Glass Coins

"Hello! Do you want to talk about love?" When I opened the door a weirdly dressed girl around my age surprised me with a question. I didn't know her, but she was kind of cute despite wearing those heavy pink robes in a sunny day like that.

"No, thank you." I politely answered and closed the door at her face. I was about to head back to my room when I noticed that they weren't fully closed as I thought. In fact, between the door, there was a feminine leg sticking out, blocking it from closing.

"What the hell are you doing? It's rude to..." I wanted to scold her and maybe scare with police, but in a middle of a sentence the door rapidly opened. I lost my footing and before I had a chance to regain it, that strange girl rushed inside knocking me over on the floor.

"Please, just give me a few seconds. There's something important I must tell you!" Sitting on top of me, she started with tears of desperation in her eyes. I couldn't even imagine how awkward this whole situation would seem for a bystander. Gladly, I was home alone and there wasn't anyone on the street as well.

"Take those and throw them on the ground while thinking of someone dearest to you." She forced into my hand 2 small glass coins. I was too bewildered to speak. What was happening? I had already no idea...

"Do it in 2 days or something terrible will happen!" At that moment, she seemed completely terrified and I felt that even if I asked about it, she wouldn't answer out of terror.

"If you succeed, happiness awaits you, and if not..." The girl started crying, which confused me even more. Everything seemed like in those hidden camera shows. I was kind of expecting someone to jump out of the bushes and shout "We got you!", but none of that happened.

She finally stood up. I was still laying on the ground, when she said: "Good luck. I'll be watching you." I wanted to say something to her, but when I got up - she was out of sight. Like she had never been here. That girl just vanished into thin air. I scratched my head and looked around once again on those two little glass coins I had in my hand. "What on earth just happened?" I said aloud and went back to my room.

Soon after, I completely forgot about this incident. A week later, when I was cleaning up my room, I found them, those coins that weird girl gave me. They were supposed to be some kind of charm, weren't they? I were to throw them on the ground thinking about someone I loved? What a bullshit. She wouldn't love me back after something like that.

Thinking of her, I threw the coins into the garbage bin. A cracking noise came out of it. I looked inside and saw one of them broken. How something like that broke so loudly? Gods... Then I realized that unconsciously, I did what I was told to. I knew nothing would change because of that, but some part of me couldn't wait to see if I was wrong.

Next day, as always, I went to the school. I was in the third grade at high school, so graduation and collage were closer to me than I could had wanted them. Frankly, I still didn't know what to do in my life. My parents wanted me to become a lawyer, but honestly, I was rather into art.

When I was about to enter the classroom, I heard a voice. "Yo, George." It was my best friend, James Stuggris calling me. He was sitting on the stairs and I hadn't noticed him. He was quite slim and tall, so probably he could camouflage easier than me in places like those.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked as I got closer to him. There were still a few minutes to the next class, so we could talk a bit. "Oh, nothing much. I've been just waiting for you." "Huh? Something happened?" He smiled conspiratorially and lowered his voice into whisper. "Nothing yet... But will it change on, you-know-which matter?"

My face reddened. I instantly knew what he meant by that. Two weeks ago, when we were chillin at his place, James kept asking if there was a girl I liked. For some strange reason, I told him about Claire Redfield. She was my crush since the beginning of high school, but still I hadn't done anything to ask her out.

"Why I am not surprised?" He sighed after deducting my answer. "Man, you need to just go for it. Make your dreams come true. Just do it. Even she turns you down, you will get some experience with girls for future..." James was always talking big, but especially now he shouldn't be lecturing me - he also had no girlfriends so far.

"Look, I'm your friend and I want to help you, but you need to help yourself too. I've invited her to eat lunch with us today." "YOU DID WHAT??!!" I shouted at him. Some people passing by turned their heads in our direction. "Calm down, dude." "Yeah, sorry. What did she say?" I asked nervously. "At first, she said no, but..." "But?" "After hearing you would be there too, she instantly changed her mind. You are lucky!" Was I really that lucky? I shivered, anxious of the meeting. Then, the bell rung and we went back to the classroom.

