Ken opened his eyes
"Ooooo.....lovely..." Lina whispers , her smirk widening
"You woke up early," Her fingers reaching slowly towards the glass of scarlet liquid...
" that's unusual, " she's tacking a deliberate sip. She angled her entire form against the polished glass surface of the massive dining table....
there....flickering candles, wax weeping in slow, jagged trails down to the surface. A bottle of deep wine leaned back in bowl, the condensation dripping like sweat. Polished spoons, forks, and knives are decorated line by line, and a bouquet of rose.....
—cherries, sliced watermelon, clusters of grapes, and the jewel-like seeds...cracked pomegranates .
Lina's bare legs tangling, extending forward with a slow, feline grace, peeking out from her hem of the white floral maxi ...
Ken lies across the table, bare, bound with a scarlet wrapping ribbon.
He just yawns, clears his throat—"Ahem, ahem", looks around..... the room is bathed in the silver-white lights, on the far wall, a large painting, "Ophelia"... kitchen shelf....
"Still dreaming?"
Ken blinks at her, snapping his eyes open and shut over , over and over in a silent, sarcastic rhythm.
"haaah," Lina's face twisting into a mockery.
She took a fork, reaching closer, crawling rhythmically across the table... slowly leaning her form down.... her breath brushes his skin, Her fingers merging with the silver, deliberately runs the tip lightly over Ken's ribs. and she whispers, again,
"Tell me,
darling...
where should I cut you first?"
He silently stare at her pupil. why this silence, what he's thinking ?
she moves away. "aaah!" with annoyed voice, "You're too skinny...." but her lips brightened, " I'm not finding any 'sexy' parts to start with."
Ken casually yawn again
"Aaaah, your breaking the mood !" she yells.
"Not talking....?" a breathy vocal.... all of a sudden...for instance with brutal force, she hit the fork, into the palm of his hand.
Breath stopped.
She slowly leans in, watching his face closely, smirking.
Ken's expression hardly flickers, eyes are sparkling, still remain locked onto hers. his sharp jaw tightens.
"Still silent?" Lina leaned back, tilted her head. She move a bit far, throw the fork.
"Looks like you're not being a good bunny" Lina's voice dropping to a cold melody..
"I can tell just by looking at those dead,
sleepless eyes of yours "
He's breathing, fast !
She pushes herself away from him, sliding off the glass table, finally setting her feet on the floor.
"How long will you keep up this pathetic act" She asked, lighting a cigarette. "You're breaking my heart."
The kitchen shelf is behind her, neatly lined with spice jars, copper pots. Through a drawer under, she's searching, sharp movements. Seconds after, her lips started to beaming again.
"This knife will do" It's a 19th-century Italian stiletto
"Now... let's hear you sing."
69... no, no, no, noooo! 6 hours and 9 minutes earlier:
Lina walks with a confident stride, the "Azzaro" shopping bag swinging rhythmically on her fingers.
Behind, the shopkeeper women bow their heads,
calling out in unison,
"Come again, ma'am!"
Lina nods with a smile.
Steps out onto the bustling sidewalk,
slides off the sunglasses , she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath
" such a lovely weather!!
She pressed the phone to her ear.
"Hmm, baby? Mommy will be home late today, okay my lovey-dovey?"
At home, the Little boy leaned against the sofa, swinging his legs back and forth, twisting the phone cord around his finger. "okeeeee, Mommy... but there's nothing in the fridge."
"What? You didn't find anything?" Lina's brow furrowed. "Everything is there—pasta, soup..."
"Noooo... chocolate."
"Aaaaa, so you want chocolate... Lina let out a soft, melodic laugh, "No worries, son. Mommy will bring you all kind of chocolate and with chocolate ice cream, chocolate cakes, and chocolate puddings. Okay?"
"Okkk! And a chocolate sandwich!"
Lina blinked. "What's that? Cookies?"
"Yesss!"
"Good. Now, put Samantha on the phone!"
The boy pulled the phone away and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Samuuuuuu!"
Samantha hurried over, balancing the baby girl on her hip while she took the receiver. "Yes, ma'am?"
"Mmm, Samantha? You need to work some overtime today."
