Little Hidden Darknesses

I emerged from the bathroom wearing only an oversized Naruto t-shirt and underwear. Not the most conventional attire for when sharing a room with a practical stranger, but I wasn’t about to sleep in my jeans. Besides, it wasn’t that revealing. The shirt cut off right above my knees.

“So, I came up with a plan in the shower,” I said as I dropped my duffle bag on the dressing table.

The carpet felt icky under my feet, riddled with dust and plaster that had fallen from the ceiling over the years. Alejandro didn’t seem to mind it, though, as I emerged to find him down on his knees by the foot of the bed, carefully laying out a blanket and pillow.

“A plan? Really” he asked, then smoothed out the blanket and came upright. The moment he saw me, his eyes widened and he gulped, making his Adam’s apple bounce. “Oh,” was all he said as he guiltily scanned the length of my body. My neck, my chest, my legs, my ankles. Once at my feet, he cleared his throat and looked away, pretending to scan the room.

My cheeks flushed with warmth. Okay, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I should’ve just gone with my jeans. I consciously pulled at the bottom of my shirt, my toes curling over against the carpet. “Sorry,” I blurted out. “I could – if I need to change into something else –”

“No,” Alejandro forestalled me. He gnawed his bottom lip. “I mean, it’s fine. You’re fine.”

But I didn’t feel fine. Something of a breeze crept up the back of my t-shirt as I padded from the steamy bathroom to the coldest, darkest corner of the room. There where not even the light from the bedside lamp could reach me. “What – uh – are you doing on the ground?”

“I’m making myself a bed.” Alejandro finished fluffing his pillow, then got to his feet. “I thought it best if I slept on the floor tonight.”

“Okay.” The word emerged quickly, too casually for comfort. I searched his face for any sign of disappointment, any indication that he wanted me to object, alas to no success. In fact, he merely clapped his hands together, stepped over his makeshift bed, and strolled past me toward the bathroom. I followed him with my eyes, unable to break away.

“I guess I’ll also take a quick rinse,” he said mid-walk.

“Great,” I replied without thinking.

Alejandro paused in the bathroom’s threshold. He turned toward me and my heart skipped a beat. Why, I had no idea. Which also meant I had no idea how to stop it from happening.

A part of me didn’t want it to stop ...

I watched him part his lips, then close them again and shut the door. It clicked in the threshold and my lungs filled with air. Cool and mouldy and old. I heard the shower burst open, followed by the curtain rattling on its railing. My thoughts drifted to Alejandro, rinsing himself, water running down his copper brown skin. For goodness sake, Eira. Cut it out.

Alejandro and I were friends, good acquaintances at the least. And I had no time for boys right now. Not with the Vinsants still roaming free, likely scouring the streets in search of me.

I cleared my throat and adjusted my shirt. Despite being alone, I covered my bum as I crawled across the bed to the other side. The moon had fully risen by now, its rays filtering through the fog as thin, silver strings. It outlined the deck. The open door of a room at the end.

My room.

“What the hell?” I said to myself, then rubbed the window as though it might clear away the fog. It did something alright, as I was able to see outlines moving beyond the blinds. Three of them. Three people. They roamed about my room for a bit, then emerged onto the deck again. And as they did, their glow amplified. Their golden veins and eyes.

The Vinsants.

“What are you doing?” asked a voice behind me and I jumped.

With my hand on my chest, I turned to find Alejandro in my wake, bare chested and with soaking wet hair. This time, I was the one to stare. To scan his pecks and abs and torso.

“Alejandro. Oh.” My lungs expelled a breath of air. “I – I didn’t even hear you come out.”

Alejandro smoothed back his fringe. I barely saw his patches in the hazy orange light. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he apologised, then tossed his towel in the nearest corner. It hit the floorboards with a plop, and a wave of relief coursed throughout the room.

“You didn’t,” I lied. “It’s just – look at this. It’s the Vinsants. They’re ransacking my room.”

