But now, she was so calm that he couldn't imagine what kind of power was supporting her, Xu Mo was confused.However, before Xu Mo could figure it out, Miyano asked him another question.

"Is that girl named Tao Youran the one you met when you were young?"

Xu Mo was stunned, thinking of the dream he had shown Miyano that belonged to him, the dream that belonged to reality.

In fact, it wasn't because he followed Miyano Shiho that he accidentally found the place where the camphor tree was planted, but that night, at his home, every move of Miyano fell within his sight, and he knew , Maybe some of his affairs, Miyano Shiho, or the organization behind her, is more clear than himself.

So after he sent Youran home, he darkened his expression, grasped Miyano Shiho's whereabouts, and followed him all the way.However, just when he was really walking towards the place that used to only exist in his nightmare, the fragments of memory that had already been shattered suddenly surged in, and they pieced together themselves before his eyes.

What he met with Youran when he was a child was not something he deliberately wanted Miyano to see. This was his first mistake, but it was also the only opportunity for him to successfully recover his memory.

"Yes, it's me...the one we couldn't save."

Miyano didn't say a word, he didn't seem to care what happened to Xu Mo when he was a child, he just turned around and walked towards the exhibition stand next to the exhibition hall.There are several glass bottles on the stage, and there are some fireflies in each bottle, like an elf trapped in a cage, struggling with all his strength until all the light is exhausted, it is the same for her and Xu Mo .

She gently opened a bottle, and weak fireflies flew out in twos and threes, but the good times didn't last long. She spread her palms and saw a few dying fireflies falling on her hands, and turned her head to show Xu Mo.

"You see, the so-called survival of the fittest, whether they can survive or not depends on whether they are strong enough. If they are not strong enough, even if they are rescued by you, they will be swallowed by greater danger in the future." [Note ①]

Xu Mo's dark and deep eyes suddenly lit up. In his guess, maybe Miyano would say that you were still young at that time, or maybe he wouldn't take it seriously, but what he didn't expect was that Miyano Shiho would actually It's not his problem to tell him in this way.

"No matter what is missing or what she has experienced, she has a lot now, at least, she lives brighter than us."

Miyano Shiho said again, and turned her hands around, some leaped out of her hands firmly, while others fell straight to the ground without the will to survive.She looked up at the subtitles on the screen that hadn't disappeared yet, her eyes were a little empty, and after a second thought, she took out an old photo with yellowish corners from her pocket and handed it over.

This is a family photo. Xu Mo took it. The moment he saw it, his hands trembled slightly. The family of three in the photo was none other than his parents and him.

"There is such a piece of information in the organization's materials. I don't know why. When I saw it, I had a thought and brought it out."

"Is it because you think of your parents?"

"Maybe, but actually I have no impression of them, or maybe I just envy such a beautiful scene."

"They, it's not an accident."

Hearing this, Miyano Shiho opened her eyes wide and looked at Xu Mo's face in extreme shock, trying to read the slightest trace of truth from his expression, but what she saw was the emptiness of reminiscing about the past, only Out of the helplessness of the unknown.

"Neither your parents nor my parents."

Tears fell from the sockets involuntarily, but there was no color of sadness, nor any uncontrollable emotions, just, silently, crying.

Xu Mo turned around slowly, and instead of looking at her, turned his back to Miyano Shiho again, and looked up at the screen. The string of characters "Black Swan" that had been marked on his heart now seemed to be faintly stinging. Eyes hurt.With a wave of his hand, everything returned to the most charming "starry" night.

The day I met Tao Youran for the first time was the day he was arranged to leave Love Language City and set off for England.After those men in black came, they became not only their father, but also their own mother, still gentle and smiling, but there was an emotion in their eyes, which was called uneasiness.Later, he was told by his father that he was going to send him to study in the UK. It didn't matter to him where or where he went to live and study. He thought that he just had to follow the path laid out by his father and keep going.

It was an evening flight, so that afternoon, after helping my mother pack her luggage, I took the drawing board as usual for the last time, opened the back door of the orphanage, and prepared to sit under the tree for the last time.That day was very special. The other children seemed to be afraid of facing the sadness of parting, and they were unhappy and unwilling to come out to play. Only Hei Hei rushed out the moment the door opened. You followed it, but saw that it seemed to be caught Another gray cat, and then saw the girl running over, squatting and talking to the two cats...

