by
Eternal Nights By Your Side, Eternal Nights In the Sky
...
A hopeful boy calls out your name from outside your house.
A hopeful boy carries a sweet smile as he enters your room.
A hopeful boy is filled with happiness when he is with you.
A hopeful boy cries in sorrow when you are sad.
A hopeful boy wishes to stay by your side forever.
A hopeful boy will devour the sun and the stars and the moons, so that this lonely night with you, may be eternal.
...
Chapter 1
September 8, 2016, 3:30 AM.
Across the cold and lonely deserts of the Golden State, a blacked out Mark IV Supra travels under the coat of night. A man in black fit cruises west through the California springs, city lights illuminate the far horizons.
Several men sit around a table inside a faintly lit room. The gray moon appears through the window. Three of the men wear suits. One is a police officer. And another three appear as dangerous gang members. All equipped with firearms.
"How much did we make this month?" A man with dark glasses inquires.
The table is topped with stacks of money.
"Around 300k," One of the gang members replies, "100 from cocaine, 50 from trafficking, and, uh, 150 from the usual business."
"Good."
"However, señor. We ran into a little bit of trouble." A man with thick chains around his neck comments.
"Hm?"
"We had a run in with THE Viper…"
The mk continues to accelerate down the highway.
"...He shot and killed 9 of my men, HEADSHOTS, while we waited at a parking lot. We couldn't even tell where the bullets were coming from. Tell me, *****, what kind of monster are we dealing with here?"
"Well, it's not just a monster, it's TWO actually." The police officer replies.
"What do you mean?"
"What? Don't tell me you haven't heard of them."
***** follows up, "A duo of 'sicarios' that hail from Mexico. No one really knows where they came from, or who they are…"
"Are they part of the 'carteles'?"
"I think they were, once. But, where did you encounter them, [name redacted]?"
"San Diego, before crossing the 'linea'. We ate lunch when suddenly bullets rained on us. We had to give up 25 to the police to leave us alone."
"Hm, along the way, we might of fucked with the wrong people."
"*****, tienes miedo?"
A few seconds of silence pass.
"Hm? What is that sound?" [name redacted] looks out the window.
"Just a car. We're pretty close to the highway." One of the thugs clarifies.
"It hasn't faded, this- this shit's approaching us…!?" ***** starts to feel concerned.
"I know that sound, it's a Supra…" The police officer gets off his chair.
"A Supra? Shit!!! That's him!!! Perra madre! Down, everyone-"
The windows shatter as bullets penetrate the men sitting around the table. Blood is spilled tainting the money a dark red. After a few seconds, the room becomes quiet. The door is kicked down. A man enters holding an AK-47. He stares down the bodies for a few seconds, half his face is covered by long hair, a rose rests underneath his left eye. He makes a call.
"It's done."
"Good, burn everything down." A voice responds back on the phone.
"Understood." The man scatters gasoline through and around the building. He lights up a cigar and drops the firematch to the ground, setting aflame the whole place. Afterwards, the Supra accelerates into the night as the warehouse burns behind it.
…
August 15, 2016, 3:46 PM.
The sounds of cars and talking people fill the atmosphere of the street. At a traffic light, a red Challenger SRT waits with its roaring engine. The woman driving the vehicle takes a hit from her joint and lets out the smoke through the window, then looks over at the four suitcases resting in the passenger's seat. She wears mini-shorts and a skimpy tank-top. She looks around, examining her surroundings. Something catches her attention. A group of nefarious-looking men walking on the sidewalk. She quickly faces away and accelerates when the light turns green.
"I don't have time for this shit today…"
The Hellcat quickly passes 70 miles per hour on the boulevard. She gets a text message, upon reading it, it deeply uneases her. Distracted by thoughts, the vehicle roars down the street. However, at the point of an intersection, small figures appear without warning in the middle of the road.
Time slows down as she sees a couple of kids run across the street. A cheerful boy dragging along a worried-looking girl, with gleams of innocence about them. Her eyes open wide in shock, her heart drops, she steers the wheel to the right, avoiding the kids, then to the left getting back on track, however the speed is too much, she tries to hit the brakes but loses control. The Hellcat rams onto incoming traffic and everything goes black.
The woman involved in the accident sustained several but non-fatal injuries. She lays in a hospital bed resting. It has been several days since she almost killed those two kids, whom she can't get out of her head. The image of those innocent kids going about their lives without a single care complexed her. She spent all her days thinking about them.
