CHAPTER 35

Dario's POV

                  I hate getting flashbacks from things I don't want to remember. A step away from tumbling hard into the vortex of my consciousness I am. Am I awake or just dreaming? Is this a dream or a nightmare? A nightmare or a reality mocking me? I can't seem to point out the difference anymore. I can't even explain how I feel anymore. My thoughts are so jumbled up in my head, it's hard separating the logical from the illogical. I can't even understand them but I'm trying. I'm trying to get better. I'm trying to be happy. I'm trying to stay focused. I'm trying not to get upset. I'm trying not to overreact. I'm trying not to overthink. I'm trying not to be that same person. I thought I was done with feeling like this.

I gave the world my heart and all I have to show for it are scars and nightmares. How dare they promise dreams can come true but forget to mention that nightmares are dreams too? Those heart-hammering nightmares that starts to lose coherence even as you're waking up from them but that still manage to leave their moldering fingerprints all across your day and all of a sudden, I feel really tired. Like the world has drained me for everything that I had.

I lost myself. I don't know when and the how is lost on me. It just happened. I was there and then, I wasn't and I'm still not quite sure how I can get myself back. I often thought of vanishing so completely. That even I would not remember me. No feelings, no memories, just the freedom of oblivion. Everything seems to be exhausting me, no matter how much sleep or how much coffee I drink or how long I lie down. Something inside me seems to have given up. My soul is tired. What if this is how it's gonna be like for the rest of my life? Fight after fight, barely getting any room to recover. What if I'm gonna have to for the rest of my life act stronger than I am?

How can emptiness feel so heavy?

It was a loud roar slashing across the sky with its fury. The thunder. Pulling me out of the nightmares that cursed my sleep.

I wasn't alone. My senses were ever hyper active.

            "You still have them. Why didn't you tell me?" A small whisper caressed my face. An arm draped over my torso. An arm I shook off me on detecting who it was had encroached into my territory unannounced and unwanted. I rolled over to the other side of the bed and pushed up to my feet.

Rain fell like God's own poetry; each drop was a single letter in a song that took eons to sing. It had always been music, always called to me in ways I cannot explain. I'd liked when the patter of the drops tumbled from gray skies. The melody brought serenity no matter the chaos in my life but punished me horrendously when I splattered around in it. I stayed away but with a toddler's excited eyes watched from my father's window where it had no chance to kiss my flesh.

I headed to the bathroom, completely aware of the noisy clip-claps of her heels stalking me, "I told you nothing when I still had you. What made you think I would tell you anything now?"

            "But you must admit. We were a powerful duo. You and I. Nothing could compare." From the corners of my eyes, I saw her brace her shoulders against the door as she watched me while I splashed a pool of water against my face, inwardly anticipating the distress that would definitely follow up in seconds.

I stuck a toothbrush into my mouth, "You have no idea the happiness I feel whenever you refer to us as 'past'. Seems to me like you finally getting it 'cause that's what you are. My past. Some place I'd never like to return to."

             "Ouch." She feigned a gasp. "Your words really hurts me Dario." Strolling casually into the bathroom. "But I didn't say I was done with you yet." While trapping her arms around my sides.

I swatted her away like an annoying fly and walked out, leaving her alone where I vacated. She followed me, pumping her soles across the floor.

I unrestrained a growl, whipping back. "Look. Lana, what the hell do you want?"

Her lips cracked into a sardonic smile, "Don't try to play coy with me Dario." She strayed from the corner of the room and began a slow journey towards me. Not being one to back down, I stood where my feet met the ground, awaiting her arrival. "You know exactly what I want."

             "Enlighten me again. It often seems to veer from its initial direction."

A soft laughter left her. Standing on her tip toes, a fusion of orange blossom, pink pepper, iris, wisteria, heliotrope, powdery musk, talc and rice embracing feminity wafted into my nostrils. Mere inches away from my breath, she slanted her head, dubiously heading for the cartilage of flesh with seductive eyes that once enticed me.

