It had been around 45 minutes since the movie started, and the room was filled with the sound of swords clashing in the movie, mixed with a slurping sound coming from the dark corner of the room.
"I can't believe we are doing this here," Reina said while kissing Rudy passionately.
Reina was sitting on Rudy's lap and kissing Rudy like there was no tomorrow.
"I bet you booked this entire room for this, too," she said.
"No, actually. I just didn't want anyone to be here," Rudy replied while playing with Reina's hair.
"Hmm?"
Rudy pointed his gaze at the second last row of the other corner and said, "That was my and Elise's favorite spot. We used to sit there most of the time whenever we came here.
One day, no one was in the room except a few others. The movie wasn't good and had gotten the lowest rating in a decade. But Elise and I only went there to spend time together.
So we watched the movie, and there was an interval. And I had this weird pattern that whenever I spent some time in the air conditioner, I would need to go take a leak every hour.
I held it in, but since it was an interval, I decided to leave. I asked Elise if she wanted to come, but she said her legs were numb and it would take her a while to get out. So I decided to go on my own and returned after a minute or two.
When I returned, I saw some dudes trying to pick up on Elise. I asked them nicely to leave her alone, but they didn't and asked me to leave. I snapped and punched one of them in the face."
He said with an emotionless expression on his face.
"What happened next?" Reina asked curiously.
"Nothing. Others who were present in the room backed me up and complained to the guard standing outside. And they were kicked out of the theater," he responded with the same look on his face.
"Isn't that… good? They got what they deserved."
"That's what we thought…" Rudy took a deep breath and uttered, "When we got out of the theater, it was already evening, and since it was winter, even 6 PM seemed like night.
We… we were on our way back to her apartment, but this feeling of uneasiness was growing inside me. I felt… alarmed. I thought someone was watching us, but I couldn't see anyone.
I can't describe how relieved I was when we reached her apartment safely. However, I was a fool."
Rudy frowned his face and said, "Those guys had followed us all the way to her apartment. They were waiting for us to come out so they could hunt us. They had even brought other thugs with them and had weapons.
I wasn't aware of that until I woke up to a thudding noise from the other room. To be honest, I was freaked out that day, and I couldn't sleep, so that sound was like a ripple in the water.
Elise was sleeping beside me, so I quietly made my way out of the room and caught a glimpse of a shadow moving from one end to another. At first, I thought I was seeing things. I even thought I saw my own shadow, but I wasn't that thumb.
There was no light coming, so there would be no shadow. Turned out those thugs had come well prepared and were dressed in all black. It was almost as if they were used to doing that kind of thing."
The mood in the room was no longer romantic. It was filled with suspense and the eerie feeling of despair.
Reina couldn't fathom how Rudy would have felt that night. He didn't even have his powers nor any way to protect himself or Elise from the bunch of thugs who were armed and more in numbers.
She anxiously gulped down and asked, "What… happened then?"
"I quietly went back to the room and locked the door from inside. Then I woke up Elise and told her everything. She was freaking out… I was, too… but I had to act brave. We immediately called the cops.
Fortunately, the police station was right around the block, so it didn't even take them two minutes to get there. We had told them to come with their lights off and don't ring their honk. They didn't want to do it, but they agreed. And… they successfully captured them.
The next day, we were called into the police station and informed that they were a group of serial killers who had committed similar crimes before. Their kill count was more than 50, and they always targeted couples."
"That's…" Reina didn't know what to say. And she knew that saying anything on such a sensitive topic could do more worse than good.
"At that time, I said to myself- 'If I had power, I would remove them from the world.'. But now, I possess that power. I can make them disappear. I just need to say it, and it will happen. If I run into them again someday, they won't get a chance to say their prayers," he asserted in a solemn voice.
Reina bit her lips and said, "I am sorry I reminded you of something terrible."
"You didn't. How would you remind me of something I was never able to forget? I remember my every moment with Elise, and I cherish them. Waiting for the day she will move into this city," he stated with a soft scoff and a distant smile.
"When will she come?"
"It should be around six months. I don't remember the exact date, and we only met two years later at the university. However, I am not going to wait that long."
After that, Reina and Rudy watched the rest of the movie together and left the theater.
"So, what's next?" Rudy asked. "It's hot as fuck, and I don't want you to get dehydrated. Shall we go to the mall and do some shopping?" he asked calmly.
"But… I don't want anything. Do you have something in your mind that you want to buy?" she asked.
"Hmm~" Rudy hummed in amusement and said, "I do, actually."
