Yuri lay on the bed, the air growing colder as winter prepared to succeed autumn. She had been here, in his house, for God knows how long. She didn't know whether she'll ever go home, to see her beloved dog again, or if he had survived after all. Her life had been one twisted joke, and she just wanted someone to end it with a punch line. She had nothing else to lose, save for her sanity, and she was beginning to think she was losing that too. She shifted her position slightly, hoping that sleep would wash over her soon. It only came briefly, and when she awoke she found him lying beside her. 

 She didn't even move, but she swallowed slowly. What did he want from her? He expressed that he did not wish to harm her, yet here she was. And here he was, with his unmoving stare and emotionless eyes. Yuri got up slowly, bending over the edge of the bed, and hugging her knees to her chest. She stared straight ahead, keeping her cool as he did the same. "You have to release me," she said softly.

 "No..." She heard desperation, anger and agony in his voice. She tried to picture what he looked like as he said it, instead of looking at him face to face. She had grown to hate him, in a way that she couldn't explain why. Perhaps it was because she suspected him of being her parents' murderer, or that he kept her here for so long, with little information of who he was and what he was to do with her. But she was sick of him already, and so tired of being kept in the dark. If he wasn't going to give her answers, then she should be allowed to go home. To continue with her mundane life, but with a lot less strain on her sanity.

 "Why not?" she demanded.

 "I..." he paused, as if he didn't even know why himself. This made her even more infuriated with him. "I can't."

 "Can't," she fought to keep her voice calm, but it has risen slightly. "Or won't?"

 "Both." he answered immediately. 

 "What do you know of my parents' death?" she asked, suddenly standing and glaring at him. He looked back at her, like a child would in shock when their parent confronted them. He rubbed his hands between his legs, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed. The scar on the side of his face was an ugly dark maroon, as if fire was permanently etched into his skin. 

 "I can't tell you..."

 "Then why am I here?" Her cool was slipping, and all she wanted to do was to stomp out of the house and towards her home.

 "I want to keep you," he blurted out, then looked shocked at himself. He looked down quickly, and Yuri thought she saw red crawl up his cheeks. She waited impatiently for him to explain himself, but he didn't make a sound. Finally, she's had enough and was heading towards the door, when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. He was on his feet, and when she stared up at him, she saw confusion in his eyes. "Yuri... they ruined everything."

 "Who did?" she asked breathlessly.

 His face contorted into anger, and then he looked lost again. It was like talking to a child who didn't know his own emotions; the way they flit across his features, as if he didn't know which one he should act out. "Your parents... they ruined everything."

 "What the are you talking about?!" she screamed at him, wrenching her wrist from his grasp. But he gripped her shoulders instead, his eyes flaring with anger. 

 "They ruined us Yuri!" he shouted, shaking her. "They ruined the chance I could've had with you! It was an accident..." he choked out his words, but Yuri didn't believe him. She has had enough of him, of wondering whether to believe his lies or not. Or if they were lies at all. 

 "Let go of me!" she screamed, struggling against him. But he was too strong, and his hold seemed to get tighter as she struggled. "I said let go!"

 "I could've had a life with you!" he sobbed, shaking her more violently this time. Tears were streaming down his face. "All I ever wanted was you!"

 "STOP IT! You're hurting me...!" she gasped, thumping her fists against his chest. He let her go, but she didn't have time to run, because he encircled her waist with a strong arm, and brought her to him in a crushing embrace. 

 "You're all I have," he whispered against her neck. She was his life, even though she hadn't known him.

 "You don't own me! I was never yours!" she screamed, fighting to breathe. He was starting to cut off her air supply, and her struggles were becoming weaker. 

 "Don't say that!" he bellowed, and he clamped a hand over . He didn't notice himself twist her neck, nor did he register the slight crunch that followed. All he knew was that she stopped moving, and when he released her, she simply fell to the bed with a soft thump. He stood over her body, a numbness silently crushing him until he felt movement again. He staggered towards the bedside table, drawing out a gun he had kept. He was meant to shoot for his head, but in his clumsiness, he ended up firing himself close to the heart. He dropped the heavy metal, then looked back at Yuri's silent figure. He took two steps, before he spat out blood and fell next to her. 

 He lay next to her, the same way he did just moments before. She was so beautiful, even in death. He reached out to take her hand, gently now as he had no strength left. She was his life. All he ever wanted was her; it started out as a glance, where it grew to an addiction. And as the years rolled by, his obsession grew but he had always maintained his distance. Until today. He was determined to remain close to her, as his final act. "Yuri..." he breathed, gently her hair. "It was you Yuri... if I had the chance, it was always meant to be you."

 He gasped and his body shook, as if his soul was ripping open its confines in its struggle to get out. He let out a choke, and he was still.

  Yuri,

 We can be together now.

 Forever.