November is here and school is off for a week. Sitting in the sixth period, staring at the clock waiting for it to hit 2:50 p.m. on Friday. The last day of school before break officially starts. This week has dragged on since I've been counting down the days until break. This week has been miserable and filled with anxiety and stress. I'm zoning out when the bell finally rings, my stuff already packed up in my bag. It's the last period of the day so I only bothered to pull out a pencil, which I didn't end up needing.
I threw my bag onto my shoulders and rushed towards the door, only getting stuck behind a few people who sat closer than I did. I walk to meet up with Maria before leaving home for the day.
When I get there, I see her waiting for me at the picnic table we regularly sit at after school.
She lifts her head from her phone and smiles at me, "Hi Winter," She says as I sit down in front of her.
"Hi Maria," I slightly smile as my eyes feel heavy. "I wanna go to bed."
"Already?" She laughs. "Break barely started."
"I know but this week has been long enough." Folding my arms together on the table, I lay my head down for relaxation.
"It has been a long week, I know you've had a lot of tests." She says and puts a hand in my hair.
My shoulders go up and my hands grip my arms tight. "Please don't touch me," I say, quickly.
She pulls her hand back quickly, "Shit. Sorry, I forgot." She says. "I miss doing that."
"I miss the person you were before I truly knew you."
"What?" She asks, sounding stunned.
"I wish you didn't do those things." I lift my head and unfold my arms. "But, you can't change what happened so there's no point in dwelling on it." I give her a blank stare. I see the hurt on her face. She doesn't say anything for a minute.
"What's that look for? You're looking at me like I did something wrong."
"Why did you act like everything was fine the other day?"
"It's easy to act like that. I don't feel safe in your presence. Your touch still scares me. Why is that so surprising to you?" I say coldly, trying to show no remorse on my face for spilling the truth.
"You're sad."
"I feel betrayed, Maria." My fingers feel frozen and I shiver from the cold breeze.
"I'm aware of that, that's understandable."
"I still don't understand why you did it."
"You were continuously thinking about it. I've only told a human once before that I was a vampire. The way I did it with you was impulsive. I don't know why I did that way either."
No one says anything for a moment. Maria broke eye contact with me a while ago.
"You look like you want to ask me something," I say.
"I do, I wanted to ask you this before this conversation."
"Go ahead."
"I'm sure it's a no but do you want to come over at some point during this break? Or I can go to your house or we can hang out in public. I just," She stops and looks away from me again. "Wanted to see you over the school break."
"I don't know, maybe. We'll see." I say. "Maybe I just should go home for now. I'll see you later, Maria." I grab my bag and stand up, walking away from her. She just watches me, silently. When I was walking away, I chose not to turn around again.
On my walk home, the cold breeze made my face feel frozen along with my fingers. Staring at the floor as I walk, in order not to make awkward eye contact with ongoing walkers who pass by me. I want to be alone right now.
The one time I look up from the floor at someone walking by, I make dead eye contact for longer than I intended to. It felt almost as if I couldn't look away. I shivered after a moment and darted my eyes back to the ground once I felt like I had control over them again.
The man walking by had the darkest shade of hair I'd ever seen, his hair was slightly messy and barely passed his ears. He had stubble on his face like he hadn't shaved in a while. The longer I stared at him, the more familiar he felt—an uncomfortable familiar.
Arriving at my home, I fiddle with the house key to open it, my fingers frozen from the cold. Walking inside, feels colder here than outside. All the lights are off, making the house dark, a grey light in the kitchen window from outside casting long shadows in my direction. The shadows are oddly shaped and every time I don't focus on them, they look like people.
Stepping in more, I shut the door behind me and locked it. The floor crunches under my shoes, what the fuck I just swept these floors.
Walking closer to the kitchen windows, I start seeing white glowing dots. The kitchen gets lighter and lighter as if a warm light turned on somewhere that I can't find. The grey clouds in the sky have left and it's suddenly nighttime, a bright pale moon is visible through the window. The kitchen has changed, it feels the same yet so different. I'm staring outside, into the moonlight when I get the sudden feeling; that I should not be here.
When I turn around to look at the rest of the house, my vision goes blurry until I stop, almost giving me motion sickness. I analyze the rest of the home I'm in: Off-white colored lamps, a larger TV than before, everything is different yet feels the same. My feet like they're sinking into the kitchen floor and my eyes are falling out of their sockets. I move before I sink into the feeling even more, I head for the neighbor's counter. I stumble to grab the counter as my knees no longer support my weight. My vision is starting to look like I'm looking through a glass cup up close. I can hear my heaving breath, like I'm suffocating. Through my cloudy vision, the shadows in the house begin to look like people again. I freeze, not knowing if they're people or not.
