Hallowed Kaline (1) (MANUSCRIPT)

Issue # 15 Trouble with a Couple, Pt. 1

                Flowers- Blue, red, and ribbon-gold. The texture of paper was what one felt when one would touch them. Sweet edibles hung around a shop as an emerald chandelier clung to the ceiling, greeting customers as they came in.
             The fragrance of cinnamon and umbrellas beat up the air. Dusting off random parts of a shelf, a young girl with black hair hummed to herself. Long black hair tied in a purple ribbon, the woman looked out the window of the store every few minutes.
           Fresh air would brush itself through a slightly opened window at the front of the store and so too would the smell of freshly baked goods in the seaside town of Marva.
         "Tori, I appreciate you cleaning off our antiques and merchandise but... you don't work here and I feel a bit bad. Really, I do." Entered another woman who stood behind a cash register.
           "Sam, it'll be alright. I just- I'm a busybody and volunteering to help out at this store really helps me feel... good. Yeah."
          "Tori... that sounded so fake. Come on now. Why do you really wanna volunteer at this place and do all our work for us?" Samantha Blossomberry put a hand to her right cheek as she slouched over the cash register.
          "Because... in all honesty... I'm looking to gain experience. Sam, I guess it's about time I told you the big news. I wanna make my own candle store!"
         "You- what? Wow. That's pretty cool, Tori!" Samantha ran a hand through her long ginger hair.
         "I know! Right? I have a lot of it built up already on my laptop at home. Got some of the schematics down... names for some new and original candles... aaand I know some people who can get supplies real easily- It's gonna be great. Absolutely. Flipping. Great!"
        "Oh my gosh, you're so happy! Wow." Samantha slouched further over the register and table which barricaded her safely from customers. Nodding, she exhaled. "And how does Sean feel about this?"
         "Oh." The light in Tori's eyes seemed to dim. She put a hand to her right arm and looked away. Still compulsively observing all the minute specs of dust on the merchandise of the antique floral shop, Tori took a deep breath. Her eyes moved back on Sam.
          Her light brown shirt fluffed a tad as she shivered. Tori's bottom lip quivered slowly and in just the next second, her chin tremored as well. "Right. Sean – uh – doesn't really know about it."
           "Why haven't you told him? Go. Tell. Him. Girl!"
          "I would, I would... but he's been – um – struggling lately."
          "Oh? Am I about to get a hit of some juicy drama? Eh? EH?" Samantha's back arched up at that moment as she faced her best friend in the middle of the tiny shop.
          "Well... we should be happy, you know? He got an apartment and lives on his own at just twenty-two. He makes money selling CDs- You know that bit already... but... things between us... just haven't been the same... ever since... Scooter died."
          Sam's posture fell down once more, her gleaming eyes darkening. "Oh my God. That's right. I'm... so sorry. That was... Sean's dog... wasn't it?"
          "Y- Yeah. Look, I guess I had better go. I've been loitering around this place for too long."
       "No – eh – Tori. You're fine. Hey, if you ever need to stay at someone's place... if things between you and Sean get a little too irreconcilable... I'm always available, you know?"
          Tori bit her bottom lip and simply held eye contact with Samantha for a while, then nodded. "Thank you."

