HIS DEMONS

"Toro, you made it!" Dressed in long black khaki pants and a casual long sleeved white turtleneck sweatshirt coupled with a long cashmere coat draped over it. He opened the sitting room's door of his father's villa and walked in. He stepped into the spacious room with a high paneled ceiling adorned with a designer K9 crystalline huge chandelier, dangling from there.

He narrowed his gaze to the dark wood paneling adorned with the mahogany and leather furniture. Four expensive paintings hung on the walls and there stood a sculpted work of his father playing golf at one end of the wall. The smell of rich wine and champagne wafted the whole air and the people present were all dressed in rich and sophisticated linens.

"Thought you wouldn't come," Darrell slapped his right shoulder playfully. Harboring a playfully grin across his face, his eyes gleamed with life. "Your father would have marked you a rebel for the rest of your life."

Toro's lips spread in a small smile, still darting his gaze around the filled room. His father was one of the influential and social public figures in Las Vegas and all these people might be his business associates and some family friends.

"You look good," Darrell ran his eyes over his clothes. "You look nice, I thought you'd show up wearing something casual forgetting tonight is your father's seventieth birthday. I would've given you an earful but man you look good...." Darrel sniffed his cashmere coat.

"What is this strong scent I'm perceiving from you? What's the brand? Smells like an expensive brand..."

Darrell was cut short as they pushed through into the crowd. A well groomed guy with short brown hair paved his way to them, holding a cocktail drink in his hand. He smiled, shifting his eyes to Toro.

"Hey, man, how are you?" The guy fisted him playfully on his upper arm.

"Good." Toro politely answered, smiling back. He looked over to Darrell, questioning with his eyes who the guy was because he had no idea and if he had run into him at some point, he doesn't remember. He hardly keeps tabs on people's faces.

"This is Jake Peterson. His father runs a big famous furniture company. Technically he shares ten percent of his father's assets."

"I see….." Toro nodded absently, returning his eyes to Jake. "Nice to meet you," he stretched a hand toward him but to his surprise, Jake pulled him in for a hug.

"He's been dying to meet you in person," Darrell leaned and whispered in his left ear, harboring a smug smile on his face. "So endure it for the meantime."

"It's been my desire to meet you in person and I have heard so many good stuff about you from your father and your cousin Darrell." Jake stated and pulled away from him. Still harboring that smile Toro thought for one sec was a bit creepy.

He wondered what with that sleazy smile.

"This is so amazing, I have been a huge fan of your movies and dramas. God, your acting skill is top notch, your dramas inspire me especially this particular series MY CULTIVATION SYSTEM. I watched that series several times because I couldn't get enough of it. It literally made me cry and upset me when Owen had to give up his life."

"I'm glad you enjoyed every bit of it," Toro said, faking to be interested in the convo but if there was a way to shut him up, he would appreciate it.

"Jake, I think I saw your father signaling for you," Darrell cut him short when he noticed Toro's expression.

"Really?" Jake shifted his eyes to Darrell.

"Yes," Darrell pretended to look over his shoulders. "He's right there, signaling for you, I think he wants you to meet someone."

"Ohh, okay." Jake looked over his shoulders and coincidentally, they saw his father waving for him to come over. Signaling his attention. "I have to go answer the old man. Bbs (be back soon)" He zoomed off toward his father.

"What did he mean by bbs?" Toro asked innocently.

Darrell tilted his head. Surprise laced in the look he gave. Probably stunned he asked that.

"What?" Toro raised a brow. Confused. "What's up with that look?"

"Because I'm surprised you asked that question. You are a well known public figure. A top actor known nation and worldwide and you've no idea what bbs mean?"

"I won't be asking if I knew what it meant," Toro frowned at the sarcasm in his tone.

"You never used an abbrev before?" Darrell queried, upsetting him the more.

"You might as well forget it, I don't care what it is anymore." His face contorted, showing clearly on his face he was annoyed. He started to walk away from Darrell.

"No need to get upset," Darrell let out a laugh. "It simply means be back soon. That's what he meant."

Toro ignored him and pressed into the crowd of people dressed in rich clothes, chatting and sipping champagne. The air was filled with the wine scent, their clothes scent and the sound of polite laughter and witty conversations. But they were also subtly jockeying for status and power. The talks were filled with business talks mostly and the sad part of it was that he wasn't all interested in all these talks.

Every table he came across weren't having simple talks but about politics, how much share they bought or other stuff relating business.

