I hope you guys liked my first chapter of my rewrite of Beyond This Love, I know it's different from the first version and I just hope I can write it all over again! I wrote this chapter pretty fast, I think some parts in this chapter don't make sense and I'll elaborate on it more in my next chapter. I'm still nervous, so be gently with me because my creativity is still very low right now. But thank you for the Reviews, Favorites, Alerts and to the unknown people who read my story too.
Also to my old readers who have read and reviewed my rewrite, thanks! I'm glad you're going to follow me again, that means a lot to me!
Chapter 2!
I applied a bit more of my mascara to my eyelashes, this was my daily routine I had to go through everyday before I could leave the apartment to buy groceries or even just to visit the laundry room in the building's basement. I wasn't allowed to be myself and that was sometimes hard, my identity had to remain a secret from the world. I had to wear a long blonde wig and tightly fitting clothes which made me feel uncomfortable, I was known as Lily Tayler outside of the apartment. It was on the very rare occasions that I was allowed to leave the apartment dressed as myself, I guess it's the price I've got to pay to keep my freedom and safety.
I placed my tube of mascara down on the kitchen table, I took my red tight fitting t-shirt and some grey short from the chair next to me. I quickly got changed into my clothes and looked over at the kitchen's clock above the stove while I carefully put my blonde wig on, it was nearly 11pm. Beyond should be back home soon, he always made sure he was back by 11pm. It wasn't long until I heard the jiggling of keys outside of apartment's door, he was right on queue. I picked my tube of mascara up from the table and sat back down on my chair, I then greeted him while he closed the door behind him.
I watched Beyond pull his hood down on his black hoody to reveal his dark messy unkempt shoulder length hair, he stared at me for a few moments with his dark coloured eyes and hung his set of apartment keys on the key holder by the door. He leaned back against the wall while he mumbled something to himself underneath is breath, he then took a strawberry jam sachet from his pocket and ripped it open with his teeth. I watched him suck the jam from the sachet, he then licked some left over jam from the packet and threw his empty sachet on the floor while he made eye contact with me.
" Where have you been tonight?" I asked while I turned my gaze away from him and looked at my reflection in my standing mirror. " Anywhere nice or exciting?"
" Nowhere important..." He replied.
" I'll make you some supper soon, just let me finish doing my makeup first..." I said. " I've got a lot of laundry I need to catch up on tonight, so I'll be down in the basement until it's all done. You could come and keep me company if you're not busy, we can then have a catch up about everything..."
" I'm not hungry!" He snapped.
" Didn't they have your favorite brand of strawberry jam at the convenience store down the street again?" I asked while I continued applying my makeup. " My poor Beyond, it's funny seeing you getting all grumpy over strawberry jam again. I'll go and buy you some more tomorrow from a different convenience store, I could even make you some homemade strawberry jam if you want for a change..."
" Please don't talk to me like I'm a child, it angers me slightly..." He replied.
" I'm sorry, it will not happen again..." I sighed.
I looked up from my mirror at him and watched him unzipping his hoody while he walked over to the kitchen table, he then threw it over the back of one of the chairs at the table. He gave me a cruel smirk before he slammed his hands down on the table top, the look on his face told me he wasn't happy. The angry glare he was giving me was telling me that I was going to hear all about it, I truly hated when he acted like this around me. I lowered my gaze while I screwed my mascara's brush back into its tube, I had no other choice but to wait for his backlash.
" Is there something wrong?" I asked.
" You're hiding something from me my dear, I want to know the truth..." He replied.
" What are you on about?" I asked while I got up from my chair and put my mascara back in my leather cosmetic box. " I don't have a clue what you're talking about right now, I would never hide anything from you..."
" Stop lying to me!" He said through his teeth as he slammed his hands down on the table again. " Tell me the truth!"
" I seriously don't know what you're talking about!" I frowned.
" Oh you do my dear, you've been a very naughty girl for keep this secret from me..." He smirked slightly while he turned his full gaze toward my cosmetic box. " You see my sweet Elizabeth, I don't like being lied to because lies tend to escalate and inspire into something deadly..."
" I don't understand, what are you talking about?" I asked.
" I'm talking about him!" He snapped.
" Who?" I asked.
" You know who!" He yelled.
