The glossy, beige colored steps groaned and cried as I heaved my weight upon them. Dragging my feet one by one, the creaking sounds seemed to echo louder and louder with every shift of my weight. I gripped the wooden railings as I went up the stairs, hoping to somewhat ease as much weight as possible, so that I could stop the noise from  reverberating back through my chest. The wailing like sounds made me feel as if every step I took was smothering, asphyxiating, stomping on the ranging child that thrashed and screamed within the cage of my chest. In that instant, I could feel the arms of the little child reach up my throat. 

Clawing.

 Something in me shattered.

 My limbs shook, collapsing down to the linoleum stairs below. The railings bore the brunt of my weight as my knees crashed down onto the step. I took a breath pleading and beckoning her to sit obediently within the confines of her cage. She grudgingly obliged, but settled down heavily like a boulder plonking down to the bottom of the pond as if to spite me for not releasing her. As if it was her way of rebelling against me, to remind me of how I had heedlessly treated her. My knees were beginning to bruise red, but I paid it no mind, and simply dusted them off. It wasn’t the physical pain that truly hurt, it was the emotional weight I couldn’t show. It was the invisible scars that wouldn’t heal, the words that stuck lodged in my throat.

 Before continuing to heave myself up the few remaining steps, I swallowed thickly to soothe my sore throat. The place where her fingers had plunged from the inside of my throat felt raw. It felt empty, yet so heavy. The hollow she had buried left a burning stick of incense in that gaping perforation. I laughed at her antics. The sudden sharp intake of air from the inhalation had risen the dense smoke striking my chest to convulse, seeping the smoke from between my clenched teeth and nose to make its way to the dimly lit hallway. 

Entering the sullen hallway, it did not speak like the stairwell had. It remained silent as it usually did, but something about it seemed odd. It felt as though it was watching in anticipation, holding its breath for me. The hallway knew of something that I didn’t. I wondered if I should have turned around, but the bed felt too tempting to not continue forward. The eerie silence was not unfamiliar. I gently swept my fingertips along the side of the walls only avoiding the doors of my sleeping neighbors. The walls were painted creamy white like whipping cream with a tint of a warm egg yolky color, and the doors were caramel colored labeled with gold colored metal numbers. There were no decorations other than the occasional doormats that had ‘welcome’ written on it. I reached my hand into my handbag  to search for my phone to see what time it was, but relented soon after from the fatigue that settled in. At the end of the hall, was my room, 153. But tonight, it wasn’t just me. 

A tall, thin silhouette stood leaning on my dingy door frame. The person’s frame was much larger than my own and emanated unspoken power. Growing nearer, I could make out the masculinity in his face despite his head hanging low, seemingly looking at his feet, preventing me from seeing his whole face since his bangs covered half of it. It couldn’t have been my creditor nor my boss. They didn’t know where I lived and even if they did, they were prohibited from coming near me once the contract ended as agreed. Moreover, the air that this person held, held not one that I had ever encountered before. It was the kind of energy where every cell was keenly focused on him without the need to demand undivided attention. It was as though he had a gravitational pull around himself that defied all other gravitational forces.

If I were to close my eyes, I think I would have been able to feel the strong pulsation of radiating energy coming from him going throughout the building. It thrummed and hummed so loudly it was like my own heartbeat was beating in my ear. Perhaps it was merely just fear talking. I pressed a hand over my heart, and was then certain that I wasn’t hallucinating. 

 The man turned his head to look at me. He slightly shook away the dark, long strands of hair that covered his chartreuse-green phosphorescent eyes. They held a glowing glint that I couldn’t decipher behind his black metal round rimmed glasses in the pitch black cloak that hid the rest of his features from sight. My feet remained moving despite the blaring alarms that set off in my mind. His eyes were dead set on mine, unmoving. At that moment, they were the only thing that filled my enraptured mind. There was an odd sense of attraction to this perilous man that awaited me. Perhaps it could have just been the delirium of fear and adrenaline that had taken me to this state. I wondered if he saw my pupils shaking or whether he felt the adrenaline thrumming in my blood stream. Taking a few more confident strides, it didn’t take me long to notice his beautiful pale skin that reflected the green glow, and bounced off his dark hair like the reflection of the moon upon the ocean at the darkest time of night. His lips were plump tinted with a slight pink color. He looked not older than thirty, and not younger than twenty-five. 

