There's something about us

Xalen looked at her from behind the tree in the forest, watching the love of his life walk down the path home from her night shift. He’s always watched her from afar. She talked to him now and then, but no more than a simple “hello.” It pained him when she did this.





He remembered how a while back, he found her in the stairwell of the college, crying her eyes out. He didn’t know what to do and panicked. He was about to leave when she looked up and asked him to stay with her. He sat down next to her as she lay against his shoulder, crying into it and telling him about her mother being killed by her psycho of a father. Xalen put his arm around her and gave her his sweatshirt, wrapping it around her tightly and gave her a kiss on the top of the head, holding her closely. He laid with her for quite a while until she calmed down enough to stand on her own. She thanked him for being there for her. She tried to give his sweatshirt back, but he just shook his head and smiled at her.


“It’s ok. You can keep it.” She smiled at these words and kissed him on the cheek and ran up the stairs. He looked up after her, his heart racing and his cheeks flushed with a wide smile settled on his lips. He waited for a couple of minutes, before climbing the stairs to go to his dorm room.


The next day he walked up to her to say hello, but she just looked him over and smiled, walking away with her friends. Xalen stood there, looking after her, then to his feet in humiliation. How could he be so stupid? He should have known that something little like that would never have made him good enough for her. Xalen walked slowly in the other direction, depressed that she would never even notice him.


A few weeks later, she dropped her books in the hallway and there was no one else around so he asked her if she would like some help. She looked up and smiled, nodding and he bent down to help. Afterward she thanked him, giving him a hug and walked away, his sweatshirt tied around her waist.


About a week later he was about to round the corner when he heard crying. He peaked from around the corner and saw her there, on her cell phone. She was talking to someone who was apparently an asshole. She screamed about she couldn’t believe what he did to her. Couldn’t believe that she used to be his “baby girl”. Xalen guessed her boyfriend. She screamed at him to never speak to her again and hurled her cell phone at the wall. It shattered upon impact. She was slumped against the wall, her hair over her face. He sighed and she looked up at him. Xalen froze in place, embarrassed that he had been caught spying on her. Even though, it was kind of an accident. She got up and stalked over to him. Xalen cringed and shut his eyes tight, expecting to be slapped. Instead, he felt her lips on his. He opened his eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He didn’t object and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to his body. She stopped kissing him and pulled him over to the corner and made him sit down. She straddled his lap and pulled his sweatshirt over her shoulders and buried her face in the nape of his neck. Xalen blinked and looked down at her. She just held him tightly, sobbing.


“Thanks for caring, stranger…” She said and fell asleep on top of him. He pulled his sweatshirt onto the exposed parts of her body, lifting the sleeping girl up more and wrapping his arms around her waist.





Xalen sighed as he came back to reality. The memories were painful, but he guessed he would just have to keep watching her from afar. If he hadn’t seen her beforehand he wouldn’t have had enough time to hide. She hasn’t been able to look him in the eye since then, and he wanted to save her the embarrassment. He sighed and just watched her wearing his sweatshirt and listening to her iPod, singing along to “I’ll keep you my dirty little secret” Huh, now that he thought about it. It was kinda ironic. Xalen smiled to himself, and then realized that it was a joke only he would be laughing at. He looked back up to watch her more closely and changed trees.


After about a half an hour, he thought he heard something from the other side of the path, but decided it was just her iPod turned up too loud. He continued to gaze upon her as she walked, sighing at her beauty. There it was again, but this time he saw a shadow. His hand gripped around the small pocket knife attached to his belt, but, then nothing happened. He was about to sigh in relief when he heard her scream. He looked back to her and saw an older man with a hunting knife in his left hand pinning the girl to the ground.


“Look at yourself! Your just like your mother, you little slut!” As he was about to swing down and stab her, Xalen launched himself at the man. He clipped him in the ribs with his shoulder, knocking himself and the father to the ground. He heard the sound of metal hitting the gravel path. Xalen looked around to see the psycho reaching for the knife. He pulled out knife after grabbing the man by the elbow and dug the pocket knife into the father’s leg as he yanked himself up and wrapped his hand around the hunting knife he felt a sharp pain shoot through his right shoulder and cried out in pain as the man kicked him in the ribs.


“You little shit!” The father picked up the knife and was about to go down on his daughter again when Xalen kicked his legs out from under him and stood back up with him, the knife between them. Xalen grabbed his wrist and turned it counter clock wise and heard a snap. The father screamed in pain and he saw him fumbling for something in his pocket. Xalen took that moment to take the knife away and was about to bring it up to stab the man in the side when he heard a click. Xalen knew what that meant, and stepped in front of the man’s daughter.


A loud crack, a sharp pain in his chest.


Xalen blinked and looked down to the man’s other hand to see a 9mm in.


Another earsplitting crack, more pain ensued in his stomach.


Xalen choked as blood rose in his throat. He heard the girl scream and his anger rise.


Xalen pushed back the pain, screaming in both agony and anger, bringing the knife up to the father’s throat and plunging the blade deep into the trachea and out the other side. The father choked out a gurgle and crumpled to the floor, the blood dripping from the tip of the knife. Xalen turned to her and smiled with red teeth and fell to his knees. He looked up at her through blurred vision, and held out his blood soaked hand.


“I-I’m Xalen…”


He swallowed and his vision got worse as he felt himself fall backward and heard screaming.


“Xal-” It drowned out. “Xal-…. Stay…. Never….my name!” He only heard bits and pieces as the blood pounded in his ears, trying to re-circulate.


He looked up to see her draping his sweatshirt over him and lying on his chest, sobbing and talking into the receiver on her cell phone. His vision went black.


It came back for a couple of seconds. Long enough for him to see red flashing lights and hear more screaming.


His vision faded. He started to hear music that somehow, seemed fit right about now. He sang along in his head.


“It might not be the right time. I may not be, the right one. But there’s something about us, I want to say. Cause there’s something between us, anyway. I might not be, the right one. It might not be, the right time. But there’s something about us, I’ve got to do. Some kind of secret I will share with you. I need you more than anything in my life. I want you more than anything in my life. I’ll miss you more than anyone in my life. I love you more than anyone in my life…”


He smiled to himself, accomplished. Xalen realized that he had been choking bits and pieces of it out loud. Which parts she heard he guessed hell never know. At least she knew what he meant. He choked for a couple of seconds, then found it easier to just, stop breathing.