I turned to the quiet man staring at me, his innocent stare only fueling my frustration. I snapped, unable to contain my irritation any longer.
"Why did you do that?" I demanded, my voice filled with annoyance.
He shrugged dismissively. "I didn't do anything. You're just too wimpish."
"No, I'm not. You purposely did that," I retorted, determined to make my point.
He rolled his eyes, annoyance flashing across his face. "And draw attention to myself?"
I glared back at him, feeling a sense of unease. Samantha stepped out to see Black off, leaving me alone to sip my tea and contemplate the constant problems in my life. But then, I felt a chill crawl up my spine, as if someone was staring at me with malevolence. It felt eerily familiar.
Had the killer finally found me?
My body instinctively shifted into flight mode as I slowly looked up the stairs. There, I saw the man in the baseball cap, his complexion deathly pale, bloodshot eyes gleaming with an evil grin. My heart nearly skipped a beat or maybe it did. Damn! I couldn't even tell, but it was terrifying.
Thank goodness I was quick enough to decipher the hidden message in Samantha's gaze when she and Black came back running in like there was fire on the mountain.
"How would I know? Who knows, maybe you actually tried to kill me but failed, and now you're playing on my friend's sympathy, deciding to finish me off here, Mr. B-l-a-d-e?" I emphasized his name, Blade.
He froze, a flicker of repulsion crossing his face. "Don't ever call me that," he said, his voice colder than ice.
Samantha's eyes narrowed upon hearing the shift in his tone. She studied him intently, her mind working like a scientist discovering a new enigma. But as usual, I was always the one to disregard every warning.
"Well, it's not like I know your name," I defended, my anger evident.
He didn't reply immediately. After what felt like an eternity, he spoke again. "Call me Sei instead."
"Sei? Sei what?" I questioned, visibly angry as if the name Sei itself was bizarre.
"Sei nothing!" he exploded, clearly agitated.
"What are you trying to get at? One minute you're trying to kill me, and the next you're saving me. For some strange reason, you feel like a completely different person every time I talk to you. You're a maniac with a split personality and a peculiar name like 'SEI.' Are you Japanese or something?" I exclaimed, frustration boiling over.
Samantha sat there calmly, sipping her tea, observing our exchange like a spectator at a childish squabble.
Just then, Samantha's son's voice interrupted our senseless banter, drawing our attention. We both looked up to see the adorable child standing before us, clad in a rather hideous set of pajamas.
The boy noticed our puzzled expressions and looked down at himself, horror evident on his face.
"What am I wearing?" he shrieked, panic coloring his voice.
"Well, I didn't dress you, so you must have done it yourself," his mother chimed in, trying to soothe his distress.
The boy shook his head disapprovingly. "I would never do that."
He suddenly yanked his shirt open and proceeded to do the same with his pants, causing his mother to scream in shock. "What are you doing, Troy?"
"Taking off this terrible thing, of course," he replied matter-of-factly.
"Did you forget you don't wear anything under your pajamas?" his mother exclaimed.
The boy turned deep red, feeling embarrassed. "That means Katie saw me naked?"
"Nothing to be ashamed of, Little Troy. You're only five, and Katie is a mother and a nurse. She sees naked people almost every day," his mother reassured him. But the boy continued to blush.
"I'm going to bed, too ashamed to ever show my face to the world," he declared, running up the stairs.
Samantha sighed.
"Aren't you going to go after him?" I asked, concerned.
"He'll be fine. Besides, we need to decide where both of you are staying tonight. I can't handle a loud woman and a man who looks like he's on death's doorstep," Samantha replied, her tone exasperated.
I gasped in disbelief. "You're throwing me out?"
"No, I'm throwing both of you out," Samantha clarified.
"But why?" I pleaded, feeling hurt.
"Obviously, I think her lover will be back tonight," Sei chimed in, his gaze fixed on Samantha.
I gasped once again, this time even louder.
"You have a lover, and you never told me? Who is he, and how did Sei know? Did you tell him? I can't believe you would confide in a total stranger rather than your best friend," I exclaimed, feeling a mix of shock and betrayal. I couldn't reveal too much, though, as I had my own secrets to keep.
