“What’s this?” I ask when he closes the door behind us.
“I told you, you didn’t know me, here’s part of me before you,” Dominik says and I look through the dozens of drawings, in charcoal, flawless representations of me in various scenarios. He managed to capture my essence and the feelings perfectly. I look at a corner with other types of drawings.
“Oh, don’t mind that, that’s my previous chaotic art,” he says and I look at it even more intently. There are several demon-looking figures. Dark hollow spaces. Killings. One figure always stands out. Someone in the midst of chaos, dancing around it. I bet that’s him. Dominik.
“You drew all of this? They’re achingly beautiful,” I say looking at the details of the demon figures. Apart from the dark charcoal the only other colour he draws in is red. His drawings are covered in red details.
“They’re the reason I got an art scholarship. And art is the reason I’m still here. It calms down my demonswhen all the yelling gets too loud,” he confides and I listen carefully not to miss a word.
“What’s this?” I ask looking at a painting of someone hanging in a bedroom. There’s red everywhere, and it’s by far the least detailed one.
“That’s my father’s suicide scene,” Dominik says his words don’t leave his mouth easily.
“Your mother?-”
“Deceased,” Dominik says and I start to see the reason behind all the chaos. He’s been navigating this world alone for years. And his only company, his brother, only brings more trouble to his mind.
“I’m sorry-”
“No pity,” he replies and I look up at him.
“It’s not pity. I’m just wondering how you could’ve managed all this alone,” I say and reach out for his hand, he lets me hold it, he doesn’t hold back, he’s shaking. “Are you ok?” his eyes go dull and I know I lost him to his demons.
“This was a huge mistake. Forget everything you saw, please,” he says and I feel like I hit a brick wall face-first. Dominik holds my hand, but it seems a phantom-like act. He’s in autopilot mode.
“Dom? What’s going on? Don’t push me out,” I request trying to cup his face in my hands. He suddenly sits on a chair and stands there. In silence, shaking and expressionless. I hold his hand, that’s all I can do. I hold his hand and when I lean against his arm I see light back in his eyes. I decide not to push. Not to ask him where he went. Not yet. But his shaking? Still scares me that Imight lose him to whatever is haunting him.
“You need to go, right?” Dominik asks turning my face to his by nudging my chin.
“I should. The girls might fear I was kidnapped,” I tell him and he kisses me. His lips linger on mine, he feels gone. And I don’t like it a bit.Give me my Dom back. I request to what’s holding him hostage inside his head.
“I’ll get you out of here,” he says and gets up, I can feel him regaining power, and his serious, emotionless expression taking over again. I hold his hand tighter, and he caresses the back of my hand yet I still can’t feel him. Not like I did before I pushed him. I shouldn’t have done it.
“Will you be ok?” I whisper to him when we get to the back door again. No one sees us, but that’s because only Marcus is home and he’s watching TV, too focused to care.
“Yeah,” Dominik says yet I’m not convinced.
“I’ll check on you later,” I say, no, inform, and leave without bothering him further. As I walk out I feel a tear fall. I wipe it off my cheek and get my shit together. It was just a bad moment. He was having a bad moment. I keep repeating it in my head. Trying to convince myself what I saw wasn’t a glimpse into his broken self, and saying it was just a bad moment. Why did I push?
“Everything ok, Miss Kane?” Kai asks when I get outside of Dominik’s building.
“Yes, I think so,” I say unsurely, “I’m fine,” I assure him, trying to assure myself Dominik will also be fine. “I’m going to the girls,” I inform Kai and he nods. I walknumbly to their front door, they also own two entire floors.
I ring the bell and the door is almost instantly opened by a beaming Sammy. I equal her smile while checking Dominik’s chat and social media for updates. “Finally someone who doesn’t mind watching a good show over boring books,” Sammy says and I laugh.
“Don’t push, Samantha,” Maya warns throwing a pillow at her.
“How did you not kill each other without me?” I ask and hug Maya who’s cosy in a chair reading some fantasy book, romantasy to be specific, that’s all she reads. Maya is a huge bookworm, I like a good book as well but she might read five books in a month, I read that in a year.
“It’s a mystery to humankind,” Maya says and I sit on their couch- our couch now. I check Damian’s socials, he’s the most active of all the guys, he posts every day several times a day. Maybe I can catch a peek at Dominik from him.
@Damiani: I swear he’s going to kill me one day, and it’s your fault @TheKane
I read the caption and then focus on the photo. It’s a photo of Rian with a moustache drawn with ink on his face, permanent I’d say. Rianisgoing to kill Damian. I swipe the post to see the second photo and catch a glimpse of Dominik in a corner of the living room, sitting casually with a sketchbook, and showing the middle finger to the camera, aka Damian. He’s accumulating a lot of enemies today.
“Why are you on Damian’s profile?” Sammy asks and Maya peeks at my phone.
“She’s spying on Dominik, dumbass,” Maya says and steals my phone. “Tell us what’s wrong. You haven’t said a word since you sat down and it’s giving me an eerie downright unsettling feeling.”