I couldn't focus on what teachers were saying at all. My mind was racing, searching for the topics I could talk about with Claire. In fact, I didn't know much about her hobbies or preferences. So far, I had been only a distant admirer of her beauty. I was too afraid of making the move. Unlike me, she was popular in the school. I was an average guy, who would be a background character in any Japanese anime or manga. So why she accepted James' invitation after hearing I would be there too? Was he just making things up to build my confidence? Probably that was it. I shouldn't be so concerned about that. It was likely that the whole story was made up as well to see me flustered. Well, I would find out in a moment. The lunch time had arrived, so I headed out to our usual spot.

Five minutes later I found myself listening to how surprising it was to get invited for a lunch by me. The two of us were sitting on one of the rooftop's benches. It wasn't a popular spot, mostly because of how little place there was. However, covered from three sides you could do whatever you liked with a very low risk of being seen. It had its perks for sure, but that time around I would rather had gone somewhere else, where more people gather. That sly bastard James took off after 'receiving an important call' and left me with Claire all alone.

Gladly, she was talking so much, that one of my worries disappeared. All I had to do was to eat, listen and from time to time give a short answer. She seemed ok with it. I could tell that from her face. Her cheeks were slightly red and her eyes were shinning. Was she really so excited to see me? Until that day, I could recall only a few situations where we talked before, so how it was possible?

"Oh, George, I'm glad you invited me here today. There's something bugging me and I hope, you will help me." Claire lowered her head letting her long, light red hair cover her face. My heart skipped a bit. At that very moment, there wasn't a high school girl sitting next to me. It was an angel in human form. Simply, I couldn't take my eyes off her.

"I'll be blunt and I hope, you are going to answer me with same honesty. Why are you always looking at me?" CRAP. I felt like all of the blood in my body rushed to my face. She had thought of me as some sort of lowly creep. I could sense the scent of rejection in the air and the fact I wasn't able to produce any voice to defend myself most likely made the situation even worse.

Instead, to my great shock, she giggled looking at my awkward faces. "Oh, as I thought." She stood up. So, would that be the end? Even without any beginning in the first place it still hurt. I was utterly defeated by my own mistakes. All I could do now was to reflect on them and... I froze up.

A warm sensation on my lips returned me to reality. I looked up and noticed that Claire didn't walk away. She was right there in front of me. More to that, she was kissing me. It was my first kiss and it felt so good that the entire world had melted away. It could be just seconds, but to me the time stopped for eternity of that moment.

At one second, we finally separated. I looked deeply into her eyes. She was smiling, visibly pleased with what just happened. "You are such an interesting man, George Whites. I can't wait to learn more about you..." With those words and another one of her divine smiles, Claire left me brainwashed on the bench. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. I was still processing everything. Could it be just a dream? It was too good to be true.

Next few weeks passed in the insane pace. Me and Claire grew closer from a day to another. We were spending more and more time together. At first, only at school, but later also outside of it. We were discovering each other, falling even greater in love at the same time. Many times, she mentioned that we were fated to meet. At some day, I decided to introduce her to my parents. To everyone's, including mine disbelief, Claire blurted out that she was my future wife.

No matter how happy this period might had seemed, there was one thing which raised my awareness. Every time, when I talked to another female in her presence, something changed in Claire. She was becoming possessive, trying to cut the talk to minimum and then take me away from other people. I thought she was just afraid of other girls trying to seduce me. Frankly, we were one of the most famous couples in the school. Not every day one of the most popular girls gets together with such a completely random guy like me. Probably, so far depressingly low interest in my person had skyrocketed in that short while, or that what she thought, so I took it as a jealousy.

Everything stayed more or less this way until Monday, the 12^th of May. That day the situation went out of control and all of it started when the sound of ringing doorbell woke me up in the early morning...

"Aloha, bro!" It was my older sister - Jess. She just came back from her long holidays in Hawaii and because our parents were still on the business trip, I was the one responsible of taking care of her and oh gods, she was one of the most tiring person I had ever known.

Not to mention that she woke me up at 5 am, I had to help her with tons of luggage. When I was done, it was already time for my departure to school. Still half asleep, I tried to leave home as fast as it was possible, so it wouldn't come to THAT. Unfortunately, I was too slow and in the end, I had to endure my sis' presence as she always wanted to walk there with me.

