The Psychopath's Love

Call

It was finally morning, and Nenetl was up and awake early. She only slept for three hours after she went to visit Levente. She couldn't stop thinking about today's events and couldn't help but be scared. The young woman didn't want to eat or drink anything because of her mixed emotions. It was 7:35 a.m., and she thought it was a good time to call her father. Nenetl dialed the phone number and waited for her father to pick up. The phone from the other side rang, and it eventually stopped.

"Hallo (Hello)?"

"Guten morgen, Papa (Good morning, dad)."

"Ah, guten morgen! Wie geht es dir und wie ist der Job, Tochter (How are you and how is the job, daughter)?"

Hearing her father's voice made Nenetl feel at ease. Her father always made her feel safe and protected, but since she was going with Ferenc, she didn't know whether or not she would arrive home alive. Nenetl squeezed her phone tightly. "No, I will come home alive," she whispered.

"Hast du was gesagt (Did you say something?"

Nenetl got out of her thoughts and was about to respond, but then she saw a car parked outside her home. Ferenc arrived; it was 7:45 a.m. Nenetl bit her lower lip, thinking he arrived too early, but she felt it wasn't bad. It would be a good idea that he should see that she was speaking to her father. "Entschuldigung, ich habe über etwas nachgedacht. Ich gehe heute mit jemandem auf ein Schloss (Sorry, I was thinking about something. I am going to a castle today with someone)." She saw Ferenc getting out of his car and walking to the front door of her house; he knocked on the door. The young woman slowly walked to the door and opened it.

Ferenc was on the other end, and he wore a long black coat with a white buttoned shirt with the first three buttons undone. The bottom of his shirt was tucked in his black khakis; he wore clean black shoes. His hair was slicked back and clean-shaven; Nenetl could smell his soft cologne. Ferenc raised an eyebrow when he saw Nenetl speaking on the phone. She smiled and motioned him to enter, which he did so. 

"Du gehst mit jemandem, etwa zu einem Date (You're going with someone, like a date)?"

Nenetl noticed Ferenc looking at her as if he was listening to her conversation. Since Ferenc was a businessman, she wondered if Ferenc understood German. She knew she had to be careful on what she spoke of. "Es ist ein freundschaftlicher Ausflug. Ich fahre bald los und wollte sehen, wie es dir geht. Vielleicht rufe ich dich an, sobald ich zurückkomme (It's a friendly outing. I'm heading out soon and wanted to see how you're doing. Maybe I will call you once I return)."

"Gut, ich warte auf Ihren Anruf. Liebe dich (Good, I will wait for your call. Love you)."

"Ich liebe dich such, papa (I  love you too, dad)." The two hung up, and Nenetl was now focused on Ferenc. "Sorry about that. I haven't spoken to my dad in a while and I promised that I would call him a while back."

Ferenc nodded. "We should get going before the traffic gets bad." He motioned her outside. Nenetl got her bag, which contained the gun that Levente had given her. She didn't want to use it, but it made her feel safe. The two left the house, where Nenetl closed and locked the door; she was motioned to walk and get inside the car.

Once inside and the car door shut, Nenetl closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hoping she would come home alive. Ferenc got into the driver's seat, turned it on, and drove away from the house. They drove past many houses; they were getting close to Levente's shop, and once there, Nenetl saw Levente getting out of his shop. The older man noticed the car and the two of them, and he was expressionless. Ferenc eyed him but then kept his eyes on the road. "He's up early."

"Yeah, it would seem so. He's probably opening his store."

Ferenc drove off from the village onto the main road. "Yet, he doesn't make many sales; you are his best and only customer."

Nenetl knew that Ferenc was trying to test her, but she refused to give him the satisfaction he wanted. "Even if I was his only customer, at least he gets one. It doesn't seem to faze him; it goes to show that Levente has a stronger will than most who start a business and give up."

"I tend to agree but to keep a business afloat, one must get profit; it is the way of the business world."

"I know, Mr. Nadasy. Yet, he can still keep his business afloat all this time. One shouldn't judge a book by its cover." Nenetl noticed he glanced at her quickly; she smiled as she looked toward the window. It was quiet between them, and they drove by many parts of the woods until they finally got to the city. "I want to thank you for coming yesterday. It was nice to have company."

Ferenc was still quiet. "You don't have friends and yet you refuse many of my invitations."

"Yeah, I'm a bit of an introvert. I imagine that you have many friends."

Friends. It was a foreign concept and word to him that he believed was for the weak. "I never had friends."

"R-Really? With all due respect, how can someone like yourself not have any friends?"

"Just because they were born or earned wealth doesn't mean they will always have friends. I can say that the more money you have, the less friends you have. Many people want what others have and will pretend to be something or someone they are not. It's difficult to trust anyone." Ferenc couldn't believe what he had just said. Never would he say something about friendship. He didn't care since he thought friendship was a waste of time since they weren't forever. However, Ferenc never had one and didn't know what it felt like to have one. 

Nenetl slowly looked at Ferenc, who was entirely focused on the road. "Wow, I always that that the wealthy always had everything easy. To some extent, it is true, but I imagine how lonely it can be when one doesn't have someone they could at least trust. To me, that's a  life not worth living for."

Ferenc didn't know why, but her words irked him. "Is she trying to say that my lifestyle is imperfect? This blasted woman doesn't know how many people wish to be in my position." However, the more he thought about her words, the more she mentioned not having anyone to trust. That was when he realized that he never had anything he trusted, not even his family. Did he know what trust was? Ferenc didn't know what it felt or what any other emotion felt.

Pain was his only comfort.

The other emotion he began to feel was curiosity. Curiosity toward Nenetl, she was the only one who started to make him feel...something. He made a left turn toward a stone-made bridge, and he then parked in the parking lot. Ferenc heard and noticed Nenetl gasp in amazement. "Welcome to Diósgyőr Castle."