SIX

With a stiff neck, I scanned my surroundings. there wasn't much to decipher. I was in a small room, lit only by the bedside lamp that was on the table next to the bed. There was an armchair with a rose velvet cushion in one corner. The walls were bland and frameless.

After waiting for another bout of nausea to pass, I went to the window, holding on to the small table as support for my shaky frame. Outside, the sunsetting sky was of resilient palettes of shady hues, and I was peering over the shadows of endless rooftops. Wherever I was, it was high above a city, at least twenty stories high.

Down below, a yellow cab was waiting at a red light on an otherwise empty street. I couldn't decide if I was still in Lilycity. I thought I had a fair recognition of the clock tower that stood at the center of the city square, but it was too distant and I was too tired to be sure. My hand pressed against the glass. I closed my eyes until the dizziness passed, then slowly and painfully moved to the door of the bedroom and placed my ear against its smooth white surface.

I could hear a Television echoing in the background and hushed voices, but nothing else. I twisted the doorknob, expecting it to be locked, but it wasn't. Without a sound, I cracked the door open. Initially I was surprised to find that no one was keeping guard at the door, but when I looked all the way down the corridor, I noticed the man that was standing behind Maxine earlier.

He was looking at me. I speedily closed the door and dragged myself back to bed, got under the warm covers, and let my eyelids fall once again. I had exhausted whatever small resource of energy I had left in me. I would have to stay here. If this was where they live, then this is where I would be living.

Within a few minutes, I was asleep. I heard someone clearing his throat, and I was startled awake. The room was blackened, except for the light that was pouring in from the hallway. Hollis was standing by the open door, like he was waiting for me to wake up. I looked up at him through a sleepy, confused haze. He looked tired but satisfied, and he slid out, closing the door behind him.

I fell back asleep almost immediately. The same thing happened many more times. Hollis would walk into the room, make some small noise, wake me up. Then I'd look up and he'd quietly exit the room. his expression always blank. He had apparently taken on the task of ensuring that I didn't die in my sleep. So far, he had decided to keep me alive, for whatever reason.

In the morning, I woke up to the sound of a soft hum and a blinking pain localized to the top of my head.

Soft lights of dawn were coming in through the windows. I sat up in bed, letting my tired head fall against the cold wall behind me. It wasn't until I saw Hollis that I remembered where I was.

Well, at least I recognized the room I was in. He was sleeping, uncomfortably sprawled on a very small armchair, still fully dressed, but had obviously changed out of his bloody shirt. I couldn't remember if he still had it on when I had first woken up in the room.

His head was rolled back and rested on the wall with one hand half fallen over his eyes, an unconscious effort to block out the rising sun. His brown hair was scruffy, like he'd raked his hand through it a thousand times.

The dark circles under his eyes told the story of someone who hadn't been sleeping much, probably not for many days. I watched him like this for a while, committing his features to memory. And then his watch beeped, and he jumped awake, momentarily disoriented. His eyes quickly found me.

"How long have you been awake?" He asked with a hoarse voice, squinting down at his watch.

"A while, I guess." I said with care, pulling the covers up to my chin.

He passed both hands over his entire face, rubbing his skin awake. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I answered quickly without really thinking about the question.

Hollis moved to the side of the bed and stopped short, deliberating. 'Was he debating shooting me now or later. I looked for signs of trouble, like a gun being pulled out from the back of his jeans. I saw something I wasn't meant to see. I watch movies, I've seen cases like this play out in court and I know such intrusion can lead to one's death.

With a movement that was too fast for my bruised brain to analyze, He sat next to me and rushed his hand to my face. In instinct, I gasped and recoiled from him. His eyes widened, and he snapped his hand away like he'd just been burned. The features of his face washed with Guilt. Worry. Anger. Disappointment. I couldn't be sure.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice notably softer. "I was just going to check the bump on your head. I won't hurt you." His concern was unreserved, which made my throat immediately squeeze shut.

