Sparks

Chapter 5

It was in this cruel cabin that memories haunted him. Memories that he couldn't erase. Why he thought it would help her to bring her here, he couldn't fathom. What in the world had he been thinking? He couldn't handle being here. His hands shook so much that he shoved them in his pockets to keep her from noticing. She was in complete awe of the furniture and in the structuring of the house.

But his gaze was fixed on that single spot on the floor. That spot that he had scrubbed at until the skin on his hands had broken and blood seeped from the wounds. That spot that was tinged a shade of red darker than the wood itself. That spot that was in every nightmare, in every dream, and every thought that flitted through his head. It was behind his eyelids every time he blinked.

"This is beautiful," she murmured. She wasn't smiling but her eyes sparkled with a happiness that he hadn't observed of her. Her fingertips skimmed the surface of the round dining room table that was only mere inches from that spot. She thought his dark eyes were watching her but truly they were stuck on that spot that was over her shoulder.

When she realized that he hadn't responded and that he was still just looking at her, she turned to look behind her. She didn't see anything. Not a thing that would draw his attention so much. Nothing that was out of the ordinary. And yet, he continued to eye the floor like it was the personal portal for the devil to come crawling through.

"Is something wrong, Romelius?" She liked the way his name sounded on her tongue, foreign but sweet. However, she didn't like the way he stared at the floor. The way he didn't even seem to hear her. "Romelius?" She took a step towards him but he still didn't respond.

He was remembering that day. That day two years ago. It had been nice outside, He'd been cleaning the yard, checking the tire swing over the pond, updating the truck. Little things around the house that needed done. Saturn had been inside. He'd left, telling her good-bye to go get some gas for the mower.

It was quiet when he returned home. The music in the house still played, loud enough to hear when he pulled into the drive. But he couldn't hear Saturn moving, couldn't hear her sweet voice singing along. She always sang along.

He had slipped out of the truck slowly, something in his head screaming something was horribly wrong. The five gallon jug of gas long forgotten as he climbed the steps.

"Saturn?" He called out, pushing the door open. He was praying he would be greeted with her dancing figure, her twirling smile so lost in the song that she didn't hear him drive up or call out for her.

"Romelius, are you alright?" He finally turned his eyes to Pagatti who was looking nervous and worried at the same time.

"I found her dead, in that spot," he said, pointing a trembling finger at the floor. Pagatti turned to look, seeing nothing and not knowing what to do. The floor looked normal to her. Not like somebody had died there.

"We had been married for a year. I only had a year with her. Then she left. How could she be so goddamn selfish? She knew I would have helped her. Instead she took the easy way out, slitting her wrists like a goddamn child!" Romelius slumped to the floor, his head in his hands. "

I would have helped her," he sobbed. "I only wanted to help her."