After a moment of standing still, trying to redeem myself, I hear movement in the room over from the kitchen. I was coming from down a hall that wasn't in my home before today. The shuffling gets louder as I hear drawers open and close, and the faucet turns on for a minute then back off.
Blinking away the focus, fear flows through me and my vision clears up again. I notice the paleness in my hands and the steam coming from my mouth from how cold it is in here. Refocusing on the noises, I immediately sprint towards the door as quickly as possible. Adrenaline pumping through my veins. The outside is different, there's light snow on the ground and a dead meadow valley. I look around, noticing there are no other houses besides this one for what seems like miles. My vision is still slightly glassy, so it's not easy to tell what's going on. But I can feel the softness of dirt and the crunch of dead field grass under my shoes, taking clues of what the ground is like from that.
From the house, I hear a loud ongoing noise coming from the house. Whoever was in there has made their way out to the kitchen, before I get noticed, I sprint down the meadow, away from the house. The air is getting colder and it crashes into my face. My lungs are failing to keep up and my heart is racing from adrenaline running through me.
My vision clears up, although my eyes feel like they're freezing. I see ice shards in my vision as I go deeper and deeper into the dead meadow from the cold winter.
My breath heaved harder as I kept running, The meadow started to slightly downhill. The air is getting thinner like the altitude is rising. I can feel hot tears going down my temple, my feet feel like they're floating, and the ice shards in my vision getting worse. I feel like I've been running for miles with no luck or help.
I noticed a large dark area on the floor ahead of me too late; my foot caught a root coming out of the ground from a tree to the right, immediately sending me face-first into the dark area. I fell quicker than I could process, arms not fast enough to brace me from the fall. I soon realized I was in a freezing pond, my face aching severely from the smack. Along with my wrists from trying to save myself and my ankle from getting caught. The water stings against me for falling in it, I lift my torso, eyes shut hard with no air coming into my lungs anymore. I completely winded myself of air. I opened my mouth in hopes that would help, finally, I could breathe. I crawl out of the pond with my eyes shut.
Sitting near the pond, I wipe my eyes with my sleeves. When I open them, there's blood all over the sleeves. In shock, my hand touches my nose sending an immediate shock of pain. My forehead is pounding and my cheekbones feel like they're tightening from the pain. The cold from the water mixes with the cold air, making my entire body tremble hard and my breathing rapid.
The ice shards in my vision are gone and my breathing is getting slower. My body induces the cold, still trembling yet I'm slowly not feeling the cold anymore. My eyelids start losing strength, forcing me to slowly close them no matter how hard I refuse. I blink a few times and in the distance to my left, I see someone jogging towards me. They're too far away and it's too foggy to see who it may be. My entire body aches to even try and fight back. I slowly turn my head to my right to the sound of water, the water is following up towards me. I just watch it crawl its way to me, not even bothering to move. My blood feels like it's gone frozen solid, freezing me in this position. My knees to my chest with arms resting at my sides, my back against the single tree.
The lapping in the pond comes closer and closer, almost angry that I disturbed its stillness. The person to my left was shouting something as they were getting closer. I couldn't understand them. I watched the water get closer to me, the lapping water against the earth, the person in the water. My eyes suddenly shoot open and I stare at the figure in the water looking at me. They have eyes but that's not a human. I suddenly heard what the person coming towards me was saying, "Get up," they were yelling over and over. Their voice rang in my head.
The body in the pond was crawling up to me but remained in the water. My body still felt frozen so I couldn't move.
The person shouting was getting closer, now shouting "Get away from her!", the creature noticed and sped up its movement towards me.
It reaches a hand out for me to take, the glimmer of its teeth in the water shining at me. The creature stares at me with plead in its eyes as if it's never seen anyone else in a long time.
I just stare as it almost touches me, beginning to feel warmth on my left side. A warm hand grabs my forearm and suddenly I'm over someone's shoulder in a fireman style of carryment. They turn around and start walking away from the water. I watch it as it retreats and trembles back into the pond, back into camouflaging as a normal pond. I'm wide awake now, unable to close my eyes. The warmth on my skin burns against my frozen body.