A man enters the hospital room, dressed in black, with dark eyes that reflect no light and black silky hair that reaches his neck. The tattoo of a rose resides below his left eye. A silver rosary hangs from his neck.
The eyes of the two stay locked for a little while.
"Hazel-"
"Tobias-"
"Oh-" They talk over each other.
"Um…"
"Yes?"
"Um, so, feeling better?" Tobias asks.
"Yeah, I am… Um, what are you hiding behind your back?"
"Oh- ah, well, actually…"
"Hm?"
"I- I brought you… I brought some flowers…"
"Flowers?"
Tobias reveals a beautifully simple bouquet of roses and daisies.
"I didn't know which ones to buy."
A strange remnant of a memory springs onto Hazel's mind. She can't exactly remember what it is. But it makes her feel weirdly sad.
"What's wrong? You don't like them?"
"Huh? Oh no, I like them. But I thought I just remembered something..."
"..." Tobias looks down at the flowers. He walks up to Hazel and places them gently on top of her. "I have something to do. I'll come back later."
Hazel grabs the bouquet, "Hey, um, your birthday is in three weeks."
"I won't be back in a while. Take care of yourself."
Tobias exits the room. The blank light of the white room remains.
Hazel stays staring at the shut door. Deep in thought. She bears the bouquet close to her. She takes a deep breath. Silent for several minutes. She can feel the pain throughout her body. Her fingers feel weak. Her head and eyes turn to face the window, looking at the city outside, cursing God. cursing the world, cursing humanity, cursing men, cursing herself, cursing fate, but who's to blame? Who is responsible for the misery and tragedy in their lives? She doesn't have any answers.
A nurse enters the room with medicine on hands, "Please take this."
Hazel swallows the painkillers with a cup of water. She sets the glass down, and more liquor is served. She sips it down, looking up at the dim lights of the room. She looks down at the floor. Counting the fancy tiles of her home. Ten days had passed since the day of the incident. She places down the cup, "Serve me more, Ana."
The elegantly dressed woman holding the bottle politely declines her request. "I am afraid not."
"Get the keys to my car."
"It is at a junkyard."
Hazel drops the cup to the floor. Shattering it. "Bring me some sleeping pills. I wish to rest."
Ana obliges. She takes a leave.
Hazel waits. After a few minutes, her hands get sweaty, she rubs her feet against the ground, and her pupils become restless. Her vision is blurry, and she can hear her heart resounding across her being. In the corner of the room, on a shelf, a framed photo attracts her attention. She stands up and walks to it. She picks it up with both hands. It is not a photo. Hardly a piece of art either. It is a piece of paper, with a poem written on it. The words are faded and hard to read. At the bottom, there is a poorly drawn girl and boy as stick figures. She stares at it for a few moments. Then her eyes widen as terrible memories rush through her mind. She throws the framed picture at the wall, breaking the glass sustaining it. She steps back, shocked, shaking.
"Hazel? Hazel! Everything alright?"
The servant rushes to her aid. She helps her sit down. Hazel's breathing is heavy, erratic. She struggles to control herself, she puts her hands to her face, almost crying. It takes her several moments to calm down. Afterwards, she takes the sleeping pills, and her servant helps her to bed, where she stares at the ceiling until her eyes give out and falls asleep without knowing. Hours pass in an instant, it is now the middle of the night. Hazel wakes up sweating and dizzy, her head feeling like it might explode. She sits up, examining the floor. Then on her feet, her throat is dry and vision weak. She walks out the room, slowly moving her legs. The lights are off, the darkness of the passage seems infinite and devouring, the air is still and cold, the silence penetrates her ears. By the end are the flowers Tobias gifted her ten days ago, colorless and withered. She remembers something, colorful flowers turned gray in the dark corridor. On some forgotten day sixteen years ago, Tobias gifted her dazzling flowers for her quinceañera. But they were snatched from her hands, stepped on, their beauty was eaten away. A man most trusted, a father to two parentless kids. A betrayer. A pervert. A monster that ate the dreams of Hazel and Tobias. With tears of blood, with colorful flowers turned gray in the dark corridor, she was dragged to the floor. Hands of darkness covering her mouth and pinning her arms. Desperate screams of help from shut mouths. Blinkless eyes staring through the shadows.
