"You know what, nevermind. It doesn't really matter anyway. Can I come inside? I'd love to have a chat with you."
She eyed him top to bottom and bit her lip. "I'd like some company, sure. But keep your hands to yourself, this is an invitation to coffee, not anything more," she warned him, pointing a finger at him.
"I understand."
She stepped to the side and he got inside. He looked around, the place looked like a hand-me-down from a family in the eighties to an orphaned daughter. He could tell by the electronics and the decorations that were definitely not something a girl her age would buy, but she'd also added posters of rock bands, clothes everywhere, an ironing board that was practically a closet with all the clothes piled up on it, and other clues.
"I, uh, didn't expect company. It's a mess, sorry," she said, picking up a couple of items in a hurry.
"Don't worry, it's fine. I'm a slob too," Evander said.
Chris turned to him. "Are you calling me a slob?"
"N-No," he stuttered.
"I'm messing with you!" Chris said but carried on trying to pick up a few things. She threw them out of sight in the next room. "Please, sit down."
Evander sat down on the couch. "It's nice actually," he said, looking around.
"I can't even tell if you're smiling under that helmet. Are you messing with me, Evander?" she squinted at him.
"No. And yeah, I understand completely, but I can't take it off. If I do, I'll go back to the real world. And at this moment, I'm three stories up in the air. That won't be good for me."
Chris raised her chin, and then nodded a few times. "I see. You're an interesting person. Sure, let's chat. I'm bored anyway." She went into the kitchen, making some clattering noises.
Evander spoke louder. "What do you do? Studying at the uni, I assume?"
"Yeah... Supposed to be doing that. But I haven't been there for quite some time. I've missed so many classes, lost track by now."
"It's okay. No judgment from me. And what is it that you study?"
"Psychology. But I suck at it," she said, bringing two glasses of different kinds.
Evander accepted one, but he couldn't drink anyway. She didn't seem to mind.
She drank the coffee, Evander assumed it was supposed to be frappe, cold coffee, but all he saw was wireframe waves and bubbles on the surface. It was psychedelic, to say the least.
"Why do you say that?" Evander asked.
"Well, for starters, you look like a serial killer and yet I've invited you for coffee in my house."
"I'm not."
"Would you have told me if you really were?"
"I wouldn't know."
"Good answer," she squinted at him.
"Thanks."
Their conversations became even more exotic after that. Evander left the apartment and got to the ground floor before taking off the helmet. Sure as anything, he looked back to see an empty lot. Still, he came around the next day, he had asked and her answer was cryptic. 'Knock and you shall see if I'm in the mood.'
He did come round the same time, and he knocked, and she opened the door. He noticed that the place was slightly more presentable, but not by much. They had another tantalising conversation, hours passed, and he left again.
The next day, he apologised for not being able to bring anything, she told him he was being silly, and that she had everything she wanted here.
Evander realised that Chris had a gigantic blind spot about things. She considered the inconsistencies when he pointed them out to her, but when he didn't, she just glossed over them. For example, she never left her apartment, as far as he could tell. She was being vague but he could tell she was a shut-in. A shut-in that lived in a house that clearly wasn't hers, in a shadow dimension on top of a condemned building that was absent in the real world. And she always had coffee, though just for her, and she always had leftover pizza to eat, but she never ordered and it was always yesterday's order. He confronted her about it and her answers were vague, she assured him she was ordering pizza every day. So he spent an entire day staking out the Shadow building and he wasn't surprised when no pizza deliveries were made.
The shadow world was vacant, except for Chris. He hadn't explored everything yet, this was a capital city after all, but he thought if he located inconsistencies in buildings such as this he might find more people living there.
He shared his theory with Chris and she just said he was silly. He asked her to come out with him and help him explore, but she refused and came up with excuses.
He didn't press the point any longer. He told to himself that he didn't want to bother her any more, but the truth was that he liked her, and he wanted her to like him. Trying to shatter the world of your wannabe girlfriend is not in any article in men's magazines.
Evander just kept visiting Chris and they chatted about everything and anything.
One thing led to another and they made out one day.
It wasn't exactly making out since he couldn't take his helmet off, but they managed it somehow. It was mostly her doing the kissing and he gave back by gently caressing her body all over, seeing where it made her shudder and respond best. He mapped her body the same way he mapped the Shadow city, bit by bit, meticulously.
The next time they made out he made her orgasm with just his fingers.
They had sex after that. Evander was worried because she had no condoms and he couldn't bring any with him, but he decided to just 'fuck it' and have sex with Chris.
It was as awkward as any first time as a couple. He had the helmet on and that complicated things, but where there's a will there's a way. They practised a lot of times after that and it became a daily thing.
After a month or so, they'd just hang out and have sex some days, others they just watched movies on the VCR. Yes, Evander was certain Shadow was from the 80s, it was easy to pinpoint from the movies. Chris simply ignored his comments about the real world moving on.
Evander thought that that wasn't healthy for him. Okay, she was trapped in a shadow dimension, perhaps even all by herself, he still hadn't found anyone else and to be honest, he was having too much fun here to go out and explore by himself.
