"Ooooo, lovely...
You woke up early;
that's unusual."
Lina is sitting on the glass surface of a large dining table adorned with candlelight, wine bottles, silverware — spread of watermelon, grapes, pomegranate, and cherries.
Her bare legs tangle and extend forward, peeking out from the white floral maxi dress.
She holds a dinner fork , nibbling joyfully with her red lips, looking at Ken.
He lies across the table, completely bare and bound with a wrapping ribbon.
He looks around, looks at her, yawns, clears his throat—"Ahem, ahem"
The room is bathed in the warm, flickering amber of lantern light, casting long, dancing shadows that stretch across the floor like reaching finger and On the far wall, the soft glow hits a painting of Ophelia... he seemingly enjoying the surroundings.
"Still dreaming?" she asks, her smile widening
He blinks at her, snapping his eyes open and shut over and over in a silent, sarcastic rhythm.
"haaah," her face twisting into a look of pure mockery.
She inches closer, her movements rhythmic as she crawls across the glass. Leaning down until her breath brushes his skin, she whispers, "Tell me, darling... where should I cut you first?"
She runs the tip of the blade lightly over his ribs. "You're too skinny, dear. I'm not finding any 'sexy' parts to start with."
"Not talking, babe?" she asks then intensely hit the fork into the palm of his hand with brutal force.
She leans in, watching his face closely, her smile brightening as his expression hardly flickers and His eyes spark and remain locked onto hers. his sharp jaw tightens.
"Looks like you're not being a good doll"
Her voice dropping to a cold whisper. "I can tell just by looking at those dead, sleepless eyes of yours
She pushes herself away from him, sliding off the glass table and finally setting her feet on the floor, standing tall.
"How long will you keep up this pathetic act"
"You're breaking my heart."
She lights a cigarette, the tip glowing a fierce orange in the dim lantern light. A kitchen shelf nearby is neatly lined with spice jars and copper pots. Through a drawer, she searches for something specific, her movements sharp her eyes landing on something and she smile again.
"This knife will do" Its 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, her "Azzaro" shopping bag swinging rhythmically at her side. Behind her, the shopkeepers bow their heads slightly, calling out in unison, "Come again, ma'am!"
She nods with a smile
She steps out onto the bustling sidewalk and slides her sunglasses off, perched them atop her head. She closes her eyes and takes a deep, satisfied breath of the city air. "Aaah," she purrs to herself, "such a lovely weather!!
Her phone rings.
She picks up. "Hmm, dear? Mommy will be home early, okay lovey-dovey?"
"What? You didn't find anything in the fridge?"
"No worries son. "
"Mommy will bring you some chocolate ice cream, chocolate cake, and chocolate pudding."
"ok?"
"Good. Now, put Samantha on the phone!!"
"Yes, Samantha? You need to work some overtime today. "
"Take care of the kids and don't fall asleep like before"
"How's my little princess? Did you give her milk? Not yet? Test the milk on your palm first, then give her the bottle, okay!!"
She hangs up.
" Finally!! "
With a giddy smile, she opens the bag and pulls out the sleek glass bottle. She prepares to take the first spray, her finger poised on the nozzle...
"HATCHOO!!"
The sudden blast of the sneeze makes her jump. "What?!" She's stunned, her hands fumbling in the air.
"What?? Whaaat??"
A young man sneezes.
It's Ken, he's walking past her, he wears a faded black T-shirt that is shredded across the back.
He doesn't even look at her. He just rubs his nose, muttering a tired "Ugh,"
The perfume bottle fallen on the ground, broken
"You lousy bastard..." she hisses... "Son of a...!"
Ken continues walking, momentarily rubbing his nose before a sneeze: "Aaaaaah, 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... and I'm not in the mood to take a quiz. Bye, see ya."
Ken stands at the counter of a small convenience store. "A pack of Marlboros, please. Thanks."
As he fumbles for his change, he hears a voice from the register next to him.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," the clerk says, sounding awkward. "Your card was declined. It didn't go through."
Lina sighs, a look of soft embarrassment on her face. "Oh... I'm so sorry."
The clerk immediately reaches out and takes the cigarettes back, placing them behind the counter. Ken glances at her—then starts to walk away, tucking his own pack into his pocket.
