Cocooned Love

Cocooned Love

Hsien W Lou

Hsien W Lou 2014

Cocoon 1 - Cocooned Love

'The best secrets are kept in the dark'

As many secrets begin in broad sunlight, they are usually prolonged in the dark, this particular one begins in a dark and rather noisy room. Random voices were heard, filling the darkness, like static interrupting each other, every one of the words, tones, syllables competing with another, trying their best to be the one understood.

"I love you." A female voice said loudly, she sniffled as she spoke.

"You cannot be serious?" Another female voice came through, her tone high pitched and filled with disbelief.

A male voice overlapped her, "Perhaps somewhere North?" he asked playfully.

"These things are bound to happ -" another male voice barged though, yet he was quickly interrupted by the first loud female.

"THIS IS NOT ME!" The loud female continued shouting.

The words spoken covered each other, creating chaos. Everyone spoke their opinions, their thoughts, and their words of substance not caring nor the least bit interested in the only real person in the dark room. They did not care because they did not know she existed.

She lay on the floor wrapped in a million blankets, well not quite a million, to be more accurate, three blankets. She resembled a tiny caterpillar covered in a large cocoon. Her face was inches from the two plasma screens which were the sources of the strange voices. She watched with interest as the characters on the screen spoke. Her eyes focused on Deka, the loud red haired female. She was facing a mid-life crisis and her sweet boyfriend (Jung) was helping her through it, even though he had no idea how. He currently sat on the couch, embracing Deka while she shouted her words into whimpers. He stroked her back trying to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

"Jung, you are too sweet to her!" The girl on the floor complained, irritated by Deka's mid-life crisis, irritated by Deka altogether.

"How you've changed Deka! We used to have great romantic times. Now it's all sadness and self-discovery. Go to the mountain then!" The girl on the floor raised her voice in annoyance as she watched Jung shed a tear for his beloved, feeling genuine pain for his Deka. The girl in the dark stared at Jung. His eyes were as brown as his hair, his cheek bones high and his nose slightly sharp. His body had muscles in all the right places, not overbearing and bulky, but just enough to make a girl's heart pitter patter and make her eyes linger in a stare. She was certain he was crafted by a master sculptor. Not a speck of fault anywhere on him except for the girl he held in his arms. Deka.

"Argghhhh!" The syllable escaped from her mouth as her eyes rolled towards the dark wall on her left, then they found their sight back at Jung.

"I want to go to the moon." The female voice giggled. The girl on the floor moved her eyes towards the next couple on her screen. Her two plasma screens contained two miniature squares within them, revealing the homes of four different people. How did she manage this? And why was she watching other people's lives? The videos she watched were like security footage, the video would discreetly show her the daily lives of these four people.

"The moon is North." The man smiled, pointing his finger towards the kitchen ceiling. His girlfriend laughed at his comment, tilting her head slightly as she chopped red peppers and carrots. She was creating one of her famous chef lunches for him, she was the image of the perfect wife. Pretty, porcelain skin, sophisticated voice, highly intelligent and the most important characteristic, she was from a very wealthy family. With all these strikingly disgusting qualities who needs enemies? The girl on the floor thought as she watched Caleb walk towards his perfect girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her from behind. This scene should have been a 'cute moment,' 'a sweet moment,' one of those 'awww moments' but to the girl laying on the floor it made her stomach churn.

"Caleb, if only you knew the truth about her!" She whispered violently, watching the scene on her screen. She pressed the + button on the remote and the screen zoomed closer to the couples embrace.

"How did everything turn out like this?" She sighed, trying to get into a comfortable position on the floor. She had recently found out the exploits of this perfect lady, Rebecca. The lady was flawed, imitating perfection was her skill or more likely her trickery but deep within her soul and those sparkling, kind eyes was a manipulative and controlling individual. She manipulated Caleb using her wealth and family to restrict him to her. He was civil servant who did his upmost best to keep the law, dissecting judgement between right and wrong, yet this lady he was in love with was a perfect fictitious being who clouded his judgement. All the opportunities for his career had vanished, rejected every time he pursued them and all the while he returned to her for comfort. And that is what she wanted, she wanted him to need her and stay with her like a living pet that needs his master to be fed.

"I guess manipulation is a requirement of perfection, but this is wrong! Caleb cannot live his life in constant disappointment, how can anyone grow into who they are meant to be? Something must be done." She suggested to herself, her left eyebrow raised up. Her left eyebrow would always rise, arching automatically when she was solving a riddle. Before she could even attempt to think further, her black eyes grew large as she spotted a foreign entry on the second plasma screen. There was a shadowed presence opening the door of none other than workaholic Jay's apartment, Jay never came home for lunch! She gripped the blankets around herself more tightly, sitting up pressing her face in concern and shock towards the screen. She had to do something! Who was this man entering Jay's household? He was certainly not Jay, Jay had long highlighted blond hair, round eyes even though his face was rather triangular he still had angles of handsomeness especially when he smiled but the man in front of her was not smiling. He had plain black hair, he walked through the door wearing a black jacket and diamond patterned jeans. Did he think he was a rock star?

