Tortured - Jaele

|| Chapter Thirtysix ||

Jace -

"One room of complete solitude isn't enough to free the thoughts of a suffering man. So we ask the perilous question of whom this doom belongs. On the brink of a place, we're afraid to thrive in. We make sticks and stones of our words and hurl them at the unsuspecting. Is there any such thing as peace in a world set on fire?"

I felt the drowsiness of boredom sprinkling itself over my eyelids. They drooped, threatening to shut and force me under a deep, exhausting sleep. Emma's voice was pleasant enough, but I had never liked poetry and now seemed the perfect time to for a nap. Today has been a string of creative arts classes. I hadn't taken an interest to any of them. I was only here to serve my time and get back home. Besides over half the population speaking only Portuguese, and the incessant bottleneck of traffic during the daytime. Brazil was a beautiful place. The sunsets were gorgeous, the food wasn't terrible and the city seemed to come alive with some kind of sad, lonely musical tune every night.

"Jace, wake up."

I heard someone whisper my name and opened my eyes quickly. It was one of the orderly's standing watch by the door. Catalina, the lovely but distant Brazillian woman of my current dreams.

"I'm up."

I whispered back, pushing a smile onto my face. She gracefully nodded her head and returned my smile.

"Good, just checking."

"Do you have the time?"

I kept my eyes on Catalina as she looked down at her watch.

"6:30, this class is almost over don't worry."

She replied.

"I'm tired."

I fiddled with the little plastic crochet mat I made in another class. Catalina leaned against the door and nodded once more, lips slightly pouting.

"I know."

I studied her thick, auburn black hair and olive green eyes. She was a beautiful woman, and very well im doubt. I wouldn't mind one night alone with her, two nights even. I can't remember the last time I made love to someone. If I tried really hard I could, but I didn't want to so I let my fantasies play with only the image of Catalina and her tempting European curves.

"Pay attention, Jace... Here comes the good part."

Catalina whispered, her eyes flickered over to Emma and stayed there. She was crazy about poetry. I could tell by the way her nose as always buried in a book of sonnets or haikus. She also loved Bosa Nova music, dancing, and her favorite food was red bean tacos. I might have done a little research on her while being here. Nothing too intense, just enough to feel as if I knew her. My eyes never left her when she was around, and I think she might have noticed by the way her cheeks became an elegant pigment of pink rouge. She looked back at me as I smiled again.

"-Alas is the breath that we all hold in our lungs like trying to catch the wind in a bag of holes. The seeking shall find and the weary shall rest."

Emma closed her notebook, lowered her head, and returned to her seat as everyone else clapped for her. My hands silently rested on the table in front of me. When the class was over I met Catalina out in the hallway.

"Jace, you know it's time for dinner. Are you following me?"

She opened the door for other patients as they single filed out of the room.

"Of course not, I was just heading to my room."

I said, nonchalantly shrugging my shoulders. The rough edge of an empty pill capsule nudged against my fingertips.