The Secrets Hidden In The Scars

      It seems like Raquelle, Natalia, Terrence, and Edward can be happy that Michael MacClife has been arrested. But none of them gets better. Nobody feels the happiness that they are supposed to feel. Also, nobody rushes to say something, as the four are in the car of Raquelle, who is driving it. Sitting in the passenger seat, Terrence sets his dead gaze into the distance, and Edward and Natalia sitting in the backseat move their tired eyes to the window.       Raquelle would like to talk to Terrence, Edward, and Natalia, but she sees nobody wants to talk and does not ask anyone questions. She understands that everybody is deeply shocked and trying to accept what they discovered and experienced. Just like the girl, who is watching the road with a sad gaze, squeezing the steering wheel tightly, and thinking about something. Though, Raquelle sometimes glances at Terrence, who is nervously fingering over and recalling what happened today, feeling shame, regret, shock, sadness, and tension at the same time.       Probably, Edward feels much worse than the others. Today, too much happened, broke him down, and made him feel shame. A much stronger shame than the one he got obsessed with when he recognized all his mistakes. When he realized how much he did, and how he turned all his close people against him. Even if they know all his secrets, he does not feel any kind of relief. Edward thinks he will never feel it. Especially, after today’s events, when he had to get blushed from shame, wanted to be swallowed by the ground, and was seriously ready to kill himself to stop suffering. After everything that has lately happened, Edward is afraid to look into the eyes of those, with whom he is now in the car. He wants to leave them as soon as possible and hide somewhere, so nobody finds him, thinking someone would hardly find him and care about his fate.       Natalia does not feel better. She has been strongly tense over the past few months because of what has happened to her. The four days she spent at Michael’s house and today’s events sucked the strength out of her and even deprived her of hope that she would be able to smile again. And become the positive girl that she was somehow. It was madly hard for her to forget about all her fears to protect herself and prove that she was not so weak and cowardly. Natalia was afraid that one of her actions could easily deprive her of life. But the girl just faced her fear and expressed her readiness to sacrifice herself and stand up for those, who she loved with all her heart.       Also, Terrence, Natalia, and Edward are grateful to Raquelle for organizing the mission to get Michael arrested. If not for her, Victor, Darwin, and Jamie, they would have hardly been in the car of the girl, being terribly exhausted, depressed, and emptied, but alive and unharmed. The three believed they could count on her and held on thanks to this belief. And Raquelle herself is happy the plan came true, and her close people did not suffer because of Michael. She showed her love and readiness to do anything for the well-being of her beloved man, her best friend, and her fiancé’s brother, whom she feels truly sorry for deep inside.       Nobody notices that Raquelle’s car has passed the bigger part of the way. While the silence settles in the salon, and nobody even wants to turn on the radio, she starts to forget that there is something else in the car except her. That Terrence is not sitting in the passenger seat, leaning back, tightly locking his hands, and setting his dead eyes into the distance. That there is not Natalia, who puts her head on the door of the car and sets her dead eyes on the window. And Edward, who leans his head back and slightly turns it to the side, closing his eyes with a feeling that he is falling asleep more and more. At some moment, the red light of the traffic light turns on. Raquelle has to stop to follow the rules that even a little child knows. While she slightly knocks at the steering wheel with the fingers of one hand and keeps another one on the gearbox, the brunette thinks about something.       And when Terrence glances at her and puts his hand softly on her hand placed on the gearbox, she shakes slightly and moves her eyes at the man sharply. He smiles at her with an exhausted but true smile, looks at her with his tired, red eyes, and softly caresses her hand, the skin of which is very nice and velvety to touch. Raquelle also smiles at Terrence shyly, and she later gets her hand out of his hand, puts it on his hand, and caresses it tenderly. The man smiles much wider and shows his white, straight teeth when the girl slightly squeezes his hand. But a few seconds later, they have to let each other’s hands go because they see the green light on the traffic light. And Natalia and Edward do not notice this cute moment because they are so busy with their thoughts that they notice nothing around them.       

***

      Some time passes before Raquelle arrives at the house where she is living with Terrence, ends up on the territory of the neighborhood, and leaves the car in the parking lot. After putting the car in park and switching off the motor, the girl leans back and exhales quietly, taking a rest from a long, exhausting trip and feeling her neck and back hurt a little. Raquelle sits like this for a few seconds before she decides to let everybody know they can leave the car. Because nobody has done it yet.       “We’ve come, guys,” Raquelle says quietly and hesitantly, grabbing the steering wheel and setting her tired gaze into the distance. “Leave.”       Terrence comes back to reality first and looks around without emotions. And then Natalia puts her thoughts aside and examines the place where she is. They sit in their places for some time, but then they sigh heavily at a different time, put off the safety belt lazily, and finally decide to leave the car. Raquelle does it first and waits for the others to leave. Terrence slowly leaves it a few moments later, massaging the nape of his neck and stroking his hair down. Natalia stays in the car for some time before Raquelle knocks at the glass and asks her to leave with a gesture. The girl runs her hands over her face with a heavy sigh and wants to leave.       But at the last moment, she glances at Edward for the first time after the trip. He got kind of quiet. During the trip, the man was struggling with sleep, but gave up and fell asleep after they passed the only traffic light. He looks calm and absolutely relaxed, leaning his head back and slightly turning it on the side of the door of the car, folding his hands in front of himself. But his face looks so tired and white that the black strands of his disheveled hair stand out against it. Terrence and Raquelle also move their eyes to Edward, who is getting no attention on him. And while they look at each other questioningly with a sense of anxiety, Natalia shakes the sleeping man by his shoulder carefully.       “Edward…” Natalia pronounces quietly. “Edward, wake up… Edward…”       Natalia has to call Edward several times before the man opens his eyes with a quiet moan and looks at the blonde sitting next to him with a sleepy gaze.       “We’ve come,” Natalia says quietly. “You can leave.”       Edward looks around with his sleepy eyes and sees that Terrence and Raquelle left the car, and they look at him. The man shakes his head sharply, wipes his eyes, blinks them to get rid of sleep, strokes down his hair, and slightly fixes his disheveled fringe. Only after that, he leaves the car almost at the same moment as Natalia. Then Raquelle locks it with a key and goes to the exit of the house along with the others. When she takes a bunch of keys and opens the hall door, she slowly enters the house, puts the keys from the car and the house on the table near the door, and goes further into the living room. Terrence follows her much slower, running his hand through his hair and lazily looking around. And the last ones to enter are Natalia, who fixes her disheveled, loose hair, and Edward, who literally sleeps on a walk due to psychical and moral exhaustion. When everybody silently enters the living room, Terrence becomes the first one to break the silence, sitting on the sofa powerlessly and leaning back with closed eyes:       “Home, sweet home…”       Raquelle goes to the kitchen to get coffee for everybody. Natalia sits on the sofa powerlessly, leans back, and closes her face with her hands with a quiet sigh. And Edward sits next to her, doubles over, and closes his face with his hands, sometimes running his hands over his disheveled hair. Silence settles for some time, and then the blonde breaks it, slightly doubling over and leaning on her laps with her elbows.       “I can’t believe everything is finally over,” Natalia says quietly. “It seems that we will wake up, and that horrible man will be attacking us and trying to kill us again.”       “Yeah…” Terrence raises his head, putting his hand on his forehead. “I still have the feeling that I’m sleeping… I can’t realize it’s all over, and we stayed alive.”       “Nobody should get over what we had to experience today,” Natalia notices without emotions and tightly locks the fingers of her hands. “I’m gonna see it in my worst nightmares for a long time.”       “Not just you…” Terrence says in a low voice. “Today was really hell.”       “Agree… Not just today for me… But also the past few months… The four days I was locked… When they let me leave just to go to the bathroom.”       “I understand. Understand how bad you feel. I feel terrible, as well. It seems like all my strength got out of me.”       “Believe me, buddy, you aren’t the only one to feel it. We all had to experience much… And find out something new. That… Was hidden from us…”       “That’s right…” Terrence moans quietly, doubles over, and closes half of his face. “Damn, I can’t believe… I can't believe someone had me wrapped around the finger and made me believe my father was a horrible man for so many years. I believed the lie all my life and refused to hear something about the man, who I literally struck out of my life.”       “At least, you know the truth now. Understand why your mother wanted that meeting so badly.”       “Yup… I understand.”       “And agree that he behaved worthily today,” Natalia replies thoughtfully. “He was ready to cut Michael’s throat for everything he took from him. For daring to attempt those, who weren’t guilty of his trouble.”       “Father was really incredible,” Terrence cracks a smile. “And… At heart, I’m grateful to him for coming on time. Uncle would’ve killed us if that man hadn’t come to his office.”       “We definitely annoyed him so much that he decided not to wait and to kill us with his own hands.”       “If he’d wanted to kill, he would’ve been running after us until getting exhausted. We wouldn’t have let him get us caught.”       “He looked so weak that he couldn’t take a long fight with you two and your father. That man seemed tougher and stronger than his brother.”       “I believe so. And Uncle knew it well. That’s why he told his younger pals to do everything.”       “But your father kicked him well,” Natalia notices shyly, moving her eyes to Terrence. “He showed where he belonged.”       “Yeah, despite his age, he fights quite well. He definitely has more or less good health…”       “I think he did that for his family.” Natalia starts to look at her hands. “To prove that he was very sorry. His voice was full of pity. About the actions that he did.”       “I doubt he would’ve come to the house of Uncle Michael if he had regretted nothing,” Terrence assumes. “I must appreciate it. Father showed the best side of him and did his best to save and protect us.”       “Luckily, he knew everything.”       “Yeah… A wish to prove his regret made him do a lot.”       “You’re still mad at him?” Natalia moves her sad, tired gaze to Terrence.       “Ah, Natalia…” Terrence exhales quietly and looks at Natalia tiredly. “Honestly, I don’t know… Hard to say if I’m mad or not…”       “But you started to reflect?”       “Yeah, but I can’t find excuses for some things.”       “You mean the fact that he did a bad thing to your mother?”       “Yup…” Terrence replies hesitantly and folds his hands in front of himself, sometimes looking at the lines on them. “On the one hand, Father did a disgusting thing when he left me and Mother on our own. Ran away like a mean coward. But a few years later, he showed up and came into our lives with the thought that he was expected here.”       “At least, Mr. MacClifes does confess it was a disgusting thing of him.”       “That’s why I kind of believe in his regret. Moreover, I’m not better than him because I somehow did something like that to your friend. Yes, I didn’t run. But I dared to slap her. And I told her to get out of the house that I considered only mine.”       “The most important thing is that you and your father regretted it,” Natalia says with sadness in her eyes. “And you eventually were forgiven: Raquelle came back to you, and your mother says good things about your father and doesn’t blame him for what happened.”       “I always thought it was strange that she forgot all his mockeries so easily. But now, when everything is clear, I’m starting to understand her. Understand there were no mockeries.”       “If they lived in poverty and were constantly nervous, the reason could be a lack of money. Homework. Tiredness. Stress. It all layered on one another – and here’s the result! I think anyone would go crazy if they had two little children and lacked the money to feed and dress them up.”       “Sounds like an attempt to excuse them. But it’s the truth. Father isn’t so horrible. The situation was so tense and nervous. I mean, he isn’t perfect. I'm not gonna close my eyes to his weaknesses. But he’s not so horrible to go too far.”       “I think he’s afraid to look into our eyes. He left so quietly when Michael was taken away by the police. He was at the office and fighting with his brother, but then he suddenly disappeared in the air.”       “Even if he’d stayed, we would’ve hardly talked. Now, it’s not time to talk about something serious and solve our personal problems.”       “You’re right…”       “I think when some time is over, I will find the courage to talk to him.”       “Already wanna do it?”       “Yes, now I wanna talk to him, as well. But not now. Now, I’m not ready to talk about anything. I need time to accept all of that.”       “I get it.”       “I hope I'll get ready for the talk, at least when the trial of Uncle is over. Or before… Not to feel embarrassed.”       “Ah, yeah…” Natalia sighs heavily and leans back in the sofa, putting a finger on her lip. “Trial… Now we’ll have to wait for it…”       “At least, we should only tell the judge the truth,” Terrence notices.       “I don’t feel better… Though, understand that I must overcome that. Because the sentence of those, who gave us so much pain, will depend on it.”       “I mean the same…”       Silence settles in the air for some time, during which Terrence doubles over much more and sets his gaze on the floor, and Natalia runs her hands over her tired face. And some time later, Raquelle slowly enters the living room, holding a plate with three cups of coffee and a little glossy container with white sugar.       “Here’s the coffee,” Raquelle says quietly and places the plate on the coffee table. “If you want sugar, take as much as you want.”       After quickly looking at everybody with a sad gaze, Raquelle sighs quietly, sits next to Terrence, hugs him around the shoulder, and starts caressing his back softly, pressing herself close to him.       “I wonder, will the mass media write and talk about what happened?” Terrence asks.       “Most likely,” Raquelle replies quietly. “It’s your uncle, but you are quite a famous person.”       “Do you think they will know that’s my relative?”       “It’s not a secret that those reporters and journalists know everything about famous people. I’m sure they’ve found out who Michael MacClife is, and who he is connected with.”       “They’ll surely talk about you,” Natalia says confidently and decides to take a cup of coffee from the plate. “And if they mention my name alongside the name of Michael, my parents will know it.”       “You wanna hide this fact from them?” Raquelle wonders.       “I would like, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to,” Natalia shrugs. “My parents are worried about me. I haven’t been home for four days. I’m sure they’ve tried to call me many times but can’t reach me.”       “Don’t be surprised if they are standing on the doorstep tomorrow or after tomorrow with a bag in their hands.”       “So, I will tell them the truth. I won’t be lying. I was lying to them for too long, and barely begged for their forgiveness for behaving so terribly.”       “You better let them know what happened before they find out everything from newspapers, the Internet, or TV.”       “If they don’t know it yet. I believe this case is gonna be popular. Many people will be watching it. One mention of the last name MacClife will make the bomb effect.”       “Hard to deny it,” Terrence agrees, takes the cup from the plate, and starts drinking coffee, hoping it will help him shake up slightly. “As such people like Raquelle, Edward, and me have to do with it, the case is gonna be popular. Besides, your parents are also known in some circles… Here’s another reason why they’re supposed to tell the world about it.”       “So, when the first trial starts, we will be expected by lots of journalists and reporters from all channels,” Natalia assumes.       “I think they won’t be allowed to go further than the pouch. I doubt they will allow reporters to join the trial. If it’s made open for everyone, something terrible will be happening.”       “It’s gonna be the additional psychological pressure,” Raquelle notices.       “Exactly!”       “The most important thing is that all the stinkers, who attempted on us, are put in prison for many years. So, none of them get a chance to be released.”       “I think the police have good proof to charge all of them. They were working on this case for so many years and even sent their person to Uncle’s house.”       “Otherwise, Mr. Johnson wouldn’t have kept your father aware of everything.”       “Yeah, if you have no personal spies, you can hardly find out something that would help you do something before it’s too late,” Natalia replies and takes a couple of sips of strong, hot coffee.       “I wonder, how strong the person’s endurance is supposed to be to tolerate that nasty stinker for so long?” Terrence wonders, holding his cup of coffee. “How could that girl hold on for so long? Uncle is just unbearable! When you look at him, you wanna moan and run away!”       “Agree…” Natalia agrees, drinking half of the coffee from her cup that she looks at with sadness in her eyes. “Being with him is terrible… And that’s good I talked to him several times. Otherwise, I would’ve gone insane.”       “The three hours I spent with that sick deadbeat were enough for me to dream of hanging myself. But you tolerated him for four days… Edward did much more…”       “He does spread coldness… When he looks at you, you get goosebumps and feel frozen… Freeze spreads all over your body… You feel like a little, unprotected child in front of that horrible man.”       “Yeah, his horrifying gaze talks about much…” Terrence agrees, also drinking a little more than half of the coffee from his cup, but feeling no relief after a dose of caffeine.       “But I didn’t wanna show him my fear so badly. You can’t imagine how much effort I had to put in to hide that I was scared. That I was shaking at the sight of him.”       “He probably wanted everybody to walk on tiptoe and be afraid of him. He made himself think nobody loved him and decided to find those, who would praise him for nothing. Maybe, he was loved. But he was guilty of giving no reason for that. Father always gave a reason. That’s why he got the love that Uncle Michael didn’t get.”       “And because his childhood hate became evil, Michael did all of that.”       “I believe so. Uncle took revenge on Father and wanted to destroy him. And he wanted to get what he didn’t get in his childhood. So, he found the same deadbeats as he was and gave them a lot of money, so they called him their lord and kissed his legs.”       “And he decided to kill his brother to know he wouldn’t bother him,” Raquelle adds, still pressing herself closely to Terrence, wrapping one arm around his arm and caressing his forearm. “And deal with those, who were connected with Mr. MacClife.”       “He confessed everything. He thought we wouldn’t need his secrets.”       “Oh, my gosh…” Raquelle runs her hand through her little matted hair. “What a mean man… I never met people, who would hate their brothers and sisters and would be ready to kill and rob them.”       “It’s okay, he’ll pay for all his tricks,” Terrence replies confidently and drinks some coffee from his cup. “May the police do their best to put him in prison for many years. Or maybe, as officer Austin said, he will live for two or three years and then die.”       “Anyway, we better take a chance and distract ourselves from this hell.” Raquelle moves her hair back. “We’re gonna have much time to come to ourselves and get ready for the trial.”       “It would be great, but I can’t do that,” Natalia sighs heavily. “I really wanna distract myself, but I can’t…”       “Not just you,” Raquelle says thoughtfully and moves a few strands of her hair off her eyes. “I also wanna distract myself somehow, but I keep being obsessed with terrible thoughts.”       “And I agree with you,” Terrence agrees, wrapping the empty cup in his hands for a few seconds and then deciding to put it on the plate. “We’ll remember this nightmare for a long time and won’t forget it soon.”       “I wish we thought it didn’t happen to us,” Natalia replies and takes a couple of sins of the coffee. “It was not the truth…”       “Me too, but sadly, it’s the truth. We really experienced that horror.”       “At least I’m glad nobody threats us anymore,” Raquelle sighs quietly. “Now we can quietly walk outside, not being afraid that someone would be chasing us… Not saying about paparazzi and reporters, and fans.”       “Yeah, but we can calm down only when Uncle and his accomplices get the sentence,” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “At least, I will finally calm down in this case. Now we just got a temporary break and a chance to get ready for another test that will get us absolutely exhausted.”       “I couldn’t disagree…”       Terrence nods but says nothing and moves his eyes somewhere down, looking at his hands, shoes, or the mat under his legs. While Raquelle snuggles her nose in his shoulder, embraces him tightly, and caresses his back softly, and Natalia looks at them with sadness in her eyes.       Before this moment, nobody paid attention to Edward sitting next to Natalia and saying nothing after they left Michael’s house. However, at some moment, Raquelle, Terrence, and Natalia tiredly look at each other but then frown slightly and move their eyes to Edward. He is not sitting but is in a half-lying position, crossing his arms over his chest, bending his head, slightly turning it to the side, and closing his eyes. The three frown much more and look at each other questioningly, feeling anxiety for the man, who looks too bad.       “Hey, Edward, are you okay?” Raquelle breaks the silence.       Just a few seconds later, Edward opens his eyes, starting to wipe them, leans back in the sofa slowly, looks shamelessly at those, who are looking at him, and shakes his head sharply.       “Erm, yeah…” Edward pronounces in a quiet, low voice for the first time in a while and runs his hands over his face. “Yeah, I’m fine…”       “Are you sure?” Raquelle shows anxiety. “You’ve said nothing since we left Michael’s house.”       “What should I say?” Edward asks without emotions.       “I dunno… Maybe, you’d love to talk… Say something to feel better…”       “I’m fine, don’t worry.”       “But you’ve been really silent all this time,” Natalia says softly, caressing Edward’s shoulder a little hesitantly. “As if you don’t wanna get noticed.”       “It’s alright,” Edward replies without emotions. “I just don’t wanna say anything.”       Edward sets his dead eyes down, squeezes the bridge of his nose, and runs his hands over his disheveled hair.       “You look too bad, guy,” Terrence shows anxiety. “Of course, we don’t also feel well, but everything’s much worse about you.”       “Don’t need to worry,” Edward replies in a lower voice, closes his face with his hands, and yawns. “It’s alright.”       “Say, have you actually gotten enough sleep lately? You had looked bad before we met Uncle. But now looking at you makes me scared.”       But Edward does not answer because he is still struggling with sleep and looks too exhausted to answer questions immediately. And now he wants to say something much less. Especially to these, whom he is madly ashamed of for all his acts.       “Edward, can you hear me?” Terrence asks anxiously. “I asked you the question!”       Edward shakes slightly with a quiet, painful moan, looks around the whole living room with red, tired eyes, shakes his head sharply, and looks at Terrence hesitantly.       “Oh, sorry…” Edward pronounces lazily. “You said something?”       “I asked if you had gotten enough sleep?” Terrence recalls quietly. “You sleep literally on a walk! First, you almost fell asleep when we were on the way to Uncle’s home, then you were sleeping on the way here, and now you keep struggling with sleep.”       “I’m alright,” Edward says without emotions, as his eyes are running from one side to another, and he is doubling over, runs his hands over his face, takes the third cup of little cold coffee, and drinks everything from it. “I just got exhausted today. The fight with Uncle struck me down.”       “You think we’ll believe you? Believe you are alright? No, man! You looked at yourself in the mirror?”       “I don’t care about what I would see in it.”       “Listen, stop scaring us. You’re sitting here like a mouse and getting deeper into your thoughts! If you keep looking into the distance, you’ll end up in a mental hospital!”       “I don’t want to talk about it, Terrence. I have no strength to say something. The only thing I want is to fall asleep for ten or twenty years and forget what has happened.”       “We all want it,” Natalia shrugs, looking at Edward with sadness in her eyes. “Everybody got exhausted. Don’t think we feel good.”       “I know…” Edward pronounces quietly, slouching strongly and setting his dead eyes into the distance, and puts his empty cup on the plate. “Know…”       “Listen, Edward, we completely understand it,” Raquelle says softly. “We completely understand your feelings. We feel bad, as well. We got tired.”       “Yeah, you’re right… Everybody got tired, not just me… But we’re alive, and it’s the most important thing… Yeah…”       “Listen, Edward, stop scaring us,” Terrence says confidently. “At least speak out and say everything you want. Don’t keep everything inside. Otherwise, you may go insane.”       “I’ve been insane… Went insane a long time ago… I’m not myself… Have always been…”       “Edward, listen…” Raquelle pronounces softly.       “Nobody needs me… The curse of the family… A reject… Idiot… Mistake…” Edward pronounces some words that are not connected with one another, kind of being delirious and barely understanding what he says.       “Gosh, Edward, what are you talking about?” Natalia gets horrified and softly caresses Edward’s back. “It’s okay, calm down, please.”       “Why?” Edward pronounces in a quiet, low voice, setting his dead eyes into the distance. “Why? Why? Why did it happen? Why am I still here?”       “Edward, stop scaring us!” Raquelle gets horrified.       “I should’ve died… Why didn’t I die earlier? Why was I actually born? Why am I the fuck still alive?”       “My God, Edward…” Natalia opens her eyes widely.       “Who would have gotten worse if I had never been born? Everybody would have been happy! Would’ve been happy if I had died then! If I had died today!”       “Stop saying some bullshit!” Terrence gets really nervous.       “I should’ve died today! I should have! There is no place for me in this fucking world!”       “Shut up, Edward!” Terrence yells. “I don’t know what I will do to you if you say something like this again! Hear me!”       “I had the gun in my hands… I could’ve shot myself down… I could’ve! Everything would’ve ended… Everything! I would’ve finally died! I would’ve fixed the mistake that was made twenty-five years ago!”       “Shut up now, Edward!”       The excited Edward starts breathing heavily, shaking strongly, and feeling that his body is getting tense. The shame of all the actions he took make him feel a wish either to kill himself or to hide from everyone and not to look into the eyes of those he hurt so much.       “I… I wanna die…” Edward pronounces and grabs his hair with a quiet moan. “Fuck! I need to go out! I can’t take this anymore! I’m choking… I wanna die!”       Edward gets up sharply from the sofa and goes quickly to the bathroom, paying no attention to Terrence, who looks terribly anxious and tries to stop him:       “Edward! Edward, wait! Come back now!”       But Edward does not hear Terrence, runs to the door he needs, opens it, enters the bathroom, switches on the light, and locks himself on the latch with a heavy, loud breath. Then he opens the faucet and starts washing his face with cold water with his shaking hands, barely standing on his feet and feeling that it’s hard for him to make every single sigh. And when he runs his wet hands over his hair, he starts to look at his reflection in the mirror with hate, seeing the red, dead eyes, the white, exhausted face covered with slight stubble, and the side fridge closing his forehead, the strands of which are strongly disheveled. A sense of shame gets obsessed with him. He is being tortured by a wish to burn from shame, be swallowed by the ground, disappear somewhere, or actually die.       Edward looks at his reflection for some time, leaning on the sink with his hands. A strong flow of cold water is still coming out of the faucet. Its drops are slowly falling down his face, on his denim jacket, and his t-shirt. But then he washes his face again, steps back from the mirror, and turns off the faucet. The shaking, white guy comes to the cold wall, leans on it with his back, and slowly slides down, bending his legs at his knees, running his hand through his hair, making it much more disheveled, and setting his dead, wet eyes into the distance.       Now, when nobody sees it, Edward lets himself show weakness and takes off the mask that he was wearing during the fight with Michael. To be the one, who he became after what happened in his life – insecure, weak, and cowardly. Show the emotions that he was keeping deep inside. Looking around the whole spacious bathroom where he locked himself with his wet eyes, the man starts shaking much stronger and pulls his hair strongly, recalling everything that makes him feel hate for himself. And at some moment, he lets himself start to cry. Cry bitterly because of the unbearable sense of shame that is killing him more and more. He kept everything inside for too long, but today’s events broke him down. Of course, he could shed a tear of despair, but MacClife, Jr., tried to hold himself down somehow. But now he breaks down. He loses his patience.       And Edward does not care that he might be judged. He is so depressed and broken that he cannot hold himself down. The guy is choking with tears like a little girl, constantly wiping tears off his white face, and not being able to control his hysteria. He must let it out somehow. MacClife, Jr., had to control himself for a long time. But now he does not need it. He can become himself – a little, unprotected, insecure boy that would hardly get pity, caress, a hug, or a kiss from someone.       Though, Edward wants it more than anything, pressing his knees tightly to his chest, pulling his hair out strongly, and seeing everything blur because of tears. He does lack someone’s love. He has lacked it all his life. He is lonely and unhappy. His attempts to get someone’s attention really failed. Nobody really needs the guy. He understands it. That’s why he is crying so bitterly, snuggling his nose in his knees, shaking strongly, and breathing heavily. He does not care that the floor and walls in the bathroom are quite cold. Edward feels no freeze that he gets obsessed with to the fingers. All his thoughts are focused on strong remorse and a wish to scream about his pain at the top of his lungs that he tries to get rid of by crying bitterly. And the thought that he would not be able to accept what happened because he really has weak mental health that is broken after the horrible things that he has had to overcome over his short life.       