I found myself leaning on the wall, mirroring him. I didn’t yet want to go inside the lonesome apartment; At the same time, I wasn’t ready to face the blistering feeling from earlier when speaking. The silence felt comforting. “No.” I quietly admitted to myself, shaking my head, “It was nice having someone to bask in silence after such a long time of being alone.” I couldn’t even remember the last time I had a full conversation with someone about the mundane things in life. Time seemed to have just passed by without notice as I went through 7 years of my monotonous routine: Work, eat, and sleep. I’d hate to admit it, but it felt lonely without the comforts of another. 

The weight of his glowing, green eyes bore through my thoughts, reflectively making me return the gaze pulling me from the whirlpool of thoughts. His eyes coaxed me, and it made me want to speak. But, I dare not to test the limits of the unpredictable child in my chest after forcing her back to obedience not too long ago. He didn’t seem like a psychopathic serial killer, but I really could have cared less if he really was. I peeled myself from the wall to get to the loose knob of my door, positioning myself directly shoulder-to-shoulder to him. My sweaty shirt clung to my back and I was certain that there was most likely a large, wet patch there. I dug through the pocket of my jeans to pull out the gold key to unlock the apartment door. My hand tightened around it until it dug deep enough to sting. 

 Strange. 

It was the first time I felt warm and safe in a while, in the comforts of a complete stranger within such a close vicinity.  I took a deep, lung-full of his scent that was welcomed to completely envelope my olfactory. He smelled like the first rays of sunlight breaking through the musky scent of rain. At this point, my heart thudded erratically in my chest. My heart blurred all reason; I boldly took the liberty of indulging in another whiff of the scent, absolutely drowning myself in it. There was a twinge of honey and subtle floral that swirled around me. A sigh of satisfaction escaped my lungs before I could clamp my lips shut.  The scent felt comforting like my weighted blankets during the winter nights when the room felt too cold for only one person. The electrifying energy he radiated was starting to get to me. It pulsed through me sending a sharp current through my bloodstream. I quickly masked my gasp with a cough hoping he didn’t catch on. 

Ugh, I probably had a really dirty look on my face. Discreetly, I gave a look to my right where he stood, but he was blatantly staring straight at me, body facing me in a relaxed position with the side of his body and head leant on the wall. The intensity of his eyes up close intimidated me, but I refused to submit nor show my fear. But, the embarrassment flamed up my cheeks knowing he had certainly seen what I had done. I cringed inwardly at my deviant behavior. 

He lifted his head from the wall, tilting it slightly towards you with a small, but evident smirk on his face. The distance was so narrow, I could feel the heat of his skin radiating off onto mine. His irises were speckled with flecks of gold and silver strands thinner than hair intertwined with the dominant green color giving them a gleam when the light refracted off them. I could see the dilation and contraction of his pupils that reminded me of a mischievous cat, Louis, my neighbor had a long time ago. I couldn’t help, but want to let out a small giggle; Although, only a choked wheeze was let out. There were only small dark clouds puffed in between the distance where his two brilliant green eyes still glowed through the dense smoke. His smile disappeared.

I clamp my lips shut, smacking my hands over my mouth to stop the smoke from staining his beautiful face. I saw his eyes widen just a fraction, before returning stoic like it had never happened. My lungs continued to convulse smog. His hand reached towards me, pulling my hands away that covered the lower half of my face. He braced the back of my neck, breaking the distance until his lips hovered right above mine. His eyes were lidded, looking at me with a steady gaze. Smog puffed quickly from my nose and mouth fanning his pale face giving my nervousness away. I turned my face away from him as I heaved another cough, but he gently turned my face to look back at him. He placed another hand on the side of my face and tugged the hand on the back of my head so that there was merely a sliver of space between our two lips. He titled his head, and drew in a deep breath, pulling the dark clouds from the pit of my stomach.  With every breath he drew, it felt as though he drew every pain and burden buried deep within me, every secret revealed. I felt like I was floating above ground. For the first time, it felt like I could breathe. 

For a moment it felt like heaven had filled my senses. I wanted more of it. To feel the warm ghost of his lips upon mine. I shoved his chest away from me, breaking away from the gentle hold he had around my neck and waist. 

I narrowed my eyes, glaring hard as I possibly could at him, “Why did you do that?”

“You’re welcome.” He didn’t crack a smile, but the silver lace within his green eyes seemed to dance.

Come to think of it, the smoke had disappeared. It took me a moment to realize what he meant by that. I stepped back to put distance between the strange man and me. 

“Who are you and what do you want?”

He stood there casually snuffing the matted hair of the carpet with his glossy shoe. 

“A being,” he looked up, “who can set a good deal.”