FIFTY
DAMON
“Sele…” It was still hard for me to breathe, and the survival of my soul was threatened some more.
Tilting her head to the side, fury still in her eyes, Selena asked, “How do you know about this place?”
“Wh…” Jeez, how does she expect me to speak when she is strangling me so badly? At that moment, I knew it was time to use that force I didn’t wish to use because I feared it would hurt her. So, despite my fear, I quickly summoned all my strength and pushed her away before she could make me slip into the cold hands of death.
My feet staggered to the side quickly.
When I settled a few distances away from her, I released a shaky breath that came as my breathing pace was restored. Caressing the area of my neck that suffered from her hold, I arched my back slightly as I tried to catch my breath.
“First, you say shit about falling in love with me,” Selena resumed talking, clearly not bothered about how I was. “Now, you bring me to this place? How did you even find out about this place? Have you been trailing me? Did someone send you to me?”
While I wondered why she was so agitated and demanded so much, I stood upright. After a rush of air escaped my mouth, I faced her, glaring at her smaller figure. “Trailing you?” My nose twitched with slight contempt. The woman just finds a way to get on my nerves without trying hard. “Selena, you and I know that trailing someone is not my thing. I don’t do such nor do I have the ability to do it. And, this place…” my eyes that were filled with utter disbelief stole a look at the building ahead, “… is somewhere I have been volunteering at for quite a while.”
“You-”
”I am aware that you stalked me for a while before we got a chance to meet for the first time.” A bitter smirk curled my lips as I took a step closer, my body wishing not to cower in front of her for any reason. “Are you trying to tell me that despite the energy you spent trailing me, you didn’t find out that I work here?”
Selena’s fiery look instantly looked quenched and my feet advanced. As I watched her keenly, I noticed that her lips kept twitching as though she had something to say. But, for a long while, she didn’t utter a single word.
So, I spoke instead. “I don’t know what has come over you. I don’t understand why you would want to strangle me but know this, I am not your enemy.” I felt gingered to speak my mind more. “You know what? I don’t even want to be your ally. You are not the kind of person that deserves human company because you don’t know how to cherish one. But here I am, still doing as you wish.”
“I thought you…” Selena sighed deeply, her cheeks flaring as she breathed. Grabbing onto the end of her biker jacket, she looked more reluctant to speak. “I thought you knew about this place.”
“What is there to know about this place?” I asked sternly, my frown deepening. “I wish to know the reason you tried to strangle me. Is the gang keeping something valuable inside the building?”
The corner of her narrowed eyes wore more folds as the sun’s rays fell on her face as though it was giving her a spotlight that would turn out to be harsh. Moving closer to shield her from the reflection using my height, I listened as she finally responded.
“M-my grandfather was banished to this place,” Selena replied softly. Her response would have been inaudible if I was still standing at a distance from her. “My father has kept my grandfather here for ages because my grandfather is the key to something important in the country.”
While I was tempted to ask more, I didn’t. Looking down at her with more perplexity growing on my face, I said, “You tried to kill me because you thought I could be after the secret your grandfather holds?”
As I scoffed loudly, biting into the insides of my mouth, Selena tried to place her hands on my arms.
“Damon, I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“Of course, you weren’t”
“I really thought there was a chance that you were working for the rivals. In this world, you can’t fully trust anyone and-”
“When are you going to apologize for what you did?” my calm voice asked, interrupting her. Dipping my hands into my pockets, I watched as distress fell upon her face. I bet she didn’t know that she was displaying such emotion. Before she could say anything, I spoke. “You can’t do it, right?”
“I-”
“Thank you for giving me more reasons to stay away from loving you.” A snicker came from me as I watched her lashes flutter composedly. The woman was not remorseful about what she did at all. How would she be anyway? She killed a man without batting an eye. “Can we go in now? I am sure you’d like to see your grandfather.”
“Damon…”
“Drop it, Selena.” I gestured at the building. “Let’s go in and get this done with.” My brows jerked slightly, silently urging her to indeed come along.
Soon, with great silence between us, we walked towards the building, and as that happened, I felt sorry for Selena.
The kind of person she is would push people away. So, she is bound to grow lonely as many years pass.
And, I felt more sorry because I had that feeling that I won’t be willing to stay beside her forever. I can’t last with someone who makes me feel anger more than compassion.
~
“Oh Damon,” the wrinkly hands of the woman rested on my shoulders as I squatted, “it is so good to see you again. Everyone has missed you.”