But he knew it wasn't normal. However he could see that day by day he was sinking into the delusion. He was avoiding topics of conversation that would make Chris clam up or react badly. They even had a fight one day when Evander wanted to drag her out of the apartment and just go for a walk around the block. She slapped him that day, nearly took off his helmet. That was a close call.
So Evander didn't try that again. His normal life was tough and bland, just pointless work in a restaurant cleaning up the massive amounts of dishes for no real pay, and then he'd just visit her and lose himself in her arms, and quite often, between her legs.
Chris was amazing, if you ignored the glaring problems. She was funny, naughty when she needed to be, supportive when he told her about his troubles at work, she beamed at him every time she showed up. She was the best girlfriend Evander ever had. And he was never a ladies-man, but he did have a couple of them. None even compared to Chris, he found himself imagining their life together, growing old.
But how healthy was all this? She was delusional about the reality of her dimension, and she simply ignored his comments about the real world. She drank her ever-replenishing coffee and ate her ever-replenishing leftover pizza.
Could he live like this, if it was possible?
Evander realised that yes, he could.
But he needed to wake her up first. He got there on the apartment one day and he knocked on the door, ready to get inside.
"Don't come in," Chris said.
"Why not? Come on, baby, I wanna see you."
"No... Don't, please."
"What's up? It's okay, you can tell me."
She said nothing. She only opened the door slowly, then turned to the side. She revealed a rather big belly.
Evander was speechless.
"I can't see your fucking face, dammit. Speak u
p, Evander."
"I-I don't know what to say. Is it mine?"
She slapped his chest. "Of course it's yours, dummy! We've been fucking for like months now."
"I... uh, see. I didn't even think we could conceive, being from different universes."
She scoffed at his comment. "You're really weird, you know that? What are we gonna do?"
"Good question."
"Get in, jeez," Chris said and pulled him inside the apartment.
They figured out exactly zero things. Chris refused to go to a doctor, even if Evander could find such a thing in the Shadow. She didn't know how many months pregnant she was, and she didn't cough up any ideas about how do deliver the baby in this apartment since she refused to leave it.
They had a fight, and Evander stormed off.
Evander knocked back on Chris' door after a couple of weeks. He hadn't visited Shadow at all, and he had spent a few nights drinking with his buddies. He even got lucky with a drunk girl at some joint but he stopped after fooling around for a bit, she was willing but he didn't go through with it.
What was the point?
This whole life was empty. For him, this was the wireframe dimension, and for all he knew, he was the one being in denial.
His job sucked, his pay barely covered his expenses. There were no prospects for him, and his friends really were just buddies from work that were in the same lame condition he was. There was nothing for him to look for.
He finished his shift, because his father taught him to always do his job no matter what, and he put on the helmet.
He visited the Shadow and went straight for Chris' apartment.
He jumped the stairs two-by-two and slammed his palm on her door.
"What?" she snapped at him through the door. "Leave, Evander. Do everyone a favour and leave."
"I'm back, baby. I'm sorry."
There was a long silence. He waited. He had made up his mind, he wasn't going to leave again. She opened the door and glared at him, angrily. "Three weeks? You're in deep shit, you know that?"
"Yes, baby, I know. I'm so sorry, but now I'm committed, 100%. I swear," he begged, falling on his knees. He touched his cheek on her belly, it was growing nicely. He tried to ignore the fact that the baby had a steady diet of stale pizza.
She touched his helmet as if to ruffle his hair, and softened up her body posture. "Alright, you big dummy. I believe you. You're not out of the woods yet, but you deserve a chance."
"Thank you," he said and have her a big hug.
After he let her go, she stepped back inside the apartment and looked away, expecting him to follow after her just like any other time.
Evander stood in place, and she turned around, curious. "What's up?"
"I'm gonna take it off."
Chris frowned for a second, then got it. She wasn't stupid. On the contrary, she was very sharp. She simply had a glaring blind-spot for basic inconsistencies of reality, but hey, no girl was perfect after all. She stepped close to him and hugged him tight, pressing the helmet down on his head as if it was gonna float off. "No. Won't that hurt you? Kill you? I don't want that."
"I don't know, to be honest," Evander said, holding her hand inside his own. "But I have to try. No, actually, I have to make a choice."
Chris was crying now, tears of inverted colours shone on her cheeks. "I don't want to lose you, Evander."
"Me neither," he said, trying to calm her down. "But what other way is there? Think about it."
She scratched her chin. "And I'll get to finally see your face?"
"Yeah," Evander chuckled. "That's a benefit I didn't even consider. At least I hope it is."
She laughed bitterly. "It is." Chris breathed in deeply for a while, trying to calm her breathing down. "Okay, I guess."
"I'm doing it," he said, holding the side of his helmet.
She held her breath, covering her mouth.
Evander decided to just be done with it. If he was gonna fall to his death, so be it. He pulled the helmet off.
Chris' face lit up when she met his eyes.
