Under the blazing desert sun, Zen found herself perched atop a camel, journeying deep into the endless expanse of the desert. The camel's steady stride left infinite trails along the undulating sand dunes, propelling her towards an enigmatic destination shrouded in mystery. With that stated, another crucial thing she needed, something she would even trade her soul for at the moment was water, technically anything that would quench her thirst.

"Hey, can you get off my back if you're awake?"

A voice seemingly carried by the wind caught Zen off-guard. The camel couldn't possibly speak.

"You muttered the word 'water' at least three times. Get down, before I drop you."

Zen's eyes snapped open. A dream—it had all been a dream. There was no camel, no desert, only Raine. The whole time she thought she was riding one, Raine was carrying her on his back. The convenience store, the manager, the fight - the memories flooded back like a swarm of bees.

Reacting instinctively, Zen lashed out, her foot connecting with Raine's midsection. His balance faltered, and his body stumbled a few paces forward, while she plummeted to the ground. The surroundings shifted. The illusion of the desert dissipated into the bustling sounds of the city streets. The abrupt transition caught Zen off guard; her eyes darted around as her senses went on high alert.

With trembling hands, Zen frantically searched her pockets, and substantially relaxed when she found her phone still intact. So she hadn't been transported to some sinister operation table to have her organs harvested, or whatever the evil psychopath was planning on doing to her. The sound of the honking cars broke through her disoriented thoughts, pulling her back to the present. That was when she found herself standing on the sidewalk, surrounded by strangers lost in their own worlds. How long had Raine been carrying her?

"I'm safe," Zen whispered to herself, taking a deep, shaky breath. Not safe. Not safe at all! Her mind screamed, a sense of impending danger gripping her, the source being a certain someone's blistering gaze.

"You." Raine's voice pierced through the air, his footsteps echoing as he approached with intent. His gaze, frigid and calculating, pierced her like shards of ice as he pulled her up by the collar. "I'm not looking for another fight," he spat, releasing her from his grasp in a not-so-friendly manner.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Zen challenged, her voice trembling but resolute.

Raine narrowed his eyes, showing Zen that his patience was wearing thin. With determined strides, he closed the distance between them, his towering figure casting a shadow over her. "Did you forget?" he sneered as he leaned in. "You passed out. The manager was about to call the cops. I'd have left you, made my escape, but I won't get back what's mine if you end up in jail. So, I saved your ass."

"Fair enough," Zen conceded, her voice laced with grudging acknowledgement.

"Is that all you can say? Aren't you supposed to be, I don't know, grateful?" Raine said impatiently, his glare deepening.

"Why? You only did the bare minimum after stealing my watch," Zen shot back, glaring back twice as fierce. She was far from being scared. There were people around her, people she could scream out for help if she felt threatened. Raine couldn't harm her even if he tried.

"You've got some audacity. You're the one who stole my pendant first, you thief." Raine couldn't stand the nerve of the person before him. Hate, hate, and more hate - that was all he felt for him. "You better not have sold it off somewhere," he added.

"Why? Is it valuable?" Zen retorted, sarcasm biting with every word. Somehow, and as if all the misfortunes befalling her weren't enough, Zen found Raine's boiling rage to be oddly satisfying, even more so when she realised she was the one fanning the flames of his fury.

"Less valuable than your life once I throw you into the road right in front of a speeding car," Raine threatened, his fingers pointing towards the busy highway.

Zen gulped. She forgot she was dealing with a psychopath after all. "Alright fine," she surrendered. "Nothing good will come from arguing with a blockhead like you," she muttered under her breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," Zen quickly responded to which Raine snorted and looked away as if she was that appalling.

A moment of tense silence passed between them before Zen's parched throat finally spoke up. "Can I have that?" Zen asked, her gaze falling on the bottle of Sprite Raine was holding. The reluctance in his eyes didn't go unnoticed as Raine passed the drink to Zen. She drank greedily, the cool liquid soothing her dry throat and reviving her spirits.

Finding a spot to rest her weary legs, Zen fixed her eyes on an arrangement of benches at the edge of the sidewalk. They intersected at right angles, forming a sort of makeshift seating area. Zen picked the bench which was nearest to her position and sat down. Raine, trailing behind her, chose the other bench, positioning himself at the far end so that their gazes intersected diagonally.