"So how's acting?" Darrell nudged his arm, calling back his attention to him. "I heard you are to appear in a historical magical drama? The drama is adapted from a book and had a few bed scene, can you pull off that stunt?"

"How did you know?" Toro scurried his eyes to him. "It hadn't been announced publicly."

"Well, I have my ways of getting intel." Darrel winked. "So to my question, will you pull off this stunt this time around?"

A minute of silence passed. Toro's eyebrows were pulled in a deep thought. After some second, he broke eye contact with Darrell and channeled them to the guests present in his father's villa.

"Don't know, still thinking." He answered.

"Are you going to ask the director to remove the bed scenes?" Toro kept mute at that question. "This is your first historical romance drama that requires chemistry between you and the female lead....You know one thing that knocks me off in movies or dramas is when I don't feel any spark or chemistry between the two main leads when it isn't an action movie or drama...…"

"I have my reason for not accepting roles that requires that." Toro asserted. Narrowing his over to three beautiful ladies dressed in rich silk dinner gowns. They were seated on a leather lounge, chatting and laughing away but he immediately pulled his gaze away from them when one snapped her eyes at him.

"You still hung over Jane?" Darrell inquired and if Toro wasn't mistaken he heard a little bit of disappointment in his voice. "You still blaming yourself over what happened years back?"

"You still beating yourself over that?"

Toro didn't utter a word instead, he hid his hands inside his khaki pants pocket. Shoulders slouched, gaping at the lights reflecting on the marble floor.

"Toro, it is high time you let go of your past. Dude!" Darrell raised his voice a bit. "I bet you don't even have any girl in your life, do you? In 2 years, you clock forty and it seems you aren't ready to settle down."

"And where does it state that marriage defines someone?" He asked rhetorically.

Darrell was about to give his own comeback but Toro's father's voice silenced him. Toro's father Mr Andrew Wilson's voice echoed around the room. Addressing everyone for honoring his invitation and thanking them for their gifts and stuff.

Toro stood there, his eyes were glued on his father but his mind was elsewhere. His mind traveled back to the incident that happened years back, the incident that Darrell was referring to. No matter how hard he tried to fight or avoid it, that memory—that incident will continue to haunt him.

"You got your father a gift, right?" Darrell nudged his arm, pulling him back to the present.

Toro furrowed a brow at him.

Darrel let out a surprised gasp. "Don't tell you didn't get your father a birthday gift?"

Toro didn't utter a word.

"Son, over here," his father called for him and he was grateful because that was the only way he'd escape Darrell numerous questions. Toro strolled toward his father and few well grown men in black suit, looks like his father's business associates.

●●●●●●●●●●●

His muscles relaxed when he stepped out of the room. Once outside, he felt he could finally breath. While in there, he thought he'd suffocate and he tried to keep a smile on his face greeting his father's friends and business associates. His father kept bragging to everyone how great and famous his son was not until he mentioned he was going to take over his business in Miami. Though Toro didn't entertain or fancy that announcement, he composed himself, faking a smile. As the crowd cheerred and applaud.

One thing he knew about his father was that he's a show off.

Toro kicked the leaves on ground from a tree planted in the villa, beside the pool. The moonlight casted a golden light on the pool as it twinkled under the night sky. He tried to pull his mind from the noise coming from the inside, and focus it on the quiet night. Except that someone called his name from behind.

When he turned, his gaze fell on the woman from earlier. One of the women sitting on the lounge. She was dressed in a silk red dinner gown as he approached him with a smile.

"Hey," she called.

"Hey," he replied.

"I…ya…" She stuttered for a minute, and lowered her gaze. Her red straight hair matched her dress. A minute passed before she raised her gaze back to him. Toro wondered what she might want to say but instead, he was startled when she picked his hand and placed a piece of paper in it. A smile graced her lips and she was acting nervous, avoiding his gaze.

She hurriedly turned away from him after placing that paper in his hand. Leaving him puzzled. He gaped at the paper in his hand but then from the corners of his eyes…..in a hurry to leave, she twisted an ankle and almost fell into the pool.

Impulsively, he wrapped his arm around her tiny waist. Catching and pulling her against his body.

But instead of letting go after saving her, he buried his face in her right shoulder, holding tightly against her as the memory from years ago began to haunt him. His demons starts to manifest.

He tightened his eyes shut as the sound of a car screech, colliding with something echoed in his ears. And at that moment he snapped his eyes open and glanced down to his hands.

His hands were covered in blood, with her lifeless body draped against him.