“I missed everyone as well, Claire,” I replied excitedly as the older lady smiled widely. “I am sorry I haven’t been around for some time.”
Claire who was restricted to a wheelchair because of her weak legs soon wore a serious look as she darted her sight beyond my direction. “Damon…”
“Hmm?” I was about to turn because I had a feeling that the other elders were waiting for me to give them some attention.
Since some of them were either rarely visited by families or abandoned because they were seen as burdens, the elders depended on the presence of the employees and volunteers to feel attached to a social scene.
But, despite befriending the workers, these people still yearned to be visited by their families. So, to help them feel less desirous for the arrival of their families that had little or no intention to show up, I try my best to engage them whenever I come around.
Her light blue irises seemed to enlarge with curiosity, and Claire’s slightly deep feminine voice asked, “Is she your girlfriend?”
Looking behind me, I noticed that Selena had not moved from the only bench in that room. Her head hung, she focused on her hands, rubbing something off them.
“Uh…” I faced the older woman who looked worried. “She is a friend.”
“Is she okay?”
“She came here to see her grandfather. But I think it has been a while since she saw him that’s why she is a little emotional.”
“Who is her grandfather?”
Adjusting my squat, I eagerly replied, “All I know is that his last name is Danniman.”
“That devil?” Claire suddenly spat, her eyes wearing fear.
“Devil?”
“That man is her grandfather?” A pitiful sigh followed. “That is a huge shame.”
“Wh-why? Is there something bad about her grandfather?”
“Of course. Stay away from him, okay? There is a terrible rumour about him.”
“Yeah?” A heavy feeling rested on the sleeve of my heart. I instantly had a bad feeling about our visitation. “What is this rumour?
Swiftly, she shook her head, showing her reluctance to speak. “It is not confirmed yet, so I can’t tell you. Spreading rumours can be deadly. But, I watched him do something terrible the last time I saw him.”
“What… was it?” I leaned closer.
“He killed a bird with his bare hands because it was flying around him. As if that wasn’t enough, he took a large stone and crushed the dead body.” Claire gasped as though she was seeing the scene happen again. “Who does that? That was so evil of him.”
“You are right…” I muttered as my head tilted to the side. At that moment, I was getting a strong eerie feeling. “It was bad of him to do so.”
“Damon?” One of the nurses called me, her round face wearing a smile that fitted her face quite well. As I got up, the nurse glanced at Selena. “Her grandfather is waiting. Is she not going in?”
“Uh…” Selena was still in that same position. “I will talk to her and let her know.” Before I walked toward Selena, I gave the nurse a quick pat on the shoulder. “I will let you know if she’s ready.”
“Selena?” I called the woman, prying her hands apart, the sight of extreme redness on the surface of her left hand really bothersome. “Aren’t you going in to see him?”
“I am,” she replied gruffly, her hands relaxing into my hold. “I just need a second.”
She was yet to raise her head. And I just knew then that something was indeed wrong.
But, before I could ask questions, Selena pulled her hands out of mine and got up. Soon, she was walking toward the visiting area. Still feeling uneasy, I followed her.
When she pushed open the door to the visiting area which was arranged in a homely way, I quickly scanned my sight past the couches in the room. Noticing that there was another entrance at the opposite end of the room, I wondered if it was safe to leave the door open since the home had dementia patients.
Looking past the arraign of flowers on the sill of the wide, exposed windows, I saw the outline of a masculine body standing by the window that was adjacent to where Selena and I stood.
I listened as Selena took a deep breath, her eyes on the back of the man’s head.
Her steps were already making slight noises when another joined us.
This hooded man suddenly walked in through the other entrance, his entire attire suspicious enough. While I kept an eye on him, Selena continued walking toward her grandfather who seemed to be unaware of the new presence. And, if he was indeed aware, he didn’t show.
Either way, I was still suspicious of the man that stood still at the other entrance.
“Grandfather,” Selena finally spoke, the woman highly sounding unlike herself.
“Selena!” I instantly found myself screaming as the hooded man pulled out a gun, pointing it at the old man.
Then, chaos occurred. As my heart jumped with great fright, my legs ran towards Selena who was now running toward her grandfather.
My prayers that nothing bad should happen failed when a gunshot filled the entire room.
My eyes bulged with more fear as they watched Selena spread her arms in front of her grandfather.
And, the next second, Selena dropped to her knees, one hand finding support on a closeby chair, the other on her abdomen that was rushing out blood that soon began to drop onto the floor.
