Sun Stealer. Walking In Circles (2 page)

             
“I think everybody is asleep”, I sat on his laps and hugged him.

             
“I mean is it safe to talk about what you choose to ignore?” he rested his head on my chest.

             
“Why are you so stubborn?” I whispered.

             
“My love, I don’t have much time…” he tried to speak.

             
“Shhh…” I stopped him. I hated these conversations. Why did we have to talk about the day, the devil would gladly knock on my door again.

             
“I am afraid this is the circle of life and there is nothing we can do about it”, he whispered.

             
“What about my circle?” I mumbled.

             
“I guess you managed to break it somehow”, he sighed.

             
“Break it? Oh no, my love. I am walking in the exact same circle for so many years; the only breaking point I can wish for right now is death!” I stated.

             
“Almas, you are both in the same place and on the same time, don’t you think that is a sign?” he whispered, “Don’t you think it is time for forgiveness?”

             
I paused for a long minute and finally answered.

             
“How can I forgive the man who is responsible for the loss of my son?”

             
“You don’t know that Almas!” Leonard insisted, “I heard your story many times. You don’t know what happened to Leo. Nobody knows!”

              I remember that day so well. The day I had everything I ever wished for in the palm of my hand. That was the same day I had watched it all slipping away.

             
“Where is he? What did you do to him?” I yelled at Dark beast.

             
“What do you mean, Almas? Do you think I took him? Do you think I would hurt my own son?” he cried out.

             
“You wanted it. I could see it in your eyes. You desired the eternal life and you were willing to do anything to get it!” I screamed.

             
“My love…” he tried to hold me but I pushed him away.

             
“What did you do, Dark beast? Where is my son?” I screamed out my lungs.

             
“He is my son too!” Dark beast cried, “I don’t know where he is… I don’t know…” he sat on the ground and wept like a little boy. My heart went out to him. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to say that everything will be fine and that we could fight this together. But I didn’t. I was the furious lioness craving for her lost young. The wild ones stood around us in silence. At that moment, nobody understood what had happened that night.

             
“I will find him!” Dark beast got up and wiped his tears, “I will bring him back to you!” he said without looking.

             
He turned away and left,              carrying his shame and sorrow on his back. He could not bear our gazes so he didn’t look back. I was watching his huge, muscular body fading in the horizon. He was leaving our kingdom to an unknown journey all by himself. There was no demon or an angel tiger to accompany him. Suddenly, I didn’t see the strong, savage leader of the wild zone. I saw the little boy that was abandon by his family. I saw the outcast and I wanted to run after him. I wanted to hold him in my arms and never let go. He didn’t have to go through that journey all by himself. We could have done it together. I had a chance to break the circle and I didn’t. That was the last time I saw my love.

             
“He is meeting with the press and with his supporters tomorrow morning. Almas, my love, I have never asked you for anything. Please, Do it for me”, he whispered.

             
“It is late… let’s go to bed”, I ignored his request and led his wheel chair towards our room.

              “How did you sleep?” I asked Diamond, who was already sitting with our dear residents to the table.

             
“Not so good. I was too concerned about my situation”, she placed her head over her palms and sighed.

             
“There is not much you can do. These cases take up to three months until they are noticed, not to mention solved. Do you have any idea who did this?” I asked her.

             
“No. not a clue…” she mumbled, “Can I please use your smart screen or smart phone? I want to check whether my story was published”.

             
“Well, smart screen is still sleeping and I am afraid smart phone passed away last summer”, I answered and made everybody laugh.

             
“What’s so funny?” she wondered.

             
“These are our pet’s names. We don’t have any of this stuff you mentioned around here”, I explained to her.

             
“Well, can I please use your laptop?” she sighed again.

             
“I don’t own a laptop. You can use the one we share at the community centre‘s library”, I offered her.

             
“You don’t have a computer? Community centre? What year are we?” she raised her voice.

             
“Twenty thirty- four. You lost your identity or your memory?” I mocked her.

             
“Who doesn’t own a computer at his house?” she wondered.

             
“We are!” I answered and served breakfast.

             
“So how do you keep in touch with your network? How do you get supporters?” she kept on asking.

             
“Simple, we don’t!” I answered and made Leonard laugh.

             
“What kind of a life are you living? You have no connection with the outside world? I don’t understand it…” she left to her room.

             
It would take a long road for her to march in order to understand it was her, who wasn’t connected with the outside world. As a matter a fact, nobody was and I couldn’t blame them. I couldn’t blame the people who had chosen to alienate themselves from society and had drowned themselves into a virtual reality. Diamond was just one of a million. Everyday we hear about another identity that was stolen and another life that was ruined. The system would make people run after fame and success only to find out they had lost their privacy on the way. We were living in a ridiculous era, where privacy was a more required ingredient than fame.

