He smiled at me. I smiled back and batted my eyes. He was charming. I couldn't deny that. But he wasn't very bright. Couldn't he see the way I looked at him? No, they never did.
I met him while I was roaming the town in which he lived. I'm still not sure how I had even arrived. As far as I could remember, I just woke up there, on a riverbank. I had only been searching around for a few minutes when he appeared, walking past that river. When he saw me, he reached out to me. He asked me several questions and I answered every single one of them but only through body language. It was strange. I was usually pretty chatty. Even I didn't understand why I had suddenly lost the desire to reply verbally. If it bothered him, though, he didn't show it. Instead, he accepted it and since he was able to understand my choice of movements (nods of the head, simple enough), he took all my answers without hesitation. He was very cute… Slowly, then, he moved closer to me and took my arm. I smiled at the gesture and, arm in arm, we walked back to his home. As we got closer to him home, he sang a little song in my ear, just for me.
"Trust me, trust me, darling dear. I'm so sincere, there's no need to tear. Trust me, trust me, darling do. Just like I trust you!" his voice was so soft and gentle and sweet. I could've fallen in love with just his voice and that would've been enough. Suddenly, then, the compulsion to speak returned to me and I smiled up at him and finally spoke.
"I trust you," I said and he looked so pleased to have finally heard my voice. I think I was in love.
Once we reached his little home in the far side of town, he sat me down on his couch and asked who I was. I told him that my name was Tamara Lounds and I didn't know where I was, or why or how. As a matter of fact, I couldn't remember anything before waking up lost. I tried to give him more, but that was literally it. He nodded sympathetically but said nothing. It was a peaceful, easy silence but as it carried on, I felt my shyness flare up again and I decided to fill the gaps.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"My name?" he asked back. He sounded genuinely surprised. Did he forget that he hadn't told me yet? Or was he just unused to giving out his name? Either way, I nodded and urged him to go on. He looked at me for a long moment but he did finally surrender an answer. "My name is Scorpion and although I'm not sure how I got here either, I just know that I've been in this town for quite awhile now and I actually really like it."
"Oh," I replied. Everything he told me then had been something I planned upon asking about later but to hear him lay it all out on the table in one sentence was a little disheartening. I hadn't learned anything at all. I still had no clue where I was or how or why. My one consolation was that Scorpion made it sound like this was normal.
"Maybe you can just stay here," he offered, seeming to have sensed my displeasure. "Hopefully you'll remember who you are soon but, if not, you can always live here!" he leaned closer to me, hopeful.
"That sweet of you, but I couldn't possibly!" I blushed, both because of his offer and his proximity. "Besides, I already know who I am!" I added.
Suddenly, then the house's front door creaked open and in came a hooded figure. The figure took off the hood to reveal a strange woman underneath. By strange, I mean that she had skin as cold and pale as porcelain. She had heterochromia eyes that seemed to never blink and her hair was so blond it was white. In addition, a big, black, web-like scar covered the right half of her eerily pale face. That was probably the most unnerving of all of her other creepy features. I wondered how she could've gained such an injury, let alone survive it. Then another unsettling thought came to me. She had just barged in. Did she live here? What relationship did she have with Scorpion? Before I could ask any of these questions, she had turned to him and busily pantomimed something I couldn't understand. I felt very out of place just then. But she left shortly after conveying this taciturn message and, to my relief, left the house.
"Well…" I said finally. "That was mighty unexpected," I pretended to be deeply confounded and Scorpion laughed a little. We spent the next 10 minutes chatting idly before Scorpion suddenly changed the subject.
"Hey, Tamara?" he asked. "Will you come with me for a moment? I have something I must do," he stood up, offering me an arm. I was a little surprised by this sudden change of pace but I didn't want to question him so I nodded. I took his offered arm and raised myself up with a mock-haughty expression. He chuckled at my princess-y ways before giving me a bow and leading me on.
Together, we headed to what I assumed was his bedroom. It was small, dark, dingy and a little ominous. What caught my eye the most, though, was the giant knife wheel leaning against the wall. That wasn't something you saw in a normal bedroom.
"Why are we here?" I asked. All at once, I could feel a chill down my spine though I didn't understand why.