"Suddenly?" Samantha asked, surprised.
"Take care of the kids, okay?" Lina's voice took on a sharper edge, "Now tell me, how's my little princess?"
"She's fine. Sleeping."
"Did you give her milk? Not yet?"
"I'm about to,"
"Test the milk on your palm first," Lina commanded, then give her the bottle. Be careful, okay? Very careful."
"I will, ma'am."
She hangs up.
" Finally!! "
tun.tun.tun (phone ring)
"huh!"she ignore.
With a beaming lips, Lina opens the bag, pulls out the sleek glass bottle, prepares to take the first spray.... her finger poised on the nozzle...
"HATCHOO!!"
"What?!" She's stunned, her hands fumbling in the air. The sudden blast of the sneeze...
tun.tun.tun
"What?? Whaaat??"
A young man sneezes.
It's Ken, he's walking past her, he wears a faded black T-shirt, shredded across the back. He doesn't even look at her, rubbing his nose, muttering a tired "Ugh,"
tun.tun.tun
"wait, wait, nooo... noooo.... "
The perfume bottle fallen on the ground, broken
Ken walking toward the bus stop.
tun.tun.tun
She takes the phone.
"Madam... there's problem..."
"What do you mean....." her eyes narrowed.
"you still haven't found it?!" she snapped, "Do it fast! "
She paused, ".. no photo? Only a sketch?"
she hissed. "Ahhh!"
Her gaze locked on the phone screen. looking at the sketch.
"haaaaaaa !
"haaaa!
"how....
how...." She looks forward. Ken standing at the crowd line beside the bus.
fate !! "naaaah.."
"You lousy bastard..." she smiles, an unsettling smile....
A little girl stare at her, confused. " Mom, Look at her !!"
"Let's go dear...." The mother hurried, try to ignore.
Lina makes her face bubbly all of a sudden , wave at her and the girl wave back.
---
Ken get off the bus, continues walking, momentarily rubbing the nose before a sneeze: "Aaaaaah, Such a bad weather. very bad."
His phone rings.
"Haaa—James? Nah, I'm not going to campus today. Quizzes!! Nah, I'm not doing it."
"You know, I'm not graduating this year...yeah, i'm glad you know"
"my point is, I'm not in the mood to take a quiz today.
Bye, see ya."
Ken stands at the counter of a small convenience store. "A pack of Marlboro. Thanks."
As he fumbles for his change, he hears a voice_
"I'm sorry, ma'am," from the register next to him, the clerk says,
"Your card was declined. It didn't go through."
Lina sighs, "Oh... I'm so sorry." sounding awkward, acting ?
The clerk immediately takes the cigarettes back, near from her fingers.
Ken glances at her for a second, then starts to leave, tucking his own pack into the pocket.
"Excuse me,"
Ken stops and looks back. an embraceable plead gentle face?
Lina meets his eyes, "Can I have a cigarette?
Ken lights one and places the full packet in her hand.
Lina stands there, takes a long, slow drag, the smoke curling around her face, looking him walk away. "Ooooh, boy!"
Ken wanders without a map. At a quiet bus stop, he pauses to pat a stray dog, brushing on its fur.
A cafe stuck within a narrow alley entrance. He stops, sipping a cup of tea in silence.
Lina keeps distance, watches from the crowds,
Ken stands on the overpass quite for a while, looking down at the rushing.
He is walking along the edge of the lake. He sits there for a whole after noon, quietly,.
" what a lifeless bastard !!! " Lina smirk with irritation
Evening arrives, casting a heavy twilight hue over the rusted, empty railway tracks. The sky is a bruised purple, Ken still walking, a lonely silhouette against the fading sun.
She adjusts her coat, steps out of the shadows, closing the distance between.
"take your packet."
A smile tugs at the corner of Ken's mouth."aaaah, this packet". He's eyes locks with her. "You don't need to follow me. "
Lina stands silent
" I didn't break your luxury perfume.
I sneezed accidentally.
Not my fault, lady."
He doesn't wait for her reaction, simply walking down the tracks,
"Aaaaaaaaah, this bastard!! He doesn't know the word 'respect'
"Son of a...!
