The Model

For a while we just sat there looking at each other. His blue eyes scanning me and my green ones scanning him. His appearance made the hairs on my neck tingle in a slighlty unpleasant way. There were so many bruises on his body and then this morbid make-up. I got goosebumps on my arms looking at the thick black thread that held the wound on his cheek together. It looked cleaner than I remembered. Was he seeing a doctor? The moment I had this thought I wanted to roll my eyes at myself. He could not possibly be seeing a doctor, Tara. Get your mind straight!
"Tell me when youre done staring at me", his deep voice pulled me out of my mental monologue. My cheeks flushed red. "I'm sorry", I whispered and looked down on my hands inspecting a crack in my red nail polish. I needed to fix that.
"Don't be. I'm used to it. Anyways, since you don't seem like you plan to ask me, I will tell you why I'm here." I looked up and was surprised to see him smiling at me with the healthy side of his mouth.

"Alright." My voice was quiet and insecure. I still didn't know what to make of this. He was intimidating and it scared me that he seemed so... real. I was sure I was still dreaming because, as I said, it was everything but normal for an imaginational boy to not be an imagination. I confused myself.

"May I sit down?", he asked and pointed to my bed. "I don't want to talk to you from the other side of the room. I nodded silently and watched him approaching my bed. He still wore the torn up jeans and broken leather boots. His rib area looked blue and purple. I could make out a couple tattoos on his chest. There was a beautiful looking dragonfly sitting on a heart and next to it a couple words which I could't read. His hair was still black and dull looking. As if he hadn't seen a brush in years but it wasn't particularly tangled.

Slowly he sat down next to me looking down on his hands and then up in my eyes. "So... You said you wanted to help me, right?" I nodded, unsure about what he wanted from me.
"In order for you to help me I need to tell you a couple things about me but I can't tell you the whole story. If I did, he would find me in the blink of an eye. I need you to do exactly what I ask you to because any mistake can lower my chances of finally being free from him. Understand?" He didn't sound dangerous, just very concerned. He didn't want to threaten me but just warn me about whoever he was running from. Again I nodded.

"Good. First thing I want you to do, is go to a particular address. I will wait there for you at 12 am sharp, alright?"

"Wait. 12? I have school tomorrow", whispered. "By the way, where is Ela?" I looked over to her empty bed. The boy followed my gaze. "She's at a party downtown. Also I thought you were sick." He winked at me and I sighed. "Technically", I muttered. "Thanks to you."

He chuckled lightly making me a little more comfortable around him. He wasn't a bad person. At least it didn't seem like it.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't know hw else to approach you without you being terrified. I needed your dreams or would it have been more pleasant for you if I just showed up in your room?" He was right. I would have freaked out even more.

"Have you got a piece of paper and a pen? I want to write down where we are going to meet."

I went through my school backpack and handed him what he asked for. Then I watched him writing a couple things down. His handwriting was a little messy but it somehow struck me how normal it was. I don't know what I expected. Maybe funny signs or latin curses, but no, there was just a normal adress in Berlin.

There were more little tattoos on his hands but they were a little dirty so I couldn't see what exactly they were. My gaze went back to his face which looked structured and masculine. There was a small silver ring in his right nostril. It looked so out of place, just like his blue eyes. It shimmered in the light of my small lamp and looked so clean. Much different to the rest of his body. That boy needed a serious shower.

"May I ask...", began and thought about how I should word it but he seemed to read my mind. "You want to know why I am so... Filthy?" He looked at me with sadness in his eyes. "No, I wouldn't word it like that... What happened to you?" He scoffed and scratched his head.
A second passed where he was deep in thought and then looked at me.
"Well... I can't say too much but basically what happened is that there was - still is - a person that likes to cause me pain. Obviously. He likes the aesthetics of that. And while I'm here I would be more than happy if I could use your shower because... You know what I mean." He sighed deeply and rested his arms on his thighs.

"I'm sorry...", I whispered, stunned by the sorrow radiating from his eyes. At times they seemed so old and worn out. He himself seemed a lot older than he physically looked and I meant it when I said I felt sorry.

"Don't be...", he softly spoke and looked at me.

"And... About the shower... You could use it now since its night but its a community shower. You know, orphanage... No money..." I carefully smiled and he flashed a small one back. "Thats not a problem. I will be quick, alright? I can't really use other showers since... Yeah... I'm kind of disturbing to others."
"You're not disturbing to me." I did tell the truth. I got shivers while looking at his wounds but he himself seemed like a decent human being. My imagination created interesting things.

His eyes lighted up a little and a soft smile appeared on the right side of his mouth. "Good to know."

Quiet, so we would not be heard, I showed him the way to the boys bathroom. Carefully we checked it so there wouldn't be any visitors while he was in the shower. I didn't even know his name... Well, maybe things cleared up a little when he met me tomorrow. Wherever he would be waiting.

I sat down on the carpeted floor while listening to the water running. There were small cabins with shower curtains so that you had a little more privacy. I gave him my shampoo and soap because, obviously, he didn't have any. I rolled my eyes at myself and thought about what might have happened to him. He talked about a male person liking to see him in pain. Maybe he was sexually abused by someone. Poor guy... But how in the world did he get from my dreams in the real world? I could not just imagine him being real, right? Or was I getting schizophrenic? Elas dad was. Her mother died after Elas birth and her dad couldn't handle the stress of having to take care of a small child and having lost his loved one. Sometimes people get Schizophrenia after a long period of pure stress. Maybe I was developing it...

Sighing I rubbed my eyes. I started to get tired again of all the thinking and unanswered questions that ran through my head.

"Are you okay?", the deep voice asked next to me making me jump a little. The smell of my apple scented soap arrived in my nose and I lifted my head to look at him. "I don't know", I whispered standing up. He followed me. "I'm sorry to ask so much of you, but I'm very desperate."

"It's fine. I promised to help you and I will." I smiled a little and looked him over. He looked way better than before. Of course, there were still the bruises but the rest of his skin was a soft ivory color looking smooth and healthy. There were a lot of tattoos on his arms, chest and neck. Too many to describe all of them. And then there was his face. The make-up was gone and left was the same ivory color and flawless looking skin over high cheekbones and a strong jawline. He had such a beautiful face. How could someone carve this cruel cut in it?

A little shy he looked down on his feet smiling a little. "We should go back", he whispered and I nodded, a little embaressed that he caught me staring again.

Notes

Hello, fellow humans. I'm very sorry that I broke my promise of updating daily but school had me drowning in work... Ugh... Well, I hope you liked the chapter. If you did, let me know in the comments or give this story a vote :) Also I'm always open to constructive criticism :)