"I guess now it's my turn to offer you tea, huh?" Tristian commented, handing me a warm plastic cup.

I blew on it, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the walls.

There was literally nothing, but books stacked from the floor to the ceiling. It looked as if the walls themselves were built out of books. Occasionally, there was a painting, but it was nailed over the books.

There was hardly any furniture from what I guessed was a living room. The books were perfectly placed around the entrances and yet not a centimeter of the wall was shown. An old fashioned chandelier hung on the ceiling with vanilla scented candles burning. It was poor lighting, but it was enough to see. In the center, there was a faded green oval carpet. There were no couches or chairs, so I sat on the carpet that surprisingly felt soft under my fingertips.

"Varia?"

I blinked and finally looked away from the ceiling. I looked over at Tristian, who sat crisscrossed across from me. He was closer than usually, I noticed. My heart started to race. Our knees were so close that I could feel his warmth. A shiver raked through my body and Tristian shifted.

"Are you cold?" He asked innocently.

My cheeks flamed and I shook my head. I chugged half the tea, my throat burning as the tea ran down and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"N-No. It's just.... Aren't you scared these books are going to, you know, fall on you or something?" I asked, gesturing the room.

Tristian chuckled and looked around. "Surprisingly, no. I made sure it wouldn't."

I raised an eyebrow and took another look around. "So if you ever wanted to read a book from, say the bottom, over there, how do you take it out?"

Tristian looked where I pointed and he shrugged nonchalantly. "I read all these books a hundred times. They got me tired. The ones I'm still interested are in my bedroom."

I almost coughed out my tea, but managed to swallow it down. "You read all of these a hundred times?"

He nodded.

I whistled. "You must have a lot of time on your hands."

He shrugged again and looked down at his lap. He was fiddling with a loose thread when he took a deep breath.

"Tell me." He whispered.

I frowned and scooted a little closer to him. "Tell you what?"

"From the day you moved in. Tell me every strange thing that has happened to you."

My shoulders dropped and I put the cup down. I folded my hands together and rested my elbows on my knees. "My mama died and she left me the house. When I got here for the funeral, I saw how broken the house was. I fixed it up, gave it a nice shine, and I moved in with my kid and Javon." I paused and then told him everything.

I told him about the shadow that attacked me, which he had already heard, but I decided to tell him again. I told him about the dream I had of the shadow, the fingerprint it had left on my arms that was long gone. I told him about Javon's sudden behavior change and how I thought I saw him with black eyes and gray skin, but I didn't say a word about him laying his hand on me. I told him about the homeless girl again and with each event, I saw Tristian rub his neck or noticed how tense his body became.

I skipped the dream about him because I wasn't so sure if I should tell him. I mean, what did it matter? It was only a bizarre dream. It didn't mean anything. Well, at least to me.

"Is that all?" He asked when I finished.

I rubbed my shoulder and nodded. "That's all."

Tristian rubbed his thumb on his other palm roughly, the gloves squeaking. I could hear him quietly breathing hard and I sat up, alarmed.

"Tristian, are you okay?" I asked, reaching out to touch his knee when he pulled away.

"This isn't supposed to happen..." He whispered, his voice softer than usual.

I tried to keep my hands to myself this time, but he sounded so... guilty. I frowned and shifted so I sat on my knees. "What isn't supposed to happen, Tristian?"

Tristian rubbed his palm and he started to pant. "It's happening again. It's happening again." He repeated over and over.

"Tristian, hey. Calm down. Nothing is happening, okay? Tristian, can you hear me?" I asked, my voice rising as I tried to stop his hands.

He shook his head and covered his ears. "Get away from me. Get away! No! Stop!" He shouted.

I quickly crawled behind him and grabbed him, pressing his back to my chest. I wrestled to grab his wrists even though he wasn't really fighting me, but I finally managed to lock them across his chest with my arms around him. I held him and whispered into his ear, slowly rocking back and forth with him.

