“How dare you!” Nisha said with disgust.
“I'm sorry.” Rogan apologized.
Nisha maintained distance with him to prevent such from happening again.
“So, how do you feel now?” Nisha asked.
“I feel much better.” Rogan said.
“That's a relief.” Nisha said.
“So, how was your trip with Maddox?” Rogan asked.
“Yeah, it was cool. Better than the last time we were there together.” Nisha said.
“Oh really! Tell me about it.” Rogan said out of curiosity.
“Oh no … Nothing much happened.” Nisha said.
“Tell me, have you ever had a crush on someone when you were younger?” Rogan asked.
“Uhm… Well, I had one, but it's something weird to talk about.” Nisha said.
“No, I won't judge you. We've all done weird things when we were younger.” Rogan said.
“Yeah, true. But this one is a really weird thing.” Nisha said.
“Come on! Try me out.” Rogan said.
“Okay. When I was younger, I had a crush on someone who I always dreamt of. I have never seen him and don't know if he exists. So, I never had feelings for anyone because I really loved the boy.” Nisha said, then looks away.
“Wow! For real? I'm really stunned. So, do you still see the boy, who obviously should be a man right now.” Rogan asked.
“I stopped seeing him 3 years after. He told me he had to leave, and since then, I have never crushed on anyone.” Nisha said.
“Whoa! Dramatic. I guess you must have been really heartbroken at that time.” Rogan said.
“Yeah, I did. I cried many nights.” Nisha added.
“Do you still love him?” Rogan asked.
“No. That was years ago, and it's weird, so I had to forget about it. What about you? Tell me yours.” Nisha said.
“Uhm…. I have a peculiar one too. And I'll like it if you don't look at me weirdly or spill it out to someone as a mere conversation.” Rogan said.
“Oh come on, what could be more weird than someone having a crush on a make-believe.” Nisha chuckled.
“I know right?” Rogan said, smiling.
“Alright, shoot!” Nisha urged.
“Okay. When I was younger, I liked boys. And I had a crush on one of my friends, he made me happy during the days I was mourning my parent's death. You know, I could have been a lonely, boring guy, but he prevented that for me and was like the sunshine in my darkest days.” Rogan narrated.
“I'm so sorry to hear that.” Nisha said.
“Yeah, thanks.” Rogan said.
“Whoa! So, you were gay!” Nisha exclaimed.
“Yes.” Rogan chuckled.
“So, do you still keep touch with that boy who is obviously now a man.” Nisha asked.
“Yeah, I do. He's Maddox.” Rogan said.
“What! You had a crush on Maddox!” Nisha exclaimed.
“Yeah.” Rogan laughed.
“Did he know about it?” Nisha asked out of curiosity.
“Yeah, he did. And he broke my heart, but now, I'm better.” Rogan smiled.
“Whoa! This is so unbelievable.” Nisha said.
They talked until midnight when they began to feel sleepy and Nisha slept off there.
The next day, Nisha woke up and headed back to Maddox' room. She took her bath, dressed up and was about heading to Rogan's room when Maddox held her and scolded her.
“How could you spend the night in Rogan's room! Aren't you doing too much, all for volunteering to help!” Maddox scolded her.
“I avoided sleeping here last night because I'm not certain of how you're going to treat me! My father's warriors killed your warriors and even poisoned your friend. I couldn't imagine the level of torture you were going to inflict on me.” Nisha shouted.
Maddox' heart broke and then walked at a fast pace, towards her and kissed her. Nisha pushed him away and slapped him, she knew she was a slave to him, but the kiss he gave her felt different this time and her instinct took over.
“I'm… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.” Nisha apologized.
Maddox sat on his bed, silent, and she sat on the other side of the bed, silent too. After a while, Maddox broke the silence.
“Let's get to the humans' world.” Maddox said.
Nisha was baffled as she didn't expect that reaction from him, she hoped that he wasn't planning to torture her over there. They both left for the human world, they got there, and he took her to a shopping mall.
“Let's get you new outfits.” Maddox said.
He called the attention of the attendants, and they took Nisha to the changing room where she tried so many clothes.
Nisha tried on a yellow dress, a hat, and a sunglass with a bandana tied to her wrist. She tried on so many other outfits, and Maddox asked them to pack each one that interested him.
“Now, what do you say if we go to an amusement park.” Maddox said.
“What's an amusement park?” Nisha asked.
“You find everything amusing over there, you laugh out loud too.” Maddox explained.
“Oh. Why not? I don't mind.” Nisha said, looking so excited, like a young child is excited for adventure.
They got to the amusement park and got on the rollercoaster. It were four seated each, when the rollercoaster started moving fast, Maddox and Nisha were calm and looking around while the couples who faced them were screaming their lungs out and baffled at how Maddox and Nisha were calm.
Maddox and Nisha then looked at each other and started screaming to avoid suspicion and while screaming, they were laughing because they knew it was just an act.
“Those couples were shocked to see us calm, the look on their faces was so funny.” Nisha laughed.
Maddox smiled and felt accomplished in making her laugh heartily. The next thing they did was head towards the scary train ride, it was a ride underground. They promised a prize to couples who didn't make any scared reactions.
Maddox and Nisha went ahead, and they won a teddy bear. Nisha loved how big and warm the teddy bear was and held tight to it like a child who got just what he wanted. She noticed a child was staring at her teddy bear like she was wishing for it, then she walked towards the child and gave her the teddy bear. The child hugged her and thanked her.
“It looked like you really wanted that teddy bear.” Maddox said as they were walking out of the amusement park.
“At least, I got to hug it so tight before departing from it.” Nisha said.
They drove off to the zoo and Nisha was beginning to understand the nature of humans.
“So, they could do this to us too.” Nisha said.
“And more.” Maddox added.
Nisha was about going further when Maddox held her back.
“We can't go in there, it will cause confusion and a ruckus because those animals can recognize that we aren't humans and that would cause an uproar. So, we'll go for animals like the fishes, tortoises, birds, snakes, etc.” Maddox explained.
“Oh! Alright then.” Nisha said.
..............
Josephine was still tied up with her legs and arms apart, and then the stranger approached her with a spear-like tool.
“What's your name?” The stranger said in a husky voice.
“I'm Ca. Caroline.” Josephine lied.
“I ask you again, what's your name?” The stranger asked again.
“I'm Caroline” Josephine lied again.
“LIES!” The stranger shouted and pierced Josephine hard with the spear-like tool.
................
Maddox and Nisha got tired of the zoo and bought iced cream and headed home. They were so exhausted that they went to bed immediately.
.............
Maddox was dreaming again and found himself in the forest, it was lit up and it looked magical. He walked down the pathway and stared at the beautiful stars, he loved the feel of the pathway. It felt like he was walking on cotton, the warmth made him squeeze his feet with each step he took. He then saw lions and wolves growling at him on each side of the pathway, he was sweating and started moving fast, and then he saw a swimming pool and a lady with black long hair in it. Her back was faced to him, and light bulbs were fixed on each side of the pool's walls. Then she began to slowly turn around, and her face was in a scary wolf form, she barked at him, and he woke up panting and sweating.
Nisha woke up, got down from the bed and poured water into a glass cup for him, and he gulped it down, he was really thirsty. Nisha dropped the glass cup on the nearest drawer and Maddox leaned his head on her shoulders. She was dumb struck because she never expected that. There was silence for about a few minutes, and then she made efforts to gently lay him back on the bed.
“I love you, Nisha.” Maddox confessed.