It took me two days to wake up completely.Of course, I haven’t been sleeping all this time. I was more in a state of lethargy that made me think that I would faint to the slightest sign of effort. My head was filled with choppy flashes, mixing images of orange and black plates to the quick lines of those who took care of the tube that connected me to the serum. My wound near my neck was not serious. I had what I heard called a stroke of luck "or a sample of faith", although I doubted to be able to say aloud that I was grateful for the fat scar I would receive after those days of care.The buttery light of the sun, which warmed the polished floor as a guarantee that the remnants of the end of winter would stay away from the amenity of early spring, woke me up in that dawn. Due to a sudden despair, I tried to get up. Instantly, my body burned with a thermal sensation that only hospitals have; cold for its white walls, lacking furniture to fill the lonely void. Every corner seemed to sm
Kendall looked away, assuming his thoughtful expression. I had to count my breath during your time of reflection, just so that I didn't give in to the urge to jump out of that bed and find that damn man. It was outrageous that he was being treated in the same place as me. I begged for my life, because of him. I cried in front of strangers "something I didn't used to do even in the presence of the closest friends" because of him, and I still needed to endure every layer of pain that stamped my skin, another courtesy of him."As far as I know, all the police were ambushing Gary... You know, because he's the "Cap Maniac". " Kendall told me, nibbling her lips with visible discomfort.I knew who that vulgar codename was referring to, of course. Months earlier, the police had alerted all people who lived between the third and fourth avenues, in locations near Astor Place, about a series of homicides. On the news, the most brutal headlines of murder involved that same story. The point was th
My eyes recorded the lack of the tattoo on his right hand, before he took the necklace. I imagined that, because I was a police officer, all those drawings that made me curious were necessarily hidden during office hours."How did you know? "I asked, leaving my hand closed in hand around the icy pendant. I didn't mean the necklace, but he understood before I needed to explain."I heard where you were from a suggestion from your friend," he said, looking at Kendall at a glance. Too fast for someone to notice, Zachary's hand covered mine next to a lift on the sheet, so that only he and I could see. His hot fingers squeezed me slightly, and all my tense muscles relaxed. "She said she felt a bad feeling, so we followed the path we thought you should have taken.I failed to try not to laugh. "And did you believe it?Zachary squeezed his lips, sending me a look full of all that remorse on his face."If you didn't believe it, you would be dead.I didn't have to turn around to know the expres
All the shock of what had almost happened hit me hard on Friday of that same week. Maybe it was an answer from my subconscious to the questions that the wide-smile and distant-looking psychologist asked me. I didn't mind memorizing your name, since I was determined not to receive any other consultation after hearing your initial words. "You shouldn't feel guilty," she said, "Gary Swan shouldn't touch her even if you were naked. It's not your fault."I didn't have the courage to say that I didn't feel guilty. I felt hate. This reached a level above all that clinical litany, and I knew that if I proclaimed aloud for the millionth time that Gary Swan should be dead, my own sanity would be put to the test.The doctor wrote down in a little block when I lied about feeling nothing but physical discomfort, even so, she tried to convince me that I had no responsibility about having entered the path of a psychopath, saying that justice would be done "both to me, and to so many other victims st
"you at least use the number he gave you?I blinked hard, but I didn't dare to move my head towards Kendall. I was feeling a pain in the corner of my eyes, probably caused by insomnia, and that intensified at any movement in the upper part of my body. I just nodded with one hand, discarding the subject. My friend snorted and pulled the beige bag off my lap, searching between coins and keys until she found my cell phone. She returned me the bag and pulled one of my fingers to release access, without wasting time, searched my contact list and logged."Hi, I need you to return this call. It's urgent.She hung up and put her cell phone on my lap, still unlocked. I shook my head slightly, pushing away a dizziness, but I didn't try to pick up my cell phone when a curve made him slide over my long skirt and slip to Kendall's naked legs.Precisely because of my physical condition, Tyler Campbell gave me time off from work. I didn't know what Kendall had done to achieve the same, however, I was
Approximately forty minutes later " considering the amount of cars in traffic" the sea came into focus, skirting the feet of the city like a carpet designed by the gods. Even when we went down on the pier, knowing that much of the trip would still take an absurd time to be calculated, the sovereignty that exhaled from each small wave below us was like a calming effect. Kendall and Tristan were not intimidated to pay attention to what my father and another man were talking about; maritime instructions, I noticed.The speedboat that would take us home was huge, and due to my father's familiarity, I was sure that he would have driven something similar someday, even if he was not the captain on our journey. I led myself to the bow, taking Kendall with me, and we sank into the benches that surrounded the vessel. Tristan and my father went to the cabin, and the man who was helping them returned to the pier, throwing a small nod that only Kendall responded to.I tried to ignore the nervousne
"You French people exaggerate too much," I grumbled, crossing my arms. "In fact, you shouldn't even know what happened.I didn't wait for Lizzie's reaction, and I had the impression of hearing a bad word with her loaded French accent. I had to sigh to contain a scream. That place would never be my home.The steep path that led us to the huge house with a marble facade was long. We passed through villages and houses as my sister ran, citing the weddings of old neighbors and professional successes of the lives of others. She seemed uncomfortable when she said she worked in a nightclub, saving her the detail that it didn't make me a call girl or something like that. My grandmother, however, just stretched her body through the space between the two front seats and hit me lightly on the leg, saying:"A firm ass must be very well used, ma chérie.We parked in front of a house with walls shaded by copper roofs, and ivy trees that stood out of the garden on the other side. I registered each t
My cell phone played a constant whistle as I balanced myself on the bed with the heavy suitcase. Kendall had just entered the bathroom of the room we would share, and sang louder and louder a song that existed only in her wrong language. At the first moment we entered the room with pink walls, completely foldered floor, and padded and angled backrest bed, next to nightstands that merged with the same pale color of each piece of furniture scattered over the amplitude of the room, we were in shock.My closet was the same as in childhood, only two doors attached to the left wall, surmounted by golden notches. Everything was too clear for me. Too childish for my personality, and I almost threw up when I noticed the floral print quilts.There was a dressing table in the corner of the room, next to the huge window covered by pink curtains. The chair in front of a small face mirror was soft and with spirals drawn on the backrest, as if it had been handmade.We had been locked in that room sin