After what felt like an hour, his breathing slowed down and the tension left his body. I continued to whisper into his ear and slowly rubbed my thumb across his knuckles.

"You're okay. You're doing good. Nothing is happening. I'm here." I whispered.

Suddenly I felt like Tristian's body was lighter. I looked down and noticed I was hugging my mama.

She was crying softly, her bed-head hair all over my face. She smelled, but I couldn't help kissing her temple. She woke up screaming for my step-papa to come back, kicking her legs up.

This wasn't the first time my mama had done that. Sometimes, it didn't even happen when she was asleep. We could be talking, and next thing I knew, I locked myself around her, whispering to soothe her as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Tristian?" I spoke up, bringing myself out of the memory.

He didn't answer, but I knew he was listening. I swallowed hard.

"You lost someone special at the hands of someone." I stated and Tristian's fists clenched.

I pressed my cheek against his temple, my thumbs still rubbing his knuckles. "I know you probably heard this a million times, but it'll get better. You—"

"Don't give me that." He whispered, his voice cracking. "Please."

My vision blurred and I sniffled. I tightened my arms around him. "Okay." I mouthed.

-------

Drakon watched me from the bed, his hands holding his feet. "Is dad really going to leave?" He asked, watching as I picked up another stack of his shirts.

I put them on the bed and neatly put them in the bag. I sighed. "I'm sorry, baby..."

Drakon hopped off the bed and I thought he was going to leave when I saw him pull open Javon's top drawers, gathering socks. He piled them on the bed and locked eyes with me.

"I hear dad yelling at you... I don't like that." He said.

I forced a smile and turned away, wiping my tears. I spotted my phone and grabbed it. I stared at the blank screen and forced myself to put on some music.

"Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones started playing and Drakon raised an eyebrow.

I chuckled and grabbed more clothes. "Your grandma loved this song. I remember when I was a kid, grandma and grandpa used to sing this all the time. It was their anthem."

Drakon smiled lightly. He sat back on the bed again. "Tell me about grandpa. Grandma never talked about him."

I paused for a second and then shrugged. "My real dad was dead before I was born. Grandma fell in love with grandpa, so—"

"Grandpa isn't really your dad?" Drakon asked surprised.

"No, but he treated me like his own. He was a goofy man. He loved music; his favorite band being AC/DC."

"Just like you, mom!"

I laughed and ruffled Drakon's hair. "You gotta get your taste from somewhere, bud."

Drakon smiled and then melted. "How did grandpa die?"

I cleared my throat. "Car accident." I lied. "He was late from work and well, you could imagine all those crazy drivers at night."

"I thought crazy drivers only lived in the city."

"No, honey. They're everywhere."

Drakon frowned when someone cleared their throat. Drakon and I jumped slightly, facing towards the doorway.

Javon dropped his bag and raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"

I inhaled deeply and rubbed Drakon's shoulders. "Hey, why don't you go watch more videos on your tablet? I'll meet you there in a sec."

Drakon reluctantly nodded and scooted off the bed. He kept his head down and squeezed by Javon. I waited until I heard Drakon's door close to glare at Javon.

Though I was shaking with fear, I didn't want to show him that.

I zipped up the duffel bag and threw it at him. He let it fall the floor where it slid until it bumped on his leg.

"I don't want you here anymore." I answered to Javon's confused expression. "I want us to take a break."

Javon looked down at the bag and slowly picked it up. "A break?"

I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest. I blinked away the tears, but didn't avert my eyes from him.

Javon licked his lips and threw the strap on. "You got it." He whispered.

I frowned and opened my mouth when Javon turned and left. I didn't run after him and let the sharp pen I hid in my sleeve drop to the floor. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in and sat on the bed.

"Mom?"

I quickly wiped my tears and forced a smile. Drakon stood in the doorway, holding his tablet to his chest.

"Do you wanna watch funny videos?" He asked.

I chuckled and patted the bed. "I'd love to."