"Trust is the first thing lost in a relationship, and the last thing earned."
- anonymous
When I was a little girl, my mother used to tell me that strangers or anyone newly met were not people to share personal things with. As they could use it against you if you weren't careful. It was common sense to most, but when I was that young, I felt that I could trust everyone.
I kept that as my golden rule. I never told anyone about myself, not even stupid details that wouldn't matter if they were shared or not. That was until now.
Brahms stood before me. His eyes glinting an unfamiliar emotion as I gripped the sides of the counter. "I've never really told anyone about myself. I don't even know where to start." I felt like a child. I still didn't know why I was breaking my own rule and allowing a stranger like Brahms to be an exception.
"Tell me your name?" Brahms said.
I fiddled with the sleeve of my jacket "Kátalin."
"Your age?" He asked sharply.
"I'm nineteen years old." I blurted, "I'll be twenty next month." My eyes widened in realization, I'd be twenty in a month. A wave of sadness came over me as I thought about my old birthdays. I'd most likely be stuck here for my birthday.
Brahms was silent after that, as if he was thinking about something important.
"Why are you on the run?" He asked. I felt embarrassed, I never thought of my self as "on the run" but that basically was what I was doing. Running away from my life. "I uh, moved out of my parent's house when I was fifteen and moved in with a friend until about three months ago." I kept my eyes trained on my hands that were picking mercifully at my jacket. That was half right.
"Anything else?" I asked, not wanting to go any further into who I was.
"Where are your parents?" Brahms asked. My breath caught in my throat. My parents were dead. I could think it, but I couldn't say it. It was too hard. I clutched at the counter and squinted my eyes shut, "they're-", I tried to finish, but my voice wasn't there. I began to get frustrated and angry with myself. They had been dead for years but for some reason I found it so hard to speak it aloud. I opened my mouth, but only sounds of unfinished words came out. I yanked on my hair and dug my nails into the skin on my arms. Say it! Say that they're dead! My eyes began to fill with tears, and my lip began to quiver. I couldn't move my mouth.
Brahms slowly walked towards me. Already embarrassed, I attempted to shield my face from his, and hide my pain away I didn't want his sympathy, I wanted to be left alone. I made a mistake opening my vault of a mind. Brahms placed his hand on my back. I shuttered at his touch, anger bubbled inside of me. If it wasn't for him asking me about my parents, I wouldn't be in the emotional state that I am.
As if he could read my mind, he knelt down and whispered in my ear, "mine are gone too." His words were muffled by the mask, but I knew what he said.
As if a switch had been flipped, my opinion of him changed immediately. Most of my questions over his behavior were answered in that simple statement. He didn't have parents anymore. People deal with and process grief different. He was no exception.
"I-I'm sorry," I choked. I genuinely felt bad for him, and regretted thinking of him in a negative light like I have. Brahms rubbed a small circle motion on my back before standing up. My cheeks reddened at his gesture. No man had ever done that to me. It erupted something inside of me but I tried to ignore it.
"I'm not."
I furrowed my brows, but I didn't blame him. It was better that my parents were dead as well. Even if I missed them.
"What about you?" I asked him, sniffing runny snot back into my nose.
"That's for another time." He stated calmly.
As if a match had been lit inside of me, my anger began to boil, "you ask me personal questions and then avoid your turn? You aren't holding up your end of the deal," I hissed.
Brahms snapped his head in my direction, "what deal? Friendship should be voluntary."
I shook my head, "unbelievable."
Brahms quickly ran his hand through his curls. If I hadn't of been so furious at him I would have thought it was slightly attractive.
"What is it that you want to know so badly?" He asked leaning dangerously close to me across the island.
I gulped and turned away from him, I didn't really want to know that much about him, I just wanted to see under his mask.
"Why do you wear the mask?" I asked. I knew asking him was a long shot to get an answer I could actually work with, but I was willing to try.
"I already told you." He retorted. "I don't wish to reiterate."
"I asked you what was under your mask, not why you wore it." I reasoned.
"And I have the same answer. Nothing of importance."
I scoffed. If I didn't have a broken ankle, I would have stormed out of the room. He angered me, with his picking and choosing what he wanted to do. His entitled attitude made my blood boil.
"You know what?" I asked, "forget I even said anything about being friends. You clearly don't have any interest in the matter anyway."
Brahms cocked his head to the side like he had done so many times before, "what makes you think I'm not interested?" He asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"You pry into my life, but when I ask to do the same, you don't allow it." I said, my voice raised a bit louder than before.