           "I know something you think I don't." It was a soft hiss near my ear, prickling my skin to the extent where it began to itch.

I titled my head where her mouth puckered, muttering back. "For all the times you've spewed shit in my face, I deserve a dollar." I disengaged our bodies and stretched the distance.

Her laughter unfurled its wings into the raining skies, drowned out by the booms of thunder.

             "You know, that's one of things about you I fell in love with. That irrestible sense of humor you got. I. Love. It." She strolled across the room, invading my space like she owned the place and sank onto my bed. I groaned at the perturbing understanding that she wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon.

           "I took your car you know." I noticed it was missing. "Hoping you'd come after me. Why didn't you?"

I stalled, making a calculated U-turn. "My day ain't productive if there's you in it. Is it the car you want? You can have it. I've got no need for it."

She hurled a pillow my way. It lazily slammed into my chest, descending weightlessly at my feet.

          "You're a fucking sly, Dario. Of course, I don't want the stupid car. I want YOU. You. You. You. I. Want. You."

I flung the pillow back at her. Eyes wild, teeth baring, blood boiling. "And I don't want you. Seems like we've got a fucking problem."

           "And it's her you want? C'mon, we've got history. Everyone knows that. Everybody on here knows about you and I and the fact that we fit perfectly. You don't have that with her. We can't just forget about what we had like it was never there. Like it never happened because we existed. Dario, we were in love. And it was real. Why can't we go back to the way it used to be? Without her involved. Why?"

Unbelievable.

I scoffed, shaking my head. "I just don't know the 'her' you keep mentioning."

She scrambled out of the sheet, charging at me. "Seriously, do you really need me to mention her name? Do you want me to spell it out for you? C'mon, we both know who's been keeping you up late at night. I see you staring longingly at her while she's with my brother. Like a damn fool. Drooling after a girl who would never be yours. C'mon, I thought you were far bigger than that."

             "Wow. You seem to have me all figured out."

             "You know you can't have her right? Let's put aside the fact that you were first to find your way in between her legs."

              "How did you...."

              "She's off limits, Dario. Please tell me you know that."

I pushed back the haunting memories of her naked body tangled between the sheets beneath me as I moved over her and the cries of pleasure rippling out of her lips as she gasped my name while she came. I shut my eyes for just a split second while my mind erupted into chaos, drifting slowly to her swollen lips lingering over the ugly scars printed on every inch of my skin.

            "If there's anyone who knows you well enough, Dario Diego Campbell, it's me. Me. You wanted to play games but she said checkmate first." She finished, giving me a blinding smile.

I stared long and hard at her. Wishing I had the power to make her disappear without a trace. I let out an annoyed sigh and pushed my fingers through my hair just like how her nails had clawed at my back, drawing out blood from the skin while I had her pinned to the bed. The mirror adjacently mounted to the wall bounced back the long streaks of narrow faint lines that had bitten into my flesh. They were old and faded but still shone under the lights.

Not having a reply, I averted my gaze to the  black walls at my right so I wouldn't have to see her triumphant expression. My eyes closed when I felt her hot breath flavoured with something citrus at my ear.

           "She isn't available Dario but I am. I have always been."

           "You cheated." I whispered hoarsely. "You hurt me just like everyone does."

           "And I'm sorry." She hissed.

           "Multiples times. How do one move past that?"

           "What can I do to make it up to you?"

           "Leave me the hell alone. That's what." I withdrew from her and crossed the room to the other side. "Get out." I concluded, gritting out.

She groaned incredulously. "Oh God! Dario, don't you even get it? Genesis is with Keegan, not you! She is never gonna be with you. Stop pining over her."