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           "Hey babe. I'm back!" Tori waltzed through an apartment door after trekking a flight of steps.
        "Hi." The head of a buff man looked up slightly. Yellow shirt, wide biceps, and white bangs made up the decorum of a guitar-wielding fellow.
         "How was your day, honey?" Tori teased up the back of her hair and laughed, immediately going to the left towards a small kitchen.
         "Fine." The young man went back to picking at his guitar strings, a soft melody played itself steadily throughout a vast living room. Vibrations of soft, almost melancholy noises, hit an inactive television and a series of candle stands.
          I wish Sean would talk more. Tori quickly turned to a paper-towel rack after washing her hands under the sink. Still holding a smile on her face in rebellion against the present stiff mood, she looked inside a short refrigerator and pulled out some cheese. "I guess I'll be making dinner tonight."
        "Yeah." Sean continued to look down at his brown acoustic guitar.
         Tori shook her head, bit her bottom lip, and continued to smile some more. "You know, I kinda miss when we'd make dinner together."
          "Me too."
          What is his problem lately? Tori's forced grin suddenly dropped off her face and her eyebrows furrowed. "Sean Changris-Pon!"
          "Hm?" Sean looked up, this time his reaction time revealed a quicker concern.
        "Is everything alright?" Tori narrowed her eyes, her voice shaking.
        "Everything... is a pretty relative term." Sean looked out a nearby window, the sun bled out onto half his face.
         I'm so sick to my stomach. We've been going steady for... two years now. And I don't want to lose him! Tori shoved a square of Swiss Cheese in her mouth, chewed, and swallowed it with haste. "Seriously, Sean. What's up? What's... wrong?"
         Sean got up just then, his sternum popping out boldly, to put his guitar pick into the pocket of his jeans. Yawning, he held his guitar with one hand by the neck and walked away further into the back of their living quarters.
          What... the... fuck... did I do wrong? Tori shook. Her right arm tightened as she stood, akin to frozen, in the middle of the kitchen. I don't know what to do. What do I say to that? He hasn't given me an inch to stand on. I just- Maybe I should go to Samantha's... like she said I could.
          "Tori." Sean came out just then to face Tori.
        "Yes?" Excitedly whipping back around, the young girl held a fist to her heart.
         "I've been... processing a lot, lately. It's been hard and it's making me so frustrated and I don't know if I can talk to you about it." Sean shook his head and held his large arms out.
         Tori's heart sank just then, her face tightening. "You don't know if you can talk to me about it? Wh- Wh- Why? What'd I ever do?"
          Sean waved his hand in front of her. "No, no. It's not like that. It's not about you. Please. Don't make it about you."
        "Oh, so I have a habit of making things all about me now, is that it?"
         "Tori. Ease up." Sean glared.
         "Sean." Tori stood back. "You never used to glare at me like that."
         Taking a deep breath, Sean stood back and relaxed his shoulders. Looking Tori up and down, he landed his gaze on the bridge of her nose. He eased his eyes some, his scowl turning into concern.
          "You're... right. I'm sorry."
         Tori crossed her arms. "Okay." Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "Well... I don't know what to do."
        "Me neither."
        "Sean... just tell me what's going on!" Tori cocked her head forward and stomped on the carpet flooring.
         Sean looked away, his eyes and lips sliding to one side of his face. "Tori... I really don't know how to say this."
         My heart... is racing so fast right now... and I feel I'm gonna throw up. Tori's lip quivered as she eyed her boyfriend down in the middle of the ivory hallway, walls narrow with paint chippings crawling off every so often.
          "You know how my family- They're a bunch of martial artists, right? And how I've been trying to get away from them to live my own life as a singer? Yeah. Yeah. Well..." Sean closed his eyes and breathed out. "... I don't know if I wanna substitute that with being a... chandler. I know it's been your dream to run a candle shop but... that's not my dream, you know? So whenever you decide to set up that store of yours, I'd like it if you would just consider me an honorary customer or... whatever they call it."
         "Oh." Tori barely nodded as her eyes drifted to her significant other's shoulder. I thought... he was gonna dump me. I feel slightly better now, but... I'm still shaken up a bit. "Sean... that's not really all that big a deal, you know? I'm... okay with that."
           "Really?" Sean's low eyes suddenly lit up just then as he raised his voice in excitement.
           Tori began to noticeably nod some more. "Yeah. Really. I... guess I don't feel too happy about it... but I was expecting much worse to come out of your mouth just now. Ha. Um... yeah. I guess I just... wish that you would've told me sooner. That you weren't on board with this. And... I'm gonna be devoting a lot of my life to this, you know? And... I imagine you're going to continue devoting your life to... your singing." Tori began to bite her lip once more. I guess I don't really feel all that better after all. We're gonna drift apart soon enough, aren't we? 
          Sean nodded, his excited smile fading away. I know exactly what she's thinking. At least... I think I know. "Yeah."
         "And the one thing that kept our schedules together... kept us aligned with our universes... was something I... lost." Tears began to assault the floor around her as Tori's voice began to shake.
        "Tori... don't bring him up." Sean looked off to the ceiling and then walked away.
        "Don't... walk away! You know... I've never heard it from you... after all this time. All these months. That's the real reason you don't talk to me anymore, isn't it?"
          Sean spun on his heel and pointed his finger. "Tori-"
       "IT'S BECAUSE I LET SCOOTER DIE!"
        "Tori!" Sean belted.
          Her willowed cries began to transform into loud screams as she fell down and curled into a ball, her head occasionally hitting the wall behind her. "IT'S ALL MY FAULT! I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO LET HIM OUTSIDE AND I TOOK MY EYES OFF HIM FOR ONE SECOND AND THIS STUPID CAR CAME AND- AND-"
       "Enough!" Sean's own face soon was inflamed with tears and a scarlet blush. "Enough, enough, enough. PLEASE!"
        "Do you want me... to get you... a new dog? Is that... it? Would it- would that... make you... happy? Would it make... you love me... again, Sean?"
          "Tori." Sean raced over to his girlfriend and put a hand on her shoulder. "Look... Tori... I've just been feeling scared recently."
         "Scared?" Tori pulled her head out from her knees and looked up to Sean vulnerably. "You... have been 'scared'? How do you think I've been feeling... WITH A BOYFRIEND WHO DOESN'T TALK TO ME ANYMORE? DO YOU... know how much effort I've been forcing into this relationship?"
          "Whoa. Whoa! Tori... look... please... calm down."
          "Oh yeah. 'Calm down' always worked on girls who were having fucking mental breakdowns, Sean!" Tori's voice cracked, rose, and fell at awkward times.
         "TORI! LISTEN TO ME! Look... there have been... weird noises in this house, okay? I don't know when they started. I don't think they came on when Scooter died. I think they might've been starting a bit before but... I can't really piece it all together. But you... you haven't noticed anything, have you? And so I've been feeling this disconnection because... I think our apartment is... haunted."
         Tori got up quickly just then and glared at Sean, her mouth slightly agape as her left eye twitched. "I'm sorry. What? Haunted? That's why you've been giving the cold-shoulder?"
          Sean eyed her with a straight face. He blinked a few times, then looked away. I guess it's not the only reason... no.
          Suddenly, a loud knock came tapping on the door.
          "Jesus!" Tori suddenly jumped up. "Ugh. One thing after another. Hmph." Wiping her eyes off and doing a double-take in a nearby mirror which hung right next to the front door, Tori shook her head. "Sean... it's an apartment. There's going to be weird noises. We have people living on all sides of us, you know?"
        Tori opened the door to reveal two oddly dressed individuals. On the right stood a young man who had dark ruby hair and an even darker pair of green eyes. To the right stood a girl with long blonde hair and a hot pink jacket. The two strangers smiled at Tori, waving too.
          The boy with the red hair cleared his throat, putting a fist up to his mouth. Blinking a few times, he looked behind Tori at Sean. This ruby haired boy cast another wave at the buff man.
"Hi there. I'm Max Kaline... and we were told to come here in regards to some suspicious activity."
        "N- No. It's alright. Did you – oh god – did you hear us fighting in there? I promise, we're alright. No need to get the authorities involved." Tori nervously shook her hand out in front of them.
          "No, no." Max wagged his finger, smirking. "Paranormal suspicious activity."

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