#1 – Your Eyes
She stepped out of the taxi and stood in front of a dilapidated building. The place was deserted. The taxi left even before she could close its door. She looked up at the roof of the building and saw that it would likely fall even in a small earthquake. The windows were bare—not even the frames were still present. But the front door was surprisingly still intact.
She walked towards the double, wooden doors, the heels of her boots tapping in the pavement. The steps leading towards it had bullet holes, she noticed, as well as the walls. She pushed a few strands of her hair out of her shoulder before she opened the door.
It creaked on its old frame and the sound echoed ominously in the silent place. Once inside, she looked around. The grand staircase was not as glamorous anymore as dust coated its red carpet and the golden railings turned into rust. She looked up at the high ceiling and saw the diamond chandelier that was on the verge of falling down on her.
She looked around, spun on her place once before she walked towards the stairs. The place was quite well-lit due to the lack of windows. She slowly made her way upstairs, reflexively putting her hand on the railings before she thought before of it and pulled her hand back.
When she reached the 2nd floor, she saw a movement on her left. She turned towards it; not even blinking in surprise or fear as she found herself a hair width away from the tip of a knife pointed directly in the middle of her eyes.
As if it was all normal, she slowly raised her hand and pushed the knife away from her and smiled at the menacing man in front of her. He towered her that she barely reached his shoulder. His hair was as dark as a raven and his eyes as endless as an abyss. They were cold, lifeless, and hostile. But most of all—
“Who are you?” he asked in a deep, toneless voice as he positioned his knife back.
Elaina stared at the older man’s eyes—getting lost in their depths. She cocked her head to the side, studying the man in front of her. His clothes were all black. They were tattered, worn-out, but he was clean.
“I am here for you,” she answered with a calm, silvery voice despite the glinting knife in front of her.
The man growled at her, leaning down slightly to stare at her in the eyes. His whole aura and demeanor made to intimidate her but the girl in front of her was not carving in his presence like all the others before her.
“You did not answer my question, little girl,” he snarled.
The little girl smiled and pushed his knife down once more. She put her hands behind her and danced up and down on the soles of her feet. “I’m Elaina. And I’m here for you,”
“I’m not interested kid,” the man answered.
“Oh, but you are,” she answered in a singsong voice as she swayed slightly side by side. “Because if you weren’t, you would have killed me the moment I stepped inside this building,”
He sneered, looking down at the girl in front of him. She looked to be only 12, barely old enough to know about her world least about him and his world. “Don’t kid yourself, little girl. Just go home,”
Suddenly, her face turned serious as she stopped swaying in her feet. She continued to look at him straight in the eyes and as she did, little did he noticed, he was lowering his hand that was holding the knife.
“You know, these eyes,” she started, lifted a hand and caressing the side of his right eye with her angel-like fingers that shocked him. “Mine must have looked like these eyes ago. But—they can change, you know. Your eyes can look like how mine looks like now,”
The man stayed quiet, just staring at her. He stood like a statue under her gaze and beneath her touch. She slowly pulled her hand back only to put it between them in an inviting manner. “Take my hand, and I promise you, I will show you a new life. One where you are not being haunted. One where you are not being hated. Take my hand, and I promise you, I will be with you every step of the way,”
“Why?” he asked; his voice hoarse in hope.
She gave him a melancholic smile that seemed to make her look older. “Because even if you hide behind that merciless killer façade, all I see is a lost child. One who strangely reminds me of myself,”
He stepped back as slapped her hands away. “Who are you kidding? You’re younger than me, kid,”
She shook her head. “I may or may not be a child. But—I have seen and experience things that are too much for an adult much less for a child,” she raised her hand again between them and gave him an encouraging smile. “All you need to do for a second chance is to take my hand,”
She stared at his eyes. She knew the people that came there before her, saw his masquerade; his merciless, cold, and fearsome mask. But the reason why she didn’t jump out of the way of his attack was that she saw a glint. That glint of fear and loneliness in his eyes.
He looked down at her outstretched hand. He knew he shouldn’t believe what a 12-year-old was telling him. But he still found himself reaching for her hand. She was, after all, the first to look at him without fear. The first to touch him without inflicting pain on him. The first to talk to him without wincing and as if it was all normal.
But most of all—the first to look at him straight in the eyes and saw his heart and soul.
He put his hand on top of hers. And as he did, her petite fingers wrapped around his. And she gave him a smile so bright that it pushed his darkness away.
“Starting today, you are no longer the killer Kei. Starting today, you will be known as—,”
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