Not precisely a minute later, I'm back in the house I ran from. It's still dark and I'm taken off of their shoulder. They're still partially holding me up, my body still thawing out from my long journey outside. I can't get a good look at the stranger's face, the only light is illuminating from the kitchen, which their back is facing, casting a shadow over their face.
"Come sit down, I'll get the living room warmer for you. Sit by the fireplace." They say in a whisper that sounds like is coming from behind me. I look to my left and there's the fireplace, I slowly make my way over there. Holding the stranger's hand, desperate for any sort of comfort right now. I'm freezing, my face and body ache hard, my breath is shaky and it hurts to breathe.
They follow me to the couch closets to the fireplace, "You have to trust me, it'll be okay. This will all be situated." They say in another whisper that sounds behind me.
The person puts wood in the fireplace and without any sort of lighter fluid or flame to start it, the fire immediately lights.
"There you go," they say. I have to resist the urge to turn my head around every time they talk. The light from the fire lights up their face slightly, but not enough to make out many details. They sit on the floor in front of the lit fire and I, keeping more of a distance from me than the fire. "I don't get cold, so sitting in the fire doesn't do anything beneficial for me. You should sit closer to it, it'll warm you up faster. Would you enjoy a warm beverage?"
I nod my head. They look in my direction, "You look petrified. You aren't supposed to be here, are you?" They say, I don't respond. I continue staring out into the abyss. I don't know what just happened or how I got here.
"Here," They say, I look over at them and they're holding out a glass of water. "It's warm water. While I'm uncertain about your preferences, I believe this will contribute to warming you up."
I slowly extend an arm out and take the glass. It's warm on my frostbitten hands. I slowly sip from it, it's just barely too warm.
After a minute, I slide down onto the floor closer to the fire. I can feel my pulse now, it felt dead.
The person next to me doesn't say anything.
"Where am I?" I ask, my voice low and cracky, it feels dry despite drinking water.
"You're somewhere no human should ever be." They say without looking at me.
"Where am I?" I ask again, now as a demand.
"What do you know about magical beings?"
"The basics. I know about magical beings such as Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, and Elementals. Those sorts." I say, my voice is getting better the more I talk and warm up. I noticed my clothes are dry now.
"This location exists outside the Human Realm, a place designated for magical beings who have succumbed to corruption due to an inability to control their powers or through ill-fated bargains for magic. I am tasked with containing these entities to prevent harm to humans in the outside world. The entity you encountered was a corrupt Water Elemental." They say. I don't say anything in response. I just sit there, staring out into the fire.
"What are you?" I ask. When I talk, it sounds like it's not coming from my mouth, but from a distance. It makes me stumble over my words.
"I'm a Daemon. With the 'A'. I've been here for thousands of centuries, watching over these corrupted beings. It is indeed disheartening to witness these beings unable to revert to their former state, perpetually bound by the magic within them to an existence of immortality. Each of them was once an individual with a unique life. Nevertheless, it's noteworthy that a significant portion willingly subjected themselves to this fate." They sigh and shuffle a little.
"Do people visit often?" I ask.
"Instances of humans arriving here are rare, with only one recorded case that occurred intentionally. This individual summoned a rift in the Human Realm to reunite with her corrupted wife within this realm. The dedication and effort she displayed were notably remarkable. After considerable entreaty, I facilitated her reunion with the aforementioned woman."
"How come you didn't just send her straight back?" I ask.
"If I had opened a portal back to the Human Realm, it would have torn her apart if I had gone with her. Seeing as how resistant she was to leaving, I would've had to. So I gave her what she wanted and she was left as a different person. She got what she wanted and left. I had to go to the Human Realm to find that spell book and make sure no one ever found that spell. I also found one of the spells her wife used to give her more magic in the same book. Along with many other dangerous spells. Back on the portal thing, only Daemons and Demons can go through. Anything of lower magic will get torn apart through the portal. That's if I go through with them, they'll live if they go by themselves."
"So, what tried to get me was once a human?"
"You are correct. That one in particular is old. Do your wounds still hurt?"
"No, they don't. It went away." I look down at my hands, the color in them is coming back.
"Excellent. The ward still works."
"A ward?"
"Think of it like a protective bubble where you can cast various spells. I have several of these, and they prevent Corruptions from entering. Their magic is ineffective here, and if you're injured, you'll heal at a comfortable pace. These are primarily protection spells."
"What was," I pause focusing my eyes on something else, "Happening to me while I was running away?"
"Describe it to me." They say. I almost turned around again.
"In the house, my vision was like I was looking through glass, I ran outside hearing, I believe to be you."