Look at him, acting all disgusted as if he's helping his worst enemy. I wouldn't have stooped this low if it weren't for the fact that I was dying of thirst. Zen shook off her irritation, blaming her parched throat for forcing her into this situation. Once her lips left the bottle, she swiftly screwed the lid back on and tossed the half-empty container to Raine. As much as she hated being near him and would rather look at the plants decorating the sidewalk than take a glimpse of the arrogance stuck to his face like some permanent tattoo, she still forced herself to face him.

"Return my watch, and you'll get your pendant back. No more games," she declared as she rose from her seat.

Raine scoffed. "You make it sound like I took part in it. You're the one pulling the strings and playing the victim here." Amidst all the unfortunate events so thoughtfully conjured up by the evil mastermind in sheep's clothing who so happened to be innocently standing before him as he'd never hurt a fly his entire life, Raine had so as much as expected an apology, but the circumstances were not in his favour.

"Look. Everything happened because of a misunderstanding," Raine heard Zen say. And he, for a moment when he looked into those green eyes where a subtle but promising tint of sureness seemed to surface would've fallen for the well-thought-out cunning deception if he hadn't heard the words Zen said right after. "It wasn't my fault you got drunk, totally mistook me for someone who wanted to molest you when I was only trying to help you, and then accused me of doing some disgusting things that I don't even want to mention when I don't even know you. And as if that wasn't enough, you had to steal my watch."

"Why the sudden anger towards me? If you hadn't approached me, I wouldn't even know you exist," Raine retorted, placing the Sprite bottle next to him forcefully before standing. "You can't convince me our meeting was coincidental. Admit you have ulterior motives." There was no doubt about it. He was dealing with a psycho, a psycho who'd have to give him more proof that he wasn't just trying to get into his pants if he wanted him to believe whatever nonsense he was spouting.

"I don't have any ulterior motives. You keep misunderstanding me."

"Give me proof. And besides, I never stole your watch. It just happened to be in my pocket."

"Yeah right. Very convincing," Zen remarked. She had had enough. "Here take it, your precious pendant," she said, pulling out the pendant from her pocket and tossing it to Raine without even trying to mask her disappointment when Raine caught it effortlessly with one hand despite the distance. And as if to give her a surprise attack, Raine threw her something shiny, nearly causing her to stumble as she caught it. "My watch."

"The alcohol might've fogged my memory, but I would never steal anything," Raine admitted.

A few simple words but enough for Zen to believe him. While she wasn't the best judge of character, she was also no fool. There was nothing she liked about Raine; his complimentary looks and dashing physical proportions would never make up for his rotten personality. With the way he looked at her with so much distaste and judgement in his eyes, it was a shocker they kept up a five-minute-long conversation without tearing each other's hair out. But the last few words he said to her didn't sound like him at all. For once, it felt like he wasn't trying to be right.

As they say, bad people aren't born that way; circumstances shape them. Beneath Raine's exterior, there had to be some good, even if she couldn't see it.

Without a word, Zen turned in the opposite direction and began to walk. "Hey." She stopped moving suddenly, her legs twitching slightly as she listened. "What's so special about that worn-out watch of yours? It doesn't even work," Raine shouted.

"It's precious because my mom gave it to me," Zen replied without turning back.

"Just tell her to get you a new one then," Raine continued. No reply came and he watched Zen's frozen form in awkward silence, the cars snivelling in the background becoming clearer to his ears and in the distance, a street lamp flickered thrice before it blacked out. That was when Zen walked off without looking back, her voice coming out low but the sudden unpredictable breeze made sure her words reached him. "I can't. She's dead."

A step forward was all it took; a lump swallowed hit his chest ten times heavily. Only a coward would harbour such strong hatred for someone he knew nothing of. With that thought, Raine gave one last look at Zen's retreating back before grabbing the sprite from the bench to throw it in the trash. "Fuck it," he cursed, kicking the bin instead of tossing the bottle in. "Zen. Let's not meet again." Raine stormed off in the opposite direction with the bottle in hand.

-~-

At the sound of the door shutting close, Sean's eyes darted sideways after carefully bookmarking the page of his engrossing novel. "Well, well, well, what sort of tornado swept you up and spat you out looking like a reject from a horror movie audition?" he quipped, his eyebrows leaping toward his hairline as he took in Raine's dishevelled appearance.

"I need ice," Raine muttered plainly.

"Damn sure you do. What happened?"

"I fell."

"My stuff?"

"Gone."

"... Okay okay, I know what you're thinking. That's not all I care about. Stop eyeing me like I'm an overgrown raccoon." Sean got up from the bed and continued, his tone lacing with sarcasm. "I'll help you find some ice for your noble battle wounds."