Even worse was the fact, that no matter how old we were, once we would arrive at the gates, she would do THOSE things. It was quite embarrassing, especially since in public, so I gathered my strength to survive that one more time. I didn't want to upset her. She was always very moody, so there was no way to guess how she would react.

"Have good day, bro." She hugged me as her ritual began. And in the end... "What are you...?" I jumped as this time instead of a cheek, my sister kissed me in the lips. "I heard you got yourself a girlfriend, so I wanted to check if she taught you how to kiss well." Jess laughed and started walking back home. "I hope you will introduce us soon, Georgie." I shrugged my shoulders and sighed heavily, questioning if we were really siblings. Continuing with daily routines, I wasn't expecting what consequences that incident would have.

During lunch, I had a rare chance to talk with James. Usually, I would spend time with Claire, but she said she needed to take care of something important. "So, your sister is finally back?" "Yeah, unfortunately." I had to admit. "Why you say that? She seems quite nice to me." But only on outside... "Too long to explain..." I answered hoping he would finally move on. "To see a little brother off like that... Fufufu, I wish I had a sister like that..." Oh gods, I knew something like that would happen if people saw us. "Hey, cut it off James!" "Uh, can't I joke a bit, can I? Your reaction was priceless this morning though." That was getting more and more embarrassing to me. "You saw IT???" "Not only me, dude. If I hadn't known her from before, I would have thought you are cheating on your girlfriend." Shit. If she heard or saw it too... I sensed a great misunderstanding coming out soon.

Until the end of school, I hadn't seen Claire. I was a bit worried so, I decided to ask her classmates about her whereabouts. What I learned from them was that they hadn't seen her since lunch as well. She didn't pick up when I called, so I decided to go home alone.

It was 6 pm. By that time, I'd always had received a few texts from Claire, but today - nothing. Also, Jessica went somewhere and hadn't come back yet. Gods, what was with those girls? Well, at least I could finally relax without them around, so I kept playing computer games until the night had come.

11 pm. I was heading to the bed. To think my sister would had gone partying on the first day after coming back from holidays... She didn't call me, but I knew that was the case, since she already did it in the past. Who would had thought that I was 2 years younger than her, considering how irresponsible she was? Suddenly I heard some noise from the garden side.

I grabbed my jacket and went to investigate. If that was sis, she probably got so drunk that she couldn't get back home alone, but if it was someone else. I put my phone into the pocket just in case if calling police was inevitable.

Cautiously listening at the backdoor, I didn't pick up any sounds indicating a burglary. Thanking gods, I confidently left home to look for my helpless sister.

Our garden was quite big and because it was already dark, so searching for a sister in unknown state could be problematic. She wasn't anywhere in sight that for sure, thus I had to go deeper into the backyard. Then, the sound of footsteps came out from the entrance. I froze up as a shadow appeared on the ground in front of me.

After few seconds a figure appeared. I held my breath. It was a woman, I could say even in darkness. Jess? No, she was fatter and higher than that intruder. It was...

"Claire...?" When I saw her walking down the path, I called her by the name. Then she turned away. As she marched to me, all I could say was...

"WHAAAAAAAT??!!"

Both her whole outfit and face were stained in a shining red liquid. "Claire, what happened to you?!" After cooling off from the first impression, I knew I had to help her if she was wounded. "No-thing." Her answer was immediate and sounded more like singing than talking. "Then why...?" "I took care of a problem." And again, a quick response, even before I managed to ask a full question. "But what problem? Are you hurt? Let's go inside and..." "Geo-rgie, may I ask you some-thing now?" "Huh?" "Why did you cheat on me, darling?"

A dripping knife moved at the lightning speed to my throat. I felt the cold iron pressing against my skin and from place where it touched, red drops started to fall down on my shirt. Out of confusion and panic I stepped back. "What do you mean by that?" "I asked, why did you cheat on me with that woman?" "What woman? Speak clearly and stop waving this knife, please!" "Don't you even dare to play dumb now. I know everything. I saw everything this morning at the school gate... You kissed her! How I didn't notice it faster?" By that point, I understood what she meant. Claire and my sister never met since Jess spent last three weeks in Hawaii. "That was just my sister. She's a weirdo. Listen to me and calm down!" It seemed that those words reassured her a bit.