I rolled my eyes at him and made my way over to the kitchen counter, here we go again I thought to myself as I picked a bottle of washing detergent from the side. I placed the bottle into my laundry basket and blew my wig's fringe away from my eyes, I then gathered all of the dirty folded up clothes from the floor. I placed them in my basket and took a packet of cookies from the biscuit tin, I would need a snack while I was waiting for my laundry. I looked over my shoulder at Beyond while I picked my basket up from the floor, I then sighed to myself when I saw him rummaging around in my cosmetic box. I don't have clue what he's talking about this time unless he's on about our old departed friend again, I just wish he wouldn't take his rage out on me for once when he was in one of his funny moods.
" What are looking for?" I asked.
" Nothing that concerns you..." He replied.
" Then stop messing in my stuff!" I yelled with a frown. " You'll end up breaking something, half of the stuff in my cosmetic box has sentimental value to me!"
" Run my dear, please do as I ask before it's too late..." He said while he took something shiny from my cosmetic box." Do I have to repeat to myself to you? I don't like repeating myself as you very well know my dear, please leave the apartment before I do something I'll later regret..."
My eyes grew wide when I noticed my pair of silver scissors in his hand, I watched him hold them up towards the kitchen's light with a smirk on his face. I quickly grabbed my book from the counter and hurried to the apartment's door, I then slammed the door behind me. I leaned back against the door while I closed my eyes, I wonder what's wrong with him now? I'm not really sure what I've done wrong, but I'm not sticking around to find out either when he's in one of his foul moods. It's very rare that he would lose his temper with me, he was always so placid and emotionless around me.
I sighed to myself while I walked along the corridor towards the stairs, we lived on the third floor of the building in apartment 17c. I didn't really talk to any of the other residences who lived in the building with us because Beyond didn't like it, he also made sure I didn't socialize with anyone living outside of the building either. I made my way down the three flights of stairs to the building's hallway, I then checked our apartment's mailbox for post. I brew my wig's fringe away from my eyes while I closed our mailbox's door, I even made sure it was locked because people around here liked pinching mail. I put my keys in my short's pocket and made my way over to the door of the basement, but I had to wrinkle my nose when I opened the door because the smell of damp wafted up the staircase of the basement.
I flicked the light switch on for the basement and looked around the room while I carefully carried my laundry basket down the creaky wooden staircase. It was always empty at this hour, I liked it this way to be honest and it gave me a chance to catch up on some reading. I walked over to one of the washing machines, I placed my laundry basket down on top of the tumble dryer next to it and stuffed my book into the back of my short's waist band. I threw most our dirty laundry into the washing machine, but I left a few of Beyond's dark long sleeved-shirts and jeans in the baskets because I needed to soak them in coca cola before I washed them to get rid of some mystery blood stains.
" Stupid Beyond!" I said to myself while I turned the dial on the washing machine and looked over at a little brown teddy bear that had been sitting on top of one of the out-of-order washing machines for the past week. " I would love to know what his problem is sometimes, I mean why are men such awkward creatures?I mean look at me, I'm talking to a little cute teddy bear! Maybe I'm the one going insane here..."
I stared at the teddy bear's smiling face for a moment before I laughed at myself, I must be loosing my mind I thought to myself as I walked over to it. I picked the teddy bear up from the washing machine while smiled at it, I wonder who this teddy bear belongs to? I carried it over to my laundry basket and sat it down inside of my basket, I then patted the top of teddy's head before I pressed the button on the washing machine.
I placed all of my cleaning products back into my laundry basket and took my book from the back of my shorts, I then down on the basement's floor. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my back against tumble dryer before I began to read my book which was my happy time. It reminded me of the happier times when I use to read for my Great Aunt Thora on long hot Summer days in her beautiful garden when I was child, the birds would be singing in the trees and the smell of freshly homemade bread wafted through her cottage. I stopped reading after a while and wiped some tears away from my cheek, I missed being a child sometimes. My life was easier back then and I didn't have to deal with grownup issues. I quickly turned my gaze to the basement's door when I heard a creaking noise, I watched the door open and I rolled my eyes when I saw Beyond peeking his head around the door frame.
" You don't have to stop reading on my account..." He said.
"You're the bane of my life right now Backup, I don't want to speak with you at this very moment..." I said while I watched him walking down the basement's staircase. " Would you please go away and leave me alone..."
" What are you reading?" He asked.
" How to get rid of annoying partners in 10 minutes, so please go away please!" I replied.
" You're a terrible liar, you've always been that way since we were children..." He chuckled.
