Chapter 48.

“Since the first time I met you, I came across something I couldn’t fully understand for the first time in a long time. There are times when you are colorless, completely transparent in my eyes so to speak. It was the first time in years I’d come across something so peculiar, so I chose to approach you. Why do you take on such a beautiful colorless appearance? I was curious and I wanted to know, so I naturally got closer to you.”

“Then, the color that I appear to you right now is?”

I was really skeptical to believe in the absurd claims she was making. Just listening to her raised several red flags on my psycho meter.

“No colour. You are colorless. To the point I can see right through you.”

“When you become emotional I can see a color emanating around you, yet your body always appears transparent except during certain circumstances. From my observations, your body is only filled with color when you’re hallucinating or dreaming.”

“...” I really didn’t know what to say in response to her ludicrous claims. She can see through me? Is this Xray vision or something?

“Now, tell me Dio, I’ve always wanted to know this, why are you colorless?”

“How would I know?! Are you trying to say I’m an empty hollow shell of a person with nothing on the inside? Are you saying I have nothing in me that makes me human like everyone else out there except on certain occasions?”

“That’s precisely what I want to find out. Can someone colorless like you be painted into a beautiful picture I’ve ever seen before if you find happiness, true despair, sadness or pain? You’re too peculiar for me to just ignore.”

“Val, could we stop here? It’s a bit too much to take in and you’re starting to scare me a bit.”

“Oh. Right. Haha. Sorry, I tend to get a little excited and worked up when talking about the unknown.”

“Was this what you meant by there are a lot of strange unexplainable things in the world?”

“Well, one of them at least.”

“I still can’t really believe what you’re telling me. It feels like you’re just making fun of me or something.”

“It’s fine even if you don’t believe me for now.”

She walked out from behind the kitchen counter with a mug in hand. She calmly approached the table and placed the mug down directly in front of me before she took a seat by my side on the couch. She sat close enough to the point our shoulders were touching. She picked up the remote control and turned the TV on. Contrary to what I expected of someone in her line of business, it was surprisingly an old bulky cathode ray tube TV rather than the flat screens that were the standard these days. I couldn’t help but wonder whether she was just too cheap to upgrade.

“I somewhat have a fancy towards older technology in case you were thinking something rude like I was just being a miser.”

“Did the so called colors give me away?”

“Yeah, there was a tinge of a very specific tint of green emanating from you just now. You were thinking about something related to money, right?”

“Yeah, I definitely thought you were too cheap to upgrade like you expected.”

“Well, it’s not incorrect to say I don’t care to waste money on a newer TV considering I hardly watch it to begin with.”

“Yeah, I see where you’re coming from considering all I watch now are videos on the web.”

“I only keep the TV around for when I have guests over.”

“You have guests over?”

“Yeah, congratulations, you’re the first in five years. How does it feel to be selected as the lucky winner?”

“I feel truly moved to tears. I can’t believe this is happening to me. It’s such an honor. Can I tweet about it?”

“You don’t even use any social media sites.”

“How do you know that?”

“We screen our employees obviously. We found nothing for you. What kind of loser doesn’t even have a single social media account these days?”

“I’m the type of rebel who believes in anonymity on the web.”

“You mean a neckbeard rebel on the web who’s too afraid of getting followed by his psycho ex girlfriends?”

“That’s not why. I’m also cleanly shaved, far from a neckbeard, so please don’t label me as such.”

“Was it actually because of the stream of unending stalker level messages of love from your exes who were creating new accounts endlessly and no matter how many accounts you blocked they wouldn’t stop?”

“Geh.”

“Did I hit the nail on the head?”

“I quit because I enjoy my peace and quiet.”

“And not being stalked?”

Defeated, I quietly sipped at the hot chocolate she prepared. I absolutely refused to say anymore. She didn’t seem too bothered as she leisurely flipped through the channels and continued to send occasional jabs in my direction. Despite my loss, it surprisingly wasn’t unpleasant being teased by her like this. I also didn’t feel too weirded out by the so called “secret” she revealed to me either despite how ridiculous I thought it was.

We were even able to joke about it which I also found a bit unusual. Anytime secrets were revealed to me in the past, things always turned out poorly for me, so it was nice for things to go so well for a change.

Without realizing it, we’d somehow talked for two hours straight while we were together side by side on the couch. Time flew by so quickly that I didn’t even notice I finished the hot chocolate. I’d gotten so caught up with chit chat that I’d forgotten I only came in for that to start with. Tomorrow was Saturday and neither of us had to work, but I still didn’t want to overstay my welcome.

“Hey Val, it’s pretty late, I should really be going now.”

“You look sleepy though, you should just spend the night. You can sleep on the couch instead of inside your car. It’s not good for your health to sleep in such a confined space.”

“It’s fine, it’s really not so bad.”

She was right though, my eyes felt heavy already and it was hard to keep them open. I still had to drive to a parking lot nearby, so I really needed to leave before I got too tired to stay awake while behind the wheel.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you drive, it would be too dangerous considering I put sleeping pills in the hot chocolate.”

“You’re right, with how sleepy I am it might be… wait, what? You drugged me?!”

“Relax, I’m not going to do anything to you. I just want you to sleep well for a night. You’ve been through quite a bit and you’re stubborn as a mule. Just consider it your boss looking after your mental health.”

My eyes grew heavier and I found there were seconds at a time where I was blanking out, fading in and out of consciousness. After a while, I couldn’t fight it off and my body swayed from side to side until it collapsed with my head landing on the armrest of the couch.

In this semi conscious state I heard when Val got off the couch shortly after that. I also vaguely felt her touch when she lifted my legs to fix my posture on the couch. I thought she’d just leave me here alone like this and let me sleep, but something outside of my expectations happened. I felt a strange warmth wrap around my chest. There was a weight pressing down on my body, but it wasn’t uncomfortable in the slightest; instead it was a very pleasant and relaxing sensation. It made me feel more at ease like all my concerns were trivial and irrelevant. I slowly drowned in the sweet, dreamlike rosy scent that surrounded me.

Not long after, I-

…