"Why do you want to know about me so badly?" He asked.
"Because Brahms!" I yelled, "I'm stuck here living with a stranger! Forgive me for wanting to get to know you a little more than 'hi how are you? I'm fine'!"
Brahms stayed still "you'd be smart not to raise your voice at me." He growled.
If I hadn't of been so angry with him in that moment, I would have laughed in his face. His comeback was as toxic masculinity as it came.
I shut my mouth, my mood already soiled. His eyes radiated anger towards me. I wasn't shocked, deep down he was probably as violent as I.
Brahms stared at me for a few more long seconds before stalking out of the room. The walls let out low groans as if they shared the same frustration as I did, then silence was all I heard.
I waited a few seconds before moving. I felt as if I could scream. I slid off of the stool and onto the floor. I stared at my ankle that one was his fault. If he hadn't of been chasing after me, this wouldn't have happened, I would've been on my way long ago, not stuck here with a broken bone. Anger and disgust was all I felt. I had broken an important moral that I had respected for someone I didn't know.
I didn't see Brahms for the rest of the day, personally I was relieved that I didn't have to strain my brain interacting with him, I needed a break.
Once dusk hit, I decided that watching a sunset might lift my spirits a little out of the depths of despair it was wallowing in.
I scooted out of the library room where I had ended up after my argument with Brahms, and scooted into the foyer. The front door was locked, but if I could stand up for just a few seconds to unlock and open the door, I would be fine.
The carpet was stiff, not a speck of dirt could be seen. Neat freak, I thought as I inspected the carpet.
I kept an eye out for Brahms as I neared the front door, I didn't feel like conversing with him at all.
Once I was as close as I could get, I used a chair to help myself up. Standing, I felt dizzy, and wobbly. I hopped to the front door where I unlocked it, and pulled it open. The outside air was refreshing. I poked my head out cautiously, Before I went out completely, I noticed a black umbrella poking out of a round navy umbrella stand. I picked it up, my mood lifting slightly now that I had something to walk with.
I slowly limped with the umbrella outside. I shut the door quietly behind me. The air was crisp against my face. I hugged myself tight, as I stood on the porch and watched the sun slowly go down over the forest of trees in front of me.
I took a few steps down the stairs. I wanted to be out here as long as I could before I'd have to miserably go back inside.
My imagination took control, and before I knew it I was walking down the path. It was getting darker and harder to see by the minute, a chill ran over me as I realized that I could no longer see the house behind me. For a split second, I thought about leaving, if I was going to this was my chance. Before I could make that decision however, I heart a loud growl behind me.
My blood ran cold. Wolves. They often didn't come out during this weather, but when they did, they we're looking for food. My breath caught in my throat as I heard paws crunching on dried leaves in front of me. I was a goner, the only thing I had to fend them off with was the umbrella that was barely keeping me up. One slowly emerged from the forest surrounding us, two more sets of eyes glowed in the foliage.
I wanted to scream, yell, run. I knew better however, I knew that if I did, I'd be consumed faster than I could blink. I slowly turned around as if I hadn't seen them, they were at least a hundred feet away from me, so if I could calmly walk back to the house they might not go after me. I was wrong.
I tripped and fell. The umbrella slid across the dirt leaving me helpless. As soon as I went down, the wolves hungrily prowled closer.
"Please." I said, tears forming in my fearful eyes, "don't."
I drew myself up into a ball preparing for my demise, but then I heard it.
"BANG!"
I opened my eyes, the wolf in front of me was laying dead in the grass. The others who were watching from the shadows disappeared. Too shocked to function, I sat there dumbly gripping my knees. I didn't hear anything but my loud sobs pooling out of my mouth, I almost died. I would've if it wasn't for-
"Kátalin?"
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*THANK YOU FOR 300 READS!!! It's not a lot, but I'm thankful anyway 💕*
2,000 words later.... Welp, they just experienced their first fight lol! I wanted to make this chapter longer and less cliche but I knew that if I attempted to write any more, I would never get it done. I decided our protagonist's name would be Kátalin (Káti for short). I named her after my great anya Kátalin. I hope you guys like it, it's pronounced like "Katherine", the i makes an e sound.
The plot is going slow, and I'm a little discouraged with it (I hate Writer's block with a passion!!) If everything goes my way, the next update will hopefully be this week.
Thank you all for reading!
nagyon köszönöm az olvasást !!
-Ri