When There Is Nothing Left But Love

Being a scatterbrain, I had walked further than I had originally planned. Soon, the roads began to look foreign to me, so I headed back.

“You ugly devil! You look like an illegal immigrant. You stink like the trash you belong in!” A chorus of jeering voices came from an alley nearby. Curious, I inched forward for a closer look.

I caught sight of a gang of delinquents surrounding a man on the floor. They looked to be dropouts, around fifteen or sixteen years of age.

One of them held up a bucket of unknown contents. “Make way, make way. The main course is here!” he yelled excitedly.

The boys scattered as the bucket-toting boy emptied its contents onto the man on the floor. In an instant, he was drenched from head to toe.

The boys shouted with laughter.

I frowned with disapproval. The man on the ground had his head between his knees. He looked to be of a strong build, but his clothes were torn and ripped. His most striking feature was the darkness of his skin.

He looked like a harmless, homeless man to me. The kids appeared to have more plans to drench him, so I yelled out “The cops are coming!”

They were children, after all. At the sound of my voice, they bolted.

up. His gaze was cold, but he gave no indication that he had

when I recognized him. Danny again! How did he end up

I walked in to the

footsteps, he turned to look and

alright?” I asked as I don’t

away and squeezed the extra water out of his

as I

Danny. I’d even included my phone number. “This is for you. My number’s here, if you need my help, feel free to call

did not reach out to take it, but kept his eyes fixed on me. I

compassionate or anything, but during my time in Venria, Danny had aided me and allowed concessions despite not doing them so openly. Without him and his kindness, I may not even have made it

cab took me back to the villa, where I found Ashton reading in the yard. He ignored

was noon. I wandered to the kitchen and found lots

a quick meal for myself. After that, I went upstairs to the bedroom. I originally planned to do some light reading but I fell asleep

later, I woke up and realized groggily that it was already late afternoon. The remnants of my lunch had

in the living room and returned upstairs soon after. I’d been sleeping the entire day and I had no desire to