APRICITAS [ENG] || Johan Liebert || Monster

Chapter 21 - The Mirror

Through the open curtains in the window, golden rays of sunlight streamed into the room, lying the light on a bouquet of white roses in a vase, next to which were also two plates - one with sandwiches and the other with sliced cheesecake. There was undisturbed silence all around.

Emiko's eyes stared at the blue sky on which white clouds were flowing. They looked so lazy, flying slowly across the sky that she herself wanted to be in their vicinity and fly far, far away...

She sighed deeply, then shifted her gaze back to the blank page of the sketchbook she was now holding, along with the pencil.

When Johan left early in the morning, he left her a considerable amount of food, as if he wouldn't plan to come back for a long time. What surprised her the most in all of this, was that he didn't tie her hands to the bed this time, and left a sketchbook in the room, locking the door with a simple flick of a key as he walked away.

She knew that he certainly hadn't done it all by accident - he had never done anything reckless. She knew him well enough already.

Her thoughts went to Kenzo, and later, to her friends whom she had left for so long in Japan. Although she felt a slight sadness in herself, she smiled slightly at the white sheet of paper and began to draw.

Though she couldn't see them in person, she might at least meet them that way...

****

On that day, time passed quickly for her, as she was completely lost in her favorite activity. In the present situation, she had nothing better to do anyway, so she preferred to take her mind to something else, something that reminded her of important things to her... before her mind would wander back to the blonde-haired young man.

She couldn't understand why that was that he wanted to know her better. After all, it was Kenzo who saved his life over ten years ago, it's him who he owes much more. So why... she...?

When the girl's eyes looked at the window again, she noticed that the sun was hidden behind heavy clouds, and soon after, she heard the sound of a thunder in the distance. Though it was only late afternoon, the dark clouds still drifting by, made it almost as dark as the night. Emiko put her sketchbook aside, then got up from the bed and walked slowly to the window, taking a piece of cheesecake in her hand on the way.

She peeked out through the glass, where the street below and the trees struggling against the increasingly gusty wind were visible. The young woman began chewing the cake while staring at the people rushing to their homes. Despite her current situation and free hands, she couldn't get out of here, because the hotel apartment Johan had rented, was on the sixth floor of the tenement house, which made it impossible to even escape through the window.

'He planned it all very well... That bastard...'

After taking the last bite, Emiko opened the window wide and inhaled full breast of a cool air saturated with the smell of ozone, which slowly began to clear her mind.

'But you know, Johan, any plan can collapse...' She tilted her silhouette even more outwards, and her face lifted up. '...when you come across a suitable opponent!' After that, she smiled slightly, staring at the dark clouds that were suddenly pierced by lightning.

When speak of the devil...

Unexpectedly, she heard behind her the sound of the door lock turning, which made her turn towards its source; she leaned her back against the window sill, right next to the open glass. After only a second the door slowly swung open to reveal the silhouette of a young man.

Johan studied the empty plates carefully, then scanned her silhouette standing by the open window. As a gusts of wind were crepting into the room, Emiko's hair was blown just like of a japanese youkai from another dimension who decided to observing the life of ordinary mortals. Her eyes were calm, tinged with a slight hint of amusement at the same time, and she was staring intently at the man still standing in the doorway. Neither of them said a word however, and the room was silent.