100 Theme Challenge #67

S

Sequel of #19.

67. Fading

The first time I saw you, my lovely pet, you attempted to end your life. You shoved pills in your mouth and swallowed them all before going to sleep, hoping to never wake up again. Sadness couldn't even begin to describe what I felt waving off of you, you were in a pit so dark I thought I'd lost you before even knowing you. You were more than sad, you were deprived of happiness, joy in your life; you didn't know where to look for light to shine again on your beautiful face. You were lost in a cruel, cruel world. And the worst of it all was you wouldn't even talk about it to anyone. You kept it inside and kept making others smile while yourself were decaying inside, rotting in your own misery. I watched the hurt and despair inside your eyes before you closed them that night, and I saved you. I made you puke those pills and alerted a neighbor so she could take you to the hospital. 

With it came the oblivious question, people asked you why. They wouldn't understand how such a man full of life and energy could attempt on his own life. They wouldn't understand that sometimes, the deepest pain hides behind the widest smile. This was not how my protégé would die, because nobody should use a definite solution to a temporary problem.

I loved you already after that night, and I watched over you each night after. Even after a short while, you were back on your feet, gaining back that confidence you thought was lost forever. The light was back in your eyes, the smile legit on your lips. As colors brightened your cheeks once more, I was captivated by you. I couldn't keep away from you. You were beautiful back then, and you are even more today. But because of my obsession, let's call it like that, with you, I became less and less careful at hiding myself in front of you, and you began to see shadows by the corner of your eyes, you felt a breath on the back of your neck when no one was around. 

Perhaps you knew already that I was keeping an eye on you, but for some reason you couldn't bear the idea. You wanted nobody to help you but yourself, on your own terms. I respected that, but this wasn't how things would go. I wouldn't lose you, so I made you dream about me. You thought I wasn't real at first, because what are dreams but simple unconscious desires? Night after night, I'd visit you, my lovely, and you would wait for me in your sleep. Sadly, it became not enough; I wanted to feel you whilst you had your pretty eyes opened with my name on those plump lips. I thought it was time we finally met.

Out of many possibilities, I decided to come for you while you were at one of those coffee places. The one you still go sometimes when you want to relax and drink that awful brown beverage. You didn't look all that surprised, maybe you did some researches about me and what I was exactly. You looked up at me and smiled at me, and oh, if I had blood still in my veins, I would have blushed in front of your beauty. 

That night you invited me into your room, gazed at me as if you weren't sure I was real. I am, darling, and I proved it to you until late into the night. And now here you are as you sleep, with no better place to seek solace than in my arms. A demon is to protect its protégé, and no one else shall plague your nights from now on. I promise you, I'll keep taking care of you.

(What is 100TC?)