Part 1: Terrible Gentleness

Note: This piece was formerly named as Terrible Gentleness, now lengthened and edited to be a part of 'Deceitful'.

It was four in the morning, and Jan, in his neat uniform, was rushing on the street. He needed to meet his friend, Jaden, an hour later in the Square for they would need to attend the flag raising ceremony as a representative of their school. No one in their right mind would wake up at four, but it was an involuntary job assigned by a unanimous decision from the Student Union.

He shuddered, as he continued on his way. Just now he had such disturbing dreams and scenes about weird blooming flowers churning in his mind that he could not think right. His head had throbbed so badly when he woke up that he felt he was floating. He ran even faster, trying to erase that from his memory.

Then he stopped. He just stopped.

A spark of pain ignited in his head. It expanded with velocity and soon it occupied all space. It continued stretching to slowly creep over and envelop his body. Jan would have known that this layer of pain coated everything if he had been able to think. Everything was red, then green, then red again, and green followed likewise, and black...

He crumpled to the ground.

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Jan opened his eyes and inspected the surroundings with his blurry vision.

He was in a bedroom much smaller than his own was, and there were so much more differences. Books were standing like a squad of soldiers on the bookshelf. There were one diary, one notebook and one calendar placed on the desk in the best way possible. Pens, correction tapes and rulers were faultlessly organized and sorted in different little transparent plastic boxes. The tone of the room was soft pink and baby blue-- the cupboard, the shelf and everything else. The lights from the ceiling emitted a gentle glow of rays that made the room warm yet never too messy to feel burdened.

There was a certain fragrance hanging around in the room. A sweet combination of honey and lily filled the room with another layer of charm and placidity, which was emanated everywhere in this room. A banner was hung on the closed door, with the motto of 'Fides et Opera' and the badge of...

Jan's school. His own school.

Knock knock.

"Jan? Are you awake?"

Jan was puzzled. He was sure that he had heard that voice before. Somehow he could not remember...

"Jan?" A boy's voice said. He should be around the same age as Jan, but his voice seemed a little bit peculiar, as if he was afraid of something.

"Maybe he hasn't wake up yet..." The voice outside whispered.

"Yes?" Jan couldn't wait to know this person was.

"Jan! May I come in?"

"Of course."

The door slowly opened, and Jan, half-lying on the bed, thought he could recognize him perfectly once he entered.

Click.

All the lights in the room went off.

"Jan?"

In the darkness, Jan could only grasp certain distinguishable features, like the round face and the thick lenses to help him see better. "Dominic?"

He sat on the bed as if he was visiting a relative sick on a bed in the hospital. Jan felt a hand placed on his forehead.

"Are you feeling better? You fainted on the street, and I just saw you falling. So I simply had to bring you here. Please, you must excuse me for this." Jan could imagine those soft gentle brown eyes seeming to plead him.

By this point Jan had thrown away any doubtful thoughts. His classmate was the gentlest person he had ever seen, and perhaps the most courteous as well. He bowed when he greeted his teachers and even his classmates. His soft and tender way of speaking as well as his thoughtful way of being a person had won him trust from everyone around him.

Dominic continued. "I just couldn't sleep, so I went for a jog."

Which seemed a little bit odd to Jan. As he recalled, Dominic had been yawning the whole day at school. But Jan could understand how hard it could be to fall asleep.

"Of course." Jan attempted to talk some more. If he just fainted on the street he might have been victims to some gore crimes. He had Dominic to thank for if he didn't. "So... you live here? Where are your parents?"

Suddenly his facial expression seemed to harden, but just a second later it became its original perfect mixture of gentleness and courteousness.

"Ah, yes. I live here, but alone. They died when I was at quite a young age, so..." he shrugged. "Well, so this is my little home. Do you like it?"

"I'm sorry."

He smiled. "It's nothing really. So do you like it?"

"I wish my room could be one tenth as tidy as yours."

He laughed, but somehow it sounded...different.

Jan would never dare a notion to accuse him of any terrible acts, he thought, as the scent in the room seemed to grow stronger by the minute. Dominic just seemed a faultless person. Maybe he was just too tired, possibly.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes."

"I know I am being too bothersome, but I must make sure you're alright. Suddenly you fainted on the street. I don't know if you've noticed, but your right arm might have been scratched by the rough rocky ground."

Jan was alarmed to hear that, but knowing that Dominic had completed a youth First Aid course was comforting. The sugary scent now smelled like vanilla and coconut, and it was still intensifying, reminding Jan of how sleepy he was.

"How did I faint?"

Curiously, he seemed quite reluctant to answer this rather straightforward question. He stood up and started pacing around the room. "Well... you just... I saw you touching your head, and then you just collapsed."

Really? Jan asked himself. What was frightening to him was that he could not remember how it happened. He didn't even remember how he ended up on the street. The fragrance now reminded Jan of a special chocolaty aroma. Perhaps chocolate cosmos, as far as Jan could remember, but there was this special property of this particular type of flower that he could not remember...

He winced. His mind began throbbing again, and this time it went even more severe than the first time he had earlier.

"You don't look as handsome when you frown," Dominic commented.

"What?" The pain was agonizing. "What...what is the time now?"

"A quarter to five."

"I gotta... I need to... to leave. Thank you very much." Jan tried for a pale smile and attempted to stand.

"No." He smiled sweetly, courteously clasping his hands.

"Excuse... excuse me?" Jan thought mist and fog were gathering around him. His eyelids were so heavy that he could barely open his eyes.

"No," he whispered. "You are not leaving." His grin was so genuine it was impossible to believe that he had any plans up on his sleeves.

"Wh--why?"

"Don't leave. Okay? Promise?" He still kept that smile. "Would you like a bath first?"

"No thanks. I really need to leave...like right now."

"I have got some really awesome photographs of you during Sports Day. Would you mind to have a look with me?" His eyes went for a book on the shelf.

Everything was spinning around Jan. He fell back on the bed, which in all of a sudden became the softest thing ever invented on earth.

"Yes? Please?" He walked closer and closer to Jan, while Jan could only clutch tightly the sheets on him, which was as suffocating as a thick layer of carbon dioxide.

Dominic sat again. "Where were you going?"

"To the Square."

"Oh. Why?" He smiled and nodded, encouraging Jan to continue, but Jan had a terrifying image of a clown with his bloody red mouth staring at him.

"To...to meet my friend for the...for the flag raising ceremony," Jan managed to mumble.

"How nice! No doubt you were wearing your own uniform. That had to be so uncomfortable."

Jan wanted to think of anything to respond, but his mind stopped working.

"So you see- I have to change your clothes. Would you terribly mind if you are wearing one of my set of pyjamas?"

He sat and looked at the moon outisde the window and laughed some more.

"Sleep, my dear...ah. Classmate. I will make sure I tell your friends where I have left you." Dominic said as he left the room, closing the door with a tiny 'click'.

Jan could not bear it anymore. The pain in his head and the choking scent binded together to form an aroma to surround him in a bubble, drifting away from Earth farther and farther...