***

      And when Edward runs away to the bathroom, Terrence, Raquelle, and Natalia look at each other with anxiety, not hiding that they do not definitely like this situation.       “I don’t know what you think, but he scares me,” Raquelle confesses quietly. “I do really worry about him.”       “Agree,” Natalia agrees thoughtfully, wrapping the empty cup. “And I’m terrified because of him.”       “This situation got him absolutely exhausted. So, he’s walking like a zombie.”       “Yeah…” Terrence exhales sharply, rubbing his forehead with a hand. “That guy has had to experience a lot… For example, taking tortures in prison…”       “My heart was bleeding when he was telling us what those beasts did to him when he was in prison,” Natalia confesses with anxiety. “Edward was so young…”       “Those stinkers definitely made his mental health worse. Edward still can’t come to himself after all of that, but Uncle Michael made everything much worse. He humiliated him shamelessly and put him under such horrible tortures.”       “Agree… It gave Edward such a strong trauma that he could do nothing when that sick man made him do something. The poor guy feared him to death… He was afraid that Michael would do something horrible to him.”       “I’m not envying him… The poor guy has tolerated much from that bastard. And when he made him do that horrible thing, only a strong push in the back stopped Edward and didn’t let him make a mistake he would pay a high cost for. To us. For the law.”       “Erm, what?” Raquelle frowns slightly, looking at Terrence and Natalia questioningly. “What are you talking about?”       “About…” Natalia replies hesitantly, puts her cup on the plate, and bites her lip slightly. “He did something… I mean, he could’ve done it if everything had been otherwise.”       “But what? What did Edward try to do?”       “He… he…” Natalia swallows up nervously, as her eyes are running from one side to another. “Edward…”       “Edward tried to kill me,” Terrence replies in a low voice, looking tense enough. “Grabbed a pistol and pointed it at me…”       Raquelle opens her eyes full of horror widely and becomes speechless for two seconds, feeling that her heart starts beating much faster from excitement. But after, she finds the strength to say something, setting her dumbfounded gaze on Terrence, pronouncing every single word very slowly and making big pauses:       “W-w-what? What did you say? Edward… Tried to k-kill you?”       “Yes,” Terrence confirms quietly. “My brother almost killed me. But not without the help of Uncle. Who put the pistol in his hand and made him shoot.”       “My gosh…” Raquelle sets her gaze into the distance and shakes her head. “I can’t believe he dared to do that. I was afraid of it! I knew Edward could do something like that.”       “It’s the truth,” Natalia says softly. “But Edward did it against his wish. Michael is the one to blame. He pressed on him so much that it was unbearably hard for him to fight with him. Imagine, what it means to constantly hear you’re a cowardly, pathetic, worthless piece of shit that should not live in this world. And when you fear someone to humiliate you like this…”       “I did know everything would happen. I did know.” Raquelle doubles over and closes her face with her hands, sniffing quietly.       “Yeah, but he didn’t do it. If Edward had decided to do it, Terrence wouldn’t have been sitting with us. Thank God, that guy found the strength to piss off his uncle as well as his money.”       “She’s right, Raquelle,” Terrence nods and softly puts his hand on Raquelle’s shoulder. “Edward didn’t really find the courage to do it. He didn’t want it, but Uncle put the pistol in his hand by force and pointed the gun at me.”       “Are you defending him?” Raquelle wonders, looking at Terrence questioningly. “Defending him after you were almost killed?”       “I knew that Uncle wanted Edward to kill me. Since the day Natalia ended up in the house of Uncle. He confessed it when you went to the second floor.”       “And what? It’s not an excuse for what happened!”       “Don’t be mad at him, sweetie. Edward didn’t really want it. You must’ve seen how strongly he was shaking when Uncle Michael was putting him under psychological pressure. He was even ready to cry from pain and despair. Trust me, I saw everything that was written on his face.”       “It’s the truth, friend,” Natalia confirms. “Terrence and I saw fear and shock in his eyes. Edward couldn’t find the courage to go against Michael. He terribly feared him. Afraid of what he could do to him. Afraid that Michael would tell us about his arrest and make everything look like MacClife killed the man.”       “He even tried to shoot at himself before our eyes when Uncle started to provoke him again. If he couldn’t kill his brother and ex-girlfriend, he should’ve killed himself. Michael started to insult and humiliate Edward and make him much more sure he won’t be able to live quietly after he almost made a mistake he’d regret all his life.”       “Right, but thank God, Terrence didn’t let him do it.”       “Would someone to regret it be afraid to look into everyone’s eyes and agree to kill themselves so easily? I doubt it.”       “Yeah, but…” Raquelle sniffs again and glances at Terrence and Natalia. “Why didn’t Edward throw the pistol aside if he didn’t wanna kill Terrence? If he didn’t wanna kill, he should’ve thrown the pistol aside and pissed that stinker to the fuck!”       “He did, but Michael threatened that we’d discover his secret,” Natalia replies. “We got it when that man said Edward’s secret let him blackmail and manipulate him easily. But that guy didn’t want us to know it. It was one of the reasons why he was afraid to go against him before a certain time.”       “I think he was afraid that Uncle Michael would put him in prison again, charging him for the murder that he didn’t commit,” Terrence assumes. “He said Edward had a choice: becoming his ally, going to prison, or dying because of his pals. But if he had gone to prison, those beasts would’ve brought him to death: beating him or forcing him to kill himself.”       “Were they mocking him so cruelly?” Raquelle asks hesitantly.       “He said that. The investigator was torturing him to get the confession of the murder, and his cellmates just disliked him and constantly beat, insulted, and humiliated him. They almost made him disabled!”       “My gosh…” Raquelle shakes her head, closing her mouth with a hand. “Mr. Johnson said that investigator was suspended a long time ago because he exceeded his authority and got caught getting a bribery.”       “That’s good he was. I can imagine how many people suffered because of that sick beast.”       “I heard they did nothing to him just because of his merits. He kind of investigated hundreds of cases and was respected by his colleagues. I don’t know if he got fired after the case of Edward, or he got caught on something worse, but now that man doesn’t work for the police.”       “A psycho…” Natalia pronounces. “And because of such a scumbag, the guy shakes when someone talks about it. Because of him, Edward has a broken mental health. Because of him, he still can’t come to himself. And Michael was making everything worse and almost pushed him to despair.”       “Of course, I’m very sorry for him and can’t be happy about his misfortunes. But he’s partly guilty of everything. If he’d thought better and had been braver, everything would’ve been otherwise.”       “You’re mad at him?”       “For almost killing my fiancé.” Raquelle nervously swallows up. “But I would’ve considered him my enemy if he’d really killed him and succumbed to Michael’s provocations. If Terrence had died because of him, I would've never forgiven Edward. And I told him about it when we were talking at the café on the day I met Darwin.”       “Nevertheless, I’m starting to understand him,” Terrence confesses, falls into silence for a few seconds, and sets his sad gaze into the distance. “Understand why he was doing that. The case is not only about a wish to restore justice. The wish to save us. The fear that Uncle Michael would tell us his secret and put him in prison. Maybe, that man was right. Edward was kind of trying to get our attention. He wanted someone to know he existed. He was near. Living at Father and Stepmother’s house, he was like a shadow. He was on his own. Nobody needed him. Though, he wanted someone just to talk to him. And I think Edward was happy when someone paid attention to him to swear on him for something. Because it’s also attention. No matter what that is, but still…”       “Gotta agree,” Natalia agrees. “If his father had spent time with him just rarely and hadn’t pushed him off every time he came, everything would’ve been otherwise.”       “Yeah… He would’ve better left him with Mother… Yes, it would’ve been hard at first, but after growing up, we would’ve found a way to help her. We would’ve lived very well. Edward would’ve gotten the attention that he crawled. And…” Terrence swallows up nervously, slightly biting his lip. “If I’d been in the place of that guy, I would’ve done the same. I do always need attention. Everybody says it, and I can’t deny I need someone to notice me. If I was an empty place for everybody, I’d start doing crazy things, so someone just looks at me.”       “That’s good Edward didn’t go too far and didn’t really kill that man. Yes, he was doing tricks, was rude, was insulting someone… But never dared to rob and kill.”       “But he’ll have to prove his innocence. And it’s gonna be hard.”       “At least, he said he could find someone to confirm his words,” Raquelle recalls quietly. “And even called the name of the killer… May the police deal with that Eric, or what’s his name.”       “I hope his fingertips will be the same as those on the pistol. For Edward, it would be a chance to get out of that shit and make the jury sure to drop charges off him and cancel the ban on leaving.”       “I don’t know what you think, but I believe he’ll do his best to prove his innocence and the fault of Michael’s accomplice in the murder,” Natalia says confidently. “I believed in Edward’s innocence and refused to believe Michael until the end. And I will always believe. Whatever people say.”       “I don’t believe he is guilty, either. He was true when telling us what happened on that day.”       “Finding his witness by the start of the trial is for his best,” Raquelle says. “I don’t think it will start at the nearest time. So, Edward has very much time that he must spend in a good way.”       “Moreover, he was released on bail. So, he will hardly be put in prison until the start of the trial.”       “Exactly!”       “But if only someone to protect Michael on the trial didn’t make the situation better for him and his pals. I guess that stinker will find a good lawyer, who will do everything to win the process. Do his best for those scumbags to be released, and Edward to be put to prison.”       “We will have no problems with Michael,” Raquelle replies confidently. “The police have proof of his fault, and his lawyer will hardly prove his innocence. And we’re gonna have many more witnesses. So, we have a great chance to win the case. Mr. Johnson said everything would be alright. And when I had been talking to him before we started the operation, he said our lawyer would be an experienced man. He’d do his best for Michael and his pals to be sentenced.”       “So, let’s believe in the best,” Terrence relaxes a little.       “Of course, he will also help Edward. But everything depends on whether he can find his witness, and whether there will be a reason to suspect Eric. Yes, if he is guilty, we could appeal the sentence. But it will give us no guarantee that he will be released.”       “Let’s hope everything will be alright,” Natalia suggests quietly. “The law is on the truth and kindness’s side. And the jury is gonna be fair.”       Terrence and Raquelle say nothing and just look at Natalia with sadness. That’s why silence settles in the air for a few seconds.       “Yeah, but I can’t understand…” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “How could Edward stop? What made him go against Michael? As I understand, he needed a very strong push that would help him get his brains back.”       “And he got it,” Natalia replies quietly. “I gave it…”       “You?”       “I saw Edward shaking strongly. And his eyes were full of regret, pain, and a wish to be swallowed up by the ground or even die. He really looked like he was about to cry. He was so desperate that… That he was proving to us that he was a coward…” Natalia locks her fingers tightly. “Still, I was sure Edward could stop. But he needed a very strong push in the back… A motivation… Something that would help him wake up, get braver, and give a damn about the words of his sick uncle. But I couldn’t get what until…”       Natalia falls into silence and slightly inclines her head, breathing heavily enough. That’s why silence settles in the air for two seconds, which Terrence breaks:       “Until Natalia decided to take a great risk. First, she was talking to Edward. Uncle was also trying to make him stand by his side and said that killing me would give him luck and wealth.”       “I just reminded him of some good moments. I tried to make him remember something that made him feel pity and yearning. I tried to find something that would break him down. I told myself that Edward would remember that he wasn’t a killer or robber if he didn’t do that. But it was getting harder to find words because Michael was pressing on him more and more, but I was spending my arguments… And when the situation went out of my control, I decided to do the craziest thing in my life and…”       Natalia falls into silence again, and Terrence looks at her and finishes her thought with sadness in his eyes:       “And offered herself as a victim… Natalia pointed the pistol at her and begged Edward to shoot at her. She did it as if she didn’t wanna live and thought of dying.”       “W-w-what?” Raquelle barely moves her shaking lips, looking at Terrence and Natalia with widely open eyes. “As-s-sked to shoot?”       “I got terribly scared and begged her to stop,” Terrence confesses. “But she didn’t hear me and kept begging Edward to shoot at her. At that moment, I was ready to die not to let anything happen to her.”       “I knew I could die,” Natalia says quietly. “I knew the risks. I knew it mightn’t have worked. But I thought Edward wouldn’t shoot at me. He wouldn’t have shot at me if he’d felt something good for me. I silently called it a test of his decency. And I can say he passed it. Even when Michael got happy and said if I wanted to die, he could kill me. However, Edward finally broke down and let us know he wouldn’t succumb to his uncle and kill his close people.”       “That was a strong act of Natalia and Edward,” Terrence notices. “He proved to us that his family meant very much to him. And we were wrong when we called him a stinker and believed he wanted to destroy us. If he didn’t shoot at Natalia and refused to listen to Uncle after she pressed on him, he felt something good for her. Not only a fear of killing someone is a reason for that. His feelings also played a major role. His emotions.”       After listening to the story, Raquelle looks at Natalia with tears coming to her eyes, not hiding her gratitude and being proud of her friend, but getting horrified that Natalia consciously decided to try to make Edward kill her.       “God…” Raquelle shakes her head and closes her mouth with a hand. “Natalia… Friend… I… I can’t believe you took that risk to save Terrence’s life. Did you really do it not to let the man, who means everything to me, die? Were you ready to give your life?”       “I would’ve given it if I’d had to,” Natalia smiles slightly. “And I don’t regret risking. I was super scared, but I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I hadn’t tried to change the situation. I should’ve stopped being a coward and hiding behind the backs of Edward or Terrence. I must’ve shown myself and fought. Fought until the end.”       “Natalia… Honey…” Raquelle sniffs quietly with her eyes full of tears. “Gosh… I… I don’t know how to thank you. You… You saved my fiancé… You didn’t let him die! You saved Terrence! Saved!”       “Don’t thank me, sweetie,” Natalia replies amicably. “I did it for you two, for our friendship. To thank you two. You’ve done so much for me and literally got me out of the pool, in which I was getting dragged. And I know you madly love each other… If one died, another wouldn’t take it. When I got a chance to thank you and show you I could be brave when I had to, I couldn’t ignore it.”       “It’s a miracle!” Raquelle smiles widely. “You’re our miracle, friend! God, you’re our angel!”       “Gotta agree,” Terrence smiles shyly. “I’ll owe you forever from this day on. I owe you, Natalia. You risked much and could’ve died. But people are right when saying the risk is a noble thing. Because you didn’t fail it and did save the two people: not only me but also Edward. From becoming a cruel and mean man with lots of sins.”       “That was my duty. What I must’ve done.”       “We two will owe you forever,” Raquelle says confidently. “You can always ask us for help. We’ll do our best to help you and give you support. Ask anything from us, and you will get it shortly. Whatever it will be.”       “Thanks, guys,” Natalia smiles tiredly but truly. “Thank you so much for what you’ve done for me. I’ll never forget it and will be grateful to you until the end of my life.”       “Thank you for deciding to take the risk. Though, I hope you will no longer have to scare everybody and put yourself in danger. I don’t want you to die. Especially at your wish.”       “If I have to, it will happen. Dying for close people is not so horrifying. But losing a close person, who you are tightly attracted to, is horrifying.”       “No, stop talking about death,” Raquelle jabs. “I don’t even wanna think that I could’ve lost you.”       “You will not, I promise.”       Raquelle says nothing and smiles at Natalia tiredly but truly.       “Oh, okay…” Natalia says thoughtfully, moving her matted, disheveled hair off her eyes. “I think we all should have a rest and put ourselves together.”       “You’re right…” Terrence agrees, running his hand over his disheveled hair. “It got us really exhausted… We weren’t ready to have to deal with Uncle Michael today.”       “I get it… So, I better go home. I should also put myself in order and have a rest.”       “You can spend a night with us,” Raquelle says softly. “And tomorrow morning, you will have breakfast and go home.”       “Don’t need, I will let you come to yourself.”       “You won’t bother us. We will lead you to a guest room where you could spend a night.”       “Moreover, it’s getting dark outside,” Terrence adds.       “No, thanks, guys,” Natalia shakes her head with a slight smile. “I really appreciate your care, but I better go home. Moreover, we all need to spend time alone. And I should take a shower, wash my head, take off the clothes I’ve been wearing for four days… Wash them, put on something fresh… And I just wanna eat something from my favorite food and lie on my soft bed. I had to lie on such a heavy one that my body still hurts…”       “It’s not a problem. You can eat anything you want here. We have so much delicious in the refrigerator. And you can take a shower and wash your head.”       “And I can give you my clothes,” Raquelle adds.       “Thanks, guys, but I wanna go back home,” Natalia refuses gently. “I’m missing my room, the home atmosphere…”       “Aren’t you afraid to go home alone at this time?”       “Besides, you’ve got no car,” Terrence adds.       “No need to worry,” Natalia replies amicably and glances at the clock hanging in the living room. “It’s only nine o'clock. It’s not too late. Many people are going home from work.”       “Let us at least call a taxi for you and give you money to pay for it. You don’t have a cent!”       “Yeah, but it’s okay, I will go on my feet. Walk and shake up. After so many days spent in a locked, small room.”       “Oh, okay, as you wish,” Raquelle shrugs with sadness in her eyes. “If you wanna go home, then go. But, please, be careful.”       “Don’t worry, honey, I will be fine,” Natalia replies with a slight smile.       “Maybe, you stay?” Terrence asks.       “No, Terrence, I will go home.”       “Oh… Okay…”       Natalia shares a true but quite exhausting smile with Terrence and Raquelle and gets up slowly. When the lovers do the same, the blonde takes them in her tight hug and shares an amicable kiss on the cheek. Then she turns around and wants to leave. But at the last moment, Raquelle, rounding her eyes, recalls something that has to do with her friend and stops her.       “Natalia, wait, please!” Raquelle exclaims.       Natalia stops and turns on Raquelle.       “What’s wrong, Raquelle?” Natalia asks amicably.       “I need to give you something. That’s good I thought about it now.” Raquelle comes to the table near the sofa, on which her purse is lying, takes something from it, and comes to Natalia, giving her the phone and the golden bracelet. “Here, I wanna give it back to you. It’s yours, huh?”       “My gosh!” Natalia wonders, opening her mouth slightly, takes the phone and bracelet hesitantly from Raquelle, and starts looking at them. “My phone and bracelet! I forgot I had a phone with me!”       “So, we found these things and are giving them back to you.”       “I didn’t even notice that I lost them… And the most important thing is that I can’t remember where.” Natalia glances at Raquelle. “Where did you find them?”       “You lost them when running away from Uncle Michael’s accomplices alongside Edward,” Terrence replies.       “Running away from the accomplices with Edward?”       “Yup. When we came to that place from where you were brought to Uncle’s home, we found the phone and the bracelet that Edward had talked about before the trip.”       “You may kill me, but I can’t remember how I lost them…”       “I guess the phone got out of the pocket, and the bracelet has a very weak clatter and just slipped off your hand.”       “Yeah, I think you’re right… And I’m surprised I didn’t lose the bracelet before. I often wore it but knew it had a weak clatter… And the phone… The phone was in the pocket of my denim jacket, but it was open then.”       “Edward saw that you lost these things, but you had no time to come back ‘cause you were chased.”       “That’s how… Okay…”       “But now the disappearance has been found and returned to its owner,” Raquelle notices with a slight smile. “Though, the phone was fully discharged on that day. And you should do something to the clatter.”       “Sure, I’ll think about what to do…” Natalia smiles shyly at Terrence and Raquelle, who answer her back. “Thank you so much for bringing the things to me. If you hadn’t found them, I would’ve had to buy a new phone and get a new number.”       “Always welcome,” Terrence replies with a slight smile and looks at Raquelle, who answers him back.       “Glad to help,” Raquelle says softly.       Natalia silently shares her slight smile, putting her phone and bracelet in the pocket of her dirty, shabby denim jacket.       “Okay, I will go then,” Natalia says hesitantly. “If you’ve got nothing to say…”       “Now that’s all,” Raquelle replies. “You can go.”       “Okay… Then bye, guys. See you later.”       “Bye,” Terrence and Raquelle say goodbye amicably.       Natalia turns around slowly, comes to the hall door, and leaves the house, closing it after her. Raquelle and Terrence stay alone in the living room, forgetting that Edward is still in the bathroom. And a few seconds later, the girl smiles slightly and looks at the man.       “Yeah, as it turned out, Rochester is really brave,” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “Now we can’t say she’s such a frigid, unprotected girl. She always seemed sassy and proved it was the truth today.”       “But I must confess that she scared me a lot,” Terrence replies. “That girl was begging Edward to kill her so truly that my heart started squeezing.”       “I’ve always known Blondie is a little crazy. Nevertheless, her madness prevented the worst things that could’ve happened.”       “I can’t deny it. But the thing I like about Natalia is that she can really be a friend and keep loyalty to those she loves.”       “As long as I remember her, she’s always been loyal and tried to help her close people. Now I will not dare to doubt it, whatever people say.”       “And despite the nightmare that she had to experience, she stayed herself.”       “And she braced himself in a dangerous situation.”       “You’re right, Natalia behaved more than just worthily,” Terrence smiles slightly. “She’s a fine fellow.”       “And that’s good everything is over. Of course, we’re gonna have the trial, but I believe that we will win. At least, Michael will be put in prison for many years.”       “Since you say it, I won’t dare to doubt it.”       Terrence and Raquelle share a slight smile with each other. And they say nothing for a few seconds before Edward slowly comes into the living room, running his hand over his little wet hair, slouching a little, and inclining his head. The man throws lazily his dead, red from tears and strong tension eyes at everything he sees, and notices the lovers, who are holding each other’s hands and getting a little surprised to see him.       “Oh, are you still here?” Terrence wonders.       “Yup, for a while,” Edward replies without emotions.       “We kind of forgot about you and thought you had left.”       “I was in the bathroom. For a long time, judging my feelings…”       “We got it,” Raquelle says quietly.       “Erm…” Edward looks around the living room again. “Hey, where’s Natalia? Did she leave? Or is she still at the house?”       “Nope. She just went home. We suggested she stay, but Natalia refused.”       “Oh…” Edward pronounces quietly and glances down. “Okay… Well… Then I will go, as well…”       “Go home?”       “I dunno… Maybe, home… Maybe, somewhere else… I’ll see…”       “Erm…” Terrence stutters, biting his lip slightly and starting to be worried about Edward much more. “Maybe, you stay for a night? Spend a night here, and we’ll drive you home tomorrow.”       “No, no, don’t need,” Edward shakes his head, avoiding looking at Terrence or Raquelle. “I will better go and spend this night in a different place.”       “And where will you go at night? Without a car! In such a horrible condition!”       “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Stay together and have a rest.”       “But what about you?”       “You shouldn’t care about it. From now on, you don’t have a meaning to speak to me. We united just to save Natalia and ourselves from Uncle. And we got it. If it’s so, it’s time to say goodbye to each other.”       “What you’re talking about…” Terrence pronounces with sadness in his eyes.       “Now you can recall all my business and start to hate me again. Judge me for all my mistakes. Call me what you want. I don’t care. It’s your right.”       “Listen, Edward, I…”       “Don’t worry, I won’t be mad and try to deny something,” Edward replies quietly, looking at Terrence guiltily. “And if you wanna scream or beat me, I won’t be protecting myself.”       “I don’t want you to wander outside in this condition,” Terrence replies anxiously and comes closer to Edward, looking at him with pity in his eyes. “Please, stay with us at least for a night. Who knows, what might happen if you were walking in the city right now.”       “No, Terrence. I will not stay. Thanks for the suggestion, but I’d better leave and give you and Raquelle a chance to have a rest.”       “I’m worried about you… I don’t want anything to happen to you.”       “Don’t be. I’m fine. Alright.”       “But, Edward…” Raquelle pronounces with pity in her eyes, coming closer to Edward. “Terrence is right. You better stay here, at least until tomorrow. You will not bother us. We will lead you to a guest room where you can spend the night. And if you’re hungry, you can take anything you want from food. And your brother won’t refuse to give you clothes.”       “Better eat something yourself,” Edward replies with sadness in his tired eyes. “Sleep well. Put yourself in order. Today was too hard for all of us.”       “Please, Edward, don’t scare us like this,” Terrence begs with pity in his eyes and puts his hand on Edward’s shoulder. “We’re really worried about you and don’t want anything to happen to you. We don’t want you to walk in the city at this time.”       “Don’t worry, guys,” Edward replies hesitantly. “I will not disappear. I will be alright. Take all of that and keep living. Yeah… I will do… I must take it…”       “Man…”       Edward looks at Terrence and Raquelle with a dead gaze and slowly goes to the exit from the house, going by the two with his head inclined. The girl watches the young guy with sadness in her eyes and presses herself closer to her fiancé, who hugs her around the shoulders tightly and looks at his brother with true pity. He no longer tries to hide his anxiety and feels it’s hurtful for him to watch him in such a horrible condition. Looking so broken, unhappy, exhausted, and terribly insecure. But before leaving the house, Edward stops, turns to Terrence and Raquelle slowly, and looks at them hesitantly.       “Thank you so much for agreeing to help me,” Edward thanks in a quiet, low voice. “You couldn’t do that, remembering what I did to you. But I’m glad we were together all this time. I’m truly grateful to you for the help and support… What you did was enough for me. I will never forget that, and I will be grateful to you for all the best. I’m not saying goodbye to you because we will meet in court. And after it’s over, I will say our ways will finally go separated. Because it’s our fate. It’s our wish. And I’m accepting it.”       Edward slowly takes a few steps back.       “Bye, Terrence, bye, Raquelle,” Edward says hesitantly. “Forgive me for what you had to experience because of me. I wanted to harm nobody. I hope you will find the strength to forgive me someday. Stay happy, guys.”       Edward inclines his head and leaves Terrence and Raquelle’s house, closing the hall door after he crosses the line. And now Raquelle and Terrence really stay all alone. At the moment, the lovers are on their own and can do whatever they want. But every one of them looks terribly exhausted and broken, dreaming of falling into a deep, long sleep for a few hours.       “Oh, my gosh…” Raquelle sighs heavily, sitting on the sofa lazily. “It seems like we should be happy, but I don’t want to, honestly.”       “Agree with you,” Terrence nods and tiredly sits down next to Raquelle, hugging her around the shoulders and pressing her against himself. “I thought we’d feel great relief after this story ended. But I don’t have this feeling. I mean… No… I’m really glad everybody got what they deserved. But I have no wish to rejoice like a little child.”       “I guess we just need to have some rest. We could hardly feel relief when we think of lying on the bed and hugging a pillow as long as possible.”       “Or hugging your beloved person.”       “Well, as well,” Raquelle laughs quietly.       “Yeah, I think we just need to put our brains in order. Now we’ll have some rest and starts to think more or less fine tomorrow.”       “It’s gonna be hard. So many things that we didn’t know before a certain time have been revealed.”       “Don’t deny it. But you shouldn’t worry about it, ‘cause the truth doesn’t have to do with you. There’s a truth that has to do with me, Edward, and Natalia. But there’s nothing that would have to do with you… Uncle didn’t surprise me by knowing literally everything about you.”       “I know I don’t almost have to do with this story. Nevertheless, I’m a part of the one.”       “I understand why you worry about it so much. But don’t take what happened so seriously.”       “No, honey, I can’t do this. I can’t be indifferent to the problems of my close people that I love so much.”       “We know. And we don’t doubt your love.”       “You may not doubt now. Because I did a little to help you,”       “No, sweetheart, don’t say it.” Terrence presses Raquelle to himself, puts his arm around her neck, and kisses her cutely on her temple. “You’ve done very much for us. If you hadn’t brought the police to Uncle Michael’s house, we would’ve hardly stayed alive. That man had wanted to kill us two seconds before father came to the office.”       “Yeah… Your first meeting wasn’t supposed to be like that.”       “Maybe…”       “What did you feel when you saw your father? Especially, after you thought he was dead for some time!”       “Honestly, I haven’t realized what I felt. When a ‘dead’ person shows up alive and unharmed, you fall into a stupor. Ask yourself how it could happen. I was shocked when Father showed up at the office safe and sound. It was hard to believe we met after I was running away from him for half of my life.”       “I guess nobody thought of offenses at that time.”       “Maybe, we thought about them for a few moments. I thought of my hate for that man. I hated him because I believed the open lie. I considered him a stinker, even though he wasn’t the one.”       “So, is everything you believed a lie?”       “And as it turned out, my uncle was the one to blame. He did his best for me to hate Father. He confessed it, but I recalled the face of the man, who told me the lie. I remembered what I was told, but I didn’t know how that person looked. But I recalled everything after Uncle Michael said he went to the home of Mother and me, came to me, and said Father was allegedly beating my mother and left her and me because he never loved us.”       “That’s how!” Raquelle exclaims. “So, your uncle did a bad thing again…”       “That old man had a familiar man, who was a neighbor of Mother and mine. I don’t know who it was, but that cad said he learned about my parents from him. And our neighbor told him where to find me and my mother. So, Uncle went to our apartment, locked himself and me in a room, and started to wash my baby's brains. And his words were stuck in my head for a long time.”       “You know, honestly, I’m not surprised he had to do with that,” Raquelle confesses quietly. “I suspected it, and Mr. Johnson said it could be possible.”       “He didn’t know why I hated Father?”       “No. And your father didn’t also know Michael turned you against him. Though, he suspected his brother could have to do with it. Mr. Johnson knew the truth about the relationship between your parents. He is one of those, who could confidently say Mr. MacClife never beat Mrs. MacClife.”       “Somehow Edward made this assumption, as well. And he was right. Because Uncle was guilty of the fact that I was so unfair toward Father for many years, ignoring him and refusing to give him a chance to explain everything. Everything could’ve been different if I’d listened to Mother and agreed to talk to Father. Hear his version of the events. Tell him what I knew from Uncle.”       “The most important thing is that the truth went out anyway. Michael confessed everything himself.”       “Yeah…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully. “Uncle was ruining the lives of all the members of the MacClife family before the birth of Edward and me. Because of jealousy over my father. Because he made himself think that Father was guilty of the fact that nobody loved and praised him.”       “I know.” Raquelle moves her sad eyes down. “It’s all just terrible.”       “He was harming Father and dealing with the other people: me, Mother, Edward, you, Natalia… Everybody, who doesn’t have to do with his conflict with Father.”       “He’s just sick. A sick psycho. What could you expect from a mentally ill person? Nothing good!”       “It’s okay, he will get what he deserves. He will be in prison until the end of his life. He has very little time to live.”       “Yeah, but even if he goes to prison for many years, it will hardly help us immediately forget the nightmare that lasted for a long time and got all of us nervous.”       “Sadly, it’s the truth,” Terrence replies with sadness in his eyes. “And I won’t be surprised if I dream what happened today at night, not the fight of you and me.”       “You think?”       “Yup. For example, my brother trying to kill me… Or something worse…”       “No, Terrence, don’t think about it!” Raquelle gets horrified, kissing one cheek of Terrence and caressing tenderly another. “Please…”       “You know… Although I’m not mad at him, I briefly thought someone was really betraying me. But when I saw he was in a horrible condition when holding a pistol and trying to resist Uncle, I got rid of that thought. I’m not excusing him. I’m just saying what I saw with my eyes. What my heart felt.”       “You say you knew Michael wanted to make Edward kill you?”       “Yup. And I’m glad he confessed it. At least, when Uncle Michael started talking about a wish to make Edward kill me, I wasn’t so dumbfounded. I was going there with the thought that something like that could be waiting for me.”       “But why did you tell me nothing?”       “Yeah, I would’ve reached you,” Terrence chuckles quietly. “Coming to you was impossible.”       “I’m serious, MacClife!” Raquelle says seriously.       “You did know everything well. You met Mr. Johnson and found out everything from him. About my parents’ lives and the tricks of my uncle… You knew about the trap and the attempt of the murder.”       “You could at least try.”       “Oh, it doesn’t matter if I said it or not. Luckily, it’s all over now. Everybody’s safe and sound, and nobody killed anyone.”       “You avoid the answer skillfully.”       “C’mon, sweetie, don’t be mad,” Terrence says softly, kisses Raquelle on the cheek, and moves a few dark strands off her face. “Hey… My sweetheart…”       “You got away with it just because I really knew everything. If the case had been different, you would’ve had to explain much.”       “I’d explain it, don’t worry. Just don’t be mad.”       “Okay, forget!”       At this moment, Terrence puts his nose against Raquelle’s cheek, making her smile shyly with closed eyes and caress his hand. That’s why silence settles in the air for two seconds, but the girl breaks it, frowning slightly:       “But it’s interesting: it seems like Michael wanted to repeat the case of him and your father by making you hate Edward. He hated his brother and wanted his nephews to be enemies.”       “Not only,” Terrence replies. “Uncle wanted to turn everybody against Edward. Make us believe he was a piece of shit that didn’t deserve our trust. He wanted to make him guilty of a bigger part of his sins and make that guy an image of him. Uncle did even blame my brother for the murder and denies that he gave the order to kill that man.”       “Maybe, only the killer was connected with Nicolas, and Michael doesn’t really have to do with it.”       “Nevertheless, he did his best to try to make Edward a killer. He wanted to make us believe he killed Carter. Though, he forgot that Edward would tell us the truth early or late, or the police would finally find out he was innocent.”       “Yeah, but Edward made a great mistake by grabbing the pistol. Even if it had someone’s fingerprints, he left his own on it. And he shouldn’t have made his witness run. That person could’ve saved him from prison and proved the innocence of MacClife. If the witness had proved that Edward didn’t kill Nicolas, he wouldn’t have been put in prison and made the number one suspect.”       “I hope the police will check the other fingerprints on the pistol with the fingerprints of the one, whose name Edward called,” Terrence expresses hope. “Or it would be better if the witness was found and confirmed the words of my brother. He would have a great chance to avoid the sentence. I wouldn’t like him to go to prison.”       “If I’m not mistaken, it’s been six years since the murder happened. Knowing that Edward is now twenty-five, but he was nineteen at the moment of the murder. Finding the witness is gonna be hard ‘cause it’s been many years. If Edward hasn’t really spoken to him all this time, that person could leave the city or change his number… Contacting him would be very hard now…”       “Who knows. Anyway, for Edward, it’s one of the chances to be saved. If he doesn’t prove his innocence, Eric will not be the one to be put in prison, but my brother will be. And he will be there for twenty years for nothing. Or his cellmates will mock him so hard that he will wish to kill himself. Be sure, he’ll easily do it. As easily as he agreed to shoot at himself after Uncle’s provocations.”       “Yeah, Edward is a little crazy. He is not sick, but crazy. He can’t live without adventures.”       “Agree, that boy definitely has too much energy that he doesn’t know how to use. And he loves risk much more than I do. In most of the cases, Edward had a choice, but he always chose the hardest way. He wished for adventures and was ready to go too far for someone to pay attention to him. As I said, he was definitely happy if someone would swear on him.”       “Maybe, it will be gone someday?”       “I doubt. If Edward didn’t get over it when he was younger, he will hardly calm down now. Well… Maybe, if someone to make him sit in the same place and make him a little quieter is found, he will stop playing with fire.”       “You probably loved something like that.”       “Yeah… But even if I got a little quieter, my character stayed the same. Now I’m almost the same as I was in childhood. Not very much has changed.”       “At least, you still definitely love solving problems with fists.”       “I can’t deny. I can’t solve everything verbally, and I start a fight shortly after someone gives me a reason. But Edward can do it. For him, protecting himself verbally is better. And he starts a fight if someone brings him to the edge. Just like today. Uncle annoyed him by humiliating and insulting him so much that he eventually attacked him with fists and almost destroyed the whole office.”       “We could understand him. And it’s surprising that he was taking that for a long time.”       “Yeah, I’m surprised, as well. That guy has great endurance. Not just like mine. I would explode after a few insults and surely smash a fist against the face.”       “Solving problems with a fight is bad, Terrence,” Raquelle replies with sadness in her eyes. “You should solve everything verbally. And if someone knows you can easily get excited, they may provoke you on purpose.”       “You know that I’m trying to hold on,” Terrence replies, looking at Raquelle guiltily. “But I can’t always do it. It’s my character. I’m never able to end the fight without attacking someone with fists.”       “But do you understand it’s bad? You should learn to control yourself.”       “Of course, I do. And sometimes I’m ashamed of attacking someone with fists. Or beating someone. I know I shouldn’t act like this, but when aggression gets obsessed with me, I can do nothing.”       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Raquelle looks at Terrence with sadness in her eyes and softly runs her fingers over his cheek.       “Say honestly, aren’t you ashamed of the fight that happened between you and Edward?” Raquelle asks carefully. “That time, you did attack him with fits and beat him strongly. Yes, I completely understand you were insulted and humiliated. But do you think attacking the person was right?”       “If you asked me about it earlier, I’d say I’m not ashamed,” Terrence replies thoughtfully in a low voice. “I thought I did the right thing. Edward kind of deserved it. But now… Now I understand I did the wrong thing… Even if I was madly hurt because of feeling betrayed… Especially now, when I found out that… Edward is my brother.”       “Are you ready to accept this piece of news?”       “Nope, I’m still shocked. I can’t believe that the younger son of my mother was next to me all this time, but I never noticed it.”       “Yeah… Did he really want to wear a wig and use lenses to change the hair color and the eyes color all the time?”       “Who knows… But as he said, he changed his documents officially. For example, his driver’s license, which you saw, were real.”       “I know.”       “I wonder how my mother would react to this piece of news? How will she accept the fact that she’s been so attracted to her own son al this time?”       “I think she will accept it. Despite all his mistakes. A mother forgives her child for anything, and Mrs. MacClife is not an exclusion.”       “Maybe… But I doubt myself. I don’t know how to live with this information.”       “Yeah, but I see you’ve lately treated him much softer.”       “It’s true. For those days that we were a team, I changed my attitude toward him. Anger was slowly leaving, and I was getting more patient. And sometimes I even felt pity and sympathy. The wish to support and help him…”       “I got it,” Raquelle smiles slightly. “You started to worry about him seriously. I saw you were horrified when looking at him. I saw you felt very sorry for him.”       “I've always cared about him,” Terrence confesses. “But because of my offense, I was hiding it until the end and trying to stay cold. Though, I had to struggle with my wish to show much more emotions and feelings. To struggle with pity for Edward. With a wish to give a damn about my offense and let him get closer to me. It was madly hurtful for me to see him so depressed. He was so worried about Natalia that he got himself exhausted, even if he was hiding it and trying to pretend that everything was fine. Seriously, Raquelle. It was super hard for me.”       “I get it, sweetie,” Raquelle replies, running her hand through Terrence’s hair and stroking it with her fingers.       “Slowly, I started to realize that I did a bad thing. And the fact that Edward was showing the best side of him and never gave us a reason to doubt his honesty was the reason for that. He confidently said he never thought of destroying his family and tried to prove that we all understood him wrongly. And today, that guy got us rid of our charges by pissing Uncle off as well as his money and saying he could choke with them.”       “Yeah, maybe, we really understood him wrongly. Because… If he wanted to rob and kill us, he would have done it a long time ago.”       “And today it was the moment when I couldn’t keep pretending that I didn’t care about that man. I do care. I do still worry about him and don’t want anything bad to happen to him. I felt pain when he was telling us about the horror that he experienced in prison. I was horrified when he almost shot at himself, and when Uncle Michael wanted to kill him. After this, I can’t stay indifferent anymore. This feeling became kind of stronger when Uncle said that the real name of Lockhart was Edward MacClife.”       “I get it.”       “I think everybody is right when they say that no matter how much brothers and sisters argue and fight, they keep loving each other and stay very close people. Well… Not everyone, of course… There are cases when they can’t even keep neutrality.”       “So, do you keep loving your brother even after what happened between you?”       “I’ve never stopped loving. Whatever happens, I can’t be indifferent to Edward. I’m closely attracted to him… Began to consider him my close person, with whom I could talk about anything. Sometimes that guy gives very right and valuable pieces of advice that I must follow.”       “Would you like to talk to him and try to establish your relationship?”       “Of course, I would love to,” Terrence nods. “I would really like to talk to him to try to establish our relationship. I’m sad that we almost stopped speaking.”       “And as I understand, did you forget about your agreement?”       “I remember it. But now, when we calmed down a little and found out the truth, I’m starting to doubt that I want it to happen. Whether I want us to stop speaking after the end of this story and live like we never met and knew each other.”       “Even if you stop speaking, you will not stop being relatives.”       “I know. Anyway, I will not forget it. Edward is my brother… We aren’t strangers to each other. From the first day, I thought we had known each other all our lives. When I found out who he was, I was already attracted to him. We definitely made a connection. It’s one of the reasons why I agreed to befriend him so easily. I do feel what he thinks and is worried about, and that guy sees me through and understands when he’d better support me, comfort me, cheer me up, encourage me, and something like that.”       “Would you try to talk to him if he stayed here for a night?”       “Hardly.” Terrence glances aside for a moment. “I do really wanna reconcile with him. But now I understand I’m not ready for this talk yet. I need time to understand myself. It’d be better if we talked after the dust settled and weren’t obsessed with any emotions. Now everybody got some instinct, thanks to which we were one piece, protected each other, and let ourselves show emotions that we were hiding before. We need to calm down and know that we’re ready to talk and reconcile at our wish. Not when we are desperate and obsessed with fear.”       “I understand,” Raquelle replies with sympathy and puts her hand softly on Terrence’s shoulder that she caresses softly, later moving it to his knee. “Forgiving someone is always hard. It’s one of the strongest feelings in the world. It’s what only a truly wise and strong person can have.”       “You’re right.”       “Anyway, we shouldn't do anything now. When we come to ourselves, we will think about it.”       Before this moment, Terrence was hugging Raquelle around the shoulders with one hand. But now he tightly hugs her with a second arm, putting his cheek against her temple, which he kisses tenderly at some moment, and starting to caress her head with his fingers.       “I think all of us need to calm down and understand if we wanna get everything back,” Terrence says, while Raquelle grabs the man’s arms and puts her head on his shoulder. “I don’t think we should say ‘goodbye’ to each other. Moreover, we should meet in court… Maybe, we will wish to sit down and talk face-to-face by that time.”       “I ain’t sure if I could accept the fact that we’d hardly get back the good moments that happened to us,” Raquelle replies with sadness in her eyes. “But I will miss those times. I’ll never forget how great it was.”       “Me too,” Terrence replies with a slight smile. “We weren’t friends, we were a real family.”       “Right… Even Natalia. Even not being a member of the MacClife family, she’s always been one of us.”       “Even if she no longer dates my brother, that girl will remain our close friend. We all love her like our close person: you and me, and Mother adores her and treats her like a daughter.”       “I know…”       Raquelle sighs quietly, still pressing herself closely to Terrence and keeping her head on his shoulder, while he tightly hugs her, tenderly caresses the inside of her wrist, and kisses her cutely cheekbone, closer to her eye. They say nothing for a few seconds, sitting in the spacious living room, and then the girl decides to start the talk again:       “She’s still worried about the breakup with Edward. I’d say Natalia still loves him and suffers because they aren’t together anymore.”       “Edward also suffers and regrets doing that stupid thing,” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “When we were on the way to Uncle’s home, he confessed that he still loved her. At first, he wanted to say nothing, but I bit him through.”       “And I prefer believing it. Edward was so worried about her… He would’ve hardly been fretting and fuming if he had given a damn about Natalia.”       “No, he does care. He confessed his love for her with true sadness and refused to obey her and kill her. It says about much.”       “I think Natalia did the right thing by telling him what happened. It was what made Edward change his attitude toward her and realize that he was stupid. Who knows, whether he would’ve tried to save her if Michael’s people had taken her away before the confession of the rape attempt.”       “I think she should’ve told everything much earlier. Yes, she was madly hurt and scared, but she shouldn’t have been silent and brought everything to that. Natalia could say nothing to us, but Edward must’ve been one of the first people to know it. Her confession could’ve saved their relationship from the breakup.”       “Her parents should’ve known it first. Although it would’ve been hard for them to hear it, they should’ve known the truth.”       “The most important thing is that she finally realized it and told everything. We all know it, Edward knows it. She should only talk to her parents. And tell Anna everything. So, she confirms what we told her and Daniel.”       “I’m sure she’ll do. She’ll no longer be silent anymore.”       “I wonder, would her father and mother know about the kidnapping if the media started talking about it? And would they love to come back here earlier than they plan to talk to Natalia?”       “At least, Natalia should expect their call. I’m sure her parents have tried to call her many times when she was at Michael’s house and started to worry and think something horrible happened.”       “Don’t doubt it will happen,” Terrence replies confidently. “But I think they’d call us if they wanted to know what happened to Natalia. But as far as I remember, Mr. and Mrs. Rochester haven’t called us.”       “Yeah, right, they haven’t called me on my mobile number…”       “Anyway, they can be quiet ‘cause everything is over, and Natalia finally went home.”       “The most horrible things are over, but the hardest ones are waiting for us,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “And they will last nobody knows how long.”       “This time, we’re gonna have time to get ready. The news about the start of the trial will not be a surprise for us.”       “And nobody knows what will happen after the trial ends. What will change or what will remain the same… We can’t guess…”       “Ah, Raquelle…” Terrence sighs tiredly. “Let’s not talk about it. Let’s better live in the present and get ready for what surely should happen.”       “Agree, but still… We’re gonna be sad if what we don’t want happens.”       “At least, everything isn’t so bad. You and I can speak to Edward well, and he stopped fighting with Natalia.” Terrence falls into silence for two seconds. “Now they can speak as good familiars. But the two should know they will have to discuss much, early or late. Yes, they broke up, but it’s not the end yet. They’re gonna have to put an end to this case.”       “And if they finally break up, I’ll be very sad,” Raquelle says with sadness in her eyes. “The case is not only about the fact that I’ll be worried about Natalia… I always liked a couple of your brother and my friend. They looked very cute together. They were so happy. When I looked at them, my mood got better.”       “I also liked the way they looked together,” Terrence confesses with a slight smile. “And they really looked happy with each other. Maybe, they’ll forget they loved each other somehow. But they won’t be able to find someone to love much more than each other soon.”       “You know, Terrence, I believe Natalia and Edward kind of remind me of you and me,” Raquelle replies thoughtfully. “When we almost broke up… Although we didn’t have the same situation, there were some similar moments.”       “Yeah… I believe so. That’s why I can’t say this process is gonna be quick and harmless. If I hadn’t had to experience the same, I’d probably say to them, ‘Forget each other and go your way!’ However, I completely understand how hard it is and know those two won’t forget each other so easily.”       “I couldn’t disagree with you,” Raquelle replies with sadness in her eyes. “So, we shouldn’t say it’s all over. If we got over that hard time and reconciled, there’s a chance that Natalia and Edward could end up together. If they really wanted and were ready to overcome, so to say, the recovery phase.”       “You’re right. So, let’s do our business and stop thinking about what’s waiting for us or those two. May some time go, and then something will be clear.”       “Yeah, sure,” Raquelle nods and glances down.       Terrence looks at Raquelle with sadness in his eyes for a few seconds and then takes her in his tender, touching, but strong hug, touching her cheek with his cheek and caressing her head. The girl tightly wraps her arms around his neck and snuggles her nose into his shoulder. Two seconds later, he starts to caress his fiancée’s back slowly, while she strokes the hair on the back of his head.       “Thank you again for saving all of us,” Terrence thanks in a soft, quiet voice. “For not getting confused and for using brains.”       “It’s not only my merit, but also your father's and his friend’s,” Raquelle replies with a shy smile. “I just helped the police. I was doing what they told me to do.”       “But you decided to do it and went ‘till the end.” Terrence steps back from Raquelle and caresses her cheek tenderly, while she softly takes his hand and grabs it, smiling much wider and closing her eyes from pleasure. “None of us thought of going to another police station and talking to an officer. But you did it.”       “I was just lucky I met my friend from the university, who knew the friend of your father.”       “And you showed interest in the case that he was investigating. You found out everything that should’ve happened and did your best to save us.”       “I would’ve done something anyway. I mustn’t have just waited. Before meeting Darwin and Mr. Johnson, I had been thinking of asking Hunter for help. But I didn’t have to.”       “I’ve never doubted you’re madly beautiful and unbelievably clever. It's the case when a person has both of these things.”       “You make me blush,” Raquelle laughs shyly, while her cheeks get a little blushed.       “But it’s the truth, my love.” Terrence runs his fingertips over Raquelle’s hair, while another hand is lying on her knee, and his eyes are set on his face. “Here’s another reason why I’m madly proud to be the fiancé of such a wonderful girl.”       “Stop!” Raquelle exclaims with a playful smile and slightly pushes Terrence on his hip.       “I will not! I will be saying it as much as I want. And nobody will make me change my mind.”       “Aw, Terrence…”       Holding one cheek of Terrence, Raquelle kisses another tenderly several times. It makes him laugh shyly, smile much wider and take her in his strong hug for a few seconds. But later, he steps back from the girl and caresses her face with both hands.       “Oh, okay…” Terrence pronounces tiredly and runs his hand over his disheveled hair. “Let’s go to the room… I’m terribly exhausted and wanna lie in the bed.”       “Don’t you wanna eat something?” Raquelle asks. “Let me cook something, and then we’ll take a shower and go to bed.”       “No, thanks, sunshine. Honestly, I’m not hungry at all. I wanna eat nothing after such nervous tension. The only thing I want is to take off these clothes, take a warm shower, and lie on the bed.” Terrence falls into silence for two seconds and smiles shyly. “Of course, with you. Are you with me?”       “Sure. Then go to take a shower now and come to the bedroom.”       “Deal.”       “I’ll be waiting for you there.”       “Okay, Raquelle, I’ll come soon.”       Terrence tenderly kisses one cheek of Raquelle and kisses another while she looks at him with a smile full of warmth. Then he gets up and goes to where the bathroom is. The girl watches the man with a true smile on her quite tired, white face. And then she leans her head back and looks at the ceiling without emotions, closing her eyes later. After sitting in the living room for ten or fifteen seconds and enjoying the silence, Raquelle decides to wash the cups. By the way, she does not also feel hungry, even though she had eaten something a few minutes before Terrence and Edward told her Michael asked them about a meeting.       After sighing heavily and looking around the whole room, Raquelle gets up from the sofa, takes the plate with empty cups, goes to the kitchen, washes all of them with a special solution, wipes every single one, and puts them in a cupboard where there is tableware, not forgetting to do it to the container of sugar. After this, she washes her hands, wipes them, and returns to the living room. The girl looks around quickly, takes her purse from the table, and comes to the wide stairs, on which she slowly goes up to the second floor.       Since there is nobody in the house, Raquelle believes there is no meaning to turning on the light in the whole house and goes down the dark hall, in which there is some light from many windows. The girl quickly finds the way to her room, opens the door, turns on the light with a switcher, and enters it. She puts her purse on the table near the door that she closes after her, comes to the dressing table, takes a half-empty tube, gets some crème out of it, and puts it on her hands.       At some moment, Raquelle starts slowly walking into the room, looking at everything she sees with sadness in her eyes, and runs her hand over some things. Among them, there is something that reminds her of the wonderful times that she and Terrence spent with Edward and Natalia. For example, a very beautiful gold bracelet with red semi-precious stones in the form of drops, which she takes from the box with all the jewelry lying on the dressing table. She got it as a gift from Natalia and Edward on her twentieth-five birthday. She adores this jewelry made of clean gold and often wears it every day or at public events. Looking at the bracelet and every single stone, Raquelle smiles unconsciously and runs her fingertips over it, thinking about how shyly she accepted this gift. But later, the brunette puts the bracelet in its place and keeps slowly walking in the room.       Later, Raquelle stops her eyes on a dark red velvet box placed on the table near the bed. It’s a kind of Terrence’s personal space. Both of them have tables, on which their personal things, favorite stuff, or framed photos are placed. The girl slowly comes to the table with the things of her fiancé and carefully takes the box that got her attention, opens it, and starts to examine what’s inside. She sees a beautiful, expensive silver watch. Terrence got it on his last birthday as a gift from his fiancée. He wears it almost every single day when going somewhere, but sometimes he exchanges it with another black watch that is also placed on the table. Raquelle knew Terrence wanted to buy this watch and was madly happy to get it from the one he loved so much. The memory of giving him this gift that he asked her about makes her smile shyly and feel some warmth when recalling the man thanking her for such an incredible present.       Some time later, Raquelle puts the box with the watch aside and goes to the balcony. After opening the double door, she crosses the doorstep, comes to the railing, on which she leans with her hands, and sets her gaze on the dark sky. She can already see the first little stars that get attention thanks to their bright shine. A light, fresh wind blows on her face and long, loose hair. There is nobody outside. The light is turned on in the houses that are placed near the house of Terrence and Raquelle. And the barking of dogs can break the silence that she sometimes hears somewhere far from here. And no matter how much Raquelle would like to distract herself from the story of Michael MacClife, at least for a while, she cannot do it. The only thing that makes her happy is that she has Terrence and Natalia, whom she trusts at one hundred percent, and who she can always ask for help with the thought that they would not refuse to do something for her.       

