I closed my eyes as I rubbed Polysporin all over the wound on my wrist to prevent an infection and to relieve the pain. It didn’t help with the relieving the pain part though. Actually, it hurt more. I bit my lip, trying to ignore the burning pain. When I was done with the cleaning, I started my constant sighing as I struggled to put a bandage on the wound.

      I winced as I felt Kero, who was sitting behind me, press his lips against the wound on my neck for the zillionth time in the past fifteen minutes. “I’m so sorry.” He whispered again, just like he did every other time he kissed the wound.

      I didn’t say anything, just like I hadn’t for all the other times.

      He sighed. “Let me help you.” He asked, again.

      Again, I didn’t say anything.

      He sighed again but continued to apologize and kiss my neck.

      When I finally put the band aid on with one hand, I got up off my bed and walked to the mirror to look at my neck.

      I swallowed hard, which was painful, as I looked at my reflection.

      I could see the dark bruise around my milk chocolate coloured neck and it was very noticeable. Which was, of course, very bad. My dad would freak out if he saw that I was almost strangled and if he found out that Kero was the one who did it, he would never let him in the house again. He might even attempt to kill Kero himself.

      I then saw the bloody holes that Kero had dug into my skin with his oh-so-sharp nails. I used a wet cloth to wipe off the now somewhat dried blood and bit my tongue as I put some Polysporin on.

      Through the mirror, I could see Keroshan watching me. I could also see the hurt in his eyes.

      “Please speak to me…” He begged.

      I hesitated but frowned. “What do you want me to say?” I asked, with a hint of anger in my voice as I turned around to face him. “For the past few days I’ve been freaking out because I found out that people want to kill you and you pay me back by trying to kill me?”

      “I’m sorry… but I wasn’t trying to kill you on purpose!”

      “So your hand happened to slip and it happened to wrap around my neck and almost strangle me to death?!”

      Kero raised an eyebrow.

      “Oh don’t you raise that eyebrow at me! I have all the right to be upset! How the hell would you feel if the person you loved tried to kill you?!”

      Kero groaned and fell back onto my bed. “I’m sorry! I’m so, so, so sorry!”

      I turned back around and looked into the mirror. I then picked up a scarf and wrapped it around my neck, successfully covering the bruise.

      “Please Aathy.” He begged. “Please forgive me.”

      I closed my eyes tightly and opened them again; my eyes were still burning from all that crying.

      “Aathiray…”

      I turned around and walked to the door, trying to ignore him. I was hurt. More emotionally than physically. But who wouldn’t be? I really did have a right to be upset and mad, right?

      Kero jumped off the bed and stepped in front of me. “Listen to me.” He said.

      I looked away but he put his hand under my chin and turned my head to face him.

      “Diyo told me that some man named Dravion would possess you and use you to tell me that Serpethion wants to kill me.”

      “So, you believed him?” I asked.

      “No.” He said. “But then… as soon as I come back, this happens, so I got confused and I started to believe him…” Kero admitted.

      “You believed Diyo over me?”

      Kero frowned. “You’re making this sound much worse than it actually is, Aathy.”

      “Maybe it’s because it is much worse! Keroshan, you almost killed me! How am I supposed to feel about that?”

      He looked at me for a long moment and then looked away. “You’re right… this is much worse…” His eyes narrowed. “But you have to tell me why you are accusing Serpethion of wanting to kill me.”

      “Accusing?” I asked. “Keroshan, I will say it again. I saw him planning this out and he was with Jacob and Cecile!”

      He still didn’t seem to believe it.

      “How about this, can you tell me what the hell I would gain from telling you that one of my best friends is a part of this? Do you think I would like about this?”

      “But Serpethion—”

      “Well you were wrong about Serpethion!” I yelled, frustrated. “I was hoping that you understood that when I told you that he wants to kill, I repeat, kill, you!”

      “Serpethion can’t plan—”

      “Yes he can! If he wanted too, he can! He can plan whatever he wanted, he can attack you, he can hurt you, he can even kill you if you didn’t know what was coming!” I yelled.

      He hesitated. I could tell that he was trying to find a nice way to tell me that he didn’t believe this. “But Diyo—”

      “Since when did you start thinking that the things that Diyo say are the truth? After he tried to kill me? Doesn’t it make you suspicious that he said something to you that almost resulted to my death? I mean, he seriously wanted to kill me, I guess he found an easier way to do it and that was through you!”

