Completion

Chapter 1

I sat on my windowsill and stared at the streets below. Being over fifteen Storeys above the ground floor gave you a beautiful view of everything below you. It was a wonderful point of observation for me. I was seventeen years old at this point and had long since quit on "school". In my opinion school is just an elaborate plan to teach you everything that you really had no reason to know while slowly domesticating you for societies use. My mother, a human, had passed away only a few months before. She was forty-eight years old, cancer the doctors had said. I had heard few stories of my father but the little I had heard was to be complimented by who I was, what I was. Unknowingly I ran my hand over the birthmarks on my chest and ribs. My mother said my father told her they were tattoos when they first met but he had eventually opened up, telling her they were the markings of his kind, demons. Of course, my mother had fled immediately because she thought he was senile but after I was born with the exact markings, it opened her eyes. She did some research and that has helped me a lot so far.

I watched two teenagers fighting furiously until they were locked in a tight ball of tangled hands and legs on the corner, both completely breathless. I had seen the conflict from the initial stages, it all began because one accidentally tripped over the others foot while passing. 'Humans' I said inwardly. 'Always feeling the need to show power and strength when it is most unnecessary'. 'Why waste your time on a matter that won't be of any significance a few days from now, moreover weeks or months'. It always surprises me how living creatures seem not to have enough time to live and experience the world, yet we waste the precious commodity.

My mother's passing had torn me to pieces, it had ripped every fiber of my being, but I was still here, I was still alive and my resolve to live was even stronger now. Three months had passed since the funeral and I hadn't left the apartment, I hadn't spoken to anyone. It was just me and my thoughts, and they have been growing darker by the day. Today I decided that I would try to step across the threshold, to go and do something, anything at all. Checking the clock, I realized it was only a few minutes after four. The sun was already slowly sneaking towards the peaks and a few beams slipped through my window and played happily on the furniture.

Hayley, a girl from the apartment below us had wasted no time trying to be a shoulder to lean on for me all this time. She had offered to come over and keep my company almost every day for the past two months and of course I had graciously refused. She was just a year older than I was. We had only had a few brief conversations before my mom passed, and while she had been sweet on all those occasions, I didn't want anyone in my space. 

Picking up my phone I wrote a message to send to her. Then I deleted it. 'Be vague', I told myself 'Be mysterious'. This time I wrote "I need you right now. Busy?", then hit send. 'That should have the desired effect', I thought, then sent it. Before I could return the phone to the dark polished mahogany dresser from which I took it, I felt it vibrate. She replied, "I'm not busy but my parents will be home in an hour". I processed everything quickly. That should be enough time. "Coming over", I messaged back as I slid into a T-shirt and headed through the door. It's probably worth mentioning that among the few 'talents' I discovered I have is the ability to move from one point to the next without actually having to walk. I cannot cover very long distances but getting down to the fourteenth floor would be easy enough. Still, I was still unnerved to do these things in private, moreover, to try here. With that option on the self, I closed the apartment door behind me and heading for the stairs. The last time I measured myself I stood at six feet flat. Not the tallest guy in the world but my legs were long enough for me to take the stair two at a time.

She opened the door at the first knock and stood before me in a short summer dress that stopped well above her knees. I could smell the toothpaste on her breath as she said hi and smiled shyly at me. I smiled despite myself. Her auburn hair was in a ponytail and her olive brown skin glowed under the beams of sunlight that escaped the cover of the blinds to her left. She didn't have on a bra and the fullness of her breasts showed beneath her dress; her nipples stared me right in the face. I stepped through the door and closed it behind me. "Hi", I repeated her greeting while stepping closer and hugging her loosely; her body tense against me. I had figured out about a year ago that my body temperature was a few Fahrenheits higher than humans. I let her go almost immediately and walked farther into the room, surveying the decorations. "Nice set up", I said and listened for her response without looking back. Her breath hitched for a second and she cleared her throat and took a very deep breath. "Yeah, mommy and daddy allowed me to do it like this", she answered. I picked up a small wooden statue that was on a small table in front of me and took my time examining it before putting it back and facing her. "So, how have you been?" I asked. "Sorry I've been M.I.A", I continued, "things have just been, you know...." I trailed off. "I understand", she said. "I can't begin to imagine what you have been going through." Raw emotions dripped from her voice, and I braced myself for the impact of them. Silence hung in the air for a while. She stayed where I had left her, close to the door. I walked over to the window and once again surveyed the streets below without saying anything.  

"So", i heard her say while moving closer. "You said you needed me. Here i am". I light smile crept across my face. "Yeah," I responded. "I needed to get out of the house, needed some human contact, a conversation maybe."

"Well, here I am," she said while opening her arms playfully. "All the human contact and conversation is right here." I chuckled and she blushed a little. "I didn't mean it like that" she retorted, pushing at my shoulder slightly. 

"You didn't?" I asked, half joking.

Before she could respond I continued, "What have you been doing for the past few months?"

"I've been going to school," she said, "outside of that I really don't do much"

"And what are you studying?" I asked.

"I major in the arts" she said, gesturing towards the decorations in the room. "Not sure mommy would have allowed me to tear her decorations down if they weren't investing so much money in this degree"

I laughed. "If this display is any indication, their investment seems to already be paying off," I motioned towards the decor also. I also look around the room a final time. The theme was rustic. Deep rich browns and complimentary lighter shades accented the gray walls. Cushions were everywhere however the placements seemed intentional. Art littered the room, paintings and pictures on the walls, sculptures and ornaments on the tables and shelves. 

Realizing that I had not planned this whole visit very well I fumbled with my words for the next twenty minutes or so. The conversation was engaging but it was pretty surface. I got around to asking if she was in a relationship, to which she said yes but added that it was "complicated." There was no reason to probe any further down that road. It was pleasantly surprising that she did not reciprocate the question. 

"Thank you for sparing the time to see me," I said, stopping just in front of her. I had been walking around the room as we talked for the last few minutes. "I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," she responded. "It's been my pleasure"

"If you're not busy later you can come spend the evening with me," I heard myself say. 

"What time?", She asked.

Caught off guard by the question I tilted my head slightly in consideration. Simultaneously checking my watch, I realized it was almost 1 pm. "Any time after 5 would be good", I offered, acknowledging that I would have to do quite a bit of cleaning. We agreed on the meeting time, I hugged her a final time before leaving; the scent of coconut from her hair that lingered on my shirt and kept a soft smile on my face as I walked back to my room.