           "And do you think I don't know that? Do you fucking think I ain't aware of that fact? Of course Lana. Of course I know she's never gonna be mine. I'm not stupid. Contrary to what you think, I ain't pining over her. One night of lust doesn't suddenly mean I'm gonna be groveling desperately at her feet with love-stricken eyes, professing my undying love for her. She means nothing to me. I don't want her. She doesn't affect me and if you think otherwise, that's your fucking problem, not mine."

A bark of laughter escaped her. "Keep telling yourself that. Between you and I, we both know who's telling the truth."

              "You know what? Get out. Get out now. I don't wanna see you. I don't wanna speak to you."

              "You see, this is what I hate so much about you. When the situation gets tough, you always run. You shrink, you always hide behind all of those hoods and jackets you always wear. I should have burnt all of them when I had the chance. If you deem fit, head to the gym, drink your water and take your vitamins but if you don't deal with the shit going on in your heart and head, you're still going to be unhealthy."

            "And you think you don't got shits to deal with yourself?"

            "At least, I've taken the first step. Have you?"

            "You're fucking crazy."

            "Crazy enough to have fallen in love with a douchebag like you. She is suffering right now because of the thing you put in her." She violently punched my chest and shoved me, running towards the door. She went through.

Life is funny, isn't it? Just when you think you've got it all figured out, just when you finally begin to plan something, get excited about it and feel like you know what direction you're heading in, the paths change, the signs change, the wind blows the other way, north is suddenly south and east is west and you're lost. I hate being in that mood where nothing's really wrong but nothing feels right either.

Who gave me this mind? Who is this  goddamn sadist that gave me this mind? Who is this cruel bastard that will put hell inside a skull? Unlike most people, I don't hate my demons. I don't fear them. I like them actually. They are the best companions I ever had. They taught me how to laugh. They taught me that there is enough supply of tragedy to laugh at. We are all in the same game, just different levels, dealing with the same hell, just different devils. The difference between me and them? I accept my darkness. I know who I am. There's no way to survive hell without taking a piece of it with you. Something only dark souls can fully understand. If I ever tell you about my past, it's never because I want you to feel sorry for me but so you can understand I am who I am.

Images of her hands clawing for a handhold of the sheets as I took her taunted me. I vividly remembered wounding my hand in her hair and pulling her back as her mouth opened in a soundless scream. An airless breath. I'd have mind-blowing sex with lots of women. My knowledge of that aspect of life was vast. It could fit an entire lifetime but I couldn't continue to deny that that was just sex. 'Just sex' never felt like that. 'Just sex' never left you wanting more....craving more...needing more. I would have included a condom into the mix but I wanted to feel all of her. I wanted to know what her innocence tasted like and now that I have, I'm having a hard time trying to behave.

I would have turned back and just left the same way I came and blamed it on my senseless mind but the moment my hands touched her door, I knew I was done for. Pure silence came through. She couldn't be out.

I tapped her door once again and this time, a tripping breath filtered through the doors. Two people occupied the room. Her and Lana and while I knew the latter couldn't have dropped by and then returned, the only person left was her. I unlocked the door and pushed it open, sticking a foot in and then another. The room was dimly lit. Small and untidy. Most of the stuffs scattered I recognized to belong to her roommate.

She was small. Really small. Like she never really grew in size. Her bed in which she laid curled up sucked her in, enclosing all parts of her. I bent my knees and took in her state for the first time since I stepped in. Her skin was hot to the touch, flushed and dry. The arteries in her neck were lights.

I brushed a finger along her sunken cheeks, watching keenly as she fidgeted under my touch. She was damp and clammy and her hair was plastered to her head. Flushed and pale, my gaze unintentionally drifted down to her legs. Red forming a huge patch of moist crimson coating the space between her legs and her pants weren't left out.

Her lips were dry and cracked. I took the small glass of water resting on the wooden stool beside the bed and raised her head just enough for the water to touch her lips. She parted her lips the moment they met and it flooded in. I quickly figured she must have been thirsty. Then she started to cough. I tried to soothe her outburst by rubbing her back and soon, it didn't long before it began to subside.

