a normal life, that is what would best describe how I lived till now, apart from a few mishaps everything was fine. A quiet normal life, yes, that's how I lived. Until the day I met him.

It started on a clear bright day of April 2019, I was working part time at a cafe, and that when I met him. Clear brown eyes, tall, dark and handsome, he was impossible to miss. He walked to the counter; " An iced coffee with two croissants" he said. As I was preparing his order, I couldn't help but feel his piercing gaze on my back.

As I returned with his order, he kept staring at me. It made a little uncomfortable, so I couldn't help but speak up, "do I have something on my face I said" while making sure to keep a safe distance from him. "yes." he answered, smiling slyly. "what?" I replied as I handed him his order. "you've got my full attention" he responded.

"What?", I thought to myself. "what did he just say? did those words really come out of his mouth? they are so corny you would think a 6 yr old made it up". But I couldn't help but smile to myself, he was so off his game, but for some reason, I couldn't help but think it was cute.

"Sorry, sorry. I made a bet with my colleagues but lost so I was forced to do that as a penalty. Now hearing myself say that is much worse than I thought it would be" he said, while smiling and pointing to some people out the window.

" Oh no no, it's was good, you definitely pickup any girl with that line I assure you" I replied teasingly.

"Really? ANY girl? he answered, a smirk on his face. " I'm Alex, I work at DS university just across, nice to meet you" he continued, a hand extended. "Rias, I work at the cafe where are right now, nice to meet you too" I replied, as my hand reached out to shake his.

"Haha, you are a interesting person. I would have loved to stay and get to know better, if I wasn't in such a hurry" he answered. " you said my lines could help me pick up any girl, but I am not convinced it worked with you" he continued. " How about letting me try again at another time, say tomorrow at the Chinese food place. If that's alright with you" he said, extending his phone.

"Straight to the point, huh?" I thought to myself. "Well, it not like I have anything to lose. He's good looking, funny and he seems like a nice person. Well, we'll just see where this goes."

"Sure!" I replied, putting in my phone number into the phone.

"Great!. well I have get going, it was really nice meeting you. I'll see you later then" he answered, while walking out the door.

A few moments after he left, I resumed work normally, but I just couldn't get him out of my mind, his smile, his eyes, every single moment that happened just a few hours ago kept replaying in my mind, all I could think of was that I wanted to get off work and arrive home, sleep, and wake up when we already the next day.

After I got home the events of the day were still fresh in my mind, my day couldn't be more perfect and I felt like I was on cloud nine. After all, I scored a date with probably the hottest guy in town. What more could I for. I was really looking forward to our date the next day.

But little did I know, that it was gonna spell the beginning of all my troubles.

Finally, it arrived the day I was waiting for, the day of my date with Alex. After waiting and getting anxious for what felt like an eternity, it was finally here. But the only problem was what I was going to wear. I kept on racking my brain, after all, it was my first date. After a few moments of tossing , turning and flipping through my entire closet, I finally set off.

I arrived at our rendezvous point to find him standing and waiting for me. I mean which guy hasn't done this before, but it still had a certain charm to it. "You look stunning" he said, his brown eyes fixed on me. " Thank you, you don't look too bad your self" I replied. " Shall we go in then " he asked, arm extended. "Of course" I answered while holding on to it.

The night proceeded without any troubles, our conversation seeming endless, but refreshing. I had already thought he was the perfect man, but me finding out he was an orphan, who takes care of his grandmother, (the person who took care of him after his parents passed) who's has Alzheimer's and volunteers at DS ville orphanage at his spare time, reinforced that belief. And I had never met someone who had almost the same interests as me. He really seemed too good, too good to be true that is.

After dinner we proceeded to watch a movie. While we were in front of the theater he asked "so what are we going to watch. are you a romance person, action person... what's your drug?"

" well first of all, thinking all girls are romantic is a bad stereotype" I answered. " you never know, what if I'm a horror type of person? I might murder you in the theater and no one will know" I said jokingly.

" Haha, we'll see" he replied, in an almost cold tone.

After a few moments of contemplating, we finally chose movie and went in.

A few moments after finding our seats, the movie began. It was your classic story type horror movie. A woman who lived with her husband for close 8 years then finds out that he's a wanted serial killer, and to protect his secret the man then proceeds to slaughter his whole family until only the wife is left. As the scenes passed in front of my eyes, I then turned to ask Alex, "How can there be such people in the world? People who will take their fellow human's life for things as trivial as secrets, some even do it only pleasure. What is wrong with those people?"