      “Diyo didn’t tell me to kill anyone…”

      “Oh? Is that why you almost strangled me to death?” I then started to wonder what made him pull away.

      “Diyo told me that Dravion can’t cry… he cannot shed tears… He said that if Dravion possesses you, the only way to make him leave is to scare him away. Diyo said to strangle him, to make him know that I’m not afraid to…” His voice trailed off.

      “To kill me? To let him know that you aren’t afraid to kill me?”

      He didn’t respond. He just looked at me with a look filled with guilt.

      My breathing suddenly became uneven.

      He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it.

      “So is it true?”

      He hesitated. “Is what true?”

      “Are you honestly not afraid to kill me?”

      Kero took a deep breath. “That’s not what I mean…”

      “Then what do you mean? I don’t seem to understand.” I tried to say it calmly but my voice cracked. I was scared now.

      “I mean… I honestly thought you were Dravion… if I knew that he had nothing to do with this, I would never have touched you.”

      “You didn’t answer my question.” I said, softly. “Are you not afraid to kill me?”

      He took a deep breath.

      “So you would? If you needed too, you would kill me?”

      Kero shook his head. “No! I wouldn’t! That’s not what I’m trying to say!”

      “Then what the hell are you trying to say?”

      “Can you please stop yelling?”

      I did. I paused and took a deep breath.

      When Kero opened his mouth to speak, I held my hand up and stopped him. “I need some time alone.” I said.

      Before he could say anything else, I turned around and left my bedroom. After getting dressed for the slightly chilly evening, I left the house as well.

      I walked down the street and decided that I would go to my aunt’s house. It felt like I haven’t seen her in a while, even though I saw her not too long ago.

      As I walked down the street and sighed.

      Maybe I was overreacting.

      That fact that he did what he did had nothing to do with any anger towards me. He did it because he thought I was possessed.

      But was that a good enough reason?

      Kero would never hurt me. Even if he was actually mad at me, he would never hurt me… and since he thought I was possessed, wouldn’t he think that I wasn’t me? If I was possessed, I would be someone else, right? But then again, it’s still me.

      I shook my head vigorously. I was confusing myself too much.

      All I knew was that Kero wasn’t lying when he said that he would never hurt me because he was angry.

      So I was overreacting.

      After a short while, I stepped onto my aunties’ porch and rang her doorbell.

      She opened the door right away. “Aathy dear!” She smiled. “What brings you hear?”

      I shrugged. “Just went for a walk.”

      She invited me in and I sat down on the sofa next to Lakshmiray who immediately started to show me a bunch of new card tricks she learned.

      “That’s not very surprising though…” I heard my uncle say.

      I turned around and saw my uncle walk in with Mr. Odyssey.

      “Not at all.” Mr. Odyssey said. “What would be surprising is if they actually won for once.”

      “Hi sir!” I said, happily.

      He turned his head and looked at me. “Oh, Aathiray, hello! I came here to drop off something for Keroshan, didn’t think I would run into you. Is the boy here too?”

      I shook my head. “No, he’s back at my place.”

      I then noticed that everyone was looking at me strangely. “Aathy dear,” My aunty said, “what happened to your neck?”

      I then realized that my scarf was coming off. I quickly covered it up and shook my head. “Nothing. Just hurt myself.”

      “It looks like its bruised very badly, let me look at it.” She said, walking towards me.

      I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. I got it checked.”

      I then heard Mr. Odyssey making sniffing noises. “I smell dried blood… and it’s coming from you.” He looked at me.

      “No, it’s honestly nothing.” I smiled.

      I then winced as someone pulled the scarf off. I turned my head quickly to try and grab it, but Lakshmiray had already taken it off completely.

      My aunty gasped. “Oh dear! What happened?” She ran up to me and looked carefully at the ugly bruise.

      “Aathiray… what happened?” My uncle asked.

      I hesitated. “I hurt myself, really.”

      “Stop lying, love.” Mr. Odyssey said. “Tell us the truth.”

      “Really… I was trying to… err… pull my scarf off, and it wouldn’t come off, and I started to pull it and… err… hurt myself.”

      Mr. Odyssey raised an eyebrow.

      “Then what are these nail marks?” My aunty asked, touching the scar gently.

      “I don’t know…”

      “Aathy, tell us the truth.” My uncle said. “If you are seriously injured, we need to take you to the hospital.”

      “I’m not lying.”

      Mr. Odyssey eyed me carefully. “Does Keroshan have anything to do with this?”