"What is this? Who are you?" She asked the screen, watching this stranger drop his luggage on the tiled floor then gently remove his jacket, placing it on the coat hanger. He walked to the fridge, opening it, disregarding any respect for Jay's privacy. He found a bottle of orange juice positioned it on the kitchen counter then opened the top cupboard finding a tall clean glass and then he proceeded to wash the already clean glass.

"HUH?!" She squeaked in disbelief, would anyone rewash an already dishwashed glass? She shook her head, disapproving of the activity, she never thought another human being; a stranger would enter an owner's house and do as they pleased! She felt offended for Jay and herself. But then she thought.

Am I not doing the same thing?

No, no, no. This is entirely different. I have a valid reason. I am helping them!

Help.

I will help Jay by finding out who this over-washed creature is. She decided, standing abruptly and letting the three blankets slip from her hands and fall to the carpet. Even though it was daytime and the sun beamed brightly outside, her room was extremely dark, she had thick black curtains blocking any sunrays that dared to penetrate through. The only light visible came from the two big plasma screens that were currently on the carpet with her blankets. They fluttered silverish white light and revealed her very limited furniture in the apartment which was a closet, a small fridge, her blankets and the two plasma screens. The average human would not be able to see in her black cave, yet her eyes had adjusted to months of strained night, she ran towards her wardrobe finding a worthy disguise she could portray to investigate the intruder in Jay's apartment. Well, he was not really an intruder since he did have a key, but many criminals steal keys. He had luggage, could he be a friend of Jay's staying over? She found herself walking towards the sixth floor where Jay's apartment was, the dim light disturbed her eyes but she rubbed them and they eventually adjusted to the normal human light. She finally reached his door as her thoughts tried to put the pieces together. She knocked on the door, tapping it as professionally as a real plumber could. She wore green overalls and a green cap, concealing her face on purpose. The front of her overalls had a name tag, Rei and the back had large font written A's Plumbers, to make her disguise more realistic she attached a toolbox to her hand.

On the fifth knock, the door opened revealing the intruder in Jay's apartment. He opened the door slightly and stared at his visitor.

"Hello?" he asked his tone husky.

"Good afternoon, I am Rei from A's Plumbers. We received a phone call from Mr. Finnegan of trouble with plumbing." She said lowering her head, concealing her face further in case the cap could not. "The kitchen taps." She added.

"Trouble with plumbing?" He murmured and opened the door a bit more, stepping aside, allowing her to enter the apartment. Success she thought, taking triumphant steps into the apartment.

But as soon as she entered through the door, her successful attempts were shattered as hell stared at her. The scarlet sun shone through the windows, blinding her eyesight, cursing her existence. She felt dizzy and fear drained her very soul. What was this? Why couldn't she see? What was happening?  Everything was too bright to comprehend.

"My sins... have caught up with me... I am burning." She said weakly.

"Sins..."

Her eyes closed and she lost consciousness. The last sound she heard was the clanging of the toolbox that left her fingertips.

He reached for her before her body could fall to the ground; his quick reflexes caught her safely in his arms. He stared down at the plumber perplexed with concern, her face looked frighteningly pale.

"Are you alright? Can you hear me?" He asked her, lifting her limp body into his arms, closer to his chest. He quickly carried her towards the couch, carefully placing her down on the soft surface. He then found her wrist, pressing his two fingers feeling for her pulse. Her pulse was strong. Beating at a normal rhythm, he was relieved. He stood up walking towards the kitchen to pour her a glass of water. The first day he returns home and dreadful excitement trails him, he disliked surprising events such as this. He did not need excitement in his life. The fainting plumber was fine, he was unsure why she had suddenly collapsed but thankfully it wasn't anything serious. Before she fainted he recalled her whisper something about her sins. Strange indeed. She looked too tiny and thin to be a plumber. Plumbers were usually male, bulky, and untidy, well this lady could be considered untidy. Some of her hair strands were roughly released from her cap they pointed in all directions and her clothes looked stained, dusty and creased as if they hadn't been ironed in months. He gulped down in disgust as he realised he had carried her and all the dirt she came within his arms, this would not infect him would it? He then took in a breath trying his best not to dust the dirt from her overalls. She was a trainee, she must be. Plumbers trained in dirt.

He heard her sigh and move her body, her arms were crossed over her face as if she was trying to create a force-field to block out an enemy.

"AWAY BEAST," she finally let out a cry, her eyes were tightly shut. Her body shifted from her lying position to a seated huddled position near the corner of the couch. Her arms were still shielded in an 'X Keep away shape.' He caught a glimpse of her movement and her loud scowl, and somehow his body quickly moved him towards her while holding the glass of water.

"Hey! It's okay." He said in a reassuring tone, kneeling down beside her.

She could not hear him in the midst of her own chanting, "keep away foul fiend, know thy limits and be moved."

