Curse of Loneliness

Company

The yellow gecko. He has had Nikki for four years. It was his only company; he could never replace her with another pet.

Every day as he came home, he would smile at the sight of excited little Nikki. Xavier would sit down and talk to her as if he were talking to an actual person as if she was ever going to answer, but all she wanted was bugs for food. Xavier would buy food for her constantly afraid of her fading from his sight forever. Constantly afraid that he could be the reason that she dies. She could die in his arms, her poor little heart reaching out through her scales. Portions of blood all over his guilty hands and teeth.

As he spoke with her on some nights, he would suddenly stop in fear of his thirst for blood so terrifyingly big that he could come to the point of killing the only creature that knew everything about him, the only creature that had listened so closely.

Luckily, tonight he never thought of these things. It's like he had completely forgotten about how dangerous he could be to anything around him.

He changed his clothes quietly and lay on his bed, ready to turn off his lamp and say goodnight to Nikki. Until his phone illuminated as he was reaching for the lamp. Instead, he had lowered his arm to pick up his phone and see a message from Mildred,

"I can't drive like this"

"Picj me up"

Xavier sighed as he read the two messages and stood up once again to put on his shoes. "I'll be right back Nikki. Stay safe." He said with exhaustion in his voice and walked out of his house.

The city wasn't as dark as he expected it to be at midnight, and there weren't too little number of cars in the bar either. It was almost full, he recognized Mildred's car immediately but instead, Mildred was sitting outside of the bar—gladly. Xavier didn't want to enter the bar—with his head down and a bottle in his hand.

He stopped with his car beside where Mildred was sitting and looked at him. Mildred looked at him back and stood up without saying a word to open the door and sit in the passenger's seat.

Xavier began to drive again slowly and glanced at Mildred a couple of times until he finally spoke, "How much have you had tonight?" He asked. Mildred took a second to reply, allowing his head to hit the wall of the car as Xavier took a turn. "I don't remember."

"Well, at least you decided not to drive this time," Xavier said quietly as he glanced at Mildred again. "You seem to have drunk more than usual tonight. There are tiny stains of dry vomit on your face and shirt, and dry tears in your eyes. What happened?" Xavier mentioned while taking another turn, causing Mildred's head to turn to the other side.

"Nothing. I just remembered some things." Mildred said, raising his feet to the seat and curling into a ball.

"Weren't you with Elias today? Where is he?" Xavier asked.

"He left." Mildred simply replied while looking at the floor, not even looking at anything else or Xavier.

Throughout the rest of the ride and the way to Mildred's couch, Xavier asked questions about what had happened. He assisted in giving him a glass of water to sober up but Mildred still was unable to grasp what had happened the past night. He completely forgot the reason he had gone to the bar in the first place.

Mildred soon passed out on the couch with his knees to his chest and his arms embracing his legs.

Xavier looked at him with worry, soon being flooded with anxiety. Was Mildred going to be okay if he left? If he leaves, Mildred will have no one to accompany him through a terrible migraine. If he leaves, Mildred will possibly go a day without eating thanks to nobody being there to help him. If he leaves, Mildred might feel lonely. If he leaves, if he leaves, if he leaves.

At last, Xavier decided to stay, comforted by the familiar furniture that he had once been surrounded by. It felt nostalgic to be with Mildred in a childhood house. He remembers how stupid he used to be, and yet how shy. He's glad to have grown up a little and become smarter for the most part.

He reached out for his phone in his pocket and texted Mildred.

"Hey, are you all right? I noticed that things were a bit rough the other day."