Page 90Perplexing personas

A kiss. It is one of the simplest ways to show affections. It can be quaint, lovely, intense or overwhelming. This kiss managed to do all of that all at once. And it was just a simple kiss. Her lips touching mine, no movements, no pressure. Just a light tap. Like an old picture I once saw at my grandmothers house, of a young boy and a young girl giving each other the cutest little kiss while standing on their toes. Just cute.

And this was like that.

But somehow she managed to project her intensity on me for that one touch. At first I felt just her lips, but then it was like my being had crawled into her body and I felt the simple dress on my skin, moving slightly as she'd leaned in for that kiss. Even when she leaned back again, it was like an echo of her moved away from me.

I blinked. "What just happened."

Seriph smiled a little. "It's something I discovered last night. I wanted to find limits to my powers and found out I could push my feelings to others."

"You mean that they feel what you feel?"

She nodded. "Yes, it's not very useful though. They can only feel exactly what I do. Including an odd feeling of displacement. But maybe I will find a use for it later."

"Is it only on touch?"

She blushed a little. "Mostly. It's doable to maintain once I have a connection."

"Who did you try this out on?"

"I'm sorry, but that's not really your concern. I hope you didn't mind."

"Eh... no, it was very nice."

"I'm going now, Amy. I hope you'll take care of yourself. You won't hear from me again."

"Never?"

She smiled. "Never is a really long time. I don't know, perhaps we will but it won't be soon."

We hugged one final time before she left. It was a very small and light hug and, in contrast with the kiss before, it felt like hugging a paper doll. It was almost painfully dull. Sweet, but just so terribly underwhelming I almost wanted to kiss her again just to feel the same thing as before. Of course it wouldn't work, and that was alright. The emptiness would pass.

She put the key on the desk and turned around, walked outside and closed the door behind her. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do this night. I didn't feel thirsty for once but I wanted to go out. It was still fairly early but Sunday, so very little would be open. I needed more clothes and definitely new shoes. But it would have to wait until tomorrow.

First a shower.

Getting undressed felt a little weird. There was the itchy feeling of someone staring at me, but I didn't see anyone. There was very little I could do about it though. I thought I heard something outside, but when I listened there didn't appear to be anything weird going on. Just cars in the distance, practically no people in the streets here. It was probably nothing.

However, I trusted my instincts and went to the window, glancing through the curtains to see if there was anyone there.

But there was no one. Not a person in this street, not a heartbeat I could hear outside. No one near the windows or looking in my direction. Two televisions that I could see, one with an observer. No cars here, no one gazing. Even the roofs were clear. A little bit of moonlight landed on my breast. It's soft light was a pale sheen when I glanced down. I never did turn on the lights. It only just occurred to me how odd it was that I was here in a house that was mostly dark for other people, where I had a whole conversation with a girl.

And never turned on the lights.

Of course she had been inside before I invited her.

She went where she wanted, but with some respect to where she was. It wasn't a complete intrusion of my house, it was sort of a surprise visit. But now she was gone. I stepped into the shower, smiling at my skin as it was lit by the moon for just a moment. It looked even better when drops of water adorned it in the shower.

The warm shower was just lovely today. Not overwhelming, but nice and relaxing. Almost like a massage. I could use one of those. Not because my muscles were so very touched, but because I almost ached for attention. Esmeralda was gone, Seriph was gone, all I had left was a girl that didn't have much consistency in her appearances. Well, she was consistently inconsistent.

And outside my door.

There was a knock on my door while I was still showering. I heard it and wondered who it was. For some reason I immediately knew who it was. Grace was knocking on the outside door. Politely and patiently. But how did she know where I lived? I'd been very careful most times when I walked back. If anyone had followed me, I'd know.

The towel rushed over my body as I dried as quickly as I could. Clothes were thrown on with little care. Only a moment pause to straighten my hair again before I grabbed the key Seriph left me, headed to the corridor and opened the outside door.

It was Grace.

"She wants to talk to you."

I blinked, no hi, hello or anything. "Who?"

She smiled. "A friend."

She was oddly dressed. A little darker than usual it felt. Her hair even whiter than before by contrast. She looked like a ghost. There was an odd smell about her, incense I thought. But it was faint and subtle. If it was incense, it was pretty high quality as it smelled subtle, sweet and very nice. Something about her was a little off, but it was hard to place my finger on it.

"So, come on!"

"Give me a moment."

I dashed back inside, put my shoes on and grabbed my backpack, put the diary in and went outside, locking the doors behind me. It only took a few moments, but it felt like too long already. Fortunately Grace was still there when I got back.

"So, will you tell me who it is."

She smiled. "No, and I hope you won't get angry at her." She giggled.

"Or me."

Who could "she" be?