Page 113 of Seth
“But you love it, don’t you?” Ignaz scowled. “It’s your job.”
“But I love—” Seth stumbled, wanting to say “you” but fearing rejection. Instead, he said, “—spending time with you more.”
“I know.” A sad smile stretched Ignaz’s lips. He slipped off the bed and ambled to Seth. “I’ll be fine. I’ll watch TV. I promise I won’t go anywhere. Moreover, no offense, but your meeting sounds terribly boring.”
So pretty…Seth thought, staring into the sparkling depth of Ignaz’s eyes. The light the boy emitted cocooned him in serenity. He didn’t move to kiss or touch Ignaz; he just stared in silent admiration.
“You look at me like this again,” Ignaz whispered.
“Do you hate it?” Seth asked with his lips only and held his breath. Ignaz’s forehead bumped against his chest, and he shook his head.
“Come home sooner, okay? I’ll be waiting.”
* * *
Since the secondthey’d parted, time stretched into an excruciating eternity. Seth had trouble concentrating on the meeting, and he forgot all the names right after it ended. But a single glance at the future construction site gave him more information than all the provided specifications.
Located on a hill, the tower was supposed to become the cornerstone of a new financial district. He froze in the center of the fenced-out territory, then looked up at the bright sun. He squinted, and colors flared at the tips of his eyelashes.
In his mind’s eye, the first lines of the future tower streamed into the air, the tapered tip stabbing the sky. The defined transverse sections rose from the ground, rounded from one side, ridged from the other, silverish glass reflecting the sky.
Someone laughed, and Seth fell out of the trance. He threw a glance over his shoulder. The engineering team had retreated to the corporate bus. He stood on the hill for a minute longer, then trailed back to his car. He got in, turned the engine on, and sped through the dusty city. The desperation in his blood forced his foot into the floor.
* * *
Seth didn’t carethat his shoes left a trail of red-clay footprints all over the marble floor as he entered his villa. His blood roared, urging him to skip every second step as he ran upstairs, but the smile of anticipation died on his lips as soon as he entered the living room, washed in the midday sun.
With his knees hugged to his chest, Ignaz looked petite against the black leather sofa. His nose and eyes were red and leaking, and he didn’t spare Seth a glance. All his focus stayed on the flat-screen TV.
Seth inched closer, and the screen fell into his field of vision. The visual jumped from the yellow tape to the blood smudges on the floor, to the empty acid canister, then settled on the panoramic view of the silo, towering above the abandoned cement factory. The photographs of his victims appeared. With the sound muted, it felt like a minute of silence.
“Seth, they are dead. They really are dead. I don’t understand…” Ignaz’s gaze flicked to Seth’s stomach, to the screen, then back to Seth. “It’s funny; it happened the same day you got hurt.”
Seth didn’t find it funny. His skin crawled under Ignaz’s blank stare.
Ignaz forced out a laugh. “Maybe it’s you who killed them?”
Seth wasn’t a smooth liar. He’d never found an opportunity to excel in the skill as he barely talked to anyone. A fleeting impulse to lie crashed against a simple question ‘What for?’ Ignaz might be the one he’d been looking for all his life. He didn’t want to lie to him, so he said nothing.
When minutes stretched, and he didn’t spill a word, a pained grimace twisted Ignaz’s features. “Seth, how did you get hurt?”
Seth kept silent.
“Please, say something!” Seth averted his face, and Ignaz screamed. “Why don’t you deny it?”
He threw the remote control. Flipping in the air, it hit Seth’s belly and fell apart from the impact, parts littering the floor.
Ignaz gulped, pupils flicking between the screen and Seth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Disappointment welling up, Seth turned on his heel and left the room. His lungs hardened with the condensed air as Gustavo’s words rang in his ears.
“You think your naïve little friend is all you need? But he will never be able to understand a monster, a murderer like you. What will happen when he learns the truth?”
* * *
Seth came homewellpast midnight. He couldn’t remember where he’d been because his bones still reverberated with the afterglow of Ignaz’s fear.
He didn’t see a single reason to return home, but there was no other place he could go. He didn’t even have a wallet on him. Eventually, his legs brought him to his villa. Using the rear entrance, he snuck into the dark kitchen, bypassed the white counter without looking at it, and ascended the stairs. He coursed down the dark corridor past the living room and the spare bedroom, then pushed the master bedroom door open.