"You won't know till you experience it yourself". he replied. "The feeling of having someone's life in your hands, of being in control, of watching them struggle, trying to grasp onto any and every little hope they have despite them knowing it futile, of watching them lose every single strand of that hope, until finally begging you to end their misery. We each feel pleasure from something, and although it might seem strange to you that it what gives them pleasure."

After saying those whose words, Alex returned to watching the movie. And I watched him, an almost cynical smile on his face; his words echoing in the back of my mind, enjoy every single scene. Almost as if he'd seen it, almost as if he'd experienced it... almost as if he'd done it.

After the movie ended, Alex and I said our goodbyes for that night, promising to do it again another time, I then boarded a taxi and headed home.

Immediately after arriving home, I proceeded straight to bed, I hadn't missed my bed like this in a long time, sure I was tired, but I was also really happy, it was the time in my life I such a fun night and Alex was really cool. But I couldn't help but think back on what he said at the theater. "Why would he say that? Were those just mere words or...".

As I forced myself to sleep, I kept telling myself not to worry, after all every person is wired in his/her own way, some adults even follow things like cartoons like it was a series, no one is perfect and we each have our own quirks.

As I slowly drifted off to sleep, I kept pushing my anxiety back, telling myself that my worries were just that, mere worries.

It has been more than 6 months since I met Alex. After the incident at the cinema, we went on a few more dates after that, and I realized that my worries were unfounded, Alex and I started dating after that and he has been an absolute gentleman. He's introduced to his grandma and friends and we've gotten along well.

Today, Alex and I are attending a brunch organised by my friends and I planning on introducing him to them. Especially to my best friend, Aliya, whose been with me since elementary school. She and her bright personality have always helped get through tough situations, so her opinion is important to me.

At first, when we arrived, I didn't know how things will go, but as time went by my friends really started to like Alex. He had this certain charm and was a social person and I'm glad I wasn't the onl"y one who thought so. A few minutes just before the brunch came to an end, Aliya, pulled me to the side, finally I could hear her thoughts on Alex. "So, what do you think? Pretty nice, isn't he? I asked enthusiastically. "Yeah, he is pretty nice. Close to perfect if you ask me." she replied. " But... are you sure you trust this guy?" she continued. " What do you mean?" I replied. "You just said he was close to perfect". "That what I mean. I haven't seen anyone that nice." she answered. "And, there is just something about him. The air around him I mean. I don't know why but I don't feel comfortable around him." she continued.

"Ri, you know how much I care about you, and I won't want you get hurt. I'm just saying, you haven't known him for that long yet. Just... promise me you'll be careful, okay?."

After my talk with Aliya, I went out for some air. I needed time to process what Aliya had told me. I mean, I had just gotten into my first relationship, and my partner was pretty much amazing to me, and suddenly my best friend tells me to careful around him. Sure, I liked Alex, but I couldn't just disregard what Aliya had told me, after all, her advice always helped through tough situations.

As I was deep in thought, I didn't notice someone getting close to me. "Little wild flower, so you too are here." said the person. Hearing those three words, I knew didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Since there was only one person annoying enough to call me "little wild flower", Christopher Honeywell. A well known playboy in the neighborhood, and also the guy who has been pursing me since college. Due to the number of times I refused his advances, cursed and and even punched him when he became too persistent, he started calling me "little wild flower". "What are you doing here, Chris?" I asked, annoyance already on my face. "Chill, little wild flower, my bros and I just came to eat" he replied, a disgusting smile on his face. "But I have to say, wild flower, you just keep getting beautiful by second. I still don't understand why keep rejecting me. I'm beautiful, your beautiful, why wait any longer?" he continued. "You know what?, I really don't have time to waste on you today. Have fun eating with your bros" I replied, my back already turned preparing to leave. "Come on, don't be in such a hurry , to leave. why not come eat with us." he said, grabbing my wrist. "Let me go you bastard, I'm not in the mood for your nonsense today" I replied, struggling to pull myself out of his grasp. "Your feisty nature hasn't changed, little wild flower. Just eat with us for a bit. I promise it won't take long." he answered, his grip tightening. "Ouch, your hurting me you prick. Let me go or else I'll start screaming" I replied, enraged.

As I was about to kick him "where it hurts" Alex appeared. Seeing the situation, he launched himself at Chris and his friends. I had never seen him in such a state before. The rage in his eyes, it was as if he was looking at his worst enemy. He then grabbed Chris by the throat, lifting him Into the air. As he looked Chris in the eye his grip tightened. No matter how much Chris struggled, he didn't let go, only seeming to increase the the pressure. As I stared into his cold eyes, I knew I had to stop him. I had to stop him or else Chris will lose his life. I had no doubt in my mind, it wasn't a question, I was a certainty. It was something every fiber of my body felt; " If I don't stop him he will kill them"