      My aunty gasped. “Of course not! Kero would never hurt Aathy!”

      “Then why does the nail marks look like Keroshan’s?” He asked.

      I frowned. “How could you know that the nail marks belong to Keroshan?” I asked.

      “I have known Keroshan since he was born. I also trained him. I know exactly how he strikes, cuts, attacks and kills.”

      I bit my lip.

      “What happened?” He asked. I could tell he was worried but he asked calmly.

      My aunty however, was freaking out.

      I sighed and explained to them that Kero thought some Dravion guy possessed me and the second I said his name, Mr. Odyssey stopped me.

      “Did you say, Dravion?” He asked.

      I nodded. “Do you know him?”

      He hesitated. “I want you to call your home and tell Keroshan to come here, now.”

      When I didn’t get up right away, my aunty spoke, “I’ll call him.” She said, with some anger.

      Before I could say anything, she walked to the phone and dialed our house. After a few seconds, someone picked up “Hello? Keroshan? I want you to come to my house right now. Mr. Odyssey wants to speak with you.” She said.

      There was a pause.

      “Don’t worry, Aathiray is here. You don’t need to wait for her.”

      Another pause.

      “Alright, bye.” She put down the phone.

      We waited silently for about five minutes when the doorbell rang. My aunty told Lakshmiray and the other girls to go upstairs and play some games and then went to the door. “Good afternoon.” She said as she opened it.

      “Hello…” Kero said. “Why did Master Odysson want to see me?”

      “I’m not sure, ask him yourself.” She said.

      Kero walked into the living room right when Chirpy walked into the house. “Hey everyone!” Chirpy said, smiling. He then gasped when he saw me. “What happened to your neck?”

      Keroshan was staring at me. He looked upset, obviously thinking that I told on him but at the same time, he looked just as guilt filled as he was before.

      I smiled at Chirpy. “I’m okay.”

      There was a gasp.

      I looked up and saw Kero with his eyes wide open as he stared at Mr. Odyssey. Kero looked frozen, like something was holding him.

      Mr. Odyssey looked at him. “This is your punishment for even thinking of hurting not only a human girl, but the one you are supposedly in love with.”

      And with that, Kero went flying backwards and slammed into a wall.

      I let out a little scream as I got up. “I didn’t ask you to punish him!” I yelled.

      Kero got up right away and winced when he stepped forward. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” He said to me.

      Mr. Odyssey sat down. “How do you know Dravion?” He asked.

      Chirpy nudged me. “Who’s that?” He asked as we both sat down together.

      I shrugged. “Some guy who wants to possess me.”

      “I don’t.” Kero said.

      “Then how do you know whether he wants to possess her or not?” He asked.

      Kero hesitated. “Diyo told me.”

      “And you believed him?” My aunty asked, shocked.

      Kero explained what had happened between him and Diyo and Mr. Odyssey looked surprised.

      “Do you know Dravion?” My aunty asked Mr. Odyssey.

      Mr. Odyssey hesitated. “Yes.” He said, after a long moment.

      “Who is he?” Kero asked.

      Mr. Odyssey looked at Kero and hesitated again. “Dravion was a best friend of mine and of Chirpy’s father. And he was a best friend to your father as well.”

      Kero started to frown the second Mr. Odyssey mentioned his father. “What does he want with me?” Kero asked.

      “I honestly do not know.” Mr. Odyssey said. “Actually, I would think that he doesn’t even know who you are…”

      “How could he not know who Kero is? I mean, he’s his best friends son… right?” Chirpy asked.

      Mr. Odyssey nodded. “The thing is, Dravion went missing a little bit before Kero’s mother found out she was pregnant.” He turned to Kero. “And when the wedding between your parents was arranged, we tried to find him, but we couldn’t.”

      “Wait… hold on a second… that didn’t make any sense…” I said. “If he went missing before Kero’s mother was pregnant, wouldn’t he have been there for the—”

      “My mother was pregnant with me before she got married.” Kero said, looking at the floor.

      I was a little shocked and it took me a second to realize that that could happen. “Oh…” I said.

      Kero looked at Mr. Odyssey. “So, why is he after me?”

      Mr. Odyssey thought for a moment. “The only answer I can come up with is that Diyo was lying.”

      “But—”

      “Come, son. I need to talk to you alone.” Mr. Odyssey said as he got up.

      Kero got up too and followed Mr. Odyssey outside.

      I frowned. I wanted to know what was going on.