The beginning of everything

Not understanding, Sonia turns and looks at the child doubtfully. "What do you mean?"

"Mean? Nothing, but look at the date on that drawing"

"May 28, 2012"

Just smiling, Christian looks at his other works "All these works represent dreams I've had... they are not of great relevance. As I don't forget my dreams, I usually paint them from time to time out of boredom... I left certain details hidden inside the drawings to complement everything I saw in just one drawing"

Frowning, Sonia says "I don't understand"

"I'm not saying anything Sonia, I'm just showing you what I see in my dreams... at some point, I will upload pictures of these drawings on the internet.... it all depends on what happens to me, that's why now I recommend you carefully record each drawing, because they may be important, but they also may just be garbage, nobody knows what will happen in the future"

Still in doubt, Sonia looks at all the drawings and shrugs her shoulders, then looks at the camerawomen and says "Make sure that everything is well recorded, as clear images"

"Sonia, which one do you like best?"

Looking at all the paintings closely, Sonia approaches one in particular "This is New York?"

Smiling slightly, Christian nods. "Yes"

"December, 2019-202X... why does it have two dates?"

"Do you like the drawing?" ignoring his question, Christian asks.

"Yes, it's interesting the sad atmosphere you see, it's like it makes whoever sees it feel sadness..."

"Take it as a gift from me, it's yours"

Turning to Christian, Sonia asks "For me?"

Nodding, Christian says "I'd say that's the most important one in all these drawings... it's my first work of this kind"

Turning again to the drawing, Sonia nods. "I'll hang it in my studio"

"I would be honored"

After about 15 minutes, each drawing was finished being recorded and they were back in the main room.

"Do you have any more questions, Sonia?"

"No, those would be all of them, we have to get to editing and set everything up, thanks for the opportunity Christian"

"Thanks to you for coming"

...

"*Sigh*" Leaning back on the couch with his head resting on Leslie's thighs, Christian looks at her and speaks "When will you tell me your doubts? Sonia already left 2 hours ago, but you haven't said anything and I see the doubts in your mind"

Lowering her gaze to look at the boy, Leslie looked him in the eyes and asked "Why say that someone is following you? Isn't it more dangerous for that person to know that you know he exists?"

Smiling, Christian raised his eyebrows and said "That was your doubt? It's simple, if that person does something now, everyone will know that someone is really attacking me and authorities lied... maybe it will buy me time with that person, since she will have to be more cautious now with her actions"

"And if you do nothing? Won't they see you as crazy?"

"I don't care if they see me as crazy, I just want that person to leave me alone for a while... getting out of the eye of the police, I will devote myself to looking for him... there must be a lot of people who will kill someone for money, no?"

Raising his eyebrows, Leslie said "You want to have him killed?"

"It's him or me... he already showed what he's capable of. I'm not going to leave it up to chance, I'll find that person." Christian nodded, then got up and sat on Leslie's lap. "Are you worried about me?"

"..." Without answering, Leslie just averted her gaze.

"Hoh..." Noticing Leslie's shyness, Christian smiled and brought his face close to hers. "My cute Leslie is so shy~"

"..." As if not listening, Leslie just averted her gaze.

Smiling mischievously, Christian moved even closer and lightly bit the woman's ear, causing her to startle and look at the boy quickly "W-what are you doing!?"

"Me? Nothing. What are you doing putting your ear in my mouth?"

"..." Blinking for a few seconds, Leslie just snorted and rolled her eyes again.

Smiling softly, Christian said "Leslie, why are you so shy?

"..."

Looking at the black patch on the woman's eye, Christian asked curiously "Leslie, can I see your other eye?"

"No" Frowning slightly, Leslie looked at Christian and answered without hesitation.

"Why?"

"You'll be scared"

"..." Smiling slightly, Christian gently took Leslie's face and slowly brought his hands towards the patch, then lifted it under the woman's fearful gaze.

The eye really looked bad, she had a small scar between the middle of her eyelids and where the eye should be, you can only see what looks like flesh, but other than that, it's nothing out of this world.

