Sting » Louis

six

It was windy that night. I heard grains of sand being thrown at the wood of the hut, as I was lied down on my bed. It was like they were shoots. Or rain. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine that the sound came from the known to me British rain; that fell rapidly around me as if it was winter, flooding gardens and fields, filling up river Thames and the drainpipes around my house. I had forgotten how relaxing that sound was. The sound of the rain falling against the windows. Every time it rained there, it was a storm. There was nothing peaceful about it.

He went to his room before I did. He was incredibly quiet, disappointed with me, I think. But I couldn't get out of my head what had happened between us. That kiss was wrong. Would he have regretted bringing me there? Would he think that he had chosen the wrong girl? That I was no special, like he believed and I could disappoint equally everybody else too? I wasn't sleepy at all. His scent and taste were haunting me. That salty taste along with cigarettes was stuck on my lips. I kept licking it, not being able to control myself. I wanted more, but it was wrong. I placed my hands on my upper arms, exactly were his were. I remember his hands there, causing a warm feeling travel throughout my entire body. I remember that color that his eyes had before he placed his lips on mine. The fire was making them silver, his pupils were dilated. I could see every single detail of his beautiful face. The small strands of facial hair around his mouth and cheeks, a light scar under his left eye...

I shouldn't have run away. But I had to. I went inside locking myself in the small bathroom, looking myself in the mirror. How could he, a twenty-two year old man, fall in love with a seventeen year old?

These thoughts kept me awake. Then, I heard him screaming. His screams made me jump out of bed. They were desperate like an animal's, sounding like they came from somewhere deep inside him. The first thing that came to my mind was that someone else had come inside. But that was stupid. How could someone reach us on a remote island? Wouldn't we have heard it?

I heard for any other noises, just in case, but there was none. Just him and I. I kept hearing his screams. He was shouting unintelligible words, I couldn't understand what he wanted. In between it sounded like he cried. I decided to head outside of my room. There were no traces of another human, like I had suspected. I opened his bedroom door at the same time as one of his screams to cover its creaking. As time went by the screams became louder and louder. Before I entered I looked inside. Louis was curled up in a ball sobbing uncontrollably. I was scared, for him.

"Louis?"

He kept sobbing. I took a step inside. The moonlight that was coming from the glass balcony doors was illuminating his face and made his cheeks glow. His eyes were closed. I took another step.

"Louis? Are you awake?"

His hands were formed into fists, hitting his pillows on his double bed. His sheet had fallen on the floor, leaving his bare chest exposed. Tattoos were decorating it, hiding his deepest secrets.

I left the door open, and looked around the room. The balcony doors were closed. I could see the moon mirror on the sea's surface. I could faintly hear the calm waves crashing on the shore. Whatever it was that made him scream was in his sleep.

His sobs died down after a while and he buried his face in his pillow. I was standing there, looking at him. I was afraid. I had no idea what to do. Maybe he was just faking it. And then the screams started again. They were penetrating my body. I had to stop that. I walked near him and without thinking, I jarred him. his skin was sweaty, warm.

His blue eyes opened abruptly, but he wasn't seeing me. He was seeing someone else. He seemed like he was haunted. I couldn't really decipher the emotion in his eyes; maybe it was terror. He quickly backed up at the board of the bed, while I slowly sat on the other side of it, at the edge.