Hazel falls to her knees, vomiting. Shaken. Those memories were hidden in the darkest parts of her mind. For the kindness she believed in, deceived her, two fucking times… Hazel sobs facing the floor. Those two kids come to her mind again. The image of a pair of innocent spirits running across the street without troubles made her cry even more. She remembers more. More than twenty years ago, Tobias and herself were happy once. They were happy once. But such happiness was taken away from them…
With several minutes gone, Hazel gets up. Clearing the tears off her face.
"I want to be happy once more…
I want to be happy and live peacefully with Tobias…
I want to play the guitar and sing like we used to…
I want to see him smile…"
Whispers of hope echo across the walls of the empty house, never to be heard by anyone, forever ignored by our Father above.
…
September 8, 5:09 PM.
The painful screams of a man disturb the peaceful tranquility of the night. Horrid screeching that scars the mind.
"STOP!!!! WHY DO YOU DO THIS!!!!????"
A man is seated in a chair within a dim room without windows. A rope holds his hands behind his back, and blood covers the nakedness of his body.
"IS 2 MILLION NOT ENOUGH???!!!! I CAN GIVE YOU MORE!!! BUT PLEASE SPARE MY LIFE….!!!!"
A shadow walks up behind him, no words, and with a sharp blade, opens up the skin on his back.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" He cries out in pain and blood.
"No, the payment quantity is more than satisfactory. This is personal." The light erases the shade from his face, but not the hatred and disdain. It is Tobias.
"AAGHHHH!!!!" The bloodcurdling bellowing is insatiable, the man's entire body twitches and shakes with torment.
Tobias pulls the man's head back and locks eyes with him. "Where is she?"
Perhaps the pain deafened him, or the fear kept him quiet, there was no initial response.
"WHERE IS SHE?!"
The man's face squints, "I don't know…"
Tobias kicks the man, dropping him to the floor.
"If you won't tell me, I'll get the answer from (name censored for security purposes), he should know."
Tobias steps back. He drops the knife in his hands and walks out. Leaving the man to bleed out a slow and painful death from the countless cuts in his body. The hallways of the building are ravaged and abandoned. The moonlight hardly provides enough light to see. He walks for several minutes, past empty rooms, across lonely passageways and broken doors, and down deep staircases, catching glimpses of the city every time he passes a window, each time feeling a cold and slight breeze. Once outside, his car awaits him, camouflaged with the darkness of the night. He ignites the one thousand horsepower engine and storms away leaving burn marks on the concrete. The night fury ferociously traverses the city while its exhausts violently spew fire. Everybody knows when it's coming. Its enemies tremble at its roars. The dragon and its rider are feared across the lands.
A lot say, "Here it comes, you can hear it in the distance!" And the Supra tears by playing an oomph melody.
Hours of driving are gone in an instant, passing cities and overtaking vehicles. Soon, the day comes to a close, just like all days do. And the night takes its place, but only for a moment too. Tobias yawns, quickly clearing the teardrops. He exits the highway, and comes to a stop at a red light. And the seconds pass, and the hours pass, and the years pass, and the centuries pass, and eternities pass. But the light remains red. Unchanging. So he stays in place. Eventually, the red light envelops him, blinds him, eats him. The fabric of space around him tears and breaks apart. He falls down, or up, or sideways, he can't tell, but he is falling. He can feel as his arms and legs detach from his body, and as the senses abandon him. He can not feel anything, but he can feel everything. Are his eyes open? Or closed? He can't tell what is in front of him. Only indistinguishable colors and things he has never seen before.
Where am I? What time is it? Who… am I? What am I?
He closes his eyes and starts drifting into nothingness. But he can't fall asleep, a continuous sound distracts him, a high-pitched sound that becomes louder as he listens to it more. Eventually, it becomes too much. Tobias snaps awake, his eyes open immediately, his hands sweaty, holding the steering wheel, and a plethora of cars honking at him nonstop. His heart races, and his breathing's out of control. Tobias shifts into first gear and goes on the now green light. How long was he out for? He doesn't know. Simply silently drives back home, through the rough roads.
After a few minutes of silence, someone springs onto his mind,
"Hm, wonder how Hazel's doing? I should get her more flowers."
On a street corner, he finds a man selling flowers underneath the pole light.
"¡Quiúbole, compa! Did your girl like the flowers you took last time?"
"Yes she did. May I buy another bouquet?"