"I, uhh, am part of a circus act and, as you can see, I'm the guy that throws the knives!" Scorpion replied. "That lady you met earlier was one of my coworkers. She was telling me that my boss wants me on another show soon but I don't have a wheel gal!"
"What happened?" I asked him in reply, concern for both him and the girl entering my voice.
"It doesn't matter," he replied. "You're prettier anyhow. Do you think you would want to help me out?"
"Really?" I asked. After hearing him say that it didn't matter, another chill went down my spine but the moment he offered me a place in his show, my heart tingled just a little. It was every girl's dream to be a part of something big an eye-catching and I had always wanted to be in a performance of some kind. Besides, Scorpion had been nothing but a sweetheart and a gentleman so far, What did I have to fear?
"Ok then!" I agreed. "Where do I start?"
"Right here," he answered. He pressed me against the wheel and strapped me in. As he did this, he sung the little tune again.
"Trust me, trust me, darling dear. I'm so sincere, there's no need to tear. Trust me, trust me, darling do. Just like I trust you!" he finished tying the last cord just as the song ended. I giggled at him and then decided to sing a verse of my own in response to his.
"I trust you, trust you, darling dear. Oh yes, I'm sincere, there's no need to fear. I trust you, trust you, yes I do. And you trust me too!" I finished the song with a shy smile. I could see from his impressed face that he liked my voice and I suddenly felt shy again.
Then things took a change of pace. Scorpion threw a few knives into the wheel for practice, careful to avoid me, but then I could see that some kind of internal change had overtaken him. Suddenly, there was a dark and hungry light in his black eyes that hadn't been there before. Again, that chill ran down my spine and it was accompanied by the overwhelming sense that I had been here before, as impossible as that sounded.
"Ummm, Scorpion?" I asked, certain that my worry was evident.
"Yes, my darling dear?" he asked. He sounded so sweet that, for a moment, I was convinced that I had hallucinated that change within but. But just to be sure, I asked my next question anyway.
"Are we almost through?" I asked.
"Trust me," he replied simply. I had only just begun to smile when, as quick as the scorpion after which he was named, he threw the last knife, ssshhhlaaackkkk! right into my heart! I let out a croak as I felt the life leave my body and I shuddered in disgust as the blood rose in my throat, creating a drowning sensation. Right before I died out though, I saw Scorpion gaze at my corpse, cleaning his knife. He was charming. I couldn't deny that. But he wasn't very bright. Couldn't he see the way I looked at him? No, they never did. Not unless it was too late for me…
As my life left my body, my memories returned. Suddenly, I saw the whole picture and I remembered everything. I was dead and in Hell. In life, I had been what a normal person would call a whore. I was just so desperate for love that I turned to all kinds of sex to fill that void. It was the sin of lust, plain and simple. I slept with anything I wanted to and such an unhealthy lifestyle had landed me here, in a place of eternal torment to pay for my promiscuous personality. I guess they were right when they said love hurts. With that, I finally expired. In the background, though it was distorted, like trying to hear someone from underwater, I could hear singing.
"You trust me, trust me, darling dear? But I'm not sincere, there is need to fear. Why trust me, trust me, little fool? Just 'cause I trust you?"
I burst awake to find myself lying flat on my back on a riverbank. Jumping to my feet out of sheer surprise, I fought hard for any recollection of where I was or even how I had arrived. Nothing came up. I couldn't remember a thing before waking up in this strange new world. I had only been searching around the riverbank for a few minutes, though, when a boy appeared, walking past the river. When he saw me, he reached out to me. He asked me several questions and I answered every single one of them but only through body language. It was strange. I was usually pretty chatty. Even I didn't understand why I had suddenly lost the desire to reply verbally. If it bothered him, though, he didn't show it. Instead, he accepted it and since he was able to understand my choice of movements (nods of the head, simple enough), he took all my answers without hesitation. He was very cute… Slowly, then, he moved closer to me and took my arm. I smiled at the gesture and, arm in arm, we walked back to his home. As we got closer to him home, he sang a little song in my ear, just for me.
"Trust me, trust me, darling dear. I'm so sincere, there's no need to tear. Trust me, trust me, darling do. Just like I trust you!"
AN: I just wanted to rewrite the original story from Tamara's perspective.
