In Your Veins

Chapter 5

Sunlight burning away my corneas wakes me up.

God...

What time is it...?

My body aches. I look at my hands. Dried blood.

I'm an absolute mess. Cleaning up said mess will have to be my first order of the day. I can figure out what classes I've missed after that.

I take a shower, carefully making sure not to disturb my wounds or hurt myself further. I've got a larger wound near my collarbone, from that giant piece of bone. I'm just glad I wasn't awake when they stitched it up.

The rest of them are pretty minor, none require anything more than a bandage and a bit of care.

Getting out of the shower, I take the time to inspect myself in the bathroom mirror.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about whether or not these wounds scar. I never really considered myself the pinnacle of attractiveness, but I also don't want what little charm I have to be completely displaced by the million little wounds all over my face, neck and chest.

It's such a silly thing to worry about, but what else can I do? I can't even begin to wrap my mind around what happened last night.

With a bit of effort, I put on loose clothing. I should take painkillers, or I'm not going to be able to do anything at all.

I'm mid-way through making myself a cereal breakfast when I hear a knock at my door.

By the time I get over to the door, there's nobody there. All that's left is a bouquet of flowers on my doorstep.

I pick them up and look for a card. Who could have bought me these? Nobody knows I've been injured yet....right?

I find the card I'm looking for.

"I'm so sorry things turned out this way," it reads, "but know that your pain is temporary. Your wounds are for our greater good. Though my heart is no longer beating, soon enough, our heartbeats will be one again. The way it should be."

It continues at the bottom of the card. "P.S. Check your bank balance when you have the time! I hope that'll be enough to make up for whatever money you had to spend cleaning up the mess that I couldn't clean up myself."

On the back, the meaning of the flowers is written.

Pale red carnations....admiration...

..."my heart aches for you"...

I drop the flowers, horrified. He planned this. He planned all of this. He planned to die, he predicted that I'd come away with a hospital bill.

He meant for me to get hurt. It says it right there on the card.

Why? What does it mean? What is he planning?

What does he mean when he says that we'll be together again...? He's been saying it a lot....

Am I going to die...?

That doesn't make sense. If he wanted us to die together, he would have shot me when he had the chance. Then, he could shoot himself and not be bothered with any of the criminal charges that come with shooting someone. Then, if the afterlife is real, we might indeed be together for the rest of time.

No...there's something else going on. Something more sinister. Something that I'm much too stupid to think of, something that would be easily apparent to someone like Khiere.

I eye the flowers on the floor. Someone paid money for those. They were lovingly grown and harvested by many people before being sent to me.

I pick them up and set them in a vase with water and growth formula. There's no point in punishing the flowers for being sent. They couldn't possibly understand the intent behind their delivery.

I then go and check my bank account. There's no way he could have actually transferred money to me. There's no way it could be a genuinely significant amount.

The history screen finally loads, and I almost pass out. I sink into a nearby chair, my legs slowly losing all strength.

A deposit of 500,000....? What could I possibly need that much money for!?

Won't this set off red flags? Couldn't I be charged with fraud and robbery!?

Khiere...I hope you didn't make more trouble for me...

My bank account is linked to my parents' account. They would have noticed such a big influx of money.

I call my mom, and ask her about the money.

"Isn't it wonderful, mon chou?" she says, her voice betraying her utter delight. "I'm so proud of you! You're doing so well for yourself already!"

"Maman. It's half a million dollars," I reply blankly, trying to convey how bizarre this whole situation is.

"I know! I can hardly believe it myself, but someone at your university called and told us you won a great big academic scholarship! I always knew you could do it..."

She continues on, praising me for money I didn't earn. Instead of joy, all I feel is a pervasive sense of numbness.

My mom wasn't going to understand my situation any time soon. Perhaps...it's better to let her be proud, for both my sake and hers. She doesn't have to know.

"Thanks maman," I say, finally. "I'll call you later."

"Good. Don't forget. I love you, mon chéri. I'm so, so proud of you."

"I love you too..."

I let my phone fall out of my hand and onto the table in front of me before rubbing my eyes with a groan. God...what have I gotten myself into?

But...this way, I don't have to ask my parents for money for the hospital bill. God knows I don't have enough to pay it off myself.

Or at least...I didn't. Now I have plenty of money. Enough to pay off every single loan I have, actually.

Where....where did Khiere even get this kind of money?

I have no doubt in my mind at all that it's through very illegal ways, but how exactly...?

He doesn't seem like the physical activity kind...I'd be surprised if he saw the sun at all most days, actually.

He did say he was homeschooled...and that he was pursuing computer science...

Was he somehow telling the truth in the middle of all this?

I suppose, technically, he never really lied to me...he simply never told me the whole truth, and there's a big difference.

So, assuming that he didn't lie to me...did he steal that money by means of technology?

God, I know nothing about computers. How...

I guess he was telling the truth when he called himself a genius, too. Maybe I'm just too dull to understand how these things can be done.

I hope that if anybody decides to question me, my utter lack of knowledge on the subject will prove my innocence.

I look back at the kitchen counter, at my neglected bowl of cereal.

It's probably all soggy now, but I'd hate to waste it. I'll just have to force myself to eat it.

After that, I flop into bed, exhausted. I don't even care about all the work I have to do right now. I'll take care of that later.

It really is just one thing after another with him, huh? I thought I'd be done...

But now, it looks like I'm going to be dealing with him for longer than I'd ever want to.

I just want him gone...is that so much to ask...?

Feeling intense regret about ever signing up for the tutoring program, I slowly drift away into a restless sleep.