"¡Claro que sí! Here you go, compadre. Hey, and also, keep that head up and smile a bit, I bet you'd look more handsome." The man happily hands Tobias the bouquet of lilies and roses.
"Gracias, que tenga un buen día."
Tobias hands the man a twenty dollar bill and heads off. After a few rights and some lefts, he finds himself riding through streets worth millions. Lavish and spacious houses tower high into the sky, trapping everything between them. Luxury and classic cars inundate the edges of every sidewalk. Tobias' home is also one no different to the rest. One among many. He remembers when Hazel and himself spent nights sleeping under bridges, warming themselves up by hugging each other and burning paper scraps. Lighting up a fire, just like the other thousands of fires lit up by homeless souls freezing in the dead night. Tall gates slide open, allowing way for the Mark 4. Trees and armed, suited-up men are lined up on each side of the driveway like knights making way for a returning king. The mansion up front sits three stories high and covers dozens of square meters. Multiple sports cars decorate the encirclings of the clear waters of the fountain placed in the center: A blooded Z06 LZ1 with dark tinted windows, a convertible marine-blue 911 Carrera 4s, a white-striped Shelby Cobra GT500, and a monotone gray M3 E36. Tobias parks the Supra Mark 4 and heads towards the main entrance. He enters his house through elegant white doors. Inside, most of the lights are off. He walks past the kitchen. After walking down the dark corridor, Tobias is not surprised by the dead silence. He expects Hazel to be in bed, resting. How many times have they not come across death? He wonders. Even if it is a wonder. Playing with death is not something to be done. Tobias and Hazel have never once played with death because they know very well its terrors. He knows Hazel is going through something else besides bodily pains, a spiritual injury, perhaps. He may know where it stems from. It may be something that they once had. But was taken from them. He knows what it is. But he doesn't want to accept it. He has rejected all of it since a long time ago. Because everytime he thinks about it, it hurts his heart. Even though he wishes for what was once taken from them, he curses it. Because he knows he can never get it back. What was once taken from them? He forgets sometimes. But he does remember sometimes. So he washes the past away, with alcohol, sex, marihuana, cars, gambling and killing. But no matter how much he runs, how much he hides, where he goes, what path he takes, for how long he is gone, he always ends up in that same dark place. Where that trauma and hatred overwhelm him. And it makes him want to end his life. But he has never once pulled the trigger. She always stops him, even when she is not there. Twenty years ago, he would have made the jump, had he not met her at the bridge. What crazy coincidence that she happened to be walking the same bridge? He laughs a little. He knew it wasn't a coincidence. That day, she walked the same bridge for the same reason.
Walking across the dark corridor, he finds the flowers he gave Hazel two weeks ago, gray and lifeless. A sudden memory comes back to him. The day he gave Hazel a bouquet of flowers for her fifteenth birthday. The maids of the house adorned her body with an angelic white dress. And the patrón threw a huge fiesta and bought a cake multiple towers tall. Tobias had prepared a bouquet with the most pretty flowers he could find across the lands of México and a twenty carat ring. He intended to make Hazel his wife. He gifted the flowers to Hazel, but held onto the ring. Unsure of when and how to propose. After drinks and talking with patrons and workmates, Tobias looks for Hazel. He hadn't noticed Hazel had gone inside the mansion. Presumably to change outfits. He decided he would propose to her secretly first. He ran to Hazel's room gripping tightly the box holding the ring within. His heart was pounding with excitement. He opened the door to the corridor leading to Hazel's room. He opened the door. He opened the door. He opened the door. Inside. Monsters. Monsters. There were monsters inside. There were monsters inside. There were monsters inside. They had the faces of monsters. The faces of demons. They were demons. They looked terrifying and ugly. He was scared. He was scared. He was scared. The demons were holding down Hazel. Ripping off her clothes. Shutting off her mouth. The monsters turned to look at him. There was evil in their eyes. Hearts filled with evil, false spirits. And one with the face of the Devil himself, a most horrifying abomination. A tear falls from his eye, a tear of betrayal, sadness, hate, confusion, anger, disbelief, shock and disgust. A single tear, and then a rain of blood taints the beautifully torn-apart white dress hanging off Hazel's shoulders. He stands before the door one more time. Still. Silent. Anxious. Terrified. The pulses of his heart resonate throughout his body. He does not want to open the door, fearing what is on the other side. Slowly reaching out for the doorknob, he can't breathe, he can't think. Although the years have passed and his hands slayed those beasts, the white dress remains torn and the blood has yet to dry up or be washed away. He gets a hold of the doorknob, but freezes for several seconds, minutes, hours. The space between him and the door grows larger and larger, until he can barely see it. He tries to make an attempt at opening the door, however, unable to apply any force, he starts to feel hollow, empty. He can see the end of the universe and time. The nothingness of the abyss starts pulling him in, once again, he closes his eyes again and tries to fall asleep. But, a repeating sound won't let him fall asleep. Three quick taps and a two and a half second interval in between them. The sounds don't make sense, but his ears start to make out what they are. He can hear the semblances of syllables, words. 'To-...-...', 'To-...-...s', he still can't tell what he is hearing. The sound is blurry and far away.
