Stay 2

Ravi knocked on the barn door and he didn't expect Daniel to lock it because Ravi thought if Daniel locked Raymond in the barn then Daniel would lock it. There was no answer from within there was only silence as he slowly opened the door slightly to find a dim yellow glow from an old light bulb, shining enough for him to know where Raymond was. Ravi stepped further inside leaving the door open behind him.

In a corner of the empty room, Raymond was curled up on his knees not knowing the existence of Ravi around him. He was now wearing one of Daniel's T-shirts which was loose on Raymond's body.

Ravi feels sorry for him, it can't be denied when Ravi sees Raymond without the clothes attached to his body he can see many scars across his half-thin body, and can't make Ravi just ignore him.

Don't know how old Raymond is, he's probably having a little 'distraction' and Ravi winces about his thoughts just now which he finds too harsh. For some reason, it wasn't in Ravi's mind to kick him out the first time he saw Raymond.

Ravi chose to sit next to Raymond, he didn't say anything. When Raymond recognized Ravi's presence, he looked up and turned, a smile quickly forming on his lips.

"Ravi?" he called weakly in a hoarse voice.

When Ravi stared at Raymond's bead of different colors, Ravi was silent for a second. Raymond's left golden eye shone in the dimly lit room. It glowed on the surface next to his cheek with a soft golden glow. Raymond's look of questioning crossed his face, as the thick eyebrows sank beneath his wild bangs.

He wasn't human, everything about Raymond was inhuman. Including his inhuman face, Ravi's cheeks burned so much that he had to turn his gaze to Raymond who was staring at Ravi intensely. Ravi rubbed his nose and asked, "Why are you in my room?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Ravi saw Raymond's long fingers dancing around drawing an imaginary shape on the dusty floor. "That's when Ravi asked for a wish, I'm so happy that I finally met Ravi after so long of waiting and hoping," he said, his voice slowing down not enough to answer Ravi's question more clearly, Raymond's fingers gently caressed his wrist which Ravi realized was dark red like a tight knot.

"What happened to your hand?"

Raymond looked bashful and kept it out of Ravi's view as best he could. "Where I was before. I was unwanted, they called me a failed Elf. A few months ago I made a mistake that got me locked up in a dungeon."

Ravi's throat went dry after hearing Raymond's answer and formed images in his mind. "What? What did you do wrong?"

"I turned down a girl."

Ravi was silent for a while not knowing what to say until he realized what Raymond had said earlier. "You're an elf?"

Raymond nodded slightly, still looking down at the floor which seemed more interesting to him. Ravi sighed, he had skimmed about Elf before in a fantasy fiction storybook but Ravi never knew that it was real with the evidence of a Raymond beside him. At first glance, Raymond looks like an ordinary human because he doesn't have pointed ears like an elf that Ravi knows. "Then why do you call the elves a failure?"

"I don't know Ravi, maybe it's because I'm not a pure Elf. I'm half-human," he said sounding desperate, burying his face in his hands.

"How old are you?" Ravi knew that his question sounded impolite, but when someone was going to live in his house, obviously Ravi had to know.

"Just fifty years old, Ravi. I'm very young."

Ravi choked on his spit, he tucked his long bangs behind his ears. "Fifty is not young."

Raymond's head snapped up to face Ravi. "Ravi? They say I'm young so they don't talk in front of Ray."

Ravi looked back at Raymond digesting his words well, he realized that Raymond was not human, it could be that his age was different from ordinary humans. "Maybe they're talking about a secret you shouldn't know."

Raymond was silent blinking his eyes, Ravi saw a sad and disappointed expression cross Raymond's face.

What does that expression mean?

Ravi changed the subject and regretted his words just now. "Raymond, can your wings let you fly?"

Raymond hadn't even answered yet but Ravi was hit by a thick chocolate scent wafting through his nostrils, this time stronger than before and Ravi's throat went dry. As the scent wrapped Ravi tightly around him, Ravi even had to remind himself to breathe.

"Ravi said Ray's name?" he asked enthusiastically with sparkling eyes and thick eyebrows raised. He had never looked sad before as if someone had turned a lever inside him.

Ravi stared at Raymond who seemed to shine in another sense next to Ravi, he didn't know that Raymond's happiness when Ravi said his name, created a new feeling in Ravi like many butterflies flying from his chest.

"Ravi?" Ravi woke up from his daydream and saw Raymond tilting his head looking confused with one eye gleaming.

Ravi licked his dry lips, he shifted his body slightly away from Raymond. The smell of chocolate still filled Ravi's lungs intensely. "Yes. So can your wings make you fly?"

Raymond's smile faded, and he shook his head slowly. "No, it's just a decoration. It's just me like this. If I were a full-fledged elf then I could use it to fly but, these wings aren't strong enough to lift this body."

Ravi took a deep breath as the scent faded slowly. He pulled out of the conversation when he found out, that Raymond didn't like it. "I was wondering, did you come to protect me?"

Raymond shifted his body to face Ravi. Staring right into Ravi's eyes without blinking. "That's right, Ravi. Even that purpose existed before Ravi was born, even though I didn't come at the appointed time. But I was happy and very grateful when Ravi asked for a last-minute request before I was executed," he explained making Ravi lost for words. said and stiffened in his seat. Executed? Was he going to be executed because of the girl he was referring to just now? And Ravi keeps a death row inmate in his house.

Raymond felt his shirt-lined chest, then continued. "Here is a sign of possession that was there when I was born. Since I'm a demi-human, my owner can possess you and can do whatever he wants with me but I can't have it back."

The light in Raymond's golden eyes faded slowly, only Ravi's dark eyes could be seen. He didn't understand what 'has' meant and the sign was all new to him. However, what he knew for sure was that the owner Raymond was referring to was Ravi himself.

Raymond was still a stranger, having not even been in his house one day. And Ravi asked himself if what Daniel said was true. But in the end, Ravi believed his mind.

"What if I don't want to have you and I reject you?" asked Ravi seriously.

Raymond gaped at him in disbelief, his head shook slightly then the corners of his lips dropped. Raymond took his eyes off of Ravi, he said with a heavy tone. "I will die."

Thank you for reading