Albert turned off the television and got off the sofa as the snow fell more and more. He was wearing a black sweater and was about to enter the room, but when he saw that the door of Anas's room was not completely closed, he stepped opposite the direction of his room. Before closing the door, Albert peeked at what the girl was doing. It turned out that Anas hadn't slept even though his body was already in a roll of blankets.
"Why haven't you slept at the same time?" asked Albert, like a mother scolding her child.
Anas's head moved to find the source of the sound. "I can't sleep."
"Why?" Albert asked again.
"I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm afraid that sleeping will have nightmares," Anas said, as she closed two layers of blankets given by Albert.
"Nightmares will come if you keep thinking about it. Close your eyes and go to sleep," Albert said.
Anas shook her head softly. "Never mind. My head is dizzy, don't get angry all the time. You better sleep, Al. Don't you have to work tomorrow?"
"Now I'm unemployed," Albert said.
"What?"
Albert cleared his throat, he almost misspoke. "I mean I'm on leave. I took a few days off."
"Oh, I see." Anas opened a little quilt covering her mouth. "By the way... what did you say this afternoon was serious?"
"Is it what I said?" Albert didn't remember.
"Uhm... that... I can call you if I'm afraid of nightmares. You said you didn't want to accompany me to sleep, but I could call you," Anas said, a little hesitant.
Now that Albert has remembered, he did have time to say that so that Anas could sleep peacefully.
"You said it yourself. It wasn't me who asked," Anas added, quickly for fear that Albert would give a cynical response.
One corner of Albert's lips raised at Anas's innocent way of speaking. He stepped into Anas's room and closed the door very slowly and then leaned behind the door.
"Get used to not being long-winded. Just tell me if you ask me to accompany you. Of course, I won't sleep in your bed, I just stay in your room so you don't feel scared. Understand?" Albert joked, his hands were tucked away in his trouser pockets.
"Understand. So, you want to accompany me, right?" asked Anas.
Albert sighed. "Anas, learn to make conclusions. Already, get to bed quickly. I'm also sleepy."
"You're still fierce," Anas murmured, turning her body position towards the wall.
Albert could hear that, but he didn't want to respond. His eyes were more attracted by a book lying in the hallway of the bottom nightstand. He picked up the book and sat on the floor. Albert leaned on Anas's bed while reading the book to kill time.
"Albert, where are you?" asked Anas, she suspected that the man was running away because suddenly the atmosphere became quiet.
"Beside you," Albert said, briefly.
"Where?" Anas's hand moved in the air and suddenly hit Albert's head. The two of them were both silent in surprise. "Oops! What is it?"
Albert closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. His patience was trained by the 20-year-old girl. He thought that Anas was not much different from other girls his age, equally naughty in his way.
"My head, Anastasia," Albert said, calmly.
The girl grimaced and rubbed Albert's head directly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, I didn't know there was your head there. You know I'm blind. Sorry, Al. "
"You are healed, huh? It's starting to suck again," Albert said, putting Anas's hand off his head. There was a hint of relief when he felt Anas's body temperature that began to return to normal.
"Don't know, but it feels much better," Anas said, not knowing that the position of her head was directly behind Albert sitting.
"Hurry up and go to bed," Albert said, turning the pages of the book. It turned out that the story he read was quite exciting.
"You must be bored, huh, because just staying here?" asked Anas.
"No. I'm reading a book."
"Do you like to read?" The girl's face showed interest. "Try to read it by voice. I want to know what you're reading. Who knows, I could go to bed faster because I feel like I'm being told."
"The man named Nick immediately grabbed Selena with a knife that he found in the kitchen and dragged his ex-lover's body into the backyard. Nick buried Selena with snow so that the smell of blood did not smell. She looked at the trace of blood on the floor and smiled with satisfaction when she knew that no other man would replace her as the girl's lover. Then Nick—"
"Enough, enough! What kind of story is that? It's so creepy. I'm going to have nightmares because of that story!" nagging Anas, stopping Albert's voice. She shuddered even though the man was reading flatly.
"Murder story. I just obeyed your request anyway," Albert retorted, relaxed.
"I thought you were reading something fun," great-grandson Anas said.
"It's also fun." Albert turned back page by page. He cursed the main character several times who looked careless in covering the traces of his actions.
"Where's it fun from? Can you imagine your lover being killed like that?" Anas had never been able to understand Albert.
"I don't have a lover." Albert folded one end of the page while finding one scene that he thought could be imitated.
"It's sad," Anas muttered softly while covering her head with a quilt.
Albert then turned his head as he closed the book. "What did you say just now?"
"Nothing. I just want to sleep alone. Good night, Al. May you have a good dream," concluded Anas.
The man just sighed. He watched Anas for a moment to wait for the girl's next act, but it turned out that there was none. The atmosphere of the room became very quiet and Albert decided to move on.
"Good night too, Anas," Albert said, before closing the door slowly.
When the man wanted to step into the room, there was a light bouncing off the window near the door. Albert approached and saw through the curtains there was a black car with lights on perched in the yard of the house. He opened the curtains further, Albert recognized who was behind the wheel of the car and rushed out of the house.
As Albert closed the door, the figure behind the wheel got out of the car with a thick black coat and one big bag. The cold instantly swept across his face and neck. It was not unusual for the man to come unannounced and instead this was the first time he had come after Albert moved out of ladybug headquarters.
"What brings you here tonight?" asked Albert, full of questioning as Josh removed the headgear from his coat.