"I'm one of the only magical beings who can enter this house. Anyways, go on."
"I ran outside, the air got thin, my vision was growing ice shards on it, and I've never been so cold in my life. I tripped on a tree that wasn't there when I was running."
"The perpetual cold and wind here are a result of the Cold Elementals. The thinning of the air can be attributed to the Air Elementals, while the presence of life in this realm is thanks to the Verdure Elementals, capable of rapid plant growth. The pond you fell into likely manifested in response to your movement."
"Why were you acting so human while running after me?"
"Using magic outside of this house is a risky endeavor. Which I especially didn't need since you, an unempowered human who was badly hurt, didn't need that. Also, I'm sure having 20 ghost-looking creatures would terrify you even more. I can't leave your mental state too damaged from here. By the way, when you leave, would you prefer to retain the memory of this experience?"
I don't respond to that. I debate on it. "I'm not sure." I look at them again, still unable to see their face. "Can I see you?"
"I don't think you should let your curiosity get the best of you this time, Winter." They say, almost sounding disappointed.
"Why is that?"
"I will undoubtedly startle you, particularly considering you've never encountered a genuine Daemon before. It occurred in the past, and history is likely to repeat itself."
"Don't you guys have this human-looking form?" I ask.
"Yes, but I can't use it here. Magically, I cannot. It's the naturality of this land to show your raw form, to show who you are to be completely identifiable on your magic." They say, sounding disappointed again. I watched the fire dance like it wasn't natural fire. Occasionally I saw faces in it, making me feel uncomfortable in my skin.
"What if I promise not to get scared or have a negative reaction?" I look at them, trying to get my mind off of the faces in the fire. My body no longer aches or feels cold. They turn their head in my direction and for a moment, I see glowing white symbols on their face along with completely white glowing eyes. My eyes open slightly at the sight and they let out a slight laugh.
"Do you want food?" They ask, dodging my question.
"I'm not hungry," I say in annoyance.
They sigh before responding, "You want to see what I look like?" They ask, I can hear the smile in their voice.
"Yes, I'm curious. You're so against it, what could be so bad?"
"What could be so bad?" They ask, changing their tone to concern. "Despite never encountering an individual with horns, you express an interest in witnessing one in its entirety?"
"I guess." I shrug. They sigh again.
"This encounter is likely a singular occurrence, and yet there is a keen interest in acquiring information from you. How peculiar."
"Yeah, I'm curious about the other worlds. A few weeks ago, a lot of information got dumped onto me about the Magical World, so of course I'm curious." I say with a smile.
"I'm afraid that won't be happening. Not yet, to be more specific. I'm not too sure about the matters myself. May I inquire about your method of arrival in this place?"
"I don't know. I was walking home from school and when I opened the door to my house, the inside was different yet almost the same. Although, it was freezing. It was colder than the outside. I know for sure I had left the house decently warm so it was weird. I started walking into it more and that's when it just kept on changing to this house more and more. Then I started to feel dizzy, nauseous, and weak. Then it was dark outside and then I heard you. Adrenaline kicked in and I ran off."
"Curious. On that particular day, did you experience any unusual or noteworthy events?"
I think back to talking to Maria at the end of the school day. The thought of me being rude to her made my stomach turn but I'm still hurt by what happened. It was my breaking point. "I guess this weird man stared me down when I was walking home today...? He was very mysterious."
"That may be a plausible explanation. I detected a residual presence of magical energy on you. Can you describe their physical appearance?" They turn to me again, I focus my eyes on the dots and lines on their face going in a spiral towards the eye. I've noticed how they have barely, only slightly turned their head toward me.
"His skin almost looked a shimmery gray, he had the darkest natural hair I've seen, and piercing eyes. That doesn't give you much to work with but that's all I saw. I've never seen him before." I ask.
"The individual in question does appear peculiar, and I wouldn't dismiss the possibility of their involvement in the matter." They say, no one says anything for a moment.
"What's your name? I never asked you that. I feel like I've been around you before."
"I do not recall my given name."
My eyes widen and I look at them again. "You don't?"
"I haven't been prompted to share my name in quite some time, and as a result, it gradually slipped from my thoughts. While I do miss the concept of having a name, the sentiment is not tied to any specific name itself. I find it peculiar that I am sharing this information with you."
"Would you want one?" I ask.
"If you are inclined to provide a name for me, please feel free to do so."
"How about," I pause, thinking of a name. "Samuel. Actually, no." I stop to think again, noticing the air feels lighter on my shoulders.