"LIAR!" Suddenly her fury increased. "LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!" With each word, she swung the knife at me. I avoided most of those blows besides one, with stung me in the left cheek. "WHY YOU LIE LIKE THAT?! I SAW EVERYTHING! YOU EVEN SAID YOUR SISTER IS AWAY, SO HOW COULD SHE EVEN BE HERE!" There was no chance to get to Claire now. I knew it. In her current state, none of my words were reaching her, so I decided to not get myself killed until she comes back to her senses.

Somehow, without losing balance I ran back home and shut the door behind me. Breathing heavily, I tried to calm myself down, but it wasn't an easy task. Suddenly, I felt an incredible pain. I screamed and turned to see what happened.

What I saw was the knife going through the door and piercing my right arm. "I'm going to punish you for not being faithful." To think that Claire had such a strength... Also, she was no longer shouting. Her unnaturally calm voice was even more terrifying. "Be a good boy and don't run. I'll always find you, no matter where you go!" She laughed maniacally and began to force her way through.

"I will never forget you." The door was shaking. Completely panicked I tried to move the closest cupboard to block the door, but I couldn't move it. Pain in my arm was too great and I was bleeding like hell. In this condition, there was no chance I could overpower Claire in her bloodthirsty rage. I had to run.

Wake neighbors, call the police and I would be saved. Clinging to that hope I rushed towards the main door. I couldn't walk straight and I kept falling onto furniture on the way. My heart was racing and I thought it was about to explode any second as I opened the door and jumped out on the street. I was at the loss of breath, but I kept going, since stopping meant doom.

But I didn't run too far away. In one moment, something sharp went through my leg making me hit the pavement at full force. At least one of my teeth broke and in addition to that, the world around me began to spin the circles.

"I told you, don't run." It was she-devil's work. She threw that goddamn knife at me and didn't miss! Claire stood looking down at me with cold eyes. "Geo-r-gie. Why-are-you-such-a-cheater?" She pulled the knife out my leg and sat down on me. I had never experienced any stronger pain in my entire life, but I couldn't even scream or manifest it in any other way. "Now, you will get what you deserve. I'll join you in a moment. Let's be together. Always. Forever." She moved the knife up in the air. So that was my end? I was helpless. Everything was my fault... The knife got closer. I wondered what was about to happen when I die. Would it be heaven, hell or just overwhelming darkness? Blade went into my stomach. As she pulled it out to land a second attack, with the corner my eye I saw my insides nearly sticking out. Suddenly a strange sensation filled my body.

Like in a slow motion, I charged at Claire. With my left hand, I blocked the next blow. Knife went straight through it, but I felt nothing. The other hand went behind her back. I held her tightly, with the rest of my life force. Then, I kissed her, trying to show all of my feelings this way. With only the two of us on the street, it felt like the whole universe vanished for that very moment. Soon, the tension in her body began to fade away, but same also went to my consciousness. The void had swallowed me entirely and death held its claws on me. I drifted away with the scent and warmth of the woman I truly loved...

*

"Humans are truly uncommon creatures..." A young girl in a pink dress was sitting on the tree branch with a newspaper in her hands. She was looking through a one of hospital windows. "Even if she did all of it to him, she still comes here every day and cries." In the room a woman was holding her man's hand, but he wasn't moving at all. "2 years passed already since the incident and she won't abandon him even in coma." On 12^th of May, 2017, George Whites had been brought to the local hospital in the critical condition. Doctors fought for his life, but their only success was keeping him alive to this day. "Everything was my fault. I should have never given the glasses to a human. I wish I could do more to repay for that mistake, but it's impossible." The girl jumped down, landing gracefully on the ground. "I'm praying that one day you will wake up and find your happiness." She put the newspaper on the closest bench and slowly walked away. "Even after I took their painful memories, they had been scarred for life. This couple went through a nightmare, but they still have a promising future." The girl sighed and smiled. "And this is the best aspect of cupid's job." Few seconds later, she was already gone, vanishing in the crowd of people on the street.

The newspaper she left was the issue from 13^th of May 2017. As the wind blew, it opened on a page with an article about a robbery which took place at the single house estate. Unknown criminals barged into Whites' possession, killed the daughter and heavily wounded the son of the family and got away it said. Right next to the headline, there was a pink, girlish handwriting. "This is all I could fix for you."