"hmmmm"
" I'm gonna make you million pieces today"
She whips out her phone, "Hello, Samantha? don't fall asleep, Today You'll need to stay the night with kids."
Ken walking silently, looking at the sky, how the redness is slowly merging with darkness, but...
"what is this feeling? cold?"
suddenly the world tilts.
a sharp, coldness at the base of his neck, followed by a rush of flame through the veins.
knees buckle instantly. He tries to turn back... collapses into the dirt, his vision blurring into a mess of blur sparkle.
Lina stands over him, silhouetted against the shades. She tosses a syringe aside, looms over his prone body, smirking.
"You're right, it wasn't your fault..... It's just the weather"
Present
"You're acting tough," Lina holding one of his fingernails.
put it on the silver of her blood-stained knife.
"beauty, isn't it ?"
"Oh dear, look at your face...." Lina tilts her head, leaning in so close,
How much longer are you going to stay silent?" Bright smile stretches across her lips. "
threw the nail on the glass table beside the other two—small, crimson-stained.
Ken's face.....rigid, teeth are clenched tightly, jaw muscles throbbed, breathing hard, heavy exhales, fixed gaze on the ceiling.
Lina didn't mind. She humming a soft tune, rhythmically crawling forward over his pinned body, her knees pressing into the table, fingers reaching for his fourth one.
His eyes locked with hers now.
" Loving the view?" She leaned down, closer, pressed the edge of the blade against his skin, ready to begin again....
tun.tun.tun (The phone ring)
"again!?"
"Aaah, this phone, always make such noises in good times...."
" and, this lousy bastard...
suddenly forgot...
how to make noise....."
"Hello, honey? Yes, Mommy is on her way.
Yes, I'm bringing chocolates with me, my hands are full...
I'm hanging up now...
Wait for dinner....sweaty..... Byeeeee."
Lina looked back at the table. Ken was staring at her, confusingly ?!
"What?" Lina snapped. "Is there something wrong ?"
"Ugh!" Lina snatched up her lighter, lit a fresh cigarette.
"You know, you're making this a very busy night," exhaling a plume of smoke that drifted over his sweat-streaked face.
"My other 'bunny' didn't make me work this hard. They usually start 'singing' by seeing the knife at first."
"But then again... " Lina leaned back, annoyance melting into a fresh layer of fascination, smile glowing with a renewed heat,
"who wants an easy play?"
She searched within the shelf, again? with a joy, grabbed a pizza cutter.
The stainless steel wheel glinted under the lantern light,
For instance, she climbed back onto the table. Straddling him, her form pinning his form firmly against the glass.
"Now I'm going to cut open your chest. Let's see if you have a heart in there for me."
Lina brushed the wheel of the pizza cutter against the skin of his chest.
Ken's smiles for the first time, . "After you open my chest... what will you do when you find no heart?"
Lina's eyes narrowed into a glare.
"these are your first words"
"how pathetic."
"Let's just see what I find, shall we?" She start to pressing...
"And then what?" he blink,
"What will you do after that?"
She stepped. "Be quiet, dear,"
"You're much better when you don't talk."
She gripped the handle of the pizza cutter, prepared to lean her full weight into the blade.....
tun.tun.tun. the phone on the table screamed
"Aaaaaah, I'm gonna break it now"
Still straddling him, pinning his chest down with her left hand, Lina snatched the phone with her right.
"Hello? Who is this?"
Then, her voice shifted instantly
"Kenny !!?
Son?
Sweaty... whose number are you calling from?"
Ken's smile brightened. "Your son's name is Ken as well?"
Lina gave him a death stare.
---
"Yes, honey!! No... then where are you? Whaaaat?
telephone booth?
You're in a telephone booth?
How did you get there?
Where's Samantha?
sleeping? Whaaaaat !"
Her voice rose in panic.
"Wait—you're roaming around?
Where are you, sweety? just tel me? where ?
What do you see in your surroundings?
Anything?
A blue fountain?
Mommy is coming! Wait right there.
No, no, no—no need to look for Mommy.
Stay exactly where you are!
Wait... hello? Hello?!
The phone cut of.
"Where the hell is he actually?" she panic?
