He shrugs. “It’s my job to know about everyone who lives and works in this house. And my room looks down into your room. I watch you sleep most nights.”
“Don’t you sleep?” I ask, feeling like he’s a vampire from Twilight or something.
“No, never.”
I frown. No one can never sleep. You need sleep to survive.
“I like what you did to the room. The pink suits you, and I like all the glitter you added.”
I blush.
And then our world changes. His father yells in the distance, and the boy’s ears immediately perk, sensing the danger.
“I have to go, you should go inside,” he says.
I nod. I need to avoid the man at all costs.
We both climb out of the pool. I didn’t even remember to bring a towel, so I drip the entire way back to the guest house my mom and I are staying in.
The boy starts running toward the house. The boy that knows everything about me, but I don't know anything about him.
“Wait…what’s your name?” I ask.
He hesitates, looking at me like I’m a lost cat.
“Black. My name is Enzo Black.”
And then the boy is gone.
Black. It’s such a dark name. A name meant to send chills to anyone who thinks of crossing him.
I smile, watching the boy disappear. Maybe living here will be more tolerable than I thought. The boy didn’t say it, but I know he’s been watching over me, protecting me from the darkness. He will keep me safe here. He will become a friend, and then my life won't be so miserable anymore.
The smile remains as I walk back to the guest house. I am so lost in my own little piece of happiness, I don't notice the shadow covering the door. I don't notice the man creating the shadow. I don’t notice the evil finally come for me.
“Black!” I scream as the man’s hands grab me. But I know it’s too late. The boy won’t be able to save me. Not this time. This time evil won.
17
KAI
I TRY to hold in my tears, listening to Liesel’s story, but she makes it impossible not to embrace everything she felt.
Enzo’s life was a nightmare. His father trained him to become evil like him. He forced him to shoot his own mother to end her suffering, and then his father hurt the only friend Enzo had: Liesel.
I know Liesel didn’t tell me the story so I would feel sorry for her. She told me to better understand her and Enzo’s relationship. She told me their history to teach me a lesson.
“Enzo’s father raped or beat me several times over the next few months. It was the worst time of my life,” Liesel says.
I swallow down my tears, doing everything I can to listen and understand her pain.
“Enzo’s father did unthinkable things to Enzo. Tortured hi
m in the worst possible ways to try and make him strong enough to become Black. But Enzo would rather have the pain himself than watch someone he loves getting hurt.”
“He loved you,” I say, agreeing.
She shakes her head. “He wouldn’t let himself after what happened to his mother. The only people he ever let himself love are Langston and Zeke, and he only allows himself that love because they chose this life. And he knows whether he loves them or not, they are going to put themselves at risk right next to him.”