And I, you

CHAPTER 10: PARANOIA'S SANITY

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be," I say to Miles and take in the house. From what he's told me, the house has been fully equipped with state-of-the-art technology for the blind. I have all the braille technology I could possibly need, like braille calendars, clocks, books and timers. I also have fantastic talking watches and having Alexa in this place is just a beautiful blessing. 

"They really spent a shit load of money on this, didn't they?" I ask Miles, still awestruck with the facilities I'm getting. Safe houses are not known for their facilities, having a mere TV here is beyond amazing. The organisation already pays a lot to keep the person safe so giving someone more privileges is just out of their pocket, but not in my case apparently. 

"Yeah, our budget has really increased. Woah, is that a flat-screen-" Miles says and rushes past me to what I assume is the living room. 

"How amazing, I truly am flattered. What's our next move?"

"What move?"

"We aren't here on vacation, Miles. How are we going about the whole Ezra thing?"

"What Ezra thing?"

"The fact he's dead less than 24  hours after saving my life and shooting me," I say with a sigh and sit down on the couch. Now that I've had some time to myself, I've been thinking over this a lot. Either he's up for a psych evaluation or something is definitely up, I would bet my entire savings that it's the latter. 

"I don't believe he dropped dead of his own accord, something's up," I say to Miles and start pacing around the room. 

"He didn't, he was shot like ten times, I don't think anyone survives that."

"Did you guys find his body?"

"Yeah, burnt beyond recognition, but we ran some forensic tests with his teeth and it matched, he's really dead Lu. He's not coming back," Miles says and gets up from his sofa, he puts his hands on my shoulders and makes me sit down next to him. 

"It seems rather convenient, doesn't it? The whole body burning thing?"

"Death is never convenient," he says gravely.

"I don't think that applies to him, after what happened the night before the shootout, I think he must've realised there was no way out of the hole he dug himself into."

"Why are you so hell-bent on making him alive? I thought him being gone was what you wanted."

"Not this way, not without giving me the answers to questions I've always had."

"Sometimes it's better not to be blinded by the light," Miles says with a sigh.

"Not when you can see it rising above the horizon, I need those answers okay? I need to know if the reason my son died was an accident or something else entirely."

"He's still dead Lu, knowing how won't bring him back." 

That does it for me, the final snap. 

"You think I'm trying to bring him back to the living?" I angrily ask Miles.

"You're doing that with Ezra too," he replies to me, his voice holding more anger than mine. 

"You think it's easy living this way, questioning everything?"

"Goddamnit, stop playing that card every fucking time, it's been two years," Miles says and walks off, leaving me stunned. I've never seen him snap this way. I just sit there in the echo of the slamming door, too stunned to say a word. Maybe this was his final straw, I'd been perceiving it wrong all along. 

It was never the beginning, just the end. 

I should probably get up and go confront Miles, and healthily communicate with him. I should probably not do something stupid like calling a cab. I should probably not book the first plane ticket out of here and go somewhere I've always dreaded. I should probably stay, for once.

Should, being the keyword. 

But I won't do all of this, because I'm supposed to be the responsible kind right? If I lose my shit, then I lose everything and I cannot afford to lose everything, all at once again. 

So, I stay. I get up and pace around the room, thinking of ways to entertain myself. Feeling hungry, I look for the leftovers from last night. The chicken was simply to kill for. 

The door opens slowly with a horrifying creeping sound. 

"Miles?" I ask with caution, raising the frying pan in my hand.

"Who is it?" I ask again but no one answers back. I step back till my back reaches the wall, I open the door to the cupboard next to me and slide in smoothly. Whoever it is just paces around the room and hopefully won't come to my not-so-obvious hiding spot. Slowly, after what feels like a lifetime, the door shuts again and I let out a breath of relief. 

"Luna?" 

"Miles? Oh my god," I say and get out of the cupboard. 

"Hey, what's wrong? You're shivering like crazy," he says, placing a steady hand on my shoulder. 

"I think- I think someone was here. I called out but they didn't answer so I hid in the cupboard and then you came back and holy shit," I say in one breath. 

"Oh god, I'm gonna check the tapes okay? Thank god we got cameras here," he says and helps me sit on the couch. 

"Thank god, truly," I say with a shaky breath, still not quite over the ordeal.

"Okay I'm back, I checked the tapes and it showed no one, maybe it was just a cat opening the door or something."

"A cat? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I think it's quite possible."

"Or the tapes got hacked? Someone messed with them?"

"Jesus, you have got to let the paranoia go, you're going crazy!"

"Why are you being such a dick to me? What did I ever do?"

"I think you just need to fucking calm down and not treat everything like it's gonna kill you!"

"How do I do that when mostly everything is trying to kill me?" I say in anger and get up. 

"Look at you! You need to meditate woman, what is wrong with you?"

"Get out," I say with clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry?"

"Get the fuck out of my house till you get your head straight."

"Fine, it's a pain being around you anyways." He says and slams the door once again but this time the haunting silence of the aftermath makes me feel at peace.