Illuminate

006

I brought Seth inside and gave him a bottled water as I grabbed one for myself.

The both of us sat at the kitchen table.

"What's going on?" I asked him.

"I've been lying to you." He responded.

"About what..?" I asked.

I was very curious as to what he was referring to.

"About living here.." he coughed. "I don't actually live here."

"Oh like in this building? You live in another one?"

"No...like I don't live in this complex at all.."

It took me a minute to process what I was told.

"So nobody here knows you, like at all? You live nowhere near here?"

He nodded.

"Where do you live then?" I asked, wondering if I should get a weapon ready.

"Oh, just the other side of the woods actually. I actually, used to live next to the lady in an apartment on the 3rd floor."

"Like before you moved?"

"No she moved to the third floor in one of the apartments here, so I come visit her often. She was friends with my mom."

I nodded. I wasn't really sure what to say. Honestly I had all these assumptions in my head and I couldn't dare forgive myself.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, I just thought what you told me was going to be worse is all.."

We smiled at each other.

"Would you like to see my place?" He asked.

"Uh, sure." I nodded.

"Alright let's go!" Seth says taking my hand and gently pulling me out of the apartment.

Seth and I trekked through the woods and he kept pulling me every which way.

"Seth where are we going?" I asked the long haired man.

"I told you!" He laughed. "The other side of the woods silly."

"I know but how much longer? It seems like we've been walking forever."

"Okay stop here." He commands.

Seth walks behind me and puts his hands over my eyes. "I promise you can trust me, I'm going to show you. Now start walking slowly and listen to what I say." He assured me I was safe, I trusted him.

Once he told me to stop I did. He told me to keep my eyes closed once he removed his hands, so I listened.

"Alright on 3, you can open. 1...2...3...open!" He told me.

I opened my eyes to reveal the same setting I had discovered once before. Everything including the bag labeled 'Borden' was still there.

"I'm confused, what is this?" I asked.

"This is where I've been staying.." he said. "Isn't this what you wanted to see?" He asked.

"I thought you meant an actual building. Seth how can this keep you safe?" I questioned.

"What do you mean?"

"Violent people and animals, during any time of the day...bad weather, not having a durable roof over your head, no shower, or comfortable bed..Seth you can't enjoy this." I frowned.

"I know...I don't. But what choice do I have?"

"Don't you have family or friends that will let you in?" I asked.

"My family is the one that kicked me out, my parents don't like that I..do what I do for my job and they told the rest of my family not to support me." I frowned when he spoke of his family.

"Oh wow...are you like doing...sex work?"

"Ew absolutely not! I would rather drink bleach. I do YouTube, paranormal investigations and exploring abandoned places." He tells me.

"That's pretty cool. But what about friends letting you in."

"Oh they do, but I never actually stay. I only crash a few days and leave. I don't want to take advantage of people."

"Seth, I know this may seem strange, but what if I asked you to stay with me?"

"What did I just say about taking advantage? I couldn't take up room in your already small apartment."

"Seth, please? That's nonsense. You're not fully protected out here. At least in apartment you'll have someone that cares about you, and that's willing to help."

"Really? You'll help?" He asked me.

"Of course! Besides, you helped me when I was moving stuff the other day from the store. Consider this a payback."

"I promise you won't regret it."