"Does it hurt?" Gently stroking the contours of the eye, Christian gently asked.

" Sometimes, but not very often..."

Gently stroking her face for a few more seconds, Christian finally sighed, covered her eye, then smiled softly and said "Leslie, do you trust me?"

With hesitation, Leslie nodded.

"When all the problems are over, I will dedicate myself to researching technology and try to create a robotic eye for you... I don't know how long it will take, let alone if it's even possible, but I will try my best"

With her same stoic face, Leslie just nodded.

"Maya, I swear, we have a movie theater in my house!"

Raising his eyebrows, Christian turned on Leslie's lap and waited patiently for the front door to open.

"Woow!" Maya exclaimed as she opened the door, gazing with sparkling eyes at the long stairs and the beautiful chandelier hanging in front of her.

"See!? I told you we had those things that hang like in the movies!" Hailie exclaimed proudly.

Walking in with dozens of bags and followed by Alan, Eva sighed and smiled as she saw Christian looking directly at her.

Grabbing Maya's arm, Hailie pulled her towards the living room "Come on, I'll show you the pool!"

Nodding, Maya walked quickly while carrying a small bag in her hands, but as she passed through the living room, she momentarily froze and looked to her side, finding Christian staring at her, causing nervousness to quickly spread across her face "H-hello!"

"Hi Maya, I see you're already here to stay over" Looking down at the bag in the girl's hands, Christian smiled and spoke.

"Y-yes, d-daddy gave me permission!" Maya nodded quickly, but the nervousness in her was growing, causing her to keep stuttering.

"Then have fun, you can choose any guest room you want, but you can also sleep with Hailie. If you want to play late, you could also take some mattresses to Hailie's playroom and sleep there!"

With a sudden twinkle in her eye, Hailie exclaimed "What an amazing idea, Christian, you're a genius!"

"I get that every day" Christian smiled, only to turn to Eva and notice that she was looking at Maya with a sharp look that the girl didn't seem to notice.

"Come on Maya, I'll show you around the house!" gleefully, Hailie grabbed Maya's arm and dragged her out of the living room, while the girl didn't take her gaze off Christian as she left.

Frowning slightly, Eva looked at Christian and said "Is it always like this?"

"No, it started recently" Christian smiled slightly, then got off Leslie's legs and walked towards his mother.

Looking at the bags Alan was already checking, Christian opened one curiously and smiled. "Will you cook pizza?"

"Yes, Hailie wanted pizza"

"Wouldn't it be better to buy it pre-made?"

"I feel like cooking something"

Looking at Alan for a few seconds, Christian ignored him and looked for treasures inside the bag, so that after a few seconds he smiled and quickly pulled out a box of chocolate. "With strawberry filling?"

"Yeah, you like those, don't you?"

"Yes, but it wouldn't hurt to change things up from time to time-" Without finishing speaking, Christian looked to his side and saw Alan stretching out his hand with a small box of goodies, causing Christian to raise his eyebrows. "What's this?"

"I... I didn't give you anything for your birthday...it's my present" Turning his gaze, Alan just holds his hand outstretched with the small box of candy.

"My birthday was last year and this year's is not here yet, but thank you so much" Receiving the gift, Christian looks at the boy with a soft smile.

Nodding, Alan pulls a bottle of soda from the bag and heads to the second floor.

Once he was out of sight, Christian turned to his mother and asked "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, today he said he would go shopping with me, but he was supposed to stay in his room while you were at the interview, I thought you talked to him?"

"You grounded him already?"

"Yes, five days ago"

"How did he take it? I didn't see you arguing with him"

"I went to his room and talked to him, at first he started crying, but when he saw that it didn't work, he got mad, so I left him alone"

"I guess it worked?" Hesitant, Christian looked at his box of candy.

"I guess." Shrugging, Eva takes the bags and walks to the kitchen. "How did your interview go?"