"Know thy limits and be moved?" he repeated her words perplexed. Was that dialogue a part of an old play or movie? One thing was for sure he needed to snap her out of her hallucination. He gently held her arm trying to separate the formidable X shape but as he tried she aggressively swung her arm at his face. Her action surprised him but he swiftly dodged her fist causing his body to stumble backwards, and her fist slammed into his wrist splashing the glass of water onto his face.

Unbelievable! He first thought then he uttered the words.

This was not going well. His face was drenched with droplets and his body was now seated reluctantly on the floor. Why was he trying to aid this violent plumber? He shook his head staring at her, she was still lost in her X- treme sport so he quickly grabbed her arms, before she could swing them at him again. Separating the X by force, he held her wrists far apart and was inches from her face. She still spoke words of 'fiends' and 'limits' but he was not going to let her get away with that. He was definitely going to wake this plumber up before more water would be spilled. "Wake up!" he said loud enough for her eyes to immediately shoot up in perplexity. She blinked a couple of times, figuring out the facial structure of the person in front of her.

Her eyes grew bigger.

"You," she said trying to make sense of why his hands were on her. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" she screeched pulling, pushing away from him and his couch. In the midst of her struggle to escape from his hands, her cap fell away revealing her long brown hair. It fell everywhere, brushing across her shoulders shaping her determined pale face. She found herself standing across from him, his body bent down staring up at her. He was stunned by the sight of her and paused before standing to face her directly. He noticed her eyes were the shade of black diamonds hinting a misty blue that was too faint to be truly called blue. He had to blink more than three times to really figure out the colour of her eyes.

"How dare you?!?" she said accusingly and instinctively slapped his face. His senses woke up as he felt the warmth of pink pain stretch across his cheek.

He grabbed her wrist in disbelief. When last was he slapped by a woman? Three years ago, his brain quickly answered.

"What are you doing?" he incredulously asked.

She didn't bother to answer him. The one at fault should not be asking questions, and the victim should never answer the criminal's questions.

"You should be arrested!" She spat out, forcefully removing his hand from her wrist with a swift motion.

He took several breaths before he spoke, trying to maintain his composure.

"You are misunderstanding the situation."

"Misunderstanding why you leapt on me with your body?" She flared up in anger, footing to leave.

"Wait a second, wait one moment." He walked in front of her finding her cap on the floor, and dusted it as he spoke. What was wrong with her hair? It was all messy and spiderwebby. He thought turning around to face her.

"Once again, you have misunderstood the situation; I would never take advantage of a woman unless they were willing." He explained, "You fainted, and I just tried to wake you up." He tried to continue but she interrupted him.

"Wake me up by leaping on me?" Her eyes eyed him suspiciously, for some reason he noticed that her eyes became a darker shade of black, but this distraction would not subdue his irritation as he heard her mention him leaping again. He didn't even leap at her, he just tried to control her aggressive sub-consciousness.

"Leaping on you? More like you leapt on me with your fist and water!" He snapped.

She was taken aback by his words. "My fist had a good reason to leap on you."

"Hah! You violently slam your fist into me while I tried to help you! This is unbelievable!" he said growing in annoyance. "Having hallucinations of beasts and other wizardry spells." He continued.

Wizard spells? That did sound like one of her dreams. Was he telling the truth?

"...keep away foul fiend, know thy limits and be moved. This is what you were reciting!" He shook his head incredulously. 

Well she remembered that line, she worked on it for hours. Perfecting the advertisement of the computer game dungeons and arrogant kings. She had played the game at least five times to capture the true substance and each time she played it she discovered something new, she kept having dreams of saving lands and powers spells that encouraged her to continue her quest in reality. So perhaps he was right, but that didn't mean she would accept that she should apologise. She wasn't that crazy. And why did he have his hands wrapped around her wrists, that did not seem like assistance.

"What? I cannot believe this!" She snapped back, grabbing her cap from his hand. "I am leaving!" she shoved him aside and walked to the door.

"Leaving? Leaving?" He said again in angry disbelief. "You did not even fix the plumbing!" He motioned his hands towards the kitchen sink.

Her only reply was the slamming of his front door. He stormed after her, catching her frame and her untidy hair near the elevator. She was tapping the elevator button rapidly in the hallway.

"Wait! You won't get away with this!" He cried out loud, pointing his finger at her.

Did she hear right?  Was that a real voice screaming for her to wait? She quickly looked up to her right and saw him. He was running! He wanted her to wait while he ran. Tap. Tap. Tap. She pressed the elevator button in desperation.

Why elevator? Please OPEN!

And the silver doors opened. She quickly manoeuvred in, praying for the doors to close. But before they did, she saw his ominous figure between the open space, the elevator refused to obey her as his hand opposed the elevator door. Her eyes almost popped from her skull. He stared at her suspiciously, an eyebrow arched, a slight smirk on his face as if she would die a million deaths.

He began to speak, but a foreign sound buzzed from his pocket. It was a victory ringtone for her as she watched him search his pockets, and her face gleamed. He placed the phone to his ear, saying hello while staring right into her eyes as the elevator doors closed.