I wake up on the floor, stiff and cold. My duvet, the one I'd meant to share with the guy from the sea, is bunched under me, damp and smelling faintly of salt.
For a second, I wonder if it was all some weird dream. But then I sit up and look around.
The first thing I notice is the water, definitely from the bathroom. It's everywhere. Puddles glisten across the floor, soaking into the rug, dripping from the desk.
My clothes are stuck to the walls, like someone flung them there while they were wet.
The second thing I notice is the mess. Papers, books, and pretty much everything else I own are strewn everywhere, as if a hurricane swept through the room.
And then there's the absence. The guy I dragged in last night, the one I was sure was half-dead. He's gone.
The clothes I lent him are on the floor in a soggy heap, completely drenched. That means he left the same way I found him _completely naked.
"Great," I mutter, running a hand through my hair. "Just great."
My stepmother's voice cuts through my thoughts, sharp and shrill from downstairs. "Merlin! Get down here! Now!"
I groan, dragging myself to my feet. The water squelches underfoot as I stumble toward the door, taking one last look around. It doesn't make any sense. How could he make this much of a mess without me waking up?
When I get to the kitchen, I realize the chaos isn't confined to my room. There's water everywhere_ on the tiles, the counters, even the walls. The back door is wide open, and I can see faint, wet footprints leading out into the yard. It's like he tore through the house in a panic.
My stepmother is standing in the middle of it all, her arms crossed and her face a mask of pure fury. "What the hell is this Merlin!?" she snaps.
Standing behind her , there's_ Candy , 15 year old step_sister who is so much like her mother, looks around with so much disgust on her face. She is in a freshman year in the same highschool I go but am a senior now.
Jackson, 21 year old , who studies at City Campus, who hates me to the moon and back.
Then there's Matt who used to work with dad in the company , who always behaves like am invisible to him.
They all don't know that am their siblings , they know am their nerd cousin.
"I didn't—" I start, but she doesn't let me finish.
"Clean it up. All of it. Now. And don't even think about leaving until it's spotless. And if you want to stay in this house_ then know you are staying as a servant , everything that Annie used to do , is your responsibility now! I can't feed and put a roof over a stranger's head just for free , your school fees , it'll be paid with the work you do here!" speaking of Annie_ the house help , I haven't seen her around.
I want to argue, but I know it won't matter. She never listens. So, I grab a mop and get to work.
By the time I'm done, I'm soaked to the skin, exhausted, and already late for school. No one is going out today , especially not to school, they are still grieving, but am not grieving , so why not go back to school and continue with the syllabus.
○●○
It's not like school is any better. It never is. I spend most of the day dodging whispers and the occasional shove from the kids who've made it their life's mission to remind me how much I don't belong.
Lunch is the worst. Sitting alone, picking at my food while they laugh and joke a few tables away.
That's when I hear it.
"Did you hear about that naked guy wandering around town this morning?" one of them says, loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear.
"Yeah," another chimes in. "Someone said he was at the park fountain, like, splashing around in it. Completely stark naked. Freaking weird, right?"
My stomach twists.
Could it be him? I wonder as the nerves in me get Jumpy . I want to find him and know if there's something wrong with him , but then , he is none of my business.
I helped him and he escaped , making a mess around , maybe I should leave it alone .
☆
After preparing everything and feeding the royal family dinner , I head upstairs . I certainly don't feel hungry , but am exhausted after all the chores I've done after school.
I head upstairs only to stop when I hear the news that captures my attention. "The man roaming the streets completely naked and causing chaos everywhere he steps ."
Again my heart stops.
I walk upstairs , trying to let away the thought of him . Knowing that I helped such a disastrous man.
I push my bedroom door open and enter then close the door , the moment I turn around I freeze.
A meter away from me stands the same person. It's like he moved to me with a ghost speed .
Naked as always.
I move away from him , there's water again, pooling around him. Coming from my bathroom.
His hair is damp, stringy, clinging to his face and shoulders. His skin, pale and shimmering faintly even in the dim light,—dry and cracked in places, as if it's peeling away to reveal something darker beneath.
For a moment, I don't know what to do. My heart is hammering, my mind racing. This is impossible. He was gone. He left. And now here he is, in my room again, like he belongs here.
And I've seen the news. I've heard the stories. Chaos in the streets. A naked man running wild, breaking things, splashing in fountains, causing scenes.
"What... wh.." I start, but my voice catches in my throat. He looks up at me then, and something about his eyes stops me cold.
They're wide, bright, almost glowing, like trapped moonlight. But they're desperate too, pleading.
His lips part as if he's about to speak, but no sound comes out. Instead, he points to his throat, then to the puddle beneath him, and finally toward the window.
His movements are jerky, frantic, like he's trying to explain something too big for words.
Am standing there still not sure what to do , he points the water on the floor then points outside .
I have no other thoughts but to think that he wants to go to the sea. Am still dumb to think this is a normal human being who is crazy for some reason. But he is too beautiful to be crazy . All that comes in my mind is that I wish I could help him and keep him.
I head to the window which he can't stop pointing at , as am still looking out he pushes me out , all the way from second floor to the ground , in the yard .
He jumps out too and drags me out of the gate.
In the darkness, I lead him back to the sea , quietly and nervously.
The moment we get near , he runs to the water and he disappears in there . I couldn't help but worry , thinking that he has drowned.
"Hello?! Hey? Are you okay in there?!" There's no response. I want to leave but something tells me that he will die in the water and that will hold me responsible.
Almost midnight and he is still not showing up. I decide to leave anyhow.