- 5.
Eight years vanished in a flash.
<
I’d sacrificed all my points to get Elijah’s legs
healed.
But the system said it couldn’t be done.
Now I knew it was because he’d faked his
disability.
He hadn’t always been cruel. In the fourth
year, he started talking to me.
He took me to see the snow, we ate together.
His affection hadn’t increased, but I was
happy; he was engaging with me.
I asked to be moved to a different room.
I didn’t want to be near Elijah anymore.
Elijah wanted to say something but didn’t.
I left.
Alone in my room, peace settled over me.
I opened my photo album, filled with pictures
of Elijah and me.
They were all secretly taken.
He never liked me; he’d never agree to
photos.
There was one from our first trip in the snow.
He sat in his wheelchair, holding his rosary,
lost in thought.
Only my profile was visible.
He looked away, and I looked at him.
Many more pictures.
Him reading, our first meal together.
I remembered everything, and I cried.
But soon, the tears stopped.
The system said, “Host, your emotions are
fading.”
Good.
Excellent.
My phone rang; it was Elijah.
For the first time in eight years.
I answered, curious what he’d say.
“Were you jealous?”
It was a bizarre question.
He thought my moving was simply jealousy?
“No.”
“Don’t misunderstand; I saved her because
she reminded me of someone.”
The system kept updating his affection level;
it was now thirty percent.
He was falling for me.
It was ridiculous. I’d lavished him with
attention, and he hadn’t loved me.
Now that I was leaving, he did.
I hung up. I didn’t want to listen.