"Samuel?" They say with a slight laugh. "What is the significance of that particular name?"
"It's just a start, give me a second." I rub my eyes, my eyelids feeling heavy again. "Vindemiator. How about that name?" I ask.
They look at me again with their glowing eyes, widened now. "What prompted the transition from a traditional Western human name to adopting the name associated with one of the stars in the Virgo constellation?" They ask with a smile.
"I heard it a long time ago and it reaccured in my head for you. I think it fits." I look at them, staring at their glowing eyes.
"Winter, your presence is intriguing, and I appreciate your inadvertent arrival in this challenging circumstance. I'm delighted you stumbled into this plane of Hell. You're very distinctive. It appears my new name is 'Vindemiator', a long-awaited name. One of the stars in the zodiac constellation of Virgo." They say with slight pride.
"You're welcome," I say.
"Are you prepared to conclude your travel?" They ask in a gentle tone.
"This visit was enjoyable. Not so much on the freezing part, or the part where several Elementals tried to kill me, almost bleeding out to death due to injuries, but the ending was fun." I say, trying to reassure myself about the fact that this entire experience wasn't completely horrible.
Vindemiator glances at me for a second, "Yes, those parts of the journey today. I recommend returning, as someone is actively searching for your presence."
I stop. "I don't want to go back yet."
"Why so?"
"What else can you do?"
Vindemiator hesitates and gives me a look of concern towards me before answering. "I've mastered the ability to visit alternate realities where a different version of you exists. These realms encompass entirely different lives, times, and everything varies, yet the essence remains distinctly you."
My eyes widen and an idea pops up, different reality? "How willing would you be to take me there?"
They look shocked now. "There's a chance I could do that. If you're okay with it, I'll keep an eye on what you're seeing, bring you back when needed, and get you back here in this universe." They look away, "it's a possibility I would consider."
I smile.
"Perhaps not today, but for the time being, you should return. We will encounter each other again. You have someone to see." They say as a crack appears in the air in front of me, shining a greyish-blue light from the inside. It begins cracking open more, revealing a tunnel of blues, purples, pinks, and reds. The tunnel looks deep like I'd be walking for miles.
"This is a rift?" I ask, "And I just walk through it and I'll end up home?" I say, nervously. I've never touched any sort of magic before, the uncertainty of this is making me anxious.
"Rest assured, it is designed for a swift and efficient return. No harm to you will be done." They say, still not looking at me. I rise to my feet, staring into it face-to-face, watching the colors move around slowly, like a dance.
I stare at it for a little longer before reaching a hand out towards it. My hand looks like it's in water. The portal ripples as I put my hand in it.
"Goodbye, Winter."
I turn my head to look at Vindemiator. "How did you know my name?"
"I have been with you since the day of your birth, witnessing the moment you took your first breath. There is a reason for this, though we can discuss it at another time."
"You brought me here, didn't you?" I ask, my hand starting to feel fuzzy.
Vindemiator smiles a proud smile, "Your guess is correct."
I look at him for a moment longer, before facing back toward the rift and stepping in, shutting my eyes. Once I'm in, why whole body feels fuzzy. My ears feel like they're jumping, I open my eyes and I feel like I've just been thrown billions of miles off of the Earth. I see the entire galaxy in its true form, all of its colors. Then, I'm back in my house. Hearing the rift close behind me. I fall onto my knees, my balance was unsure.
"Winter," someone in the house shouts. I recognize her voice. "Are you alright?" Maria quickly walks over to me, my body still feeling fuzzy, my stomach beginning to twist. She tops just before she touches me.
"No," I say. I put a hand over my stomach from the pain.
"What happened to you?" She asks, concern in her voice. Hearing her worry about me brings my chest to a twist.
"I think it was the rift." I say, "I've never been in one before."
She doesn't say anything for a moment. "A rift?" She asks.
"Please help me," I say in a whisper as the pain worsens.
Maria helped me to the couch, brought me some cold water, and turned on the bath upstairs. I watch her walk down the stairs and look at me once she's off of them.
"Are you feeling better?" She asks in a sweet tone. My stomach has several feelings now.
"It's dying down, slightly."
"That's good," She smiles, reaching a hand out to help me up. "So, I did some research, and for anyone who cannot summon a rift, their first time going through one tends to leave them feeling nauseous for a little while. A bath could help, I have one running upstairs."
