"So, let's say it well," Eunice turned, fumbling with her hair.
Elia kept his arms tight on the steering wheel. "I'm listening," he said, turning, his face glistening with his evening smile.
The only smile that comes every time the sun goes down, the wind turning chilly and shadows streaked across buildings and roofs.
"How come you became the boss's right hand after your two-year stay in the company?" Eunice shifted herself, faced Elia, then began tapping on her thigh.
'Is she trying to lure me to spill out my secret? Damn! Her thigh is making the veins in my second leg pulse.'
Elia's eyes slid from the lady's thighs to her face, then back to the thigh. "Uhm… you will know once we get to my place."
'Is he hiding something that no one knows? This is the fifth time he has swayed this question away.' Eunice's brows squeezed, then she tilted her gaze onto the road ahead.
After a thirty-minute drive, the BMW halted at the parking lot of the Bakers Street Apartment. Dust, fallen leaves—brown and fragile once—whirled around the car as the engine's hum decreased with every passing second.
"Mmmm…" Eunice alighted, pushing her door open, then sighed heavily. Her eyes closed as she spread her arms and stretched.
"So is this what you always go through?" She turned a silly expression to Elia.
Elia gave a smirk, then inhaled once.
"Why is the air feeling pressurized this evening?"
"Erh… what did you say?" Eunice's brows raised, staring at the boy with a confused face.
Eunice followed Elia as he walked toward the entrance. "After you," he said, opening the black-glass door, then gestured for her to enter.
"Aww… that's so sweet of you." She entered, already feeling his energy.
They climbed the first stairs in silence, only the heels of their boots singing in the empty hallway.
"This place feels like living in a microwave." Eunice whispered, covering her mouth, giggling.
Elia turned a shocked expression to hear. "What do you mean by that?"
Well, for Eunice's apartment, it was like living in Antarctica. The air was so cool that even when water is left unused, it turns into ice.
"Can't you see the amount of sweat dripping down from my…" Her expression turned a bit hazy, her tongue out, gasping heavily.
"Wait, wait." She leaned by the wall of a deep-blue door, the small jagged stones in the concrete biting through the palms of her left arm.
"Which room are you in?" She raised her head, her eyes already looking drowsy.
"Is it at the second floor, last room?" Elia stated, swinging the BMW remote controller on the index finger of his right hand.
"Will you carry me if I tell you to?" Eunice's expression shifted to a strange smile, her teeth biting the lower lip.
"Sure," Elia answered, his arms already coming to her waist.
"Hahaha… I beg," she stood up abruptly, her arm pushing the air between her and Elia. "I'm not ready to be admitted to the hospital. And I don't want to be the cause of someone's son's death."
Laughter lanced through the hallway of the second floor.
"Mmm… wow, this floor smells better than the first." Eunice sniffed the air, closed her eyes, the air hitting every corner of her lungs.
"Why is there no light at this section?" she asked, cuddling herself, seeing almost the front of four doors completely dark as hell.
"Oh… don't worry, the tenants vacated just this morning." Elia shook off her fears, then went and pressed the light switch.
"This is what I want… I'm not a no-light person." Eunice walked past Elia, then stood in front of a black door.
"Wow… you wouldn't get lost if you came here by yourself." Elia complimented her, then pulled out his key.
"What is that hanging on the key?" tension lanced in Eunice's voice as she pointed toward the key. "Are you into the occult?"
Elia's arms leaped from the key, tilted his gaze to her, then back to the key that had been inserted in the keyhole.
"Oh, that." He stated as if it was nothing. "That's just my dad's key holder. He never used it but warned me and my siblings to never take it from the black box."
"BLACK BOX! NEVER TAKE IT!" Eunice took two steps back. Her eyes played a game of hide and seek on the key holder, then sighed heavily. "Well, is the door already open?"
Elia smirked, pushed the door open, then gestured for her to enter.
The interior design of Elia's room caught Eunice's mind before she could even notice. The design of the ceiling, the flower paintings giving the wall a living presence, and the arrangement of furniture, book table, and coffee table.
'He is indeed a creative guy.' She shifted her gaze from the walls to Elia, then back to the walls. 'He really deserves the position he is in.'
"What artist did you pay to do all these designs?" she ran toward the wall, brushing her fingers on the bird that looked as if it was pulling itself from the wall.
Elia laughed shyly, pulling the strands of hair that covered his forehead. "I did them. Every last one."
"You did what?" Eunice pushed herself from the wall, stood in a stilled stance, her head swinging from the wall to Elia.
"Well, at least I've got a reason to come here again. This is not the time to fish out information on those designs."
She walked to the blue couch, then pressed it with her palms. "Is there a spring in it or just foam?" her head turned toward Elia's direction.
"It's just foam." He answered, placing the remote controller on the book table.
"What about this? Don't tell me it's spring." Her brown eyes played in their sockets, while her lips parted with unlaughable laughter.
Eunice threw herself on the bed, which bounced twice, then smiled.
"What would you like to take, water, soft drink, or hard drink?" Elia walked slowly, staring at Eunice's now loosened breast that seemed to notwithstanding the thin bra she wore.
"Don't you have drugs?" she stood on her knees on the bed, teasing.
"Nah, I don't give what I don't take to my friends."
"Aww… so now I'm counted as your friend?" Eunice cupped her face in her palms, staring at Elia with a charming gaze.
"By the way, feel at home." Elia stated, removing the wristwatch. He neared his wardrobe, placed the watch beside his collection of watches, then tore off his shirt.
Outside his soundproof window and door, loud screams tore in as parts of the walls began to dissipate and fall like ashes.
In the sky above the street outside the Baker's Apartment, red clouds formed, followed by dreadful lightning that kept on slamming the ground like rain.
"Uncle Elia!" Julius stood in front of Elia's door, slamming his fist hard on the door's surface, screaming.
"Is he not home yet?" Julius ran from the second floor, pushed the main door of the building open, then stood shocked, his eyes shaking, staring at the huge birdlike creatures whirling around in the sky.
He swallowed hard when one of the creatures crashed hard on the ground, followed by a blinding white light that almost burned him alive.
At that same time, the fluctuation of the light whipped Elia's soundproof window apart.
"Where are the screams coming from?" Eunice stood up abruptly from the bed, the hair on her skin standing straight.
With a heavy heart, Elia walked slowly toward the window, placed his palms on the stool, then peeked his head out.
"JULIUS?!" the name ripped out from his throat, seeing the small boy lying in front of the building, a strange humanoid creature with wings, snarling beside the boy's body.