             
But there was one thing she was right about. In these days, you could not survive without any relevance to a certain network or without having any supporters. These factors determined where you lived, where you worked and the kind of lifestyle you could afford. Luckily, we had the small rent, we had collected from our residents and the money Leonard received from the army, so we managed to live with dignity and even help others.             

              “Have you decided what to do?” Leonard asked me.

             
“I am taking the nine o’clock bus”, I answered.

             
Leonard paused and just looked at me.

             
“Great! You are going to town, I am coming with you”, Diamond informed us as she walked out of her room with her bag.

             
“Oh no, young lady, you are staying right here!” I said firmly.

             
“Young lady? I am older than you!” she raised her voice and made Leonard laugh.

             
“You think there are free gifts in this world? No Diamond. You will work at the shelter and help with the animals in exchange for the warm bed and good food you receive from us. At noon, you can walk to the community center and reconnect with the world. They open at twelve”, I instructed her.

             
“Twelve? What is wrong with this place? Was I abducted by cavemen?” she asked herself and made Leonard roll again.

             
“I see you like her”, I smiled.

             
“My love, you know I have a weakness for young girls named Diamond”, he said and made us both laugh.

             
I wore my blue jeans, a white top and my old brown sandals.

             
“Why don’t you wear your red dress”? Leonard asked me.

             
“Why? You think he wouldn’t like me with these casual cloths?” I laughed.

             
“My love, you are beautiful no matter what you wear. I just know there will be a lot of people there and I want you to stick out”, he smiled.

             
“You mean a lot of girls”, I laughed.

             
Dark beast became very popular in California. He had so many supporters that he was nominated to be the next governor of our country. This was how people were elected these days, through networks and amount of supporters who followed them. Dark beast or as he was called these days, The beast, was very popular among females. I guess some things never change and to be honest, I could not blame them. He was the glory of creation just as I had remembered him.

             
“He is going to announce, he will be participating in the upcoming elections. He will be surrounded with tons of security. How are you going to deal with them?” he worried.

             
“Well, first I get there and then we‘ll see…” I kissed him goodbye and walked to the bus station.

              My heartbeat increased as I came closer to the city. I could hear the crowd chanting his name from a distance. They were all covering the streets of Hollywood as a giant quilt and the police closed all entrances to the meeting point. I had to walk part of the road by foot and decided to take a short cut through the alley. As I was walking, I kept thinking to myself, I should not have come here. This was not my place. Dark beast had a new life and my sudden appearance was nothing but an uninvited occurrence.

             
“He will not remember me”, I mumbled to myself.

             
Suddenly I heard a car behind me, I hurried to clear the way and as I moved aside, I looked back and even though the car windows were dark, my eyes caught something and I just froze.

             
There he was, sitting in the front passenger sit of the vehicle. He was wearing shades but I could tell he recognized me. His head turned towards me as the car drove through the alley. Deep down, I hoped they would stop the car and that for one moment, he would be my Dark beast again before he turned back to ‘The beast’ of the masses. But they didn’t.

              I decided to go back to my life in the valley. There was nothing for me in the city. Who would have thought? After all of these years, I got one little reminder of my past and immediately broke down to pieces. I could not see his eyes but he could see mine and to be honest, I had never felt more exposed in my entire life. On that split second, I felt as if I handed my heart to him and he just ignored it and kept on going.

             
As I was marching the streets, I could hear the crowd cheering and screaming but there was only one voice that was louder than any hustle that occurred: my own.

             
Was that me walking down the street all by herself? Was that me, Almas, the Sun stealer, the woman that had never left without a fight? I stared at my reflection on a nearby glass window and noticed I was just a pale version of that woman and that it was time for me to add some colors to it.

             
“The beast, is it true you are going to win the up coming elections and become our next governor?” the reporter yelled his question.

             
“Well, you know me for a while now. Would I lie to you?” Dark beast smiled and made everybody laugh in agreement.

             
I had never witnessed such an intense press conference. 

             
“How are you going to handle the ID stealing we have been suffering from for the past two years?” another reporter asked with concern.

             
“My team and I have been working on a special program that will eliminate these crimes once and for all!” he stated and made the crowd applaud.

             
“Do you know who is behind it?” the reporter kept asking and made him uncomfortable.

             
“Unfortunately, I can not discuss this issue broadly with you”.