THOMAS
Thomas looks at Melina as she stares at the ground, oblivious to what’s happening around her. This is how she has been for the past three days. She no longer speaks, eats, or displays any emotion. Thomas roughly passes his hands through his head, cursing loudly as he paces the room.
“Maledetto!” Fuck.
He knows it’s because of what he did. He didn’t mean to hurt her in this way. He just wanted to fucking scare her, but it blew up in his face. Thomas didn’t like Melina like this; he fucking hated it. He approaches her by the couch she is sitting on near the bed and takes her hand in his.
“Melina,” he says softly. She doesn’t say anything and simply turns to face him with that blank look she’s had for the past three days.
“Are you hungry?” Thomas asks. She shakes her head.
“You haven’t eaten in days; you need to fucking eat something,” his grip on her hand tightens. He quickly let’s go of her hand as she winces slightly. “I didn’t mean to hold on too tight.”
Melina pulls her hand back to her body and wraps it around her knees, which are pulled up to her chest. She rests her head on them and stares at Thomas.
“How do I undo this damage I have done?” he softly strokes her hair. Melina closes her eyes, smiling a little. For the first time in three days, she shows emotion.
“You fucking smiled, you fucking did,” Thomas exclaims, his eyes lighting up. Melina opens her eyes, and the happy glint Thomas expects to see isn’t there. He sighs and looks at her, unsure what to do. Suddenly, an idea pops up; remembering his touch made her smile, Thomas takes Melina’s hands and pulls her to her feet.
“I hope this works,” Thomas says, sealing his lips with Melina’s. She remains stiff against him, but he doesn’t give up. He bites her bottom lip, forcing her mouth open, and wraps his arms around her waist.
The ice around Thomas’ heart cracks in two as Melina suddenly moves her mouth against his. He pulls her closer to him and deepens the kiss. The taste of her drives him nuts as it fills his mouth. He only pulls away when he notices she’s out of breath. Thomas releases a sigh of relief as he looks into her eyes, seeing life in them again, but she still doesn’t speak. She walks back to the couch and takes her old position.
MELINA
Melina rests her head on her knees and stares out the window. She licks her lips, trying to get the taste of Thomas. The tang of cigarette and alcohol lingers on her tongue. She recalls how her soul came alive as his taste blinded her senses moments ago. She didn’t plan to become numb to everything. It just happened, and she had no idea a kiss from him would get her out of it. Even though Thomas seems more annoyed by her unresponsiveness, Melina can tell he’s actually worried about her, which is surprising since he’s the reason for what she’s going through.
Melina knows she can’t be like this forever as Thomas would lose his mind and a Thomas without his senses is a monster that shouldn’t be unleashed into this world.
“I will be back soon with food for you to eat,” Thomas says, turning to walk out, but Melina grabs his hand, stopping him.
“I want to go back to the hotel,” she says. This place is a constant reminder of what happened. She needed to forget. Melina wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
“You’re speaking” his eyes light up, but he quickly masks it away. It’s like he wants to show he isn’t interested but finds it hard too.
“Yes. Will it be possible?”
“Yes, of course, I will have Leo bring the car around,” he says as he fetches his phone from his pants pocket and dials Leo’s number.
“Thank you,” Melina says. She couldn’t wait to leave the place. She’s hoping as she leaves, the memories of what happened will also leave.
***
Melina opens her eyes and finds herself in a dark room. She looks around the room, screaming ‘Hello,’ but no one answers. She wonders how she got here. Melina takes a step but quickly halts once someone appears from the shadows. Her eyes widen, surprised to ever see him again.
“It’s you,” Melina says, pointing at the man Thomas killed because of her. He stands before her with his body filled with wounds. His blood drips on the floor, painting it crimson.
“Save me,” The man cries out, reaching for Melina. She puts her hand forward, but before she can touch him, a knife appears and chops off the man’s hands. Melina screams as the man’s warm blood splashes on her face. The man drops to the floor, holding his amputated hand with his good hand as more blood gushes out. He screams in pain into the walls of the room. Melina gags, tasting his blood in her mouth.
Thomas appears from the shadow, torso bare and covered in blood Melina bets doesn’t belong to him. He holds a blade in his hand as he approaches the man on the floor.
“You can never save him,” he says, taking the blade to the man’s neck and slitting it.
“Stop!” Melina screams as more of her porcelain skin becomes coated with the man’s blood. She drops to the ground, staining her white dress with his blood.
“I killed him,” she says, tears streaming down her face. The man’s head rolls over to her, and his lifeless eyes stare at her. She throws up her dinner all over the bloody floor.
“I didn’t save him,” she continues, looking at his lifeless eyes staring back at her. Melina’s heart squeezes in her chest as guilt spreads in it. She wishes she was immune to feelings right now as her guilt is slowly killing her.
“I killed you. I’m sorry,” Melina cries, pleading to the dead man that will never answer her.
She cries and begs until there are no more tears and she has lost her voice. Fatigue overtakes her, and she closes her eyes, wishing she could join the man as she is tired of being unable to save him.