inquinatum; chapter 03
Chapter 03;
PG-13, however some swearing. Read at your own risk. :)
* * * * *
The one you love and the one who loves you
are never, ever the same person.
- Chuck Palahniuk
I didn’t stay around for long with Bender. I felt so exposed in the park, or anywhere in the public for that matter. I excused myself and left Bender to go home. It took me a few minutes to get home, but once I shut the door behind me, I felt somewhat safer. Setting my bag down, I listened to the quietness of the house. Not a sound. Caius was out probably, even though the car was still in the driveway.
It wasn’t quiet for long. The strange feeling of being watched filled me again and it only worsened with each second. In my own house, this was starting get a bit discomforting.
A small giggle caught my ear, and I warily turned around.
I don’t know what it was, but it rested on the pool table, lounging as if nothing ever mattered. It was staring at me with an unamused gaze but the gaze seemed to be laughing at the same time. I froze in my spot.
I watched it’s tail flick around, and it occurred to me that it wasn’t a costume. The ears on the head moved like a cats, too quickly and noiselessly for some sort of mechanism to work them. The tail moved too naturally, too gracefully and too swiftly to be fake.
Whatever it was, it was dressed as a female, and from it’s soft giggle - sounded like one too.
“Who are you?” I blurted out, taking a few steps forward but keeping my distance. I wasn’t sure what this thing was up to, and I wasn’t sure if it posed a threat to me or not. Better to stay away.
“What are you doing here? How did you get into the house? Are there any more of you?” I scanned the room quickly but it seemed empty of strange-things.
“I’m alone, calm down. I checked,” the strange girl replied simply. I frowned, not understanding what she meant, but decided not to question it.
My sense only came to me a moment later, and I realized that this was probably just a prank and I was acting like an idiot. “Look,” I tried softly and calmly, “Could you please leave? I’ll pay you whatever! Just how on earth did you get in?” I could have left a window open… but there didn’t seem to be any open. “Don’t you think that this is a bit creepy? Breaking into someone’s house and lounging about on his or her stuff? Look, I won’t ask any questions and expect answers or call the police if you leave. Now.“
She took her time to answer.
“You’re such a confused idiot,” She said softly, smiling and sitting up. Running a hand through her hair, ears flicking a little, she tilted her head.
“I’m only here to speak to you, or your brother, but since your brother isn’t here I guess I’ll just have to talk to you.”
“My brother?” I snorted, “Caius isn’t my brother.”
She only put a finger to her lips in thought, “Caius now, is he? Wasn’t his name Alec? And I wasn’t updated about the brother part. Last time I heard you were related.”
My eye twitched. How did she know so much?
The girl didn’t seem to notice my suspicions, and continued to ramble on, “I came to talk to Caius about that woman, Jessica? No, Jade?” She frowned a little, murmuring as she tried out names, “Something with a ‘j’…”
“Jasmine?” I offered after a second, and inwardly questioned how I remembered that dreadful name.
“Yeah, that’s the bitch,” She dangled her legs a little, and looked up. “You know her? She-“
I cut her off before she could say anymore, “I don’t want to talk about her! If you wish to mention her name in this house again, do so only when Caius is in and I am out! Now please, leave - I’m sure you know where the door is.”
I flicked my hand, turning around, not wanting to discuss a woman from my past that pretty much fucked up and confused my entire life, that took away Alec and gave back Caius - all weird and cold.
As I turned away, something flashed in her eyes, as if a switch had been flicked. “You don’t know.”
“I don’t know what?” I snapped, turning around but she wasn’t there anymore.
“You don’t know about Caius and Jasmine… You happily bought that lie Caius gave you when he came back.”
Her voice sounded awfully close, and briefly I wondered how she had gotten so fast from the pool table to behind me without a sound or me noticing her move.
I frowned, angry at all this nonsense. This person in some strange costume knew so much about my past life and me, and yet I knew nothing about them in return. It irritated me.
“Who are you? How do you know all this?” I challenged without looking back at her. I felt her smile.
“Count me a messenger from a man who doesn’t particularly like her. My name and being isn’t important for you to know.”
‘Being’? Great. “Don’t you think this is all a bit over the top? The knowledge, the creepy entering into the house, the costume, the make-up?”
“You don’t believe me,” she murmured, though she didn’t seem upset or offended at any of my words. “Fine. Do tell, where is your beloved Caius?”
“I don’t know. He left after I did.”
“Does he ever tell you where he goes?”
“He goes to work.”
“And works as…?”
I opened my mouth but I couldn’t answer. Truthfully, I didn’t know. And she knew I didn’t.
“Exactly. Look.”
I looked up and my heart stopped. At first I didn’t understand what I was looking at, but slowly it occurred to me. Like some sort of massive projection, partly see-through, it showed something I wished, ever since that night, to never see in my life ever again.
His silver hair immediately caught my eye and it was him without doubt, kneeling in front of her.
"I thought he said he left her." I stammered out, shaking my head lightly.
"No, it's been two years that he has been serving her."
Serving?
I looked up at the beautiful woman, dressed all in white, blindingly white. Sharp but soft features, beautiful distant eyes, snow-white hair, and not an age spot or wrinkle. It was almost as if she was a wax figure, or made of plastic, as if she never even aged.
And he looked up at her with such utter loyalty and admiration it clenched my heart and sent it through a shredder. I had never seen him look upon anything with such a strange, devoted and loving gaze; not a car, not a bike, not a house. Not even me...
*****
An hour passed. I was sitting on the couch, deep both in thought and sorrow. How dare he lie to me? How dare he say he was done with her and yet keep meeting her in secret? And the strange girl mentioned ‘serving’? What did she mean?
“Are you going to keep sitting like this any longer? You're not growing any younger you know.” She put her hands on her hips and looked sternly at me.
“That’s not how you say it,” I replied softly, instinctively and without thinking, “You say ‘I’m not growing any younger-“
“I know, I know. But I don’t age the way you humans do, so that doesn’t work.”
I didn’t reply. I didn’t know what to say. After what she showed me, I could have believed almost anything. If one had told me that the sun was made of cheese, I probably wouldn’t have hesitated to nod and agree.
I sat in silence some more, not looking up when the door opened.
He walked in, casually running a few fingers through his hair. He didn’t notice me till he reached the couches, and when he did, he stopped and looked at me, confused. “Micah?”
I looked up, studied him for a moment. “Where did you go?” I asked softly, without much emotion.
Caius smiled, “An old friend called. I went out to meet him.”
I nodded and smiled only a little before looking back down at the floor.
Of course.
An old friend.
Who would have thought.
***********
A/N: So you might notice Jasmine's image is a bit darker, but I had to darken it slightly because at the time of taking the image I didn't realize that the lights above were so bright and washed out her face/hair completely. Also, the original images got taken in BMP (thus the weird pixels here and there) but bare with me please, I'm still learning!! :P
And yeah, hope you liked my crappy editing of a partly see-through screen/projection. xD Also, hope you enjoyed :)
Thank you for reading!!