The Missing Stranger

Chapter 7 {REWRITTEN}

   Aphmau watched all of this in awe. Tony looked back at her and smiled at her reaction. His smile faded, and he walked back over to her. She looked at him curiously.

   "May I see your hands?" Aphmau wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but she put her hands in his. He briefly rubbed the back of her hands with thumbs before turning them over. He dropped her left arm and focused his attention on the inside of her right arm. He frowned sadly, his hand hovering over the etched, unreadable words overlapped on her skin. He gently touched the scars with the tips of his fingers, and he dragged them down gently. Aphmau flinched, and Tony looked at her. She met his gaze and he smiled reassuringly. He studied her scars for a moment more before letting go of her arm.

   "I'm so sorry. I should've stepped in more when Aaron told me about you. I had too much faith in him. He's far too unstable to know how to handle someone living with him. That's why we put him there in the first place. He just doesn't trust easily, and doesn't understand how to win trust. He resorts to hurting you because that's the only way he knows to get you to listen to him. He doesn't understand how much he hurts you when he does these things." Tony said solemnly. Aphmau gazed up at him.

   "What made him like that? Why is he so... unstable and sadistic?" Aphmau asked. She didn't understand Tony's feelings. He seemed to feel pity for Aaron, and Aphmau started to question if maybe her hatred was misplaced. Aaron's life certainly wasn't easy up here, and he apparently lost the love of his life and is trapped on the mountain. She wasn't sure how stable she would be if all that happened to her.

   "There could be many reasons. It's likely that he experienced head trauma during his accident. That alone and the mental trauma and shock he went through when losing Lily, plus the added factor of the loneliness of the mountain is what probably made him like this. And he certainly isn't getting better. We tried to help him, but he was repulsive towards us. He eventually warmed up to us, but only after we moved him to the observatory." Aphmau looked down guiltily. The whole time being up here, she had forgotten why she was there in the first place. She swore that she would bring Aaron back to Phoenix Drop. And he won't go back as he is now. He can't. If trying to help him become mentally stable would help him come to grips with what happened and get him to want to go back to Phoenix Drop, then maybe she should've tried harder.

   "Come with me. Let's get rid of these scars." Aphmau's eyes lit up. Could he really do that? She followed him out of the door and down the stone hallway. They came to the door and Tony pushed it open, walking through it. Travis stood near the large cauldron. His fairly long white hair was tied back in a half-up style to keep his hair out of his face. He was focusing on some old book in his hands.

   "Good morning, master." Tony said cheerfully. Travis looked to him as if he had just noticed that he was there.

   "Oh, good morning. I didn't hear you come in." He replied. Tony sifted through some bottles on the shelves until he pulled out a vile of reddish-pink liquid. He swirled it a little bit and smiled. He walked over to Aphmau.

   "Here you go. This should take care of those cuts." He handed her the vile, and she looked at it for a long while.

   "So, Aphmau, did you sleep well?" Travis asked suddenly. Aphmau looked at him, caught of guard by the question.

   "Uh..." Aphmau's mind immediately went to the events of earlier that morning when she woke up with Tony practically cuddling her. Heat crept up her face and she forced the memories away quickly. "I slept good." She finally answered hastily. Travis looked at her curiously, but shrugged it off and continued what he was doing. Aphmau sighed in relief and looked down at the vile in her hands again. She pulled off the cork and quickly drank it. She immediately regretted it, dropping to the ground. Travis and Tony, who had gone back to the potion shelf both turned their attention to her. She started coughing violently and looked like she was writhing in agony.