" Okay then, I'm reading Jane Eyre..." I said. " It wouldn't interest you, it's quite tragic and set in the early Victorian era. I think you'd get bored after the first few pages, I know you're not much of a classic novel fan unless there's murder involved in the story's plot..."
" I like tragic stories, maybe you could read some of it to me..." He said while he stopped in front of me. " If I fall asleep while you're reading it to me I'll let you jab my arm hard with your finger tip until it causes contusions, you've got my full permission to hurt me until you're feeling better..."
" Please go away, I just want you to leave me alone... " I said with sigh and got up from the floor. " I'm going back to the apartment, you can stay down here and wait until the laundry is finished. I'm going to get an early night, goodnight..."
" Please forgive me..." He pleaded while he gently took hold of my hand. " I won't lose my temper with you again, I promise..."
" Like I've never heard that line before..." I sighed.
" My night has been an unpleasant one, I've seen unnatural things while I was prowling the streets..." He said as he pulled me close towards him. " My mind is restless, my last ounce of sanity is leaving me..."
" You're always seeing unnatural things on the streets, but there is no reason for you to take it out on me..." I sighed while I shooed him away from me with my book. " I know about your eyes, I know you've seen many strange things when you leave the apartment at night. But your last ounce of sanity left you years ago, you're nothing but a monster! I just don't understand why you've got to take your frustration out on me sometimes, I'm really getting sick of your poop. You never use to be like this with me before we left England, why do you have to ruin everything?"
" I'm not frustrated!" He frowned.
" Then what's wrong with you?" I asked.
" I apologize for losing my temper with you, it will not happen again..." He replied with a sigh. " But I've had an unexpected shock when I was out this night, it shook me up terribly..."
" What do you mean by an unexpected shock?" I asked.
" I think I've seen my Alternative, his ghosts roams these streets when the daylight disappears..." He replied.
" You mean you've seen someone who looks like him again..." I sighed
" I know it was him!" He said.
" You know it can't be him, please stop torturing yourself over his death..." I said.
" And why couldn't it have been my Alternative?" He asked.
" Because he took his own life, you told me that you saw him lying in his own pool of blood on the bathroom floor..." I softly said while I brushed some of his shaggy fringe away from his eyes. " I know you miss him and I would give anything to have him back in our life's again, he was the love of my life. You really should stop blaming yourself over his death, it wasn't your fault or mine for that matter. I know you helped him as much as you could when he was fighting his depression, you should know better than anyone what it's like living with the stress of being a successor..."
" But his coffin was empty!" He frowned as he shooed my hand away from his hair." I took a peek inside of his coffin the night before his funeral, where was his body?!"
" Watari told me that A was going to be cremated for DNA and identity reasons, don't you remember?" I asked with a slight smile. " Even L made a speech over Watari's computer telling the whole orphanage about it, his ashes were going to be placed in his coffin before he was buried..."
" Never mention that letter in my presences again!" He snapped.
" Okay, I won't say that letter again..." I said. " Would you like me to read to you until our laundry is done?"
Beyond gave me a slight nod, we then both sat down on the floor together. I gave him a smile while I crossed my legs, but I could still tell that he had A on his mind. I watched him bring his finger tip to his lips, I could tell A's death still haunted him after all of these years. He had took it pretty hard after he found A lying on the bathroom floor of their shared room, he told me he would never forget what he saw that night and he blamed himself over A's suicide. It's happened on a few occasion when Beyond would come back to the apartment mentioning that he had seen A walking the streets of L.A, but I'll never understand why he always took it out on me after he thought he had seen him. Maybe it's because A was the love of my life, I sometimes put it down to jealously.
" What if my poor Alternative his haunting me because I couldn't save him, what if he his punishing me for my sins..." He said.
" Ghosts don't exist, I think we should start limiting your strawberry jam intake for the next few days..." I smiled slightly and nudged him with my elbow." Maybe you saw someone who reminded you of him or they shared the same name has him. These things can happen you know, I bet there is more than one Aiden Michael Tayler out there in this world. Don't you think?"
" But I swear it was I him, my poor Alternative is burning in hell because of me..." He replied.
" Please don't over think about it, you know you'll end up having sleepless nights if you over think..." I sighed while I rested my head on his shoulder and flicked through the pages of my book. " Come on now, I'll start reading Jane Eyre from the beginning. This way I won't have to confuse you by reading it from where I was up to, also I don't feel like explaining the whole story to you right now..."
" If you must..." He sighed.