"Excuse me," she calls out.
Ken stops and looks back.
Lina meets his eyes, "Can I have a cigarette?
Ken lights one and places the full packet in her hand. He leaves.
Lina stands there, takes a long, slow drag of the cigarette, the smoke curling around her face like a veil. "Ooooh, boy!"
Lina keeps her distance.
He wanders without a map. At a quiet bus stop, he pauses to pat a stray dog, his hand lingering on its fur for just a moment before he moves on. He stops at a street van, nursing a hot cup of tea in silence, the steam rising to meet his tired face.
She watches from the crowds as he stands on the overpass, looking down at the rushing.
He drifts toward the water, walking along the edge of the lake, before finally settling by a pond. He sits there for a long time.
" what this lifeless bastard doing !!! " Lina yawn 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.
Lina's curiosity finally hitting a wall of boredom. She adjusts her coat.
"He's naive," she whispers to herself, a cold smirk playing on her lips. " not in a mood to play with this... "
"I need to go home..
but before...
let's see... "
Lina steps out of the shadows, closing the distance between them. "Hi," she says, her voice smooth and practiced. "Thanks for the cigarette. Here... your packet."
A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. ""You don't need to follow me. I sneezed accidentally. I didn't break your luxury perfume. Not my fault, lady."
Ken doesn't wait for her reaction. He simply turns his back on her and continues walking down the tracks,
Lina stands silent. "Aaaaaaaaah, this bastard!! He doesn't know the word 'respect'."
She whips out her phone, "
Hello, Samantha? I'll be home late. You need to stay the night with the kids."
The gravel crunches under Ken's boots but suddenly the world tilts. He feels a sharp, icy sting at the base of his neck, followed by a rush of cold fire through his veins. His knees buckle instantly. He tries to turn... collapses into the dirt, his vision blurring into a mess of blur sparkle.
Lina stands over him, silhouetted against the shades. She tosses a disposable syringe aside and looms over his prone body, her lips are beaming
"You're right, it wasn't your fault..... It's just the weather"
Present
"You're acting tough," she's holding one of his fingernails, placing it on the blade of her blood-stained knife.
"Look, beauty, isn't it ?"
Lina tilts her head, leaning in so close, "Oh dear, look at your face...."
Bright smile stretches across her lips. "How much longer are you going to stay silent?"
She placed the nail on the glass table beside the other two—small, crimson-stained.
Ken's face remained rigid, His teeth were clenched so tightly his jaw muscles throbbed, his breath hitching in jagged, heavy exhales, fix his gaze on the ceiling, as if trying to float away from his own body.
Lina didn't mind. She hummed a soft tune, rhythmically crawled forward over his pinned body, her knees pressing into the table and her fingers reaching for his fourth.
His eyes locked with hers now.
She leaned down, " Loving the view?"
She pressed the edge of the blade against his skin, ready to begin again....
The phone ring
She stopped, annoyed. "What now?"
"Hello, honey? Yes, Mommy is on her way. Yes, I'll bring all your chocolates... I'm hanging up now. Wait for dinner. Bye."
She looked back at the table. Ken was staring at her. "What?" she snapped. "Is there something wrong with me being a mommy?"
"Ugh!" she shouted, She snatched up her lighter, lit a fresh cigarette.
"You know, you're making this a very busy night," she said, exhaling a plume of smoke that drifted over his sweat-streaked face. "My other 'dolls' didn't make me work this hard. They usually start 'singing' by seeing the knife."
She leaned back, her annoyance melting into a fresh layer of fascination. Her smile glowing with a renewed heat, "But then again... who wants an easy play?"
Lina searched within the shelf, grabbed a pizza cutter. The stainless steel wheel glinted under the lantern light. She climbed back onto the table, straddling him, her form pinning him 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?"
"And then what?" he pressed, his voice raspy. "What will you do after that?"
"Be quiet, dear,"
"You're much better when you don't talk."
She gripped the handle of the pizza cutter, her knuckles white as she prepared to lean her full weight into the blade. But the silence was shattered again—the phone on the table screamed
"AGAIN?!"
Still straddling him, pinning his chest down with her left hand, she snatched the phone with her right. "Hello? Who is this?"
"Kenny? Son? Sweety... whose number are you calling from?"