This scene that I have recalled countless times is the beginning of him and Tao Youran, but it also seems to be a farewell.

They just chatted for a few words in a hurry, and then a rather elegant man in a black suit came over and held out his hand to the little girl. Putting it in his big hand, she stood up, waved to the young Xu Mo, and left with the man who was leading her.

At that moment, there was a muffled thunder in the sky, and the originally clear sky was suddenly covered with a layer of gray clouds. Looking at the back of them leaving, my heart was trembling, and I always felt that something bad was about to happen. Things are going to happen, but children of seven or eight years old are still weak after all, even though their hearts are trembling, there is no reason to prevent the girl from leaving. She and that man are obviously familiar, maybe even her father.

At this moment, his father and mother came up and told him that it was almost time to go, so he got into the car.

The car drove all the way to the airport, and the storm came when it was on the road. At that time, his father was driving the car, as if he was traveling through thunder and lightning all the way, and the rain of wild wolves washed the car window like a raging rage. This is what he suddenly remembered. His cat, in the end, he didn't take responsibility, and forgot the cat on the grass that couldn't keep out the wind, rain and thunder.

Just as he was about to tell his father about this, he was slammed forward by a sudden brake, and he saw the girl again, panicked, standing in the middle of the road, in front of his family's car, and there was a retrograde car The black car was coming towards her, and suddenly a boy who was about the same age rushed out, hugged the girl and jumped, but still couldn't go faster than the speed of the car, the two children were wiped by the car, and then rolled to the side.

So the one who was really caught off guard was Xu Mo's father. Time seemed to have been frozen. The speed of the car driving in the reverse direction was like a thunderbolt. He landed heavily on the ground, and his eyes seemed to be dyed red by the heat. Through the scarlet, he vaguely saw a few familiar men in black getting out of the car, taking the girl away, and a man to He ran over... Then, he felt that his eyes were dark, and then he fainted when his eyes became dark.

On that icy rainy day with rain and blood, a black private car drove in the opposite direction for some unknown reason, causing several cars to collide in succession. The first car hit overturned directly. The boy was seriously injured and unconscious. Several other vehicles were damaged and several people were injured.

"When I fully woke up, I couldn't remember many things. I just remembered that my name was Xu Mo."

"The person who saved you back then was from BS, right?"

"Yes."

"Then, what about the man in black?"

"I thought so, but then I never saw them again."

"Is the person who took Youran away Mr. Tao?"

"I can't remember it, I don't remember it very clearly, but it does."

When Xu Mo was telling her memories, Miyano Shiho had already wiped away her tears. After asking the last question, she didn't know what to say. Her thoughts were also in a mess. There were too many details that seemed to be ignored. "Accident" has already been confirmed.

What about her parents?Maybe Xu Mo knew something, but she didn't dare to ask, and she didn't want to ask any more.Or maybe her older sister also understands that all along, she always thought that her older sister was not strong enough that she could not make a name for herself in the organization. She has persevered until now, so what Xu Mo doesn't know is, how could she not be afraid of the power hidden in the darkness and intertwined among them, but along the way, she figured it out, they are all irrevocable, There is only continuous strength and continuous forge ahead.

Miyano Shiho looked around, and the few little things that just flew up from her hand still looked like they had a strong desire to survive, glowing and glowing, trying to fly further, to the window on the zenith, to blend into the Go in groups that are separated by a day.He reached out and grabbed another one, held it lightly, and immediately let it fly again, suddenly thinking that when Chuchu stepped here, Xu Mo let you see it.

"Is this the base of BS?"

"No, it's the abandoned private domain."

Only then did Miyano see that Xu Mo had shown a different smile than usual, it wasn't joyful or complacent, but with a spontaneous evil spirit, and the wanton eyes faintly revealed the meaning of wanting to destroy , just for a moment, then put it away imperceptibly, as usual, said lightly,

"Let's go, it's time to go back."

——TBC——

The author has something to say:

[Note ①] The original sentence is selected from the firefly appointment between Lian and Xu Moxian. Thinking about what Xu Mo said to Youran, I assumed that it was Sherry who said it, so it’s a bit emotional--I will borrow that date at the end of.