Damien walked out of the bedroom, slamming the door loudly behind him. He went to the drawer in his wardrobe, pulling out a small bag of pills. He took a deep breath and swallowed a handful, desperate to calm his racing mind and keep his powers under control. He couldn’t risk losing control again, not when Crystal’s life was at stake.
Once he was sure the pills would have taken effect, he grabbed his car keys and went downstairs to Crystal’s room. He knocked lightly, whispering “Amore” under his breath.
“Are you in there?”. He whispered lightly again.
“Come on babe. This is not the time to be stubborn”.
“Look, I’m sorry for whatever happened in my room. I am really sorry Tesoro. I…”. His voice breaks.
“I just lost control. Please open the door”.
“You lost control?”. She repeated angrily.
“You yelled at me like I was a piece of garbage, like I was nothing to you!” she yelled. “What’s going to happen next time you lose control? Are you going to hit me? Are you going to hurt me?”
“Crystal!!” Damien banged on the door, his knuckles turning white from the force. “I would never, ever, raise a hand to you. You have to believe me, I would never hurt you. I would never hurt you intentionally, please just listen for once”.
A few minutes passed in tense silence, with Damien on one side of the door and Crystal on the other. Finally, Crystal’s voice broke through the stillness.
“Damien?” she called softly.
“Mi reina”. He answers
“Can… Can you get me some tampons?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Of course I’d get them for you, anything else?.” He asked.
“Maybe some snacks too.”
“Snacks too?” he asked, trying to keep his voice light. “What kind of snacks are we talking about here?”
“I was thinking maybe some chocolate, some chips, and maybe some ice cream,” she said, a hint of a smile in her voice. “Just to get me through this monthly thing.”
“I’ll be back with everything you need,” he promised. “And maybe a few extra things too, to cheer you up. Okay?”
“Ok”. She whispered back.
Without wasting a moment, Damien went to his car and drove to the nearest convenience store. As he pulled into the parking lot, he took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heart. He couldn’t mess this up. He strode purposefully into the store and began scanning the aisles for the feminine hygiene section.
He walked up and down the aisles, feeling a bit like a lost child in a department store.
“Hello sir, how may I help you?”. The female sale asked.
“Uhmm!”. Damien scratched his head. He can’t believe he just forgot what she asked him to buy.
“What is this?”. He asked
“These are pampers sir”.
“Alright, I will buy them”. He said, pulling out his card.
“How old is your baby sir!.”
“Oh she’s about twenty five”.
The store clerk stared at him in shock.
“Oh this is for normal babies sir, let’s move to the adult section”.
“She’s on her monthly flow though”.
“Oh you mean pad sir?”. The female clerk giggled.
“Is that what you guys use?”.
“We use pad or tampons sir”.
“Oh I will buy both”. He said like a child.
“How many sir”.
“I will take it all”.
“All of them?”. She asked, raising an eyebrow.
“There were about 100 of them each”.
“Yes. Hurry up please”.
He turned to the clerk and said, “Can you please wrap up my items and have them delivered to my home?” He handed her a credit card and his address.
The female clerk smiled and began wrapping up the items. “Is there anything else you need?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No, that’s all. Thank you!”. He said, collecting his card back.
He headed out of the store and made his way to the snack store next door.
“What kind of snacks do you have ?”. He asked.
The clerk behind the counter smiled. “We have all sorts of snacks, from chips and pretzels to candy and popcorn. What’s your pleasure?”
“I’ll have 10 bags of chips, 10 boxes of chocolate, three cotton candy and one bag of candies ,” he said, trying to sound casual.
“Coming. right. up!” the clerk said slowly, thinking he was out of his mind.
“That will be $1000 sir”.
He handed her his card without saying a word.
“I need you to deliver it in five minutes”. He said, giving her another home address card.
“If it passes five minutes. You won’t be alive to give me your explanation”. His voice was dark and threatened.
The clerk shivered in fear. She tried to keep hands from shaking as she hastily finished the transaction. she hurriedly started packing his stuff.
Giving him his card back.
“Don’t be late”. He said before leaving.
Before heading home, he made a quick stop at the flower shop and picked up a bouquet of roses. Then he hurried to his car and drove home.
When he got to his house, he was surprised to see a delivery van already parked outside. He walked in the door, and sure enough, the snacks he had ordered were sitting on the kitchen counter.
He could hear voices coming from the living room. As he approached, he saw Crystal lying on the couch, a warm towel on her stomach.
“Damien what is all this?”.
“They are tampons and pads”. He replied with no shame.
“How many did you buy?”.
“All they have in store!”.
“Do you want me to bleed till death? Why did you get so many? And so many snacks too” . Crystal yelled surprisingly.
“And where is the ice cream I told you to get?”.
“Oh shit”.