I take her hand and slowly sit up. I tried my hardest to keep whatever food was left in my stomach down. We walk up the stairs towards the bathroom, the running water getting louder and louder as we approach. She opens the door for me and there are a few candles lit with the bath almost full. There are bubbles on top of the water and the bathroom smells like natural essential oils.
I look at her and notice she looks nervous. "Do you want me to leave?" She asks.
"For a moment, I," I get nervous too, "Want you to be in here with me." I say it sounding more like a question. "And don't look when the bubbles die down."
"Okay," She says with a smile and leaves the bathroom for me to undress. I do so and get in the warm tub, shutting the water off and calling for Maria to come back in. She opens the door slowly, looking at the ground. She sits against the wall next to the tub.
"Welcome back," I say in attempt to end the silence. "I'm guessing you're wondering what the hell happened?"
"I am curious about it. Only if you want to talk about it." She says, finally making eye contact with me but quickly breaking it afterwards. The warm glow from the candles is mixing with her skin tone, making her look warmer. The corner of my mouth twitches upwards into a smile.
"Okay, I'll tell you."
I gave her the basic run down on what happened; walked inside the house, it wasn't my house, someone was in the house and I ran out side out of fear, freezing cold outside, air getting thin, everything was dead, tripping into that pond from a tree that wasn't there. Then the interaction with Vindemiator.
"You gave them a name?" She asks with a laugh. Maria is turned around now since the bubbles died down.
"They couldn't remember there's so I decided to give them one. They also talk really fancy, not the entitled fancy, but wisdom fancy. They were really nice, they healed me from the injuries and talked me through what happened. Then sent me back home."
"That's interesting. Did they tell you what they were?" She asks.
"They told me they were a Daemon. Um, the one with the 'A' and how they've been taking care of the Corrupted Elementals."
Her head pops up. "That place really does exist, then?"
"I guess so, did you believe it didn't?"
"I heard stories about it, I thought it was just some stories adults told to children so they wouldn't misbehave." She says, with a slight laugh.
"No, it really does exist." I smile. No one says anything for a moment. I move to face her in the bath, the only noise in the bathroom being the water lapping against the side of the tub. I put a hand on her right shoulder, pulling for her to turn around. She slowly does, keeping her eyes on my face.
Her body is facing my direction and her eyes are looking from eye to eye, occasionally looking at my lips for a second, then back up to my eyes.
"You're beautiful," She says with a smile. "I'm sorry for what I did to you but I'm glad you're letting me this close to you now."
I smile at her and take my other hand out of the tub, water droplets going down to my elbow. I put a hand up to her cheek, "It's alright." I whisper. She slowly puts a gentle hand on my arm that's touching her face.
I slowly lean into her, putting a hand on her waist. My hand on her cheek moves to her chin, pulling her in. I close my eyes and tilt my head slightly, ready to kiss her lips. She puts a hand on the crook of my neck, resting there gently. My stomach doesn't hurt, now it only feels like butterflies are floating in there.
Just before we kiss, her phone starts loudly ringing. I jump and my hands jump off of her. She turns around, looking at the counter where her phone is. She sighs and looks back at me before picking it up. She takes one last look at me before answering and turns her back towards me.
I sink into the tub, with my head under the water. Disappointed at what hadn't happened. I'm not upset at her anymore. I should be, but I'm not. Maybe I forgive too quickly. I did it with Dally and now with Maria. However, there's a difference between Maria and Dally: for one, the obvious. One isn't a drunken drug addict who will tear anyone he can get to down with him and the other one is not. Two, Maria showed basic respect for boundaries and showed concern for my feelings, while Dally promised he'd change a long time ago and hadn't. Maria had only done things that I was comfortable with, while with Dally, he had things around me that he knew would trigger me.
I jumped up out of the water quickly, breathing fast with my heart pounding since I wasn't breathing. I almost drowned myself.
"Bye Mom, love you." I hear her say before the beeping coming through the phone. She turns her head to the side to see me.
"You can turn around again," I say, laying my head on my arms on the side of the tub.
"She was just asking where I was at. She always has horrible timing." She says with an awkward laugh. The moment was ruined and now I don't know how to bring it back. I know she won't because my natural presence when I'm too close to her, by her doings, still makes her nervous.
"I see that." My bland response makes her tense up, I notice her shoulders go back. "It's alright, Maria." I say and hold her hand. "It's not your fault. I'll probably try again at some point today, seeing as you're staying, right?" I ask.
She doesn't say anything for a short moment. "Yeah, I can stay." She says and a smile is creeping onto her face. Her hand holds mine tighter. "Of course I can."