            "I...I feel so weak and...and I think I'm wet through." She managed to speak in between short, frantic gasps.

            "I know." I whispered back, doubting she caught it.

I wanted to hold her. To touch her. To tend a little bit of comfort her way but when I moved her body, a painful wince hissed through her lips. I quickly stilled, pressing her back against my front while wrapping my arms around her fragile frame.

She released a small groan, curling up against me. I straightened my legs so that hers tangled with mine and cradled her into my arms.

             "Keegan?" Her words were small and unsteady, mixing into the quietude of the night. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry I didn't call you but I'm glad you're he-here."

             "Hey." I saw her muscles tense. "You wanted to see me."

Seconds passed before a pained whisper followed.

             "Dario?"

             "Hey."

             "Dario." A choked sob punched through her guts. The tears came as if, at long last, her accumulated ocean of brine was trickling through. I held her firmer, planting my chin on top of her head as she broke down.

             "Dario, oh God I'm hurting so much. It hurts so much." Another flood of tears followed right after. And then another and another. I just held her in my arms, hoping to God, my embrace was just the right amount to chance succor.

I never let myself see my own fear, for it was ever a disadvantage in the place that I was raised. To cry was to be beaten and scolded. If I cried I'd be "given something to cry about." The act of crying for my own pain was literally beaten out of me. Suppressed completely. Years later, it still is, yet channelled into my creativity, a sort of unwitting energy booster.

Her body was overheating. Hot, blazing, sizzling skin and soaking sweat, spiking a temperature of about 115°F. She looked pale and there was an incoming bead of sweat on her brow. I flicked it away, dabbing the towel I had earlier found over her head. It rested on my shoulder, lolling in a way that made her appear dead but the faint, almost non-existent pulse on her neck said otherwise.

             "When did this start?"

She stirred a bit. "I-I don't know. Please help me."

Fuck.

My eyes cascaded down to her legs and the stained white sheets turned red crumbled in between.

            "You gonna be fine. I promise." I muttered into her ear, hoping to hell she'd heard me.

I pressed my lips to her temple and instantly reared back. She was so fucking hot. Her eyes were opened, rolled back, wandering, unfocused, scaring the shit out of me. She rasped out a small moan and began to turn in my arms. I held her tighter. Her body shook.

              "If you fucking die."

An arm swaddling her trembling body, I used the other to reach around my back pocket, digging out my phone. I called Katherine.

               "Dario." She cheered. "My pretty boy. What a surprise you..."

               "Kate. Kate, I need your help."

I expected the pause and there came the silence.

               "She's shaking so bad. She's...I don't know. Feels like it's happening all over again. Kate, please come down here...I don't know shit about this. I don't know what to do...I..."

               "Dario, take a deep breath, okay? Calm down. What's wrong? What's happening? Where are you?"

For the first time in a while, I did as I was told. "I'm at Lana's." Before her thoughts swerved elsewhere, I quickly added. "I came to see someone."

The girl in my arms gasped sharply, twisting and turning, moaning out in pain. It stung my chest, hard.

              "What's happening where you are?"

              "She's seering hot and won't stop shaking."

               "Who?"

               "Someone. A girl." Who I shouldn't want. "I...I don't know what to do. I don't know how to make her stop shaking...I don't..." I panicked, my heart racing so fast.

              "You said you're at Lana's, am I correct?"

              "Yeah."

              "Okay, I'll be there. Hold up tight. You want me to stay on the phone? Will that help?"

              "No...I...just come. No hospitals please."

              "What?" She screeched. "Dario, you can't keep...."

              "I think she's got a fever."

              "That's the more reason she should..."

              "Some antibiotics would help and she's on."

I heard her breathe deeply and then her voice came through, "My shift ended a second ago. I'll be there soon. Remember, don't panic. She's not going to die. As a matter of fact, no one's dying tonight. Do you understand me son?"