Samantha glared at Sei and responded sharply, "Obviously, it's because my son is home, and my baby comes first. Calhoun the detective is suspicious, and I think he might come back. So it would be safer for you to take him home and let him stay there instead," Samantha suggested.
Feigning exhaustion, I pretended to faint, lying on the chair with my eyes shut.
"How did you know his name?" I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously, as if I hadn't already figured out that Calhoun was the lover Samantha referred to.
"He told me," Samantha replied matter-of-factly.
"And you decided to address him informally?" I inquired, trying to piece together the puzzle.
"Yes, just like the way you told him to call you Alora," Samantha retorted, her anger evident.
"Why are you angry at me? Why is she mad at me?" I turned to face Sei, but he seemed utterly bored, as if none of this concerned him. Well, it actually didn't.
What was all this fuss about Samantha getting angry because someone addressed me informally?
Narrowing my eyes at my friend, I grinned like a madwoman.
"Calhoun is your lover. I now know why he volunteered to drive me home – he wanted to see you. He even entered the house without you inviting him in and made himself at home. I noticed the sweet smile you gave him. Oh, Sam, you're such a bad girl!" I exclaimed, playfully smacking her arm as she blushed deeply.
Suddenly, Samantha's face paled drastically, and I followed the direction of her gaze. Lo and behold, Sei lay unconscious on the sofa.
Hours later.........................
"He's so stubborn, Lora. He refused to let me dress his wound. He did it by himself, and he didn't even touch the food I offered him," Samantha complained to me as we tended to the unconscious man who looked as if he were dead with his pale skin and cold body.
"His hands are awfully cold, Lora. I'm scared. What if he dies?" Samantha expressed her worry.
"He won't, and even if he did, we would either bury him or toss him into the ocean. I bet no one would miss him," I replied, attempting to lighten the mood with a dark joke.
"Now is not the time for your horrible jokes, Lora. Do you think I should call Katie to come take a look at him?" Samantha asked, concerned.
"No, we don't want anyone else getting involved in this. He'll be alright. He just has a slight fever. If he rests, he'll be fine," I reassured her.
After a while, Sei's temperature returned to normal, and we both slumped onto the sofa, exhausted.
"What have we gotten ourselves into, Lora?" Samantha pondered aloud.
"Why did you bring him home in the first place?" I inquired.
"Because he saved you. Without him, you would be gone by now. I just wanted to show my appreciation. I planned to let him go in the morning when he's okay," Samantha explained.
"Just looking at him so vulnerable, I felt bad for him. I don't know why, but I feel like he's being dragged into hell. He's innocent," Samantha said, trying to convince me. "But then again, I feel like he's someone dangerous with ulterior motives, like he has two different beings within him."
I sighed. "I've noticed that too. Sometimes he scares me, and other times I feel protected. If I told you that he was the one who was in my room searching for something and tried to kill me when I walked in, would you still think he's innocent?"
Samantha pondered for a while. "Yes," she replied firmly, raising my eyebrow in question.
"You were the one who told me to avoid someone like him. Why the sudden change of heart?" I questioned.
"I really do not know," Samantha confessed, a brief flicker of confusion crossing her face that I almost didn't catch.
"Come to think of it, he told you he didn't plan to kill but made you unconscious, and when he tried to, he couldn't stop. I think someone must have done something to him," Samantha said with a serious tone.
I shook my head in disagreement. "It's not possible."
"It is. If I remember correctly, you told me he had that chemical that only exists in movies," Samantha lowered her voice, intentionally avoiding mentioning the name of the chemical. "And he came to save you when he saw you in danger, despite knowing that the place was swarming with cops and he could get caught. He overlooked that and saved you instead. He's not the villain here, Lora."
I sighed. "He's lying. I can tell he is," I whispered to myself. Glancing at my phone, I noticed it was past eleven. I decided it was time to leave. Black might decide to come back to see his girlfriend.
"I'll let you borrow my car. Yours is still at the lab. I'll have someone drive it to your place tomorrow. I think you should stay home for the week until all this drama dies down. I'm sure Edward would understand, his a very accommodating boss" Samantha suggested.
Picking up my jacket, too exhausted to say much, I nodded. "What about him? How are we going to move him?"
"Let's do it together," Samantha replied.
After a while, I sat behind the wheel, waving at my friend standing at the door as I drove into the night, lost in deep thought.