“What?” Alejandro leaned past me, over me, as he glanced out the window. He gasped when he saw them, then stepped around me to take a closer look. “Eira, do you see that? They’re –“

“Glowing,” I finished for him. “I know.”

The two of us huddled together by the window, our arms touching and his hair dripping all over my shoulder. Every now and then a drop reached the carpet and shattered the silence. Plop. Plop. Plop. I rubbed my palm on the window again, this time to clear our breath.

“Impossible,” Alejandro insisted.

“You’d be surprised.”

“Yea, I am surprised. How are they able to do that?”

“I don’t know how, but they glow when they touch the fog. They’re the spirits you talked about.”

I watched as Branka and Aillard bickered outside my room, only to be peeled apart by Freya, who scolded them for something. Then, they shut my door and set off across the deck.

Toward us.

“Shit, they’re coming this way,” Alejandro whispered as he shut the blinds with a whoosh.

“Don’t worry,” I assured him, “there’s no way they could know we’re in here. Just stay quiet.”

But he couldn’t. With every breath, he exhaled with something of a rumble in his throat. I nudged him in the ribs, yet this only made him grunt. “Ouch,” he said, “what was that for?”

Damnit. Just do something, Eira.

Before I could stop myself, I put a hand over his mouth to cover it. His plump and warm lips, the feeling of day-old stubble prickling against my skin, and the soft puffs of his breath. I became so entranced, I almost forgot where we were. And who we were hiding from.

I saw the Vinsants pass by our window through a screen in the blinds, each marching more determinedly than the other. Freya and Branka walked in front, discussing where exactly they had sensed me earlier – “I’m not daft, Freya. I swear I felt her around here somewhere.” – while Aillard followed shortly behind, his eyes scanning the deck, the forest.

Even though they clearly didn’t sense me, I couldn’t help but tense up. Every muscle of every limb, even my hands. The Vinsants were right there, after all. A mere stride away.

“Well, since she’s clearly not here, I say we check the cemetery,” Freya suggested with a sigh.

“Yea, sure,” Branka droned in reply. “Whatever.”

The sisters trailed off, and somewhere in between imagining what they planned on doing once they found me, and what would’ve happened had I joined the townsfolk in the pharmacy, I accidentally covered Alejandro’s nose along with his mouth. He gasped for breath.

And this was it.

Aillard skidded to a stop. His head snapped toward the window, his golden eyes narrowed.

Alejandro and I both jerked, then stumbled back onto the bed. We lay in total and utter silence – shock – as we watched him try to peer beyond the blinds. Oh, shit. We’re done for.

But Aillard merely adjusted his hair in the window, then jogged off to catch up with his sisters.

Alejandro and I both fell back on the mattress. Only once my fright had worn off did I realise I lay on his chest. Bare chest. Damp chest. My shirt had pulled up to my waist, and he had his arms wrapped around my back. Bare back. At least my underwear looked decent.

Seriously, Eira? I scolded myself for my thoughts, then tilted my chin to look him in the eyes.

Alejandro blinked, and I blinked.

Then, without saying a word, we let go of each other and peeled apart at the exact same time.

“AHEM. How strange was that, right?” he said and peered outside through the blinds. “I can’t believe they were really glowing. I mean, what are they? A cult of witches or something?”

“You know, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Alejandro let the blinds spring shut again and whirled around. I couldn’t stop myself: my eyes flicked down to his chest again. And, once again, I felt my face start to warm up.

“We should – uh – go to bed,” I suggested. “It’s getting really late.”

“Yea, I guess we should.” Alejandro paused after he spoke, almost as if he wanted to add something. He didn’t though, and instead crossed the room to his blanket on the ground.

“Are you –“ I hesitated before I spoke on – “sure you’re comfortable sleeping on the ground?”

Alejandro lay down with his elbow tucked behind his head. Everything about him radiated confidence and ease. His wet and messy hair. His lack of shirt. His lounging pose. I almost didn’t recognise him. But I nonetheless liked it. “Comfortable? Nope, not at all.”

