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Chapter 10

There's a light, but frantic knock at the front door. I ignore it at first, thinking Mr or Mrs Muller will open it. But after several minutes, the knocking only gets louder, more deranged. I get out of bed, still in a haze of the situation. I look over to the clock mounted on the wall, its bloody 2:15am! I reach the front door and I can hear faint mumbling on the other side, like somebody is talking in their sleep. I look through the peephole. A strange masculine figure comes into vision, but I can't see his face. His head is looking down to the figure slouching next to him. My eyes grow wide, recognizing the familiar figure. It's Henri! I immediately open the door.

"Master Hen-"

The stranger facing me doesn't even identify himself, He puts his finger to his mouth, ordering me to be quiet. I step aside as he hauls Henri inside. The smell of alcohol and smoke whiffs by my nose and already I have an idea of what happened.

I tiptoe to Henri's bedroom and open the door quietly, but its Henri's drunken footsteps that echo through the hallway as he lazily makes his way to his bedroom.

"My head...spinning...not so fast..." Henri can barely construct complete sentences and I look across to the master bedroom, hoping to God his parents are heavy sleepers. I can't see his face, he has it covered by his hand, as though he's about to vomit in any minute. I rush over to his bed and wave the blankets aside and his friend gently puts him on the bed.

"Damn, you're heavy." The stranger says, out of breathe.

Henri looks awful. His skin is flushed and sweaty, his eyes are half open and he's mumbling utter nonsense. He's on the verge of passing out.

"What happened to him?"

"He had a little too much to drink and got... a little out of hand," The friend paused, running his hand through his blonde hair. His chuckle surprises me.

"Next thing you know, he's kissing some girl and soon a fight breaks out..."

I felt myself flinch at the words 'kissing some girl', but I shook my head at the thoughts as they came racing through my mind and jealousy seeping in. That explained the bruise on his right cheek. What was he going to say to his parents when they see him? Even I was trying to come up with excuses for him.

"And then he kept saying 'Maria'."

That snapped me back to reality. Was he talking about me? He could've been talking about anybody. My eyes travel to Henri, scanning for any movements. He's been quiet for some time and he's barely moving. I search his face when my eyes land to a red mark under his jawline. Another bruise, maybe? I kneel beside him as he lays still, slowly passing out. But it's not a bruise. It's a lipstick mark. A pinch of jealousy sparks at the thought of the girl who kissed him there. Forget the kiss, he needs to recover. I turn around, and find the friend is walking out of the room.

"Where are you going?" he ignores me and he's out the door. Why would he just leave? A few minutes later my question was answered when he comes back, with a glass of water and pills in his hands. He nods his head to the side, signalling that I should move aside, and I do so. Where he managed to find the pills, I don't know, but he kneels to the floor. "Lift his head up for me." He commands. I walk around the bed, climb onto it and reach for Henri's head. As I lift his head up, I notice the small smile forming on his striking, yet intoxicated features. His lips slightly part open and his friend takes the advantage and pushes the pills into Henri's mouth. "Drink up, buddy." He says and he brings the glass of water to Henri's shaking lips. Drips of water spills at the corner of his lips, but he manages to swallow the pills. I lay his head upon my lap.

"You're the girl from the other day." I frown at his statement, wondering where he knows me from. As if to have read my thoughts, he says "He saved you." And immediately I blush, but I know he can't see me in the dark room. "Yes, he did." I say, almost in a whisper.