| Part 2 - Limbo There was a big hello when Tyler and I finally entered the elegant restaurant where Chiara and her friends had gathered. I felt I deserved their ironic remarks. Like a little girl had I acted -- so unbelievably stupid! In the end, nothing had happened! And so I tried to get myself together which turned out not to be so difficult, after all. The food was tasty, the wine delicious. And Chiara and her companions did their best to entertain us, explaining how the traditional Carnival had been revived about 20 years ago, enacting funny episodes from the fancy dress parties and giving vivid descriptions of the dresses they would be wearing this year. And more than one toast was brought out to "the lost girl" who had been finally saved by her "brave knight". I found myself laughing again and was happy to have Tyler at my side and be in the company of these friendly and charming people. And when Chiara was making suggestions what we could do on the next day, which places we should see, I was filled with anticipation. However, there was an eerie instant when we were about to leave the restaurant. Just as Tyler had gone to fetch my coat I thought for a second that outside on the street there had been that man again, that man with the beautiful auburn curls. "No, that's not possible! You're must be getting tired already," I told myself. "And start seeing ghosts!" "What is it?" Tyler asked. "You have that strange look on your face again." "Oh, it's nothing," I replied. "It has been a long day and I feel a little tired. It's going to be exiting tomorrow. I want to see as much of this town as I can -- by daylight, you know! But now I think we should get some sleep." "Yeah, a brilliant idea," Tyler answered cheerfully." Let's have a closer look at that beautiful large bed in the palazzo which was given to us ..." *** Late at night I woke up in that "beautiful large bed" only to find it empty. And immediately I felt that stitch in my chest again. That inexplicable feeling of being threatened by an invisible enemy hiding somewhere out there ... "Now, stop it!" I instructed myself. "I'm only imagining things ... I'm working myself into something!" Desperately, I tried to calm down. In the darkness I scanned the large room with the high ceiling for traces from Tyler. Was there a light coming from the bathroom? No, apparently not. The minutes crept by ever so slowly and I felt my nervousness increasing with each heartbeat. "That's enough!" I said to myself, got out of the bed quickly and wrapped myself in a thick wool sweater. "Even if he thinks I'm a complete idiot, I have to find out where he is!" On tiptoes I left our room, closing the door silently behind me. After the fuss I had created the evening before the last thing I wanted was to wake up our hosts. Therefore, I decided not to switch on the lights, I would find my way along the corridors even in this dusk. Without making a sound I stepped down the majestic flight of stairs leading down to the large entrance hall. All peace and quiet. Nobody there -- as was to be expected. But what about the second floor? Didn't Chiara mention a small picture gallery with some exquisite works her family had acquired over the centuries? Being an expert on Renaissance and Baroque Art Tyler had taken quite an interest in that. Maybe he had wanted to see those pictures? But couldn't that have waited until tomorrow? I hurried up the stairway again, almost stumbling as I took two stairs at a time. My heart had started pounding frantically, my fears what I might discover next increasing with each step. When I finally arrived at the second floor I noticed that at the end of the long corridor a door had been left open. I headed for that wooden folding door, but stopped abruptly in my tracks at the sight I encountered there. Indeed, that intimate cabinet seemed to accommodate the picture gallery Chiara had mentioned. A dim candle was burning on one of the small tables. And ... there was Tyler! He must have fallen as he was seated on the floor with his head resting on one of the antique chairs behind him. His robe was opened wide. The t-shirt he wore above his pyjama trousers had obviously been ripped open, exposing his neck and his collarbone. In an instant I rushed at his side. "Oh my God, what has happened to you?" He didn't answer me. He sat there in a trance-like state, breathing faintly, his hair more tousled than ever, his eyes fixed on a point somewhere above me. "Tyler, what is it? Don't you recognize me?" I exclaimed, gathering him in my arms. He was shivering slightly. "Are you cold?" Of course, he must be freezing. The room was hardly heated and who knows how long he had been sitting there in this state. When I touched him something seemed to stir in him. "Ah, it's you, "he whispered hoarsely, struggling to concentrate his glance on my face. "Yes darling, whom did you expect?" I held him tight closing his robe and wrapping a blanket I had found around him so that he could get warm again. "Linn, there was ... this boy," he slurred. "A boy?, " I replied clumsily, feeling that sharp pain constricting my chest again. "Yeah, I woke up to someone touching my face, caressing my hair. I thought it was you, of course. But when I opened my eyes I saw this beautiful young man, not older than maybe 17, 18 years. He was sitting on the bed close to me. He smiled. And he whispered in a soft voice: "Come, I want to show you something." "I did not ask myself who he was, how he came to be in our room of all places. I just followed him. It was as if I was drawn to him. He led me to this room and gave me some sort of explanations on the paintings there, though I can't remember what he said." "I only remember that ...," Tyler's face flushed. He looked into my eyes and took a deep breath before he continued. "At one moment, he took my face in both his hands and he kissed me on the mouth fully. "You are far more beautiful than these pictures", he whispered in my ear and I felt as if the ground was opening out from under me and I was falling, falling into a deep pit without end." He sighed. "I ... I'm not sure whether I should tell you this, too ..." "Tyler, I love you," I murmured. "There is nothing in the world you could not tell me!" "He opened my robe and he began ... to caress me and ... touch me where no man has ever touched me before. He had me completely under his control. There was nothing I could have denied him. And when I was on the brink of coming, he kissed my neck and I felt a small sharp pain there, but at the same time ..., " he broke off, and I could see there were tears in his eyes. "Linn, I am so ashamed to tell you this, but I can't describe you the ecstasy I felt, the rapture!" Incoherent thoughts were whirling around in my head. It was like in a nightmare -- you struggle and struggle so hard to wake up from it, but somehow you can't! I broke down. "It's all my fault," I cried. "That boy, how did he look? Long auburn hair, gleaming brown eyes? Like a cupid from a picture by Caravaggio?" "Yes! How do you know?" Almost hysterical I described what I had seen the evening before. I had believed that I my imagination had played tricks upon me, that this event would be of no further significance. "I even thought that for an instant I had seen him again when we were about to leave the restaurant. But then again I was sure I had only imagined this. He must have followed us to this house!" "But even then, there is no excuse for what I did," Tyler muttered with a broken voice. "I can't explain ... I never meant to ...to cheat you like this! It's you that I love!" I could see that he was as desperate and confused as I was. How could I not have forgiven him when I saw the sadness in his eyes? I believed him. "And I love you," I replied and kissed him tenderly. "But it's no good staying here any longer. You'll catch a cold." I took up the candle, helped him to get up and holding each other tight we went back to our room. Got in that large bed and huddled under the thick covers as if we could hide there, as if were safe then. And clinging to each other desperately like children lost at night in a dark big forest we fell into a deep unfathomable sleep. |
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