Intertwined Love and Deception

Chapter 5

I did not notice that I had dropped off to sleep. I just knew because I was already dreaming.

I was rushing through the dark woods again, and I was being chased by an orb. Who could this be? It was believed that this could have been the soul of a human who had died and wandered around.

Why was it coming after me? I stopped running and cried. To my surprise, it changed into something else completely. It was dressed in something white, but I could not see its face as it was several feet off the ground. I was on the verge of screaming in terror when I saw the older woman I had just met earlier today. “I haven’t seen Paul in a while. He’s been dead for more than three decades now.” She murmured as she continued to flip the comic book.

“Sayonara!” I recognized the voice. It was Paul’s. He was looking at me with great sadness in his eyes. It was like I saw him because he wanted me to see him. He tried to tell me something. I could not move when he walked towards me. He touched my cheeks, lowered his head closer to mine, and then licked my face.

“Yikes!” I said as I pushed his furry face. I opened my eyes but covered it right away with my hand because of the blinding light.

Max barked at me, making me realize it was morning already. I groaned and rolled into the other side of the bed. I stopped moving, and my heart seemed to stop beating when I realized I was in bed. I have no recollection of going to the bedroom last night. My eyes were drawn to the outside, so I rose to my feet and went to peek outside the window.

It was still cloudy and foreshadowed another heavy rain. Then my eyes had a glimpse of a handsome Greek god who perhaps got tired of his kingdom and went to earth. Standing in the middle of the lawn, Paul gazed in my direction. As our eyes locked, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I blinked, feeling the flush that crept to my face. I turned my back on him as I touched my cheeks, then faced him again, but Paul wasn’t there anymore.

“I haven’t seen Paul in a while. He’s been dead for more than three decades now.” It echoed in my mind as I recalled my dream.

“Brrr...” I quivered, rubbing my arms up and down. What the older woman said made goosebumps rise on my arms, and I could not help but shiver at the thought. I must be crazy thinking Paul was a ghost with an interactive personality. The reading from last night gave me ideas for my story but brought nightmares into my sleep. If Paul was indeed a ghost, was he friendly or not?

I went to the bathroom, humming the Ghostbusters theme song as I brushed my teeth and washed my face. After a quick trip to the bathroom, I wandered around the house. It was still early, and the reminders of last night, I felt embarrassed going down the kitchen to look for food.

I could not help admiring everything about his home. It was grand! By the looks of it, this could be a million-dollar house. The large windows made the sunlight dance inside the house, a great way of saving energy because this house was big, and who knew how many bulbs were needed to light the whole area.

The next flight of stairs caught my attention. I walked toward the direction of the stairs, forgetting my scary dream. When I reached the top, my mouth gaped as my eyes feasted on the whole floor of the house. It felt like I was in a huge library.

“Wow!” I exclaimed as I continued one more step. For book lovers, this would be heaven. The vast windows brought powerful light into the library, not needing the lights hanging on the ceiling. There were plants in every corner of the room, making the place more aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. The floor has a comfortable thick carpet to sit or lie down while enjoying reading. There were two wooden tables on each side, one was filled with books, not yet placed on the shelves, and the other had nothing on top except for a laptop.

My fingers trailed the table and touched the books.

“This is amazing!” I exclaimed again as I picked one hardbound book. I was stunned that its cover was made of cloth, the ones that I could only see in the museums framed in glass. I carefully opened it, realizing it was an old book written in a different language. My eyebrows knitted, asking myself who would read this.

“Be careful on that one. That’s a hundred years old book,” Paul reminded.

I was startled and looked around where his voice was coming from. He was standing by the window, leaning on the glass as he watched me. I swear, he wasn’t there a while ago, but that wasn’t my only concern. How can someone be so beautiful in this early morning?

“How... how did you get there? You were just outside,” My voice was in a panic. My heart was beating so fast, and I could not remember if I was breathing or not.

“Breathe, Sai!” He said, moving towards me.

I confirmed, then, that I wasn’t breathing. I took a deep breath as my eyes widened as he got closer to me.

His eyes squinted as he stopped a foot away from me.

I inhaled by mistake when he was near. “God, you smelled so nice!” I said out loud, and then I bit my lower lip to stop myself from talking.  

He smirked, and then he took the book from my hands. “I was looking for this one,” He said, walking to the shelf near the window and placing it back on space.

I turned to him, and my hands were on my hips. “How did you get here?” My eyebrows knitted as I waited for him to face me, but he did not. Paul made himself busy trailing the titles with his index finger to check if the book editions were complete. “And how did I get to the bed?”

He tilted his head and gave me a look. “I used my power and lifted you to the bed,” He uttered nonchalantly.

My eyes widened again, and my hand flew to my mouth to cover it. He turned around and shook his head.

“Do you really think that’s what had happened, Sai?” He chuckled. “I was just gone a minute last night, and when I came back, you were snoring already on the carpet. I bet you didn’t finish the chapter you’re reading. I had to carry you in the bed,” He heaved a sigh. “And as for your other question, my bedroom is connected to this library, so if you’re wondering how I got here, I went to my room first, then I climbed up here.” He explained. “You have such a rich imagination, and yet you’re telling me you’re not a writer.”

I pursed my lips. What else can I say? It would have been great if I was awake last night when he carried me. It would have been romantic. I shook my head and brushed off the idea in my mind.

“What were you doing outside?” I asked, almost a whisper.

“Looking for a four-leaf clover,” He answered, but his forehead puckered like his mind was somewhere else. This guy knew how to make jokes. That’s good.

“What do you need that for?” I asked, pretending to read the titles of the books.

He shrugged. “For good luck... for protection,” He walked past me, going downstairs. “Let’s have breakfast, Sai,” He did not wait for me.

I sneered at him and focused my eyes on the books lying on the table. I picked up another book, and surprisingly its title was ‘The Good Luck book.’ My eyebrows knitted. Feeling creepy about the whole conversation, I returned the book in its place and followed him.

“Paul?” I called out, but he went downstairs so fast that I had to dash the stairs. I wondered if he slid on the staircase’s handrail because I could not see him anymore. I went straight to the kitchen and saw him setting the plates on the countertop.

“I’m not used to having company, so I hope it’s okay you eat here,” He said, sitting down and pouring coffee into the cup.

“Yeah, of course. I can eat anywhere,” I think I do, especially if I was too hungry.

He pushed the cup gently to me, and then the eggs and loaf of bread.

“Are you not eating?” I asked him as I took some eggs. He did not answer. He just sipped from his cup. “What do you eat, Paul?”

“Souls,” He answered in a serious tone while his eyes focused on the tablet to continue reading something.

I guess the food went to the wrong pipe in my throat that I almost choked. I coughed and reached for the cup of coffee he gave me. I watched him with annoyance as he put eggs on his sandwich and ate a mouthful of it while he read.