***

      Terrence is in the bathroom and looking at his reflection in the mirror, leaning on the sink with his hands. His face is wet because he just washed it with cold water and wetted his hair, which lost its form and volume, and black strands of his thick fringe fall on his forehead and slightly stick to it. There are big water drops on the man’s gray t-shirt. They got on it after he washed his face and hair. It’s also possible to see many little drops on the mirror. They showed up after the brunet sharply shook his half-wet head several times. They got on the walls with white piles and the floor. However, Terrence does not care about it. He sets his gaze on the mirror and looks at his exhausted face, which is especially white, even if he has had this skin color since he was born. And a little later, he starts looking into his gray, red eyes and the little wounds on his face.       The man’s leather jacket that he was wearing almost all day is now hanging on the edge of the bath, and he is only wearing a gray t-shirt and dark blue jeans. Terrence looks at his reflection for some time, as if he is trying to make himself think about something. But later, he decides to leave and walk into the house with the hope of forgetting the bad things, at least for a while. After washing his face again and running his wet hands over his hair, MacClife, Jr., wipes them with a towel, takes his leather, and leaves the bathroom, not forgetting to turn off the light. He does not rush to go to his room and wants to stay alone. When he comes to the living room, the man puts his jacket on the sofa and starts slowly walking in circles, looking at everything he sees with dead eyes. At some moment, he looks through one of the windows, in which he only sees lights in the houses that are located not far, and runs his fingers over some things.       And at some moment, the man looks around the whole room again and unconsciously starts to recall some moments that have happened here. In this house. In this living room. The memories are good and bad. Terrence recalls himself sitting here with Raquelle, Edward, and Natalia and spending time that made him smile and laugh a lot with them. He also recalls the moment when his brother and he had such a serious argument that they started a cruel fight that Terrence regrets much now. The moment when the brothers got a grudge like a cat and a dog and started beating each other with hands and legs… And scaring Raquelle and Natalia, who could not stop the conflict… All those memories make Terrence feel a strong sense of fault for his great aggression. He understands that his heart squeezes badly, and his body gets quite tense. Terrence is glad he got brains not to give some injury or trauma to the guy.       Probably, it’s the only thing that calms him down. If Edward had had to treat his wounds, traumas, and bruises, Terrence would have hardly dared to look into the eyes of his younger brother. He would truly like to apologize to him for attacking the one he should respect, protect and support. But now the man is not ready to talk to MacClife, Jr., about it, and is even glad he decided not to stay for a night. Terrence believes he needs time to think, calm down and decide if he wants to keep speaking to Edward. Although he does not have such a great belief that everything will be solved later, he sees a little light that gives him hope that something good will happen early or late.       Thinking about all of his unsolved problems, Terrence does not notice he has walked in the whole living room in circles several times. But later, he stops his eyes on the guitar that he has not played for ages and understands he would like just to hold the instrument in his hands. He confidently comes to the stairs, takes his guitar, sits on the sofa, and checks if the strings are tuned right. Luckily, they sound well, but the sound requires a little correction. However, Terrence quickly does it and starts randomly plucking the strings and striking chords, playing a quiet, calm, but little sad melody.       Terrence comes up with some lines that cannot be connected with one another. Though, almost all of them are quite sad and contain questions that require an answer. But, sadly, the man cannot answer them because he sees no solution. There is only one way – just to wait. To take time to think and come to himself after so many shocking things. That time is the one to help solve many problems, and the bad things will be forgotten forever.       

***

      Natalia is slowly going on the lighted boulevard by some houses, buildings, and people, paying no attention to what’s happening around her. She is too obsessed with her thoughts, crossing her arms over her chest, sometimes wiping her tears off, rarely looking around, and watching what she sees in her way. It’s about a quarter past nine. It’s quite dark outside, but not all people are now home or rushing to go there. The light wind is blowing the girl’s face and making her matted, disheveled loose golden hair raise and blow on different sides. And after every single step, her boots quietly knock at the asphalt and make a quiet sound that is like a knock of horse hooves.       Natalia does not notice that she later finally reaches the skyscraper, in which her apartment is located. The girl understands it when she raises her head and sees the familiar place. That she missed so much. The blonde smiles slightly and stands in front of it for two seconds. Then she slowly enters the one and goes to the floor that she needs in an elevator, getting the keys from the apartment out of the pocket of her denim jacket on the way. And some time later, the elevator stops on the right floor, and Natalia takes some distance in the empty hall with many doors leading to someone’s apartments before she comes to the one she needs. The girl slowly puts one of the keys in a locker and turns it several times before the door opens, and she slowly enters the apartment, turning on the light with a switcher placed near the entrance.       After closing the door, locking it with a key, and taking off her boots that she leaves in the hall, Natalia looks around the whole apartment and smiles shyly, starting to understand that she really missed her home. Such a sweet home. Her smile gets much wider when she thinks about being able to eat something from her favorite dishes, take a warm shower, puts herself in order, and put on fresh clothes… And the most important thing is that she is finally able to lie on her soft, wide bed that she missed so badly. Her body still hurts a lot because she was sleeping on the cruel, uncomfortable bed for four days. And she still feels the smell of rotted, crude bedclothes covered with some spots. One thought about it makes her feel a lump in her throat and shake slightly.       After coming to the living room and looking around quickly, Natalia puts the keys from the apartment on the small table near the hall door in the hall and slowly goes to her room, examining everything she sees and missed so much. She goes to her room, turns on the light, and comes to her big bed, which is carefully made. The girl little hesitantly sits down and runs her hands over it, as if she is trying to make sure that it’s the truth. The bedclothes seem unbelievably soft, and the nice smell of powder and conditioner makes her smile widely. At some moment, Natalia lies down, stretches herself, and closes her eyes, laughing shyly with a wide smile and throwing her hands aside. All this time, she was dreaming of falling on her big bed and literally drowning in the soft mattress.       After lying for one minute or two and examining the white ceiling with a wide smile, Natalia slowly sits up and looks around her room, every single centimeter of which seems so close to her. Later, she stops her eyes on the small bedside table, on which some things are placed: from different necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and other jewelry to cute little things that mean nothing to others but mean much to the girl. The girl gets up from the bed, comes to the one, and starts looking at all these things. Among this mess, the girl later finds one thing that reminds her of the time that makes her smile but gives a great pain.       It’s the expensive aviator sunglasses in a gold frame that are carefully placed in a metallic box made of velvet inside. Natalia got them on her birthday from Terrence and Raquelle. She still wears the glasses when it’s sunny outside and just adores them, thinking she looks wonderful with them, especially when her long cascade hair is loose. The blonde smiles shyly, thinking about how they said happy birthday to her and gave her this beautiful box. A little later, Natalia puts the box aside and touches the gilded necklace put on her neck. One second later, the girl feels a clatter on the nape of her neck and tries to open it up. And then the simple but very beautiful necklace ends up in her hands. The blonde looks at this from all sides with a slight, sad smile, often placing it from one hand to another.       This thing is more important to her than any other jewelry. Alongside the aviator sunglasses, Natalia also received this gilded necklace with a pendant in the form of the letter “N,” which her name starts with. The gift was from Edward. He was not able to buy jewelry made of clean gold or silver and had to find an alternative. And the man did guess because the girl madly liked this necklace and did not care that it was, saying rudely, cheap stuff. At first, Natalia tried to wear this necklace rarely. But when she broke up with Edward, she did not almost take it off. Though, she was hiding it underneath shirts and T-shirts or had it in her pocket. She always had this necklace: on the day she fought with Edward at Terrence and Raquelle’s house and on the day when she told MacClife, Jr., the truth and was kidnapped by Michael’s people.       Since this jewelry was gifted by her close person, it became some kind of mascot. This thing gave her a belief in the best and hope for salvation. It kind of has a part of Edward’s soul. The one, who she was waiting for with the thought that he would take her out of the place where she was for four long days. Thinking of him helped her stay strong and believe everything would be alright. Even if he was far away, he was close. All the time. And Natalia has never stopped loving him. She still wants to be with him and does not want to accept the fact that they might no longer be together. But the girl does not also want to scream about it at the top of her lungs. She is not ready to confess that her feelings are alive and getting much stronger. But Natalia does not exclude that she will have to do her best to erase the memories of Edward, forget her love for him, and get rid of the image of him that is stuck in her mind. She understands that she might probably have to open her heart to another man, who would make her much happier.       After looking at the necklace for some time, Natalia carefully places the necklace on the table near her bed, takes her denim jacket, and puts it on the table near the writing table, wearing dirty dark blue jeans and a gray shirt with half sleeves, the top buttons of which are open now. Then she moves her hair back, goes to the bathroom, turns on the light, comes to the sink, turns on the faucet, and washes her hands and face, a nude makeup on which went down a long time ago. The girl looks at her reflection in the mirror and does not literally recognize herself: the exhausting, white face, a dead gaze, red from tears, sleepy eyes… To be clear, she has not been able to recognize her for a long time. Since she started suffering from what’s happening in her life.       Natalia never thought these events would happen in her life. Yes, sometimes she had moments when she was worried, but she quickly forgot them and did not get a too strong moral trauma. But now everything is otherwise… The last events literally made her fall with her face in the dirt and realize that life would not be as beautiful as it seemed at first sight. But she is happy that she is not alone and not deprived of those, who would do their best for her to feel much better and help her with everything she needs.       

