82

Tired, I walked the streets, trembling and lighting a cigarette while Hector next to me was on the phone to my father.

I glanced at him, noticing the spatter of blood on his otherwise white shirt, and thoughtfully turned my eyes to my hand, which still held the small black lighter.

There were blood stains on my fingers and even though Sergio deserved to die after his betrayal, somehow I still didn't feel any better. I never showed it in front of others, but every time I took someone's life, a part of my soul died too, which seemed to be a lump of self-pity and deep black.

"Yeah, he'll never cause problems again," I heard Hektor talking on the cell phone next to me and ran ahead of him to the black limousine parked at the edge of the beach, which brought back memories of the night that were so good, but also caused so much bad in me...

She hadn't contacted me until now... A sign that she either didn't find the time or was not interested in me personally. I assumed the latter because I could not remember seeing any medical records in her practice. She certainly had few patients and she didn't have any friends here either... except for that clown, who was still a thorn in my side.

"Your father wants you-"

I interrupted Hector by taking a deep breath and shaking my head in the negative. I didn't want to say a word to this bastard who had made me what I was today.

A man chasing after an unreachable woman, the blood on his hands slow to dry.

Hector turned away from me and I took a long drag on my cigarette to scan the beach and then, all of a sudden, she appeared to me.

My heart was pounding like crazy and even though she was so far away just standing there and about to take off her shoes, I felt her closeness to the fullest, like she was enveloping me, like an invisible beautiful veil that was able to contain all the demons inside of me to drive away for a few moments.

I took a few steps towards her, stayed hidden in the shadows by the small wall next to the beach and watched her, fascinated, as she elegantly lifted her dress and danced almost weightlessly on the sand, while the moon above her made the picture perfect let.

It should have been caught on camera and captured forever, but I was too paralyzed by the sight of her to take out my phone and even dropped the cigarette onto the pavement, as nothing mattered to me except my eyes and that innocence to be admired.

It had to be a pipe dream, what else should she be doing here at this hour.

As if caught in a trance, I put one foot in front of the other and watched her with rapid breathing as she suddenly pulled off her so innocent dress from her shoulders and noticed how my heart leapt at the sight...

But not only my heart changed, but also the situation. The beauty suddenly became something of a horror to me because she just kept walking into the darkness and just wouldn't stop.

"Isalie!" I yelled, heart racing at this turn of emotions, and expertly jumped over the small wall to run as fast as I could over the uneven sand, but I couldn't see her anymore and my head all started frantic to turn.

"Fuck!" I cursed and ran into the water up to my knees to look around excitedly at the black waves, but there was no sign of her. It was like she was just an illusion. A thought that wanted to pull me deep.

I turned around in a panic, saw Hector coming towards me with her dress and ran a little further into the water to dive under and desperately reach out with my hands in all directions.

I was blind and freezing cold all over, but when I suddenly felt something in that salty, wild water, I grabbed her petite arm tightly and dived with her to the surface, frantically dragging her back to the beach with me.

"Hector! Ayúdame, por favor!", I yelled desperately at Hektor to help me and laid my butterfly carefully on the soft sand.

Her wings seemed to be broken, her face was bluish and when I realized with bated breath that her beautiful chest was no longer rising and falling, I felt this pang in my heart and threatened to collapse right next to her.

"Emilio," Hector wanted to say something, but the world around me went silent. She no longer existed for me because there was no question of me continuing to live in a world in which she no longer existed.

Without wasting any more time, I pressed my trembling hands to her chest and frantically started trying to revive her.

"Come on," I breathed again and again, tears in my eyes and my whole body shaking, while she still didn't give a reaction.

“No te quedas parado como un tonto. Haz algo!" I shakily ordered Hektor to do something, who immediately knelt on her other side and put his mouth on hers to give her ventilation while I continued to press on her chest like a madman.

Normally I would have blown the head off anyone who came close to her tender lips, but my jealousy no longer mattered. Nothing seemed important anymore except getting her to breathe again and when she suddenly coughed and Hektor quickly pulled her hips aside so she could spit out the water, I got the oxygen back into my lungs and quickly wiped mine tears away.

"Thank you God," I breathed, standing up immediately to carefully grab her arms. "Get up."

She seemed dazed and it was almost too much effort for her to stand on two legs and then when she started shaking too I immediately looked down at Hector and pointed to his white shirt.

He silently handed it to me to wrap around her body and when she suddenly looked up at me so shy and trembling, I knew I couldn't get a good night's sleep without knowing that she was safe.

"You're really here," she breathed in a trembling voice and put her hand on my chest so that only my soaked shirt separated me from her gentle touch, but I also felt her so pleasant warmth through this fabric.

"Yes, I'm here," I smiled down at her reassuringly and was about to brush a strand of her wet hair out of her face when she fell exhausted onto my chest and I immediately put my arms under her neck and legs to hold her walking back to the limousine on his arms.

"We're going to the apartment," I instructed Hektor, because I certainly couldn't take her to the villa. Alba was there and it would only have been to Isalie's peril that the two would have met.

"To the apartment?" Hektor asked, slightly nervous, and I gave him a firm nod as we walked further across the sand and shortly thereafter arrived at the limousine.

I knew what he was thinking because I hadn't set foot in this apartment since Mira left me, but for my butterfly I would be ready to face my past.

She was worth it and her safety had become my number one priority...