A Good Gal In the Making.

The Venom

"Just a swimmer, who with his last breath
Flounders ashore from perilous seas, might turn
To memorize the wide water of his death."
-Dante, Inferno.

"This is an outrage, and if circumstances were different I'd discern it as a miracle." Said the doctor, wearing signs of exasperation head to toe.

"Excuse me, Doc, what's the matter?" I urged.

"The patient. She walked right out- snuck out through the bathroom window to be more precise. Although I don't see how that was possible, granted that she'd lose a lot of blood before I had managed to stitch all her external wounds. But that's not where the conflict lies, I am quite surprised she took a hit that hard and didn't even end up with a concussion, not even one fracture. I can't bring myself to understand how that happened." The man was frustrated.

Midway through, I completely zoned-out. Torn between whether to follow her and make sure she's all right or to go home and take a break of all this mind-fuck.

Gaven stared knowingly at the doctor, as if he knew something I didn't. He then offered me a ride, and I couldn't refuse. I decided riding with him can not be more frightening than walking home.

It was a long way back, and halfway through, he stopped the engines, locked the doors, and blurted: "I'm not going anywhere until you agree to talk to me. Sorry about this, but I know it's the only way I can convince you to talk to me."

"What is it?" I shot out. I was in no condition to argue. My deepest wish was to get this over with, yielding the least possible damage.

"The gunshots, that night." He began.

"HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?" I couldnt help but interrupt, as if on impulse.

"You haven't changed not one bit." He continued, sounding rather bittersweet. "Listen now, ask later. The gunshots, Alex, it was me. I caught the man."

"What?" The air felt suddenly tighter.

"Take a deep breath, because things are about to go downhill." He said, pulling a soothing arm around me, in a possessive, yet protective manner. God I missed that. There were times when this mere act sent me to cloud nine.

"That man, I took him in, locked him in my basement." He looked at me, a frown building up on my face. "Now Alex, don't get started about how that's sufficient of throwing me in jail."

I smiled. Memories are the only thing that can give shape to beauty, and give shape to fear, sometimes simultaneously. His were like that.

He sighed, then continued: "After two hours, he confessed to being Vicky's employee. He said she had payed him to "scare" you."

Before he managed to get his last words out, I began to laugh histerically. "That's one of the best punch-lines, right there."

"You don't believe me." Hurt laced every letter of his sentence. "But I'll show you."

Moments later, we arrived at his porch.

"You didn't keep this man locked down there this whole week. Now, did you?" I wondered out loud.

"Don't be silly, I locked him up in the attic instead. He might as well be good as dead in the basement. I need him alive." He said casually, as if these actions were as mundane as having breakfast or taking a shower. The dark side of Gaven always compelled me to get closer to him instead of pushing me further away. I'm neurotic, he's sadistic. A match made in heaven.

I wanted to dismiss it as a joke, but as we headed up the stairs, I braced myself for the worst.

"Are you ready?" He asked. I nodded, not sure of what to say.

He dug out the keys from his pocket and opened the door slowly, and I took a glance at the man inside immediately recognizing him, and devouring his feautures with resentment. His condition didn't seem so bad at first, until I got sight of his wound. It was nastily infected. The man was fatigued, starvation lining his features. If we didn't share a cross past, I might have felt sorry for him.

"Tell me it isn't true!" I shouted, knotts of disgust clogging up my stomach.

"Victoria. She hired me." He looked at Gaven. "There, the girl knows the truth now, let me go."

"Why did you do that?" I spit-out, tears streaming down my face.

"I needed the money. My kids, they're starving, it was enough to feed them all week." He said.

"That's not the right question, Alex. You should be asking why she did that." Gaven was begginning to make some sense. "She drugged me into cheating on you, the only girl I've ever loved, and she took from the same drug the very next morning, then she convinced you she was innocent by doing that blood test and testing positive for date-rape drug. The flaw in her plan is that this drug in particular doesn't last in the body stream for more than 12 hours. The body purges it out. She had taken some right before the test to make herself seem innocent. If she'd taken some the night of the incident, traces of the drug wouldn't appear in her body." He concluded. "I'm the innocent one, not her."

I have one question then, Mr. "I didn't do it." I mocked. "How were you there that night, with a freaking gun? Clearly you wanted to get credit for a "hero" image by saving me."

"That's not true. I saw you take that shortcut, and I had precisely asked you not to use it in the dark. Not if you were alone, at any rate. So I followed you." He explained.

"Stalker. You can be such a creep, Gaven. But thank you. I owe you that at least." I confessed.

"That's not all of it. Vicky, she's still in the hospital." Gaven said. "I asked the Doctor to misguide you, and I know you don't make the best decisions under pressure. I'm sorry, I needed to find a way to tell you all of this. I know it's a lot to process, but that might have been the only opportunity life grants me in a long time, I had to grab it. Honestly, I was growing tired of having a man in my attic."

It was late, all I wanted was to get out. He hesitated at first, and offered for me to stay, but I declined. He can not expect me to be content with spending a night under the same roof with the same man who almost raped me held in custody, inside a wretched attic. Going home was not an option either, so we decided to spend the night at a motel.

First, he locked the man back in the basement to avoid complications, then I urged him to give the man something to eat. Gaven was in no position to be charged for murder. I hated to confess this, but I needed him.

We cruized around our vast hometown for a while, before heading downtown. This place was always bustling with life, day and night. We stopped at the hill where we shared our first kiss to look at the stars. The weather was cool and the night dreamy. I remember that then, after he drove me back home, I didn't know if I had floated up the stairs or climbed up on them. I fought the urge to giggle like a little girl. The bitter feeling was gone, only the sweet remained.

We arrived at the hotel and then we checked in. I quickly slipped to sleep. The next morning he told me my sleep was interrupted several times. That I was having nightmares. Oddly enough, he watched me sleep all night, and I couldn't remember any of it. I check the clock. Mom's going to kill me. But then I remember Vicky's still in the hospital, and all else is lost. I need to know why she'd done all of that.

Author's note:
Guys, I really need your feedback. Comment. Tell me what you think of this. Be brutal. I'd love to know if you don't like it much as I'd love to know if you do.