Mixed Messages ~ {d.w}

➵Thirty Seven

Everything was just a blur.

What did I do? What did I do?

I sealed my life away, again. Tetch, Tyler, whatever he wants to be called, we're the same in a way. Maybe that's what drew me to him. No... That's what drew me to Damian.

Damian knew what it felt like to be left. The feeling of being shunned. The feeling of cold-hearted abandonment. His grandfather died, his mother left him. My parents died, Jason left me. We were the same. A slave to ourselves because we thought we knew what we were.

I thought I was a cold-hearted hacker.

He thought he was a cold-hearted assassin.

I never would've thought Damian would be such a sweet lover. Granted I never gave him the time for romance but what I did see, I loved. He would make someone happy. I wanted him to make me happy. And he did. He made me feel so much more than happy. There are no words out there strong enough to describe my feelings for Damian.

I was back where I once was. The safe house I had with Maks. He wasn't here, no one was. I stood outside the door. It was a normal looking house but it was far from that. Cyber wouldn't even think that I'd come back here. They would never guess that I'd leave to protect someone. I knock on the door.

Silence.

A little speaker opens up, saying: "Password." Hah, I haven't used the door in ages. I mean, I haven't used the password for ages.

I grin, a fond memory of setting this all up comes back to me. I press the doorbell, a hidden microphone. "Dušo, kući sam!" I enthusiastically shout, knowing there wasn't a person for miles around here to hear me. They wouldn't understand it anyway. I let a chuckle slip out, remembering the meaning of that phrase. The doorbell glows green.

I push open the doors with ease. A waft of cool air hit my face. Guess no ones been keeping the house warm. That also means no pie... Maks liked to bake. Despite being a mercenary. It was quite funny really.

"Alice!"

I whip out the gun from my desk.

"Woah! Clam down! It's just me," Maks holds up his hands in surrender, staring down the barrel of my gun. Cyber made me learn how to use them. All hackers must know self-defense. At least the basics anyway.

"Jesus, don't scare me like that!" I scold him, bringing down the gun. "I thought you knew better!"

"I thought you knew better!" he retorts, coming over to me. I take a closer look at Maks. He's got a black eye, his hands are bandaged and there are stitches across his forehead.

I shake my head, "what happened to you!?" I freak out, "what- why- who- what the heck?!" I'm so shocked I can barely form a sentence. I was frozen in place staring at the bloodstained furniture. "Why is everything so bloody?" I look around more. My eyes spot a hand.... a hand attached to a bleeding body. "Oh.. my god! There's a dead person in my bunker!" I scream, the realization that Maks killed him sets in.

He doesn't bother looking at the dead person. "Yeah, I know. I killed him, "he says. Like I didn't already know that. "Look, that was some guy named Tetch." Maks tosses me a folder with Tetch's name on it.

Oh, damn it. What did he do? I couldn't say I know who Tetch is... "Why is there a dead Tetch in my bunker?" I ask like that's the sole thing my mind can focus on.