The Rape of Proserpine

The Rape of Proserpine Chapter Three

“What?!”

“You heard me.” I did, but that didn’t mean I understood him. I looked at River; nothing could be seen on his face. “You obviously can’t stay away from your… friend here, so I’m just going to ask you,” he addressed River, “back the hell off from Darrel.”

I opened my mouth to say something but River beat me to it. “You wish.” He glared at Kenon for a brief moment, but eventually, his eyes, soft yet determined, warm yet encompassing, went back to me. “Come on Darrel.” I was drawn to him, like a moth to a flame. “Let’s get out of here.” He took me away with him. Danger, River was the full definition of the word. Flirting with danger, Kenon had said. I shook the confusing and conflicting thoughts out of my head as I followed River outside the hospital. River and danger, even the words rhymed together. Treacherous. Outpouring. Unpredictable. The penetrating gaze of Kenon on my back wasn’t lost to me long afterwards. Whatever happened there, I had no idea. What was important was the possibility that maybe; just maybe, River had something a little more than just concern for me too. A little spark that went beyond the boundaries of mere friendship. I closed my eyes, picturing myself standing on a cliff, a dark void of pure blackness waiting for me below. I let myself be engulfed and consumed by my emotions. It felt great. So, I jumped, careless of the consequences. Down and down I fell. To oblivion. To River Henders.

Of course, the next day, I was screwed. I just got out of Carey Adams’ office after an almost an hour of warnings and scolding about responsibility and work ethics. Like I was being paid for volunteering. The prospect of encountering blood, needles, and a whole lot of medical stuff couldn't be that satisfying at all at the end of the day. I would rather grovel and beg for quarters than work in a hospital ever again.

I went inside the male employees’ locker room to change to my hideous uniform and instantly felt nauseated. “What the hell are you staring at?!” Kenon lashed out, ignoring the fact that he was just clad with a towel. I gulped to force my lunch down back to my intestines, but it sent a wrong message to him. A cocky and silly grin spread across his face. My eyes stayed glued to his gleaming eyes, afraid of venturing anywhere else.

“You make me sick,” I finally managed to spat. “You’ve no right to trash talk River yesterday.”

He lost the light in him, his jaw tightened as he reached for his glasses inside his open locker. “I didn’t”

“The hell you didn’t. The way you looked down on him disgusts me. I knew Marel was making a stupid mistake when he befriended you.” That must’ve got him really bad because he suddenly closed his locker door with a bang that resounded around the empty room. His face was flushed and seething with anger. I couldn’t help but crack a victorious smile.

“Are you really that insensitive?”

My smile vanished, replaced by confusion. “What are you talking about?”

He laughed an empty laugh. “I thought so.” As I watched him, still uncomprehending his words, I noticed how much he changed. Fine changes I overlooked before. His golden brown hair, wet and messy and a little bit longer, actually looked good on him. His body was molded just right from the countless of sports and exercise he was hooked with. And the glasses gave him an air of polished authority and power. I didn’t see them, because I had no reason to look for them in the first place. Marel and I never shared friends, but that didn’t stop us from mingling with them. We were both civilized enough to acknowledge each other’s friends whenever they stop by or have a sleepover. Although it was no secret that we disapproved of the other’s choice of friends. We looked the same, but the similarity stopped there. It was no easy task to keep Marel alive by being him. I had no other options though; the way to get the criminal was to get him to feel that Marel was alive, at all costs.

“The next time you bad mouth or just look at him insultingly, I will –”

“Do what? Honestly Darrel,” he crossed his solid arms and looked at me with disdain, “why couldn’t you listen to Marel?”

“Are you really his friend or what?”

He smiled faintly. “Dumb question. Both of you never listened to each other.”

“Wrong,” I blurted triumphantly.  “We listened to each other. We just didn’t follow the other’s counsel.” I felt weird. It was the longest conversation I had with Kenon. We usually couldn’t stand being in the same room.

“Maybe you should have,” he mused, his superior expression, kicking back in.

“Will you quit speaking in puzzles?!”

“Sorry, I love puzzles. Don’t you, Darrel?”

For once, I had no ready answer for that.