Evander let the helmet fall on the floor with a thud. And then it went through the floor, even though the thud was definitely there. It was probably gone for good, but what was most important, Evander was still there.
Chris jumped in his arms and he held her up, her legs wrapped around his waist. She kept kissing him again and again, he needed to come up for air at least ten times. She kept kissing him and staring at his face and facial features and touching him and then kissing him again.
Evander kicked the door shut behind him and carried his Shadow baby-mama to the bedroom.
The End.
Mount Faithful
The ground shook. Streets broke in little chasms, pots fell and smashed on the floors, windows cracked.
"The mountain is displeased," the Topmost Faithful said.
The other Faithful agreed.
It was time for the sacrifice. It wasn't an annual thing, heck, it wasn't even a decennial one. The unspoken rule was: When the mountain roared, the Faithful delivered.
They gathered up in the main square, bringing their youngest sons and daughters.
The Topmost Faithful hurried to get his lava-coloured robes and met them at the square. He stood on the topmost step and looked down at the gathered Sicilians. The murmur stopped as soon as coughed.
"Faithful ones, it's that time again. We must get to the top of Etna. Gather up your strength, wear your best boots and bring your cured meats with you, for this will be a hard climb."
"Must we bring the smallest ones, Most High?" a man shouted. He held the heads of his two children beside him, flanked with both a boy and a girl.
The Topmost Faithful nodded deeply, making sure that everybody could see the frown on his face. "I'm afraid so. Etna demands it."
"But... My children!" the father pleaded.
The Topmost Faithful raised his hand. "It has to be done! We start our ascend tomorrow morning at first light."
The first day of the climb was the noisiest. The Faithful were talking, guessing, worrying out loud. They left their oldest members back at the village and started the big climb on Etna. It was a traversable mountain, and they had experienced guides to take them on the proper path. But not all of the villagers had ever taken a climb before, especially not the children, so they hiked slowly and carefully. The Faithful kept turning back to glance at their village, afraid that it would be the last time they gazed upon their homes.
The mountain could erupt at any minute. Or, it could erupt in a million years, making it someone else's problem entirely. The Faithful didn't know. They had no way of knowing. All they could do was to please the mountain when it demanded so.
They climbed, Etna towering above them. White at the bottom, billowing smoke at the top. She purred like so when she was displeased. The traders and the travellers claimed that Etna was not the hardest mountain to climb. Compared to others, she had a gentle curve. Some Faithful who knew numbers said that the lava pressed from below, lifting the entire land, like a bubbling broth ready to boil.
That image didn't settle the Faithful's minds. Because the bubbling broth looks like the biggest calamity for the fly that dares to sit on the surface.
The second day of the climb was the quietest. The Faithful had slept for a few hours, breaking camp as soon as the first rays of the morning sun allowed them to see. They hugged their children tight, seeing the top so close now. They had Faith, and they would carry on.
They sang songs about the mountain, they sang songs about the Earth. They harmonised their voices, believing that the soothing songs would calm the mountain. Perhaps, she would spare them. Perhaps, she could be swayed to erupt another time. A time where none of it would matter for the Faithful. Perhaps, she'd just get back to sleep.
The third day of the climb was the scariest. They hiked in almost complete darkness, coughing and dropping left and right from exhaustion. For the Topmost Faithful took them to a forced march, a climb
so long and tough that some Faithful couldn't go on. They had to abandon them, they had to carry on. Having lost more than half of the climbers, they went for the top. The children complained, their feet hurt, their shoes were torn, their lungs were itchy from all the ash.
But the faithful rounded them all up even if their parents had given up along the way, and they pushed them, they cajoled them, begged them, offered them sweets and delights when they reached the top.
The children, easily fooled, thought that the Faithful would actually carry such delicacies in their sacks, wasting precious space and carrying capacity.
Almost at the top, the smoke was thick, the sun was like a candle, the air was black.
The Topmost Faithful shouted and marched them on. "Up! Left foot forward, right foot forward, up! Up! Left foot, right foot, Etna be calm, Etna be still, Etna we believe."
The children wailed, the Faithful had to chase some of them around, grab them and carry them upwards. The climb was frustrating, the Topmost Faithful gritted his teeth and wanted to just push forward, but their ascend for the last couple of hours was glacial.
When they reached the top, many Faithful collapsed. The children either passed out or simply sat on their legs and gave up, staring into the mouth of Etna. The lava was mesmerising, it was something that few people had seen. Incandescent rock, glowing reds and yellows and oranges. They could feel the heat on their face from so far away. The ground was hot, they had to throw their backpacks on the ground and step on them if they wanted to endure it for too long.
The Topmost Faithful was a mess, his lava robes did not do justice to what they represented, he knew that. No matter how amazing they looked down at the village, they paled in comparison next to the real thing. However, he could see that everyone was far too exhausted to notice. He opened his arms wide and calmed his ragged breathing. "Faithful ones! We are here. It is time to please the mountain."
The Faithful dragged the toiling children towards the edge. They kicked and cried but the Faithful were adamant, this had to be done.
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