But It was too late. the tears had sprung to my eyes. "I'm fine really," I said in answer to the increased concern on his face.

"Ugo, you don't look fine."

I wiped the tears as soon as they escaped my eyes. "This is stupid. I don't know why I'm crying."

"I do," he mumbled resentfully, his jaw tightening. "Can I check your head even if you say you're fine."

I nodded through my sniffles and bent my head forward as a peace offering. My heart pumped hard in my chest while his fingers parted the hairs at the crown of my head and pressed lightly on the bump. My face winced under the cover of my hair.

"Does this hurt?" he asked.

"No," I lied, the strain in my voice betraying me.

"I don't think so," he said. "I'll get you something for the pain."

Before I could refuse, he was out the door. He came back almost immediately and gave me two little white pills and a large glass of water. The water was liquid gold to my eyes. My mouth tasted like I've been licking sawdust for days.

As for the mystery pills, I hesitated and glanced up. He folded his arms. "It's still really early and you need to get more rest. The pills will help with the pain so you can get some sleep."

He stood there, watching me like I was a mental patient, ensuring that the crazy girl took her pills.

I needed to get some answers, starting with what I thought I knew, seemed like a good idea.

"You are Hollis, my Hollis?" I asked, needing to be sure he was the same man I met at Fairview. I know he had a dark and dangerous edge to him, just never knew it would be this deep.

"Your Hollis, yes." He repeated, choosing that phrase instead.

We watched each other while I took two large gulps of water to make sure that my throat was open to choke down the drugs. He sat next to me.

"What do you remember from last night?" He asked me.

Color rushed to my face. "Is this where I tell you that I don't remember anything?" I blurted again. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I wished I had spent more time thinking about the weight of his question and coming up with a response that wouldn't get me killed.

"No," he said without blinking, "this is where you tell me the truth."

I took my time swallowing the first pill and my tears. "That man, what did he do to deserve what you did to him?"

I needed him to tell me that the man hadn't been just some random man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That only bad people got killed by him and that girls like me didn't get killed just because they witnessed a murder.

His face hardened. "You assume that the man was blameless." This wasn't a question. He had read what had been lingering in my mind. "He isn't innocent. Justice was served."

"He's dead, isn't he?"

"What does it matter?" He said. "It's not like you knew him."

I closed my eyes, which forced the tears to drop down my cheeks. Then the words came drooling out before I had time to process them. "His family will never know what happened to him, and they'll spend the rest of their lives wondering what they could have done to change things. There doesn't seem to be much justice in that."

I fearfully braced myself for the blows that would come next. When I felt his fingers quickly brush my damp cheek, I opened my eyes. There was no anger on Hollis's face. But his eyes were appraising. I cleared my throat to cut through the pain in my chest, and I swallowed my second pill.

My fingers tingled. The first pill was already working its magic. Whatever I was chugging down, it was potent.

"Hollis," I said, "what exactly am I supposed to be doing for you?"

"You'll rest and recover for now."

"And after?"

He smiled. "We'll work through the rest together."

"You have a brother?" I probed again, my head falling into the pillow.

"Yes." His stare was unwavering while my eyelids were getting heavy. I was fading fast.

"I am the breadwinner, sort of. I take care of my family. Now that I can't do that, will they be taken care of." I drowsily continued. Hollis pulled the glass out of my numbed hands and set it on the table next to me.

"As long as I live, your family will never lack anything." He replied.

"And what are you going to do with me, while I'm here." This came out as a whisper. My eyes were barely slit open.

Hollis paused on this question. He scanned my face, like the answer was written somewhere there. "I will fulfill all your wildest dreams and tick all the right boxes, the dark and dangerous way." Those were the last words I heard before I blanked-out. I wasn't sure he said those. Maybe my mind made it all up. That would be the only explanation because how could he come up with the dark and dangerous phrase if I hadn't told him.