               "Come. She's waiting."

I hung up and glanced down at her. "Don't leave me too." I whispered in her ear, hugging her closer, rocking our bodies back and forth, ignoring the crack in my voice. "I'm gonna have to undress you, you hear me?" She didn't move. "Do you hear me?" I waited for her to stir again. "Genesis?" A strained hum was all I got. "I'm gonna have to undress you. Is that okay?" She hummed again. I took that as a yes from her.

Her shirt went off first, exposing her lace black bra beneath. I eased that off in a second and her perky round breasts came into view. I fought the urge to keek down at the taut, pink nipples shooting at me like a gun. Drifting carefully below her navel. A slight tinge of rusted iron penetrated my nostrils fiercely. I came face to face with her soiled pyjamas pants. Hooking my fingers to the sides of her pants, it came down with a sharp pull, alongside her underpants. She was bare, naked, beneath me, drenched in her menstrual blood. There was nothing perverted or sexual about my actions. My mind was thrown into nursing a sick woman back to health.

It could have been a five seconds walk or less but with her frail body in my arms, I made into the small contained bathroom which reminded me of the shaggy, little one I was raised in under five minutes. The water hit me first, cold and unforgiving, a constant tap-tap against the surface of my skin. I gritted my teeth, knowing what would come after but shifted it back, choosing to dwell in getting her better first. That was the aim.

We were both naked under the spray of the shower head. It was easier this way because I'd like some dry clothes when we got out and she was too far away from her consciousness to give a shit. I don't think she'd since I have tasted every inch of her skin. I've explored her erogenous zones like a deft explorer, charting my own personal map, shamelessly unfolding the mysteries of her body, saving to memory. The smell of her breath on my needing lips, the taste of her under the covers and airless gasps rummaging through every vein in my body. I'd make my way through her body in the darkest of nights without a trail to lead me up.

I shivered but she burned. Making sure the blood cleared from her thighs and legs, her head rested on my arm while I washed her off. When I was confident enough of her hygiene, I turned off the shower and carried her out. A fluffy white towel laid in Lana's space. I grabbed it and wrapped it tenderly around the girl in my arms. Rummaging through her roommate's stuff for a spare sanitary pad, I found a double and saddled it between her legs as fast as I could.

I laid her on the bed and adjusted the pillow below her head for better comfort right after squeezing the water from her hair and patting the tresses dry.  I dried myself off while doing my damnednest not to think about the fact that my skin was erupting in flames. Grabbing my boxer briefs, I eased into it. A knock on the door whisked my head to the wood. I crossed the room to get to it and yanked it open. Seeing Katherine in front of me almost brought me to my knees. Discretely averting my eyes to the fragile looking girl curled up on the bed, she stirred and moaned. I decided stepping out of the room would be best.

            "Thanks for coming."

She touched my arm, a sympathetic expression etching her features. "Dario, you know you can count on me anytime."

             "Did you bring it?"

             "Of course." She retracted her hand and ducked her head into a big brown enveloped before thrusting it to me.

I took it from her grasp. "Thank you." And turned to leave. She stopped me, clutching at my arm again. "Can I see her?"

             "No." I said, almost too quickly. "I-I don't think she would have liked that. She's a bit....vulnerable you know."

             "Who's she?"

I swallowed the saliva that wedged itself in my throat. "Someone I know."

             "Is she the one?"

             "Yes."

             "And you realized...?"

Dropping my eyes down to the little space between us, I confessed. "The moment I saw her again."

             "Dario." She whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"

A small shrug, "I didn't think it was that important anymore. It's been a long time. Besides, she ain't even with me."

             "Does she know?"

A silent pause.

             "I don't want her to. I doubt she even remembers."

             "Stop punishing yourself." I turned to go, ignoring the desperation in her voice.

A slight prod on my arm. I halted. "If she makes you feel, let her."

             "She doesn't affect me."