Huh?

My face must’ve said it all, as he laughed and added, “Yea, don’t worry, I’m fine on the ground. To be honest with you, I’m not even sure the bed’s all that comfortable.”

I copied his laugh, mostly because I didn’t know whether he wanted me to pressure him some more. With my mind still debating it, I reached out and flicked off the bedside lamp. Darkness fell across the room, not a speck of light filtering through the blinds. The room also fell silent, so much so that I refused to move. The tiniest creak made me cringe.

“So,” said Alejandro long after I thought he was asleep, “you said you thought of a plan?”

At last, actual conversation.

Sweet relief.

“Oh, yea,” I said into the void of pitch-black darkness. “Tomorrow night, during the festival –”

Suddenly, Alejandro yelped and scrambled to his feet. His reaction gave me such a fright, I also sat up. Only then could I see his outline, tall, broad-shouldered and trampling about.

“Maldito infierno,” he murmured, then trampled some more. “Something just crawled across me.”

“Gross,” I reacted. “What do you think it was? A spider?”

“No, it was too fast.” Alejandro audibly shivered. “I think it might’ve been a roach or something.”

A roach? Double gross. The mere thought of sleeping amongst a swarm of insects sent chills down my spine. Especially on a carpet that hadn’t been vacuumed in twenty years.

“Do you,” I began, once again weary, “want to sleep up here with me?”

A moment passed in which Alejandro considered it. “Are you sure?” he asked, even wearier than me.

I nodded, even though I knew he couldn’t see my face. “We sit next to each other all the time, don’t we?”

“Yes, of course. I just didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“No, no, I’m chill.” I wasn’t, and the twang in my voice only confirmed it. He didn’t seem to notice, though.

The matrass sank under Alejandro’s weight as he flopped down and crawled to the empty side of the bed. I held up the covers for him but he didn’t slide in underneath them. Instead, he lay exposed on his back, again with one arm behind his head and the other on his stomach.

I snuck a glance at him, at his profile. While my eyes had adjusted to the dark by now, I still only saw an outline. An outline of his nose, straight and with no bump in the middle.

“What are you looking at?” he asked and I started. I didn’t think he knew I was watching him.

Studying him.

“Can I,” I began, debating whether or not to continue, “touch your face?”

When Alejandro didn’t answer right away, I went on, “I mean, if you’re uncomfortable –”

“No,” he forestalled me. “I mean, yes. You can.”

I turned on my side so I fully face him, then took my right arm out from under the covers. For some reason, I felt anxious. Nervous. Afraid he might yank way at some point.

But he didn’t.

The moment my hand met his skin, it was as if he leaned into it, relishing it. He reach out and put his own hand on top of mine, and I felt his cheek muscles as he grinned at me.

“I don’t know why you’re ashamed of your patches,” I heard myself saying. “Why you hide them all the time.”

Silence.

“Skin is skin. And I think they’re beautiful.”

Alejandro swallowed as I said this. Then, he closed his hand around mine and took it off his cheek. He tucked it away, gently, almost as though trying not to offend me by doing so.

“You’re the only person who seems to think that,” he mumbled.

“You shouldn’t care what other people think.” But I was one to talk, having freaked out mere minutes after the entire town had shunned me. Mere minutes, while Alejandro had to deal with such attention all the time. And without a father to protect him. To defend him.

“Yea, I know.” Alejandro’s voice had a grogginess to it now. “But thanks, Eira. It means a lot.”

“Don’t mention it,” I insisted, however I wished I had stayed quiet. Oh, Eira, you smooth operator.

Not.

I reeled up the covers and turned on my back. The bed creaked, but I was too humiliated to care. What kind of weirdo asks to touch another person’s face? Me, apparently.

Hopefully Alejandro would’ve forgotten about it by tomorrow morning. Talk about wishful thinking.

“So, are you going to tell me or not?” he asked, much to my relief. His voice had regain its quirkiness, which made my stomach untwist a little. “What’s this brilliant plan of yours?”