Bleeding Expection by Ada Andrews | #TheWattys2023

CHAPTER THREE

STRATOS 

The doorbell rang over and over again. Damn it! I raised my head to check the time. It was five in the morning. There was only one person in the habit of ringing doorbells in the wee hours. Elias! I sighed, as I thrust off my bedcovers. My head was reeling with headache. I had to do something to regulate my sleep patterns. My erratic working hours were such a strain!

With blurred vision, I walked barefoot, almost staggered sleepily to the living room. I answered the door.

"Have you been sleeping?" he asked puzzled.

"What d' you think?" I jibed.

"After the message you sent me, I thought you'd stay up waiting for me to tell you how the news report came along," he countered.

"I was knackered and slept like a log. How was the news report?" I asked. "It's a long story! That psycho roaming Paleo Psychiko struck again! He mangled the parents, sexually assaulting the mother, as usual," he informed me.

I banged my fist against the table.

"They have to arrest him at some point!" I spat the words, seething with rage.

"And that's flat! We're gonna find him together, what'd you say?" I suggested. "That bastard's getting on my nerves. We've been looking for him for two years, and the son-of-a-bitch always gets away."

"You're kidding me, right? You're just a press photographer, Stratos! We're no longer the young students we used to be. Not even the police can get their hands on him! The guy's a lunatic!" he said, my rage taking him by storm.

"We're gonna do it!" I said defiantly. "Are you in or not?" I insisted.

"I'm in," he relented and we tangled our fists.

"Great! I'm gonna make a few phone calls and, once I confirm certain things, we'll set out."

"You're acting so weird! I've never seen you like that!" he gave me a suspicious look. "Anyway, what d' you think of Daphne?" he asked out of curiosity. "Mysterious, vulnerable, and harsh. She fought really hard to get what she has right now, and that's something I appreciate in people," I confessed honestly. A faint smile flashed across his face. "So, you do like her, Mr. Amanatides, eh? Remind me: aren't you having an affair with Eleonora?" he teased me. "Ah, you've lost it, pal!" I said and rose from the couch. "We split up a month ago!" I informed him.

His eyes started from their sockets in surprise. "Where was I?" he wondered in a silly manner.

I giggled. "You're such a jerk! You know what you reminded me of right now? Back in the third year, when we were pissed, we shagged some chicks, then in the morning you didn't remember which hole you fucked her from, and if you really had to do it both ends."

We burst out laughing in the dead of night. "I remember that. She finally assured me I had done both," he said proudly, tugging at my shirt lapel. I rested my hands on my knees, as I doubled up with laughter. "Why did you break up?" he asked me, harking back to the previous topic.

"Come on, Elias! It's plain to see why we broke up!" I exclaimed, as I raised my eyes to look at the sky. "Our lives are so incompatible. She's into comfort and luxury, while I want to discover the planet through my lens," I explained. "It's true. How did she take it?"

"Very well. She could see all this led nowhere," I noted. Fortunately, Eleonora was a sensible girl; there was no drama, unlike other cases.

"So, you're gonna hit on Daphne now?" he asked, fluttering his eyebrows. Here we go again with Daphne!