I twisted the knob. "Hey. It's a single dose for everything. Except the shot though. That tends to bring about a short term loss of memory but it works hand in hand with the tablets. Give it to her in two hours after the drug dosage of course."

I nodded my head. "Got it."

             "Are you sure you don't need me in there with you?"

             "If I can't deal, I'd call." And slipped in through the doors quietly.

Genesis lay on the bed shivering so bad her teeth rattled. I stood there like a dumbass wondering what the hell to do. I have a control problem. I hate the feeling of not being in complete control. I love balancing between chaos and control with every situation I tend to get stuck in. Situations such as this but here, the reverse was the fucking case.

I snuck into the bed with her and pulled her much smaller body into my larger one, wrapping my arms around her, hoping to God my heat would fight her cold. She drilled her back to my chest and I engulfed her.

           "Here, take this." I urged, tipping her chin to the ceiling and placed a small orange coloured pill on the tip of her tongue and brought the glass of water to her lips. She gulped. I watched her throat bob.

She swallowed the next, taking all three down to my satisfaction and I just held her closer, fitting her body to mine like I had any right to.

             "Dario?"

             "Hmm."

             "Can you tell me a story?"

             "Which kind of story?"

             "The kind...which no one has heard...before."

I thought for a moment. "This one is pretty long though. You sure you wanna listen?"

              "Yes." Was a faint hiss in the air.

              "But you gonna tell me something I don't know right after. Yeah?"

She breathed. "Okay."

I paused for a split second to recollect my thoughts.

           "A poor, lonely kid once lived at the West Coast of the Italian Peninsula, a hundred and twenty miles southeast of Rome. They called it Naples. Despite being a major tourist destination, it was pretty much one of the poorest cities if not the poorest city in Europe. This little kid lived with his birth parents. His papa was a cop and his mama, well she lived most of her life in their crappy little house, sick and depressed. He never went to school though 'cause they were poor and could not afford all of the necessary expenses.

His lack of education prompted his inability to speak the language of the rich in fluency. The other kids in the neighbourhood who could afford the tuition bullied him all the time. When they got the chance, he was always the most suitable prey and on some bad days, they'd beat him mercilessly till he couldn't walk or got a bad eye. On worst days, they'd pull him into the rain and leave him under the split skies knowing it would hurt. But it didn't matter though. They did it anyway. He kept everything from his mama 'cause she'd worry if she found out."

          "And what...and what about his dad?"

          "Let's just say he didn't have fucks to give."

          "Why?"

          "He was bad. Bad to his mama and bad to him."

          "Was he always that defenseless?"

          "He barely had shit to eat back at home and yet so much to do. Where was the strength gonna come from?"

          "He didn't have a friend?"

          "He used to have one but he joined the rest of the gang. The other kids only paid him attention when they grouped up to bully him and that was everyday. I'd never finish the story if you keep up with the interruptions."

           "I'm sorry."

I inhaled deeply. "Where did I stop? Okay. So, they bullied him and treated him so badly and he didn't do a thing about it. Then there came the day he was to turn fourteen. Each consecutive birthdays of his were never different from the other. Still the same events as the previous days re-occuring time after time. Wake up, work, work, eat if there's any food at all, try to be as invincible as possible from his papa, work and then more work some more."

            "He never...got...to rest?"

I laughed. Rest? "He'd rest in his grave. So on this day, he turned fourteen. He got no cake, no gifts, no new clothes, none of those fancy stuffs. He never got any of those. But his day started with something even better though. His mama's tight hug and a kiss on his cheek at exactly 12am."

             "He must have loved his mother so deeply."

             "Ah, he did. Damn! You've got no idea. She was his everything."

             "What happened next?"

             "Did I mention this kid was a pickpocket?"

             "You mean it?"

I smiled. "Yeah, he was. He hated it though. He didn't like the idea of living off of people's work but then he looked at the brighter side. When he'd have saved up enough money, he'd be able to take his mama far away from his papa. Far, far away where he'd never find them."

