Mesmerized | ✓

19

Carl didn't even hesitate before ringing the doorbell. He didn't have it within himself to care that invading somebody so late into the night could be taken as rude or inappropriate. He stood like a zombie when the door opened and it was Candace's mother who he didn't bother to remember the name of, on the other side. The woman looked sleepy, but not like she had been sleeping. She had probably been getting ready for bed.

"Carl? What are you doing here?" The woman asked brushing her long hair away from her face.

"I need to talk to Candace." Carl muttered needing to get straight to the point.

"Come in. Come in." Candace's mother said looking him up and down. Then she guided him inside the house. "Are you okay? You look all shaken up." She asked as they walked into the living room where she switched on the light and sat him down on the comfortable sofa. "Do you want a glass of water?"

"I need to talk to Candace." He repeated not even knowing what he needed his friend for.

Candace's mother nodded her head. "I will go get her." She moved towards the staircase. "Meanwhile you go and get yourself that water. You remember where the kitchen is?"

Carl nodded his head numbly as the woman climbed the stairs. Hoping that the water would sober him up a bit he wandered over to the kitchen, barely able to find his way around the house where he had been already quite a few times before. He found a glass and filled it with tap water.

His hands shook as he lifted his glass up to his mouth and took a sip. Carl felt as if he had an awful case of fever. Was this some kind of detox his body was going through while being willingly apart from Yuli? He startled when he thought that he could see the boy in the corner of his eye and the glass slipped from his hands and shattered against the floor spilling the water in the process. But of course Yuli wasn't there.

"Are you okay, Carl?" Candace asked as she walked into the kitchen with her mother following closely behind. The girl was in her pajamas and Carl knew that she looked adorable and yet he was numb to her appearance. What a few weeks ago would have been met with him getting turned on and maybe his cheeks even getting flushed now caused nothing but the most tormenting kind of indifference.

He didn't answer, just looked down at the glass not knowing if he should attempt to clean it up or maybe save himself from causing even more trouble. But before he could make that decision Candace's mother was already on her knees picking up the pieces of glass. "Come with me." Candace said and grabbed his hand leading him up to her room.

Once inside, Candace closed the door and sat him down on the bed looking at him with a mixture of worry and confusion. "You're scaring me, Carl." She said softly taking a seat next to him and taking both of his hands into hers. "Are you high or something?" She asked with a frown. Carl didn't blame her for that question. He probably looked like a junkie. "If you are, then you need to tell me what you've taken."

"I'm not on drugs." Carl assured her doing his best to remember what he felt back in the day, back when being with Candace like that would have been like a dream come true. Now Carl only felt empty and hollow because there was constantly a greater presence luring in the back of his mind no matter how hard he tried to chase it away. "I'm just...tired. So tired."

Candace frowned. "I don't understand." She said. "What's wrong? I see that you need my help but I don't know how to help you."

Carl chuckled dryly. He didn't know that either. He had thought that maybe seeing Candace would awake something inside of him but apparently it was hopeless. Unless...

"Kiss me." Carl said gripping tightly the girl's hands and looking deeply into her eyes. "Please."

Candace blinked a few times looking at her friend in obvious confusion. "Are you kidding me?" She asked taking her hands away. "Is this something the two of you set up? Some weird, twisted joke?" But as she continued to look at him, she apparently realized that Carl was being completely serious. "I really don't understand, Carl."