"Why don't you use the phone booth's number to locate the area?" Ken spoke up casually
For a moment, she looking at him silently, seems like the world is ending in her hands, and he's in the middle.
---
The sleek, designer heels, Lina kicked them off, her bare feet hitting the pitch, she's dodging through the evening crowd, her shoulders colliding with startled pedestrians. She's crossing the road amidst red signal, some looking at her with tense eyes.
In the distance, Lina sees a glowing blue light, sprints toward it, a fountain at the edge of the park.
"Kenny! Kenny!" Her voice cracking,
Circles the fountain, searching behind every shadow, benches, trees.
"Kenny! Kenny!"
"Kenny! Kenny!"
she run over the entrance, run over the corners, run over the exits.
"Kenny! Kenny!"
"Kenny! Kenny!"
she collapses against a cold metal lamp post.
Breathless, trembling.
Excuse me, miss?
glowing under a flashlight, someone steps into
" Is there anything wrong?
You look..." A female park guard stand beside her.
"I'm searching for my son!" Lina gasps, her eyes widened
"He's six years old!"
"He's about this tall.
He has dark, messy hair—it never stays flat.
Lina held her hand out flat, palm down, trembling at the level of her waist to show her son's height
The guard nodded, " ma'am—come with me in the station."
The small brick building, a small voice "Mama!" he was there, playing on the grass, with a cat, holding a cone....
She almost running.
Lina dropped to her knees, pulling him into a fierce, desperate hug, buried her face in the crook of his neck
"Ah, dear! My god... Kenny, Kenny....
my Kenny"
"Mamma !!"
She forget to breath. pressed him more closer.
"why did you come out? Why did you leave the house? haaaa "
Kenny pulled back slightly, looking perfectly calm, a dark smudge of cocoa on his cheek
"I just wanted to eat chocolate, Mama. "
"wahhaat....aaaah..."
"chocolate?!
"chocolate?!
my silly boy !! "
She closed her eyes, clutching him tighter.
---
"Did you find your son?" Ken tilted his head back
"You... don't fuck with me!!" Lina screams.
"Now you look like a mommy. At first, you didn't remind me of one at all." He's watching her, curiously.
"Shut up..." she snapped.
He smile bakc.
"Now, what should I do with you?" Lina turned away, her fingers fumbling with his discarded wallet. She pulled out a worn plastic card.
"Ken Grasi."
Ken !!? Ken!?! Her eyes locked at his form.
I see... "
"National College..."
"Department of Mathematics and Natural Science" She tapped the card against her chin.
" This Card expired eleven months ago"
" looks like you still haven't graduated yet..." she lean beside the shelf.
"What a failure." she whispers.
Ken smiles, silently.
"Yes," he whispered back. "It is."
"Why aren't you sitting up? From what I can see, after I left, you managed to release yourself." She noticed most of the ribbons are fallen aside.
"I was worried about your son, Kenny. Seems like he has almost the same name as me." Ken didn't hesitate. He sat up slowly, the loose ribbons falling away from his bloodied hands.
He paused,
"and I think you found him,"
"Your face is telling me that."
Lina stared at him.
The silence stretching between them.
"Don't mock , Love." she finally let out a smile
Lina sat on the edge of the table, the pizza cutter forgotten in her lap. She looked at his free hands, then back at his face.
"Why didn't you escape?"
Ken reached out and took the pizza cutter, sliced through the remaining ribbons with a steady hand, setting himself completely free.
He reached down, snatched his shredded T-shirt from the floor, pulling it over his head to cover the bare torso, tossed the knife onto the glass table.
looked at her,
"A cigarette?"
Lina watched him in a heavy, ringing silence for a second.
Threw the crumpled packet toward him.
He caught it mid-air. Lit up, inhaled deeply, closing his eyes.
"It's good for a son to found his mother," a low, raspy whisper. "He's lucky."
Again the silence, slowly devouring.... the surroundings ?
but...
Lina smiles. The silence breaks
"You know..." she began, her voice smooth, velvet. "
You aren't a 'flesh and blood' human.
She's walking towards him.
And you're not just a bastard."
She took the pizza cuter
She leaned forward, the light catching the sharp angles of her face.
she looked into his unblinking eyes.
"You're a monster."