"Wonderful." Following his mother, Christian looks at Leslie who was following him and sticks out his tongue. "Leslie bullied my reporter"

"Oh, did she do something to piss her off?"

"No, she just brought me my photo album, but the reporter got a little nervous when she saw Leslie"

"Didn't that reporter put you in a bad situation?" Nodding to Leslie with satisfaction, Eva left the bags on the table and walked toward the kitchen as she asked.

"No, maybe she asked some tough questions, but none that I don't want to answer"

Nodding, Eva began to prepare everything to make pizza, as the sun was already starting to set, leaving a beautiful sunset illuminating the entire room.

"Well, I'm off to work at Discord.... Mom, I'm begging you to make the pizza edible, I don't want to get food poisoning"

Snorting, Eva spoke "It will be the most exquisite pizza ever"

"I hope so"

...

Monday, June 4, 10:11 AM.

Looking at himself in front of the mirror, Christian sighed "It's today..."

Turning around, Christian looks at the dozens of discs lying on his bed and bites his lips. "This bad feeling is growing worse... I feel like I have a hole in my stomach"

Taking one last look at the discs with names on them, Christian straightens his dark suit and leaves the room, walking quietly down downstairs and into the main room where his mother, Sara and ten policemen could be seen in the doorway.

Smiling slightly, Christian walks over to his nervous mother and says "See you at the trial mom"

"Christian..." Looking at her child with complex feelings, Eva just bites her lips and nods.

Walking towards the policewomen, Christian nods towards them and stretches out his hands, only to be gently grabbed by the shoulders as they place the handcuffs on his hands.

Turning his face towards the policewoman grabbing his shoulder, Christian smiles and says "You didn't tell me your name the other day, what is it?"

"Sofia." With a slight smile, the woman speaks, then takes a good look at the handcuffs and asks "Are they tight?"

"They're fine, thank you for asking"

Nodding, Sofia looks at her companions and nods, then turns to Eva and says "We'll escort Christian to his trial, you can follow us if you want"

"We'll be right behind you" Sara nodded, then looked at Eva and said "I'm driving today"

With one last direct look at his mother, Christian let himself be led away by the women. Leaving the house, Christian sees that the entrance is surrounded by his guards, while Leslie stared at him being in the lead, then looking towards the policewomen and said "We'll be escorting him"

Looking at over 50 armed women, Sofia couldn't help but get nervous, but remembering the situation, she gathered courage and said "No need-"

"No question, we are paid to protect him." Without letting her finish, Leslie turned and nodded, causing all the women to get into the ten vehicles quickly, while Leslie looked back at Sofia. "You have to understand that he already suffered an attack because of our carelessness, we can't make the same mistake, so just take us as an additional escort"

Looking at her companions hesitantly, Sofia ends up sighing and nodded. "Fine, but one of our cars has to go lead the way"

Nodding silence, Leslie took one last look at Christian and smiled slightly, then turned and climbed into a van.

"*Sigh* Let's go" With a sigh of relief, Sofia moved toward the vehicles.

With a last glance at home, Christian climbed into the police vehicle and leaned back in the seat. Watching curiously as they turned on the police beacon, the first vehicle drove off, being followed instantly by the first five vans.

"I can tell they love you" Watching the vehicles leave without delay, Sofia turned and looked at Christian.

"We've known each other for months, they're good women"

Nodding, Sofia looks at her partner and nods, then the vehicle starts and they begin to leave the home, instantly being followed by five other vans.

Looking out the back window, Christian only smiled slightly as he thought 'five Police vehicles, ten armored personal guard vehicles, I look like I'm the president'

The road was silent, the vehicles moved quickly, even running red lights because of the risk of an attack on the boy. This let them arrive at the place in less than half an hour.

Looking out the window, Christian noticed that he was surrounded by reporters, forming only a small path to the courthouse, drawing a tired sigh from him.

"It's going to be complicated..." Looking at the reporters, Sofia frowned. "I think we'll go in from the back"

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Edited By: Joy_a