Bridge Over Troubled Water

“Remember when we first met”

“What are you doing?” The dark-haired guy in a faded?tunic?asked. His hands are covered in crumbs, much like he’s been eating all the way through his long walk from who knows where he has been.

The blond guy slowly turned. Eyes blood red, puffy, and dark lines traced underneath his eye sockets.

“Are you alright?” The guy asked him again. The blond guy nodded sideways.

“Do you know what lurks beneath those troubled waters?” The dark-haired guy asked.

The blond guy nodded sideways.

“I will tell you if you move away from the edge of the bridge,” he said calmly as he tried his best not to startle the blond guy standing at the edge of the bridge, determined to jump.?

The blond guy did not respond. He wiped off his tears, and the dark-haired guy moved a little closer.

“I have some food here. How about we go to the gardens of Whitcomb?” The dark-haired guy said. “Maybe you’re wondering where that is, aren’t you?” He chuckled. He’s a few feet away from the blond guy. “Look,” he raised his hand, “this is a sugarplum from the deer goddess herself!”

“Deer goddess?” He asked interestingly. Few more lies, and he’d get his full attention.

“Y-yeah! Deer… goddess. You see?” He showed him once again.

“You’re lying.” He frowned, head down.

“N-no! I am not! I-I’d show you! You want to come with me?” The dark-haired guy asked him, trying his best not to sound stupid and desperate.

“A goddess killed my family. She said I was her son. And she said that I can’t touch people. That’s why ever since I was born, I have been kept in an enclosure. My brother–I know he’s not my real brother. I can’t even play with him without the special barrier the elders created to separate us.”

The guy in the tunic remained silent. Not sure what to say.

“So, don’t go near me. It’s better if I’m dead. My family is dead. Everyone’s dead.” The blond-pale guy stepped closer to the edge of the bridge, and with force, the guy in a tunic called at the top of his lungs, stopping him from jumping.

“WAIIITT!” Thank goodness, he stopped.

“What? Can’t you see–”

“I can be your friend,” he said without thinking.

“What?” He turned, looking interested in what he just said.

“I-I can be your friend. Here take my–coat. It’s stinky, but I know you’re cold.” He threw it, and it landed on the ground. “My name’s Evert. Nice to meet you.”

The blond guy stared at him indistinctly. “Funny how you want to be friends with me but can’t even hand over the coat.”

Evert flinched. He grabbed the coat immediately and handed it.

“You don’t really need to pretend.”

“I’m not pretending. It’s just… I’m scared of what you can do. But, frankly and honestly, you’re an interesting guy.”

The blond boy replied with an emotionless face. He stared at Evert for a few seconds and finally decided to hop down off the edge of the bridge.

“If you die, then it’s not my fault. I warned you, I’m dangerous.” He warned.

Evert nodded.

The blond boy wore the coat. Evert felt a little embarrassed because the blond boy looked like a rich man. His clothes are made of cotton and wool. Gold thread embroidered across his chest with an initial of the letter ‘I.’ “What could that mean?” He thought.

“Hi. What’s your name?” Evert gave his hand. The blond guy stared at him. Emotionless.

“Ah. Right. No touching. I touch you; I die.” He smiled awkwardly.

“Better if you do not know.”

“What?”

“Lead me to your home.”

“I don’t have a home. I just live in a cave. I made friends with the animals there. They’re quite nice.”

“That’s still a home.”

“Y-Yes. You’re right.” He smiled awkwardly.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry,” The blond boy demanded.

—

A few months passed, and they both became friends. Evert still called his new friend ‘blondie’?because he wouldn’t tell him his name. He was always the same as the day they first met. He’s intelligent and very flexible. He’d sometimes outrun Evert in a track race, and he’d always be looking so neat in his sweat as if dirt had refused to ever lay upon his skin and coat. Evert guessed that rich people in urban areas use sorcery where only the rich could afford it.

He’d still remember when?blondie?told him never to attempt touching nor lighting the light as they sleep. Because something terrible would happen.

“You do not dare light a torch while we sleep.”?He recalled him saying.

But one night, Evert was awoken by an insect bite on his neck. For so long, he has never been bitten by an insect as he befriended all of them. He stood and lit up the nearest wood beside him and took the time to examine the bite in front of a shiny stone. Then behind, was his friend,?blondie, peacefully sleeping.

Evert turned, and he saw how silky smooth the skin of?blondie?from his back was. So soft that it would be such a shame if anything would feast on it. Such infernal creatures like the insect that bit him or anything of some sort.

Evert was about to cover him with a blanket when the same insect escaped from?blondie’s?clothes. Then another one ran. He got curious and touched?blondie’s?shirt, and to his surprise, a tattoo of “Iskanderus” etched and nothing but a house of maggots and insects dwelled upon. So startled, he fell from where he was standing, waking blondie and his eyes in so much horror.

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