01 #2
“You finally show up!” he said, shaking my father’s hand before giving him a brotherly hug.
“This is my son, Alekei,” my father replied, patting me on the back.
The man’s eyes rested on mine, waiting for me to say something, until he gave up on receiving a warm greeting from me and spoke.
“Nice to meet you, Alekei.”
“Stay here, we’re going to talk about grown-up things.” The gentle tone of my father was more than a little feigned. He then ruffled my black hair. I clenched my teeth, resisting the urge to bite his hand off. He always did things like that when we were in public.
In the living room, I sat in an armchair and watched them exit the door.
I tapped my foot impatiently as the minutes passed, and they didn’t return until someone caught my attention.
I blinked to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me, but they weren’t.
Apparently, the red-haired girl also lived in that house.
My feet led me to the kitchen. I watched from behind the door as she drank an orange liquid and returned it to the fridge. Then I waited for her to leave the kitchen before following her to what appeared to be her bedroom. When the door closed, I quickly returned to the main room.
I bit my lower lip, unable to bear the urge to see her again and find out more about her.
I wanted to know what attracted me to her so much.
Curiosity about what she was like inside soon added to my desire to know more about her, becoming a priority on my list. Maybe if I opened her up, I would know what made her so special.
The footsteps of my father and that man interrupted my thoughts, causing me to take my teeth off my lower lip. Before that stranger’s eyes were on me, I got up and headed for the car.
By the time we got back home, it was already dark.
I went to my bedroom, passing my brother’s room.
A couple of hours later, I still hadn’t been able to close my eyes.
Even though it was almost dawn, I couldn’t fall asleep.
I threw off the sheets and sat on the edge of the bed, wondering what was wrong with me.
The nausea in my stomach was still there every time I remembered that house.
I went to the window, looking for air to breathe.
My feeling was one of suffocation. I rested my hands on the hinges and stared into space for a long time until my eyes lit up with a new idea.
My father taught me that waiting for what you desired was pointless and cowardly.
He always said it was best to take it yourself, and that’s precisely what I planned to do.
I put on something simple and grabbed my keys, shoving them into my pocket. Then I went to the garage to get my bike and set off for the same house I had visited that afternoon.
It took me longer than expected to find the house.
With the daily training my brother and I were forced to endure, I could climb the fence with ease.
The problem now was that her bedroom was on the top floor and the wall was difficult to climb.
With a snort, I did so. The large windows were a great help.
By the time I reached her bedroom window, it was already slightly open, so it wasn’t difficult to get into the room.
I wrinkled my nose at the powerful smell of vanilla mixed with something else, like meds.
The darkness of the place did not prevent me from finding the girl sleeping soundly in her bed, surrounded by some stuffed animals.
I looked toward the desk, searching for anything that might be useful.
Finding a thick book about zodiac signs made me raise my eyebrows.
I opened it to a random page and found the word Scorpio in large letters right at the top of the page.
My eyes fell, and I read the details on that sign.
Then I read the dates for Scorpio, which coincided with my birthday.
I had heard my idiotic classmates talk about these things, but I thought they were nonsense. I closed the book and left it where I found it. My attention turned back to the girl who was sleeping like a rock, and the nausea returned, but this time I felt something else in my throat.
I approached her with slow, silent steps.
Her chest rising and falling slowly. I tilted my head, observing her face as if it were the strangest thing I had ever seen.
It was. Asleep, she looked innocent, like some kind of angel, but I knew she wasn’t as innocent as she seemed.
Someone whose father was such a close friend of mine couldn’t be.
Paying special attention to her still-closed eyelids, I took my gun out of my hoodie pocket and pointed it at her forehead.
My eyes fixed on the piece of skin below the barrel.
I wondered what it would be like to end her life at that moment and have her blood covering my knuckles.
I brought the gun closer to her face, tracing her nose until I reached her lips, careful not to wake her.
Just as I was about to pull the trigger, the girl began coughing and stirring in bed. I moved away, watching expectantly for her to open her eyes. She didn’t. That was my incentive to leave that place, but I knew I would return to finish what I had started without even realizing it.