"Tobias!"
He quickly turns around in surprise, and sees Hazel standing a few feet away from him.
"Tobias, what are you doing?" She asks.
"I uh… I was um… looking for you."
"Huh? Are those flowers?"
"Oh, ah yes they are. I thought of replacing the old ones."
A look of longing washes across her face, "They are beautiful, I like them a lot." She looks over to one side, "But um, well, now that you've found me, can you follow me for a second?"
"Um, yeah, sure. But are you feeling better now?"
"I am, I'm feeling a lot better. No need to worry about me."
Hazel walks at a slow rate across the shadows of the passages, Tobias follows closely behind. The mansion is barren of light, only illuminated by what little city and moonlight enters through the windows. The floor is finely tiled and the walls are adorned by countless paintings and arts. They open and close multiple doors, ascend staircases, and continue to walk in silence.
Tobias notices Hazel has been holding onto something this entire time, "What do you have with you?"
Hazel doesn't respond at first. She stops before a white door, "We're here…" She opens it and Tobias sees her disappear into the darkness within.
"Please come in."
Tobias doesn't immediately move, he isn't certain of what to expect. He isn't expecting anything at all, actually. Across the door, the room is completely black. There are no windows open, no lights, no sounds. He isn't thinking of much at the moment, he feels kinda tired, his left eye is closing on him. His single, lonely eye. His right eye is a hidden story eternally sleeping behind his long hair. He can feel his fingers shaking, his entire body shaking. From the cold? From exhaustion? From fear? From a deep longing of a long gone past decades off that quietly strays further away from him every nightfall? He doesn't know. But he knows, he simply denies what his heart knows is true, what his soul knows it's true. It's so simple, so beautiful to deny the truth. After all, what is gone, is gone, and he knows he can never get it back. No matter what he does.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!"
In a sudden eruption, the whole room explodes with bountiful colors and radiant laughter and cheers. Confetti rains from above, tables topped with gifts and plushies surround Tobias from all sides. Two butlers and Ana, their single maid, stand in the background, applauding.
"Do it, Hazel!" Ana exclaims.
Hazel awkwardly stands still, facing away from Tobias. She is clearly nervous, hesitant to turn around.
"Um, Tobias…."
She turns around slowly and carefully, not revealing what she is hiding.
"Um, I got a little request to make of you."
"Go, Hazel!" The support is everstrong.
"I know it's YOUR birthday and all, but I want to ask something of you, is that alright?"
Hazel turns in quick fashion, she places one knee on the ground, and extends her arms out to Tobias. Her hands gently held a small case, a case containing a thousand dreams and a million wishes of hope.
"Will you marry me, Tobias?"
She gave his dark eyes color. She made the shadows shine with light. She was beautiful. She was the most beautiful person in the world, in the universe. The diamond ring was like a small light next to the brightful sun, her eyes contained the stars. And he recalls once more, when their future was broken in half. When his dreams and hopes were shattered into countless pieces, countless bits of a broken diamond ring. The man who taught him the sword, stabbed him with the sword. But none of that mattered to him right now. His mind forgot all injustice committed against them, his heart forgave all evildoer that hurt them. Nothing else matters at this moment. It was just her and himself.
Tobias lowers his body to Hazel's level, he looks her directly in the eyes, he holds her hands. He says with a soft voice, "Yes…"
And with strong arms, he pulls her close and hugs her. And then, their lips connect, a dry but sweet kiss, as Hazel slides the ring onto Tobias' right hand.
"I love you, Tobias."
"I love you too, Hazel."