***

      Edward is not planning to go home, at least right now. Although he is obsessed with strong tiredness and a wish to lie on the bed and fall asleep, he decided to walk in the night city. To go where his eyes look. Putting his hands in the pockets of his denim jacket and slouching slightly, the man is slowly walking on the street full of many people, high buildings, in which there are light, bright posters, big signboards with store titles, and even photos of models and giant billboards with an announcement of a music tour or a release of a movie or an album. Roads are not free. Many colorful cars, buses, lorries, and other transports with headlights turned on are in big traffic jams. Traffic lights sharply changing in pedestrian zones are also the reason for this situation on the roads.       Now Edward is going to walk across the road on a crossroad full of cars and people, who rush somewhere and go alone or in the company of a few people with phones, packets, and purses in their hands. When the traffic light changes to red for drivers and green for people, everybody rushes to cross the road. But the man does not rush and crosses the road quietly, having time to look at buildings with beautiful lights and watching people with interest. On the one side, little children are walking with their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and other relatives. On the other side, teenagers are rollerblading, listening to music on a player, or just going into small companies and laughing loudly at something. And he also sees young people passing by them with little and big dogs, eating something or cutely taking and kissing like lovers.       Edward watches all those people with a slight smile and sadness in his tired eyes, as he slowly walks on the street full of glossy stores, many of which have already closed until tomorrow. And some time later, MacClife, Jr., reaches the place where there are fewer people, and where it's much quieter than on the crossroad. The man sees small houses, in which there are only a few floors and little shops. There are almost no plantings in the place where Edward is walking. There are only asphalt paths, bright streetlamps, buildings with beautiful illumination, and a few benches, on which some people are sitting with food, magazines, or newspapers in their hands. Despite the late time, these places do not seem so dark thanks to the light literally in every single corner. The colorful, bright lights of the buildings, posters, and billboards get the attention of almost any person that passes by. In daylight, it's possible to hear invitations to visit a store that tries to get clients and meet young people, who give brochures.       Some time later, Edward reaches the wide bridge, on which people can go on a walk on the two sides. In the middle of it, there is a wide road that is separated from the walking zone, so people do not stumble and get hit by cars that drive fast. There is a perfect view of the part of New York and the infinite ocean. The man slowly passes some distance on this bridge, then stops and starts to look at the incredible view, leaning on the railing with his hands. Even though the panorama takes the breath away, MacClife, Jr., stays indifferent and does not even try to smile. And he does not pay attention to the light freeze in the air caused by the low temperature and the wind that makes his jet black hair raise, get into his eyes and blow his face and shabby, denim jacket.       Sad thoughts make him fall into a deeper depression and dream of burning with shame for all his actions. Believe he should not have been born. Consider himself the bad son of his mother and father. Suffer from the fear of looking into their eyes. Feel great shame for his older brother, soon-to-be sister-in-law, and all his friends. Edward is sure that he will not get the forgiveness of his close people and prove to everybody that he has never betrayed anyone and stopped loving his family and his ex-girlfriend… The ex-girlfriend… Honestly, he feels weird when calling Natalia the ex-girlfriend. He did not get used to that, and he still believes she still belongs to him. The young guy still loves this blonde-haired beauty and started thinking his time to marry and create his family has come only thanks to her. On the one hand, Edward wants to do his best to try to get Natalia back, not being able to imagine his life with another girl. But on the other hand, the man is afraid to give her pain again. Edward understands that Natalia has a right to hate and insult him. He has no right to think she is terrible and thankless.       Recalling all his fights with his close people, the man starts to believe he is becoming a witness to those events. It seems like everything is happening in real time, right before his dumbfounded eyes. He is kind of able to look at himself and understand how bad he looked when he was not able to control his anger. And the more he tries to distract himself, the more he starts to think about that period. Also, he gets obsessed with the memories of the days that he spent in prison. MacClife, Jr., still shakes strongly from just one mention of his arrest. They put him under those horrible tortures and harmed his mental health. He survived and was released. Half-alive and broken. Edward was broken all the time. But today’s events brought him to a nervous breakdown.       The man watches the panorama of New York for some time and thinks about all of that with horror in his eyes. And then, he decides to keep going nobody knows where, still watching the people and cars, looking at what surrounds him, and not knowing where to go or what to do. He is just walking in the night city, trying to get rid of the sense of shame, and thinking about what to do in case he is found innocent. Some time later, Edward goes down to the well-lighted underground, the walls of which are made of concrete. There are not so many fellows here, but it’s possible to see people of a different age, who are going somewhere or just standing aside, smoking a cigarette, talking on the phone, or eating something. In this underground, there are also a few paths, which could bring a person to different places. In order for people not to get wrong, there are bright signatures on walls with text in English that tells where to go.       Edward examines the content of the tables and, deciding not to find hard ways, slowly starts going straight, putting his hands in his pockets, slouching slightly, inclining his head, and sometimes looking at everything he sees. And after walking in the underground for some time, he starts hearing nice music playing somewhere close. The man quickly understands it’s the sounds of an acoustic guitar, on which someone is performing a very beautiful but sad melody, not being able to resist a wish to come closer and listen to the song.       Getting closer to the source of the sound, MacClife, Jr., comes to one place some time later where there is a middle-aged man, who is playing this melody. He is wearing a fashion-old hat on his head and old, shabby clothes and playing on a very old guitar that sounds perfect. Having a beard and looking a little grubby, the stranger is sitting on the dirty asphalt, leaning on the concrete wall with his back and plucking strings and striking chords skillfully with sadness in his eyes. A little box with some money is placed near him, so people leave something when passing by. Three people of different ages are standing around him, listening to the melody, and shaking their heads with slight smiles on their faces. Nobody pays attention to Edward, who hesitantly comes to the stranger with the guitar and starts to listen to his play like charmed, smiling slightly and starting to clap his hands quietly. Although the song makes him think of sad things, it does not prevent the guy from enjoying the sounds of the acoustic guitar that he has not played for ages. And by this moment, an old woman comes to the street guitarist and shyly stands next to Edward, who glances at her.       And one minute later, the stranger finishes playing and looks at those, who listened to him. The people start applauding, and some of them take a few dollars from their pockets and wallets and put them in the box with money. Edward also claps his hands with a slight but exhausting smile, finds the last two dollars in the pocket of his denim jacket, and puts them in the box. The stranger with the guitar pays special attention to this guy and looks at him with interest, while MacClife, Jr., waits for everybody to leave their money in the box to do it himself. Later, the people leave to do their business, but Edward keeps standing here and starts a talk with the guitarist.       “Beautiful melody,” Edward says hesitantly with a slight smile. “But very sad.”       “Thanks,” the stranger replies amicably, still holding the guitar pressed to himself. “Now I don’t have the best time in my life. I don’t want to play something funny.”       “I get it.”       “By the way, I notice that many people like sad songs. When I play something positive, they give me much less money.”       “Really? Interesting…” Edward, looking at the stranger with sadness in his eyes, squints down in front of him. “Excuse me for my curiosity, sir, but are you trying to earn money by playing guitar? Or is it just a hobby?”       “Actually, yes,” the stranger replies hesitantly. “You see what I’m wearing. Everything is bad about my job. I move from one flower to another like a butterfly and cannot stay anywhere.”       “But why?”       “Age, guy, age. Now, employers prefer giving jobs to younger specialists. And the fact that I have only a school education also plays its role. So, I’m running from one side to another: stay in one place for two months and earn something, stay in another place for one month… It’s okay that I can play the guitar. People like my play, and I earn enough money per day not to die from hunger at the nearest time. If I sit and play all day, I get good money.”       “I understand,” Edward says with sadness in his eyes. “I’m truly sorry for you. I have the same problem. But getting a job for me is much harder because I have no education at all… So, I’m a homeless beggar…”       “You have no home?”       “Sadly. I’m also running from one side to another and trying to do something. But what I earn from time to time is not enough for a good life.”       “I understand.” the stranger frowns slightly and looks closely at Edward. “By the way, are you here for the first time?”       “Yes, I’m here for the first time, even if I have examined many places in the city,” Edward replies quietly. “But now I came here by chance when walking in the city and breathing in the fresh air…”       “I just come to this underground almost every day and see very many familiar people that always go here. But I have never seen you here before. Believe me, I would memorize you because I have a good memory for faces.”       “You want to say you play guitar only here?”       “No, I play in many places. Today, I’m here. Tomorrow, I will be somewhere in the center of the city. And after tomorrow, I shall go somewhere else. Pick up places, depending on how many people there are. When I want to earn money, I go to popular places. And if I want to play for myself and just encourage people, I go where it’s quiet, and there are fewer people.”       “Alright,” Edward smiles slightly.       “By the way, judging by your old clothes, you are by far not a rich man,” the stranger notices, looking at Edward from head to foot.       “I can only dream about it. Sadly, I will never be rich. I’m hardly destined to be the one.”       “You are kind of too pessimistic. And your eyes are full of sadness…”       “I have no reason to be happy.” Edward sighs heavily and gets up slowly, not moving his eyes off the stranger. “I’m having a hard time in my life, as well. And I mean not only the situation of money and a job. I feel bad morally… And the melody you just played made me feel grief and a wish to disappear.”       “Is everything so bad?” the stranger asks with sadness in his eyes.       “Yes, but I don’t think you will have an interest in knowing about my problems. You’ve got many of yours, so I will not tell you about mine.”       “Why? I’m interested in listening to stories about the lives of other people and giving them pieces of advice. I rarely talk to those, who listen to my play, and tell them how to solve a problem. Listening to people telling me about their problems doesn’t get me exhausted.”       “Are you alone?”       “Not quite. I have close people. But I’ve always loved meeting new people. Learning something about their lives, giving them pieces of advice, and teaching them something. I’ve always been an extrovert and don’t like being alone.”       “That’s how!” Edward cracks a smile. “And I, honestly, don’t know who I am: an extrovert or introvert… I kind of want to be surrounded with attention and get lots of friends, but I don’t kind of want to talk to anyone and do want to withdraw into myself.”       “I guess you just have a time when you want to talk to nobody.”       “Maybe. I do really have a hard time… So much has lately happened to me and made me wish to withdraw from everyone and talk to nobody. At least, those I know well.”       The stranger sighs heavily, looking at Edward with sadness in his eyes and shaking his head, and then glances at the guitar that he is still holding.       “Hey, guy!” the stranger exclaims. “Say, can you play guitar?”       “Erm…” Edward stutters, biting his lip slightly. “Yes, I can… But I haven’t taken it for ages…”       “Don’t you want to play mine?”       “Play yours?” Edward stares at the stranger surprisingly. “You’re serious?”       “Yes. Play. Maybe, you’ll get better if you play something. Good music is a wonderful cure for any illness or depression. If you start to listen to what you need, you will feel you are getting better.”       “Erm… Yeah… Maybe, you’re right…”       “Take it, guy, play. Sit down next to me.”       The stranger points at the place near himself, and Edward hesitantly comes to him and takes the guitar that the man gives him. Then, he sits on the asphalt next to the man, leaning on the wall with his back, and comfortably places the instrument. MacClife, Jr., starts plucking strings a little hesitantly and striking random chords, playing a beautiful but sad melody, along with which he starts singing something quietly. He feels terribly shy and is afraid to play when so many unfamiliar people go by him. But after Edward starts playing guitar, he gets a little better and finds the strength to smile much wider, feeling the relief that he needs so badly.       “You are doing it great,” the stranger notices. “You play guitar well… And you’ve got an incredible voice… Very melodic, nice and soft… I’d listen to this again and again…”       “Many people say it,” Edward replies shyly, still plucking strings on the guitar.       “Do you have a favorite song?”       “Favorite, you say…” Edward bites his lip slightly and smiles shyly. “Yeah… It seems like I know what I would like to play…”       “Come on! People would love to hear something good. And yeah, be more confident. You play and are kind of afraid.”       “I’m really a little afraid.”       “Be brave, guy, you do it well.”       Edward stops playing, thinks about something for a few seconds, and starts plucking the strings of the guitar again. And some time later, he also decides to start singing, but does it hesitantly because he is a little afraid to sing and play before the eyes of many people. However, he is worried for nothing because people do pay attention to the young, sympathetic brunet with an incredible, soft, melodic voice, who plays guitar like a professional. But he later realizes that he wants something different. More touching and sentimental. That’s why the man stops playing sharply, closing all the strings with a hand, and thinks for a few seconds.       “Why did you stop?” the stranger wonders. “The song is good!”       “No, I want to play something different,” Edward replies thoughtfully. “I love this song very much, but now I want something more sentimental. Something like this…”       Edward starts plucking strings and striking chords again. And a few seconds later, he starts singing not in his mother language, English. At first, the young guy seems insecure and is afraid to play in public. But noticing that the stranger sitting next to him likes what he performs, he relaxes a little. With every new second, Edward is getting more confident and showing his huge talent. Although this song reminds him of Natalia, he gets pleasure from performing one of his favorite songs. Later, the man starts feeling like he is having a show because people start surrounding him, deciding to find out who is the owner of such a wonderful voice. Seeing the fellows listening to him with slight smiles on their faces, the man also starts smiling unconsciously and feeling more confident. That’s why the way he plays is getting much better.       Even if nobody understands what this sympathetic gray-eyed brunet is singing about, everybody madly likes his piercing, melodic, but strong, and ringing voice that makes them take a breath away. The people are listening, shyly dancing along with the music, and putting money in the box with pleasure. The stranger sitting next to Edward is also delighted by the talent of this young man, slightly shaking along with the rhythm, beating a rhythm with his hands, and trying to sing along, even if he does not know the lyrics or the language. Many people use their mobile phones to take photos of the brunet playing guitar and record a video of him performing.       MacClife, Jr., does not notice it and has now fallen into the music, getting much pleasure from playing guitar and finally starting to relax and feeling much better. He does not hide his happiness when looking at people of different ages, who are clapping their hands, shaking their bodies, and recording him on cameras. The success among the unfamiliar people gives him confidence and makes him put his shyness aside by the end of the song and start playing like a real professional.       A few minutes later, Edward shaking slightly with the rhythm and feeling confident finishes singing the last words of the chorus and performs an incredible solo on the guitar for a few seconds, after which he quickly runs his fingers over the strings. The people start applauding loudly and shouting “Bravo!” to the truly talented guy, for whom any kind of praise is like the warmth in his soul. Everybody comes to the box with money and starts putting banknotes in it. Some time later, there are so many of them that the stranger opens his eyes widely and amazingly stares at the box full of money. When they think Edward will no longer play, they go on different sides, being nicely impressed. Well, the man himself feels much better after playing the guitar a little. Music helped him distract himself from bad thoughts for a while and get praise from the people, who encouraged him, hardly guessing who he is, what happened to his family, and how much he disappointed all of them.       “Bravo, boy!” the stranger admires with a wide smile. “That was incredible! Although I understood nothing from what you were singing, it was magnificent!”       “Thank you for letting me play,” Edward smiles shyly and gives the guitar to the stranger. “I got a little better.”       “You looked happy when playing and singing.”       “Music is my passion. I’ve loved singing and playing something since childhood. And when someone plays guitar, my heart always stops. The thing I can’t live without is good music.”       “I adore it, as well. For me, music is like a good cure for literally everything in the world. When I get sad, I listen to something good. When I feel lonely, I turn on my favorite songs and get better.”       “Sometimes, when I listen to a song, I imagine myself on a big stage in front of thousands of people, who scream out my name and yell from happiness when I start to play. Even now, when I was playing, I was imagining a big arena surrounded by fans of mine.”       “The people really liked your song, judging how much money they left. They would’ve hardly paid attention to something worthless.”       “You make me feel not so worthless.”       “Hey, excuse me for my curiosity, but what’s the song you were singing about? Which language is that?”       “The song is in Spanish. And the meaning is super banal – about love. Maybe, it’s a little sad song, but I like it anyway.”       “Spanish? You speak Spanish?”       “Yes, I can speak it.”       “And how did you learn it?”       “At school. And it was always easy for me.”       “Do you still remember all the lessons?”       “Yeah, I remember every single lesson very well. I was very lucky with the teacher of Spanish. She told us she had lived in Madrid for many years and could speak it fluently. And the most important thing was that the woman explained everything so easily that even a dog could start speaking Spanish.”       “But can you say something in Spanish? Well, I don’t know… For example, say, how beautiful this evening is. How beautiful New York is when it’s lighted up with colorful lights.”       “No problem. Nueva York es un lugar increíble. Esta ciudad es hermoso por la noche.”       “Wow!” the stranger admires with a wide smile. “How beautiful it sounds! And you’ve got an amazing accent. As if you lived in Spain or another Spanish-speaking country for many years.”       “As I said, I was lucky with the teacher,” Edward replies shyly.       “To learn a language, you should have a good teacher and good brain. And everything is fine with you. Learning a foreign language may be hard for someone. And if you barely speak your first language, everything is very bad.”       “Maybe…”       “And yeah, you are a smart and very talented guy. You were born to become a musician! Not to bury such a unique talent in the ground.”       “I don’t think so.”       “Stop, boy! You know how incredible your future would be if you showed your talent to someone! And if the right people knew about it, you would get a chance to become a star. Your dreams about a big stage would be a reality, not a fantasy!”       “Ah, if I could…” Edward sighs quietly, running his hand over his disheveled hair. “I’ll never become a musician or singer. It would be cool, but sadly, I’m not destined to be the one.”       “You know, I’ve always thought that if you really want something, you will do it,” the stranger replies confidently. “You should just believe that you can do everything and not give up, even if you are pissed off thousands of times.”       “In the world, there are more talented people that deserve everyone’s recognition.”       “I think you are too insecure. You don’t know how talented you are. Have someone never said you have an incredible voice and play guitar wonderfully?”       “Many times. But two or three people.”       “Trust me, I’m not an ignoramus in music and know it well. I can easily see when a person sings out of the key and must not open their mouth. You sang perfectly cleanly and never sang out of tune. And you play like a real professional. Even people without a musical education could know if someone is talented.”       “Of course, it’s just wonderful, but I’m not destined to become the one.”       “Don’t bury your talent, buddy,” the stranger replies confidently, clapping Edward on the shoulder. “You can go too far if you want it. You know how many fans you could have if the whole world discovered you. You should only tell them about yourself to provide for your incredible future.”       “Thanks a lot for the advice, sir.” Edward glances down and bends his legs under himself. “But I really doubt it will help me.”       “Oh, you are too depressed…” the stranger, frowning slightly, looks at Edward better. “Though, I noticed it shortly after you came to me.”       “I’ve got no reason to be happy. So many events have happened. They became the reason why nothing would be the same. Why I will never be happy and get a chance to calm down and forget what gives me unbearable pain.”       “I got it,” the stranger nods and puts the guitar aside. “Personal problems?”       “Well…” Edward moves his sad and depressed gaze to the stranger, bending his legs at his knees. “Well, yes…”       “Fought with someone?”       “Yup… The one, who I will never get back…”       “I see,” the stranger pronounces with sadness in his eyes. “So, the problem is about a girl.”       “We broke up. And I still cannot accept it.”       “I wasn’t wrong when I thought you had relationship issues. I see such sad faces like yours almost every day. Young people, who experience a breakup with their sweethearts, often go by me. And if they still love someone and cannot accept it, they are all so sad.”       “I made a great mistake when leaving her,” Edward replies in a quiet, low voice. “Now I’m madly sorry about that. Sorry about being an idiot and not saving what I didn’t want to lose.”       “Left her because of a stupid thing?”       “Not quiet.” Edward inclines his head and starts looking at his hands. “I just blamed her for what she didn’t do and left her, deciding to find out nothing. But when the truth came to light, it was too late to change something.”       “That’s how? But why?”       “I was mad. I felt I was betrayed. I got obsessed with anger and a wish to fume and fret. I couldn’t think well. And sadly, I had nobody by my side to help me get sober. So, I lost my girlfriend and will hardly get her back.”       “Do you think she will not forgive you?”       “She didn’t deserve everything I said to her. It was madly hurtful for her to hear all the charges for what she was never guilty of.”       “I don’t know what happened between you and will not try to find out more. But I think she’d understand you if you explained everything to her.”       “Maybe, she’ll do it. But we will never be together. She will not wish to be with the one, who dared to doubt her, and I’ll be afraid to take that responsibility. Afraid to hurt her again.”       “Never say never, boy. And don’t run away from her because of a sense of shame. You will become a terrible man for everyone. Nobody will believe your regret if you are running from fear to take one or another responsibility.”       “No, sir, it’s all over,” Edward shakes his head sharply. “Now I can only dream that the girl, who I still can’t call my ex, comes back to me after everything she had to tolerate from me.”       “Don’t dream, do something. When someone regrets some actions, it means they have a heart and regret what they did. But you must prove it. Prove to the girl that you love her and want to start everything again. Yes, maybe, you will not do it after the first attempt, but her heart will get softer early or late, and she will agree to try to start everything again.”       “She doesn’t love me,” Edward says in a low, broken voice, looking at the stranger. “That girl told me about that. And it would be weird if she kept loving me. Someday, her heart will belong to another man. And I will become just a bad memory for her.”       “You know, there are cases when there is really no chance to establish the relationship. But sometimes there is a chance to make it better. And I think your case may have to do with the second category. There is no love when two people don’t love. But when at least one loves, this story is not ended.”       “You may not know it,” Edward simpers without emotions on his face, setting his gaze into the distance. “Because you are not a psychic.”       “Right. But I’m making conclusions based on what I see every day on people’s faces and what some of them tell me… And a bigger part of cases is not as hopeless as it seems. I believe everything may get better in your case.”       “Don’t judge the situation, not knowing the truth.”       “Yeah, you said you charged her for something, but later the truth came to light? How did you find it out?”       “She told me that. But it means nothing.”       “So, I’m partly right! My gut tells me that she did not want to break up.”       “It doesn’t matter now. We will have to do our best to forget each other and open our hearts to other people. Someday, she will meet a man, who will make her his queen, and I will find a girl.”       “Don’t give up, boy. If you have a little chance to fix everything, you must fight for your happiness. You must not leave everything when there is a little light at the end of the tunnel.”       “I want, but I can’t. I madly want to be with her, make her happy and try to give her everything she wants. But I’m afraid to give her pain again. She is a very vulnerable and sensitive girl, but I almost brought her to despair. For her, all my words were like a knife in the back. I wounded her, so that the scars would not be gone for a long time.”       Edward falls into silence for two seconds and inclines his head, wrapping his legs bent at the knees, and the stranger glances at him.       “What’s your name?” the stranger asks.       “Mine?” Edward moves his rounded eyes to the stranger. “Erm… Edward…”       “So, Edward, never lose hope for the best. Yes, maybe, you made some mistakes, but trust me, that’s fine. Everyone gets wrong. There is no perfect person in the world. And we all have a right to a second chance. There is nothing wrong with doing something wrong. But when you make a mistake, you will know what is waiting for you and will not repeat that mistake again. I’m sure if you got your girlfriend back, you’d do your best not to lose her. To give her happiness that any woman deserves.”       “I’d move a mountain for her…” Edward sighs heavily. “For that blue-eyed blonde beauty…”       “Do it then. Literally.” the stranger slightly fixes his hat. “Remember, if your love for the girl is strong, you must prove it by your actions, not shout that you love her and can’t live without her. You should show her that you’re ready to do anything for her. She will appreciate it. Women adore someone to be ready to go through fire and water for them. And if the girl is totally in love with you, you will conquer her heart.”       “Yeah…” Edward pronounces thoughtfully. “Maybe, you are right…”       “If your hearts belong to each other by fate, they will always belong. If you must be together, fate will bring you to each other, no matter how hard you resist. I know people, who say they love, but don’t actually know what real love is. Love is a very strong feeling that not everyone can feel. Sometimes it’s like poison spreading all over the body and slowly killing a person inside. Only the antidote may save the person. If it’s not found, the poison eats you entirely.”       “Well… If it’s about love like mine, it’s probably the truth.”       “I think in your case, the antidote is the girl you love. Only if you get her back, she will rescue your soul and fix your heart, which is broken into little pieces.”       “Do you think this love will kill me if I don’t get her back or find a way to get rid of it?” Edward frowns slightly, looking at the stranger surprisingly.       “Maybe. There are two ways to recover: trying to get back the one, who stole your heart, or striking her out of your life and getting rid of everything related to her. Living and suffering from feelings for someone, who has never answered you back or felt out of love with you is not the solution.”       “Nope… I think I will not suffer because of her until the end of my life. Early or late, I will forget her. Everything should end somehow. As well as the love that can’t be infinite.”       “Ah, my boy, you don’t know how strong your love can be. You don’t know it has strong power. Love is a very powerful thing that can heal or hurt. Give you a feeling of butterflies in your stomach, happiness, a smile, and a wonderful mood. Or give someone pain, suffering, and a strong depression. Getting rid of this pain is hard, but possible. One of the solutions is to try to forget about your feelings. Get rid of everything related to the former love without regret. Become open to meeting new people. Distract yourself. Not to lie on the bed like a vegetable and cry from grief.”       “Well, honestly, I do want to cry even one month later after our breakup.”       “I guess, you just don’t want it. I see you’re deeply in love with that girl. She became your drug that you cannot live without. Without her, you literally die away, fall into depression, and make yourself suffer. It’s love. If it gets someone attracted to you, it will last for a long time. But you are not in love mutually, as I understand, you have a chance to get her back. Get her love and trust. It may be hard. Much time may be gone before she appreciates your actions and opens her heart to you. If you want to prove to her that you still love her, you must do something that she'll highly appreciate. That would let her know you need her.”       “Erm…” Edward bites his lip slightly. “Well… I kind of did something to prove that I wasn’t indifferent to her…”       “Then wait, Edward! Not just say, ‘I will be waiting,’ but do believe. Truly believe that girl would forgive you. Very much time may be gone, and you may probably stop believing in a miracle. But if fate wants, it will bring you to that girl.”       “Do you think I still have a chance?”       “Almost any problem has a solution. We just can’t always find it immediately. Sometimes we need to put in effort or just wait for it to be found. But I’m almost sure everything is not hopeless in your case. You love that girl, and she is probably suffering because of your breakup.”       “Maybe. But she will hardly wish to come back to me after everything I did and said to her.”       “Remember, boy, you should have a few things in your life: belief, a sense of purpose, and readiness to go through fire and water for what you want. Only they will help you do anything you want. Want to become a musician and perform on big stages? Get the girl back and make her happy? Something else? So, you must believe that you can do it. Believe in you and your strength. Don’t be weak and insecure about what you do. Only people with a strong spirit, who aren’t used to giving up, reach their goals. Nothing happens easily if you do nothing and loudly dream about unreal happiness. When people want something, they reach it and don’t give up when meeting a failure.”       “Even if they are losers for life, who were born accidentally?”       “Everybody is born for the reason. Nobody comes to this world for nothing. If you were born and are living, you have an important mission. Maybe, you are destined to become great for people. Or make someone very happy. You don’t know it, but God does know. He knows everything. Absolutely everything.”       “I think my mission in this world is to be the curse for everyone and the reason why someone’s life turned into hell,” Edward replies in a low voice, sighing heavily.       “Don’t say it, Edward,” the stranger replies and claps Edward on the shoulder. “You probably have the people, who love you with all their hearts and wish you the best. They want you to do something great… Something that would make you madly happy.”       “Sadly, all my wishes are unreal. I want what will never happen.”       “Well, if you keep sitting, moaning, and doing nothing, it will not happen. But if you start to listen to your heart and follow its sound and don’t forget to turn on your mind, someday you will be lucky. When you get a chance to make everything you dream about come true.”       “Why don’t you want to make your life better? Why don’t you try to do something to stop sitting in the underground and playing guitar for the money?”       “You think I’m not trying? Of course, I’m not giving up and aiming to change my life by not giving up when nobody gives me a good job. And playing guitar is just an additional income. A way to distract me from the shit that is happening in my life. You could also find a place and start playing. I’m sure you could earn much money if you plucked strings all day.”       “You see. Our wishes don’t always fit our possibilities. You and I want to find a job, but always get kicked out because they need younger or more experienced specialists that have an education.”       “But failures are not the reason to give up. Yes, my life is terrible, but I don’t get upset, and I keep fighting and believing that I will be lucky someday. So, keep doing the same. Don’t call yourself a worthless and talentless boy that nobody needs if you get kicked out everywhere, and everybody refuses to give you a little chance. If one or two people believe so, it doesn’t mean everybody has the same opinion about you. You’re a young, healthy guy, your life lies in front of you. I don’t know your age, but you look like a too young boy. It’s okay that I’m getting closer to fifty, and many things have happened to me. But you! You don’t bury yourself. Your talent. Trust me, you do have one. Yes, maybe, you don’t know how great it is, but if you show it to the whole world, nobody will leave it unnoticed. When everyone starts to say that God sent you to this world to become a great star, you will believe in yourself and stop doubting your skills. The way to your dream may be very long and hard, but those efforts will be worth experiencing all the difficulties.”       The stranger’s words inspire Edward somehow and make him briefly see a little light of the shoot at the end of the tunnel, which gives him hope for the best and kind of warms his soul up.       “I must confess you can inspire,” Edward replies with a slight smile. “Of course, I will hardly start to believe in the best, but I definitely got a little better.”       “Glad I helped you a little,” the stranger replies amicably. “I love sharing pieces of advice based on my life experience. My son grew up and is now living his life and making mistakes, but I have nobody else to tell them something. For me, talking to people and inspiring them or comforting them is happiness.”       “Anyway, thank you so much, sir. Talking with you is really nice.”       “Vincent. My name is Vincent.”       “Alright… Thanks… Vincent…”       “Honestly, you looked so gloomy when coming here. I was sorry for you when I looked at your sad face. I realized that everything wasn’t good in your life and wanted to help you somehow.”       “Life is hard, so I’m gloomy,” Edward replies quietly and inclines his head, moving his eyes down.       “You better have a good rest…” Vincent says thoughtfully. “You look too exhausted and sleepy. You’re about to fall asleep right here…”       “Today was just very hard for me.”       “Then go to restore your energy. Go home, Edward, don’t walk on the streets at this time. It’s almost ten o’clock now. At this time, people are home and getting ready for sleep. I’m sure your close people worry about you and think of where you are.”       “Trust me, nobody worries about me. If I disappear, nobody will even think about me.”       “Don’t say that, guy. Go home and don’t make them nervous. Put yourself in order, change your clothes, eat well, and go to sleep. As they say, sleep on it. Maybe, tomorrow, something will change for the best, and you will find a solution to your problems.”       Edward sighs heavily and looks at some people passing by him and Vincent and paying no attention to them.       “Go, Edward, go,” Vincent says softly. “Don’t walk on the street like a homeless. Go where you are expected.”       “I’ve got nobody to wait for me,” Edward pronounces in a low voice.       “I’m sure you’ve got. Go home. You will not find anything good on the street at nighttime.”       “Oh…” Edward pronounces thoughtfully, running his hands over his face. “Alright… I will go…”       “Go back to your family. They’re waiting for you.”       “Thanks for the talk. And thanks for letting me play your guitar.”       Edward gets up on his feet slowly and wants to leave, but Vincent calls him at the last moment, taking the box with the money:       “Edward, wait, please!”       Edward turns around slowly and looks at Vincent questioningly, who starts counting the money from the box.       “I think it would be fair if you and I shared the money. Because you played guitar and earned a lot, I will give your part now.”       “What?” Edward gets confused and shakes his head sharply. “No, no, it’s your money! I can’t take it! And I didn’t want to earn money by playing guitar! I just wanted to distract myself a little.”       “It will be right, boy! You and I earned a lot of money. One hundred dollars. And I believe you deserved a half.” Vincent gives Edward fifty dollars. “Here are your fifty dollars.”       “No, no, thanks, Vincent, I will not take it!” Edward refuses, waving his hands. “It’s your money! I can take no cent from it.”       “Take it, guy, I’m insisting. You deserved the money and can spend it on something for yourself or your close person.”       “But…”       “Edward, do not argue with me,” Vincent insists confidently. “Take!”       “Erm…” Edward pronounces hesitantly, takes the money from Vincent with shaking hands, counts it, and cracks a smile. “Thanks… Thank you so much…”       “Think it’s my thankfulness for becoming the first one in a while to decide to talk to me,” Vincent smiles shyly. “Nobody has lately come to me to talk for nothing. Either people got so busy, or they don’t care about others and don’t rush to share their problems.”       “Oh… Alright…” Edward relaxes his shoulders and puts the money in the pocket of his dirty, shabby denim jacket. “Goodbye, Vincent… Thanks again… For everything…”       “I would be happy if we met again.”       Edward cracks a smile again, then slowly turns around and leaves, deciding not to follow the advice of the street guitarist but to go somewhere else. Vincent watches him with a slight smile, pressing his guitar to himself, truly believing in this guy and not doubting that he would do his best to make his dreams come true.       “Maybe, very much time will be gone, but I’m sure you will get back the girl, who you’re in love with,” Vincent whispers. “And become a famous musician. If you really want it, of course. Just wait, believe, and reach your goal, despite misfortune. Or better wait for a while. Sometimes time is the best thing that can solve many problems and give you a good chance to make your life better. There are situations when you better wait and calm down, but then try to do something. It is all about you, Edward… First, come to yourself and then start fighting for your love and your dreams. If you do everything right and don’t turn aside, the award will be waiting for you in the end.”       Vincent thinks about Edward for some time and wishes him to solve his problems and make all of his dreams come true. And later, the man starts looking at people passing by with interest, plucking the strings on his old guitar, and singing something under his nose that makes him smile shyly and think about some good things.