             "So he stole....to keep his mum save?"

             "Yeah. Kind of. It was all about her. Everything. But he never got to take her away though. On his fourteenth birthday, for the first time ever, he got caught red-handed."

             "And what happened next?"

             "He got chased down so many roads by the dangerous people he chose to steal from. He ran and ran and then ran some more until his legs were all wobbly and his lungs screamed. Then, he discovered a good hiding spot. He hid in there and again, for the first time, he clasped his hands and prayed, hoping someone up there could lend an ear just this one time."

             "What did he pray about?"

             "You're interrupting again."

             "I'm sorry."

             "He prayed to God to let him go back home to his mama unscathed. He told God he'd never steal again if he helped him but you know what the big man upstairs did? He sent an angel to him instead. Just when he pried his eyes open, they landed on a little girl twirling in circles by the opposite side of the road. Cladded in a pretty red dress and a pair of fluffy red pumps, she circled her body on her tip-toes like the ballerinas do. She was very pretty. Beautiful. Gorgeous even but small. Really small. Small enough to have caught his eyes immediately. But it was definitely her deep sense of purity that called to him in more ways than none. How could something so guileless and innocent exist in a world filled to the brim with so much evil and impurities? He wondered. He even told the stars about her."

             "What did he say to them?"

             "He told them....she scares him."

             "Why?"

             "We just never realize how frozen we are until someone starts to melt our ice." 

              "Some people are worth melting for."

              "He didn't know anyone who was."

              "He would have frozen to death."

              "What did I say about 'em interruptions?"

She smiled softly and hell if it didn't completely unravel me. I quickly looked away before I begin to sink any deeper.

              "His breath got caught in his throat the moment she stopped spinning and met his gaze. His heart pulsed. His nerves sparked. The feeling was so foreign. A first time. Never been experienced. He almost sank to his knees when she began to hop her thin legs in his direction but then she stopped. He wondered why. He wanted her to close the distance completely. He wanted her to come to him. He wanted her to make him her friend.

She titled her chin up and stared into the burning skies, smiling with such radiance it glowed right in front of him and unperturbed by the scorching rays of the sun. Then, she looked his direction again and stuck out her little hand to him. It was then he noticed she had been holding something wrapped so exquisitely in her hands. She said, 'Hi, it's my birthday. I'm ten today. Please, accept my gift.' He stared at her, surprised that she had actually come up to him and more that someone as beautiful as her had stooped so low as to speak to a reject like him. No one talked to him. No one apart from his mama cared about him.

Still keeping the Cheshire cat's grin on her face, she said again, "Hi. I know you are standing in front of me. Please, don't refuse my gift. This one is special. I made them myself." Then she quickly added. "You won't die I promise." And he took it. Why wouldn't he? At that moment, he knew he'd do anything for the girl if it came down to it. It didn't even matter he had just met her. It was his birthday too you know and the first birthday gift he ever received. He just stood there, gift in hand staring into her hazel brown eyes. He thought it was the most interesting thing he'd ever laid his eyes on. But then, something else happened."

             "What happened?" I smiled at the inquisitiveness in her voice. A hand pressed to her forehead, a deep sense of relief swelled inside of me. Her body temperature had depreciated. Burning still, but nothing that couldn't be easily controlled.

             "We leave the story for another time."

She jerked but unceremoniously burrowed her back into my front, face contorting in torment, "I want to know what happened next."

Green to brown, steady and unblinking, I mainlined the jab intravenously. "Go to sleep."

At an instant, her gaze began to flicker and in a split second, it averted. A light flutter of her eyelids, "Dario?"

              "Hmm?"

              "I was born a blind baby. That's something you didn't know."

              "What a fucking plot twist you are Genesis."

But she had floated into oblivion.

***

Hey guys, please don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter. What are your opinions and thoughts on it. I would sure like to know.