LEON
“CUT!” yelled the director. My co-actor and I immediately broke the tension by smiling at each other.“That was exhausting,” she remarked, laughing.“Tell me all about it,” I said.“Way to go, you two!” The director rose from his seat and approached us. As he moved, his belly fat jiggled. He stood about 4 feet 8 inches tall and had a rounded body.Natasha, her stage name, said, “Thank you, Director Kim.” It was an honor for her to be praised.Director Kim laughed and looked at me, saying, “And you, Leon, you’re getting better at this.”I scratched the back of my head lightly with my left hand. “Thank you, Director,” I replied. “It’s also because of you. You really assisted me in bringing out my best,” I added.My words of thanks made the middle-aged man blush. “You, Leon!” He then smacked my arm playfully to show his delight. “Enough with the flattery. Now, I want you two to rehearse your next scene,” he changed the subject and reverted to his “director” persona.“Okay, see you later, Director,” Natasha said immediately, and even kissed Director Kim goodbye.“Sorry, Natasha. That won’t work on me,” the Director joked, but it was also true.Kim, the director, is gay. He was open about his sexuality from the moment I met him. He had worked on several indie films, the majority of which received positive feedback. We began filming his new film, Don’t Lie To Me, My Love, two months ago.The plot revolved around two newlywed young couples. They were completely engrossed in each other and rushed everything between them. They realized how much they disagreed with each other’s ideas as they spent more time together. Their relationship deteriorated, and one of them fell out of love. Angelo (as portrayed by me) was completely absorbed in his work. He ignored his wife’s longing for him and left her wondering if it was worth it to marry him. Helen (played by Natasha) attempted to solve their problem. When Angelo refused to let her speak, she took a break and went on a solo vacation. There, she would meet Nathaniel, a young, free-spirited man a few years her junior.I don’t want to make this any longer. To be honest, it had a clear conflict and conclusion. However, Director Kim has always liked to spice up his works. During the first half of the film, the audience would most likely side with Helen and blame Angelo for neglecting her. They’d despise my character and everything. But things would take a turn, and it would be revealed that Helen was a serial cheater from the start. She had already cheated on Angelo with five different men before they married. She always started their argument, no matter how minor it was. Angelo turned cold towards her because he didn’t want to say anything hurtful to Helen. Angelo went insane when he found out. Who wouldn’t, after all?To summarize, Angelo would be involved in a car accident and die alone. Isn’t it tragic?━━━━━━ ◦ ◦ ━━━━━━“DOES he know yet?” Alynna inquired abruptly.“Huh?” I replied, perplexed. I was prepping for our next shoot by reading the lines.“Dummy, Sheldon!” She elaborated. “Does he know yet?” she said again, completely disregarding the fact that I was in the middle of a self-rehearsal.My head shook. “No. I didn’t get to speak with him about it,” I admitted.I exclaimed in my head, [Because we had sex all night!]Alynna sat by my side, dismayed, and clicked her tongue. She still hadn’t figured out that I wasn’t available to speak with. “You guys had better communicate properly! Staying that way isn’t good for you, Leon!” Alynna sighed.“I know,” I agreed for the time being. Arguing with Alynna was like entering a battle unarmed. You’d die from her never-ending advice bullets.“Don’t misunderstand me, Leon,” she defended. “I’m envious of people who can be intimate. But keeping things that bother you from your lover is much more difficult, you know?” She began rambling. “How will Sheldon react if he discovers that you’re having repetitive nightmares and haven’t told him about it? Doesn’t that seem unjust?”[What on earth is she on about?] I was thinking to myself. [If she puts it that way, it sounds like I’ve been keeping secrets from Sheldon and not trying to make things right with him, which is not the case. I simply don’t want to think about my nightmares.]“It’s fine, Alynna. I’m going—” She interrupted me by shushing me.“No way, Leon. It. Is. Not. All right,” she insisted, and I sighed. She gasped when she noticed the script I was holding. “Oh my! You were practicing?” She half-screamed, stood up, and apologized to me immediately. “I’m sorry, Leon! I didn’t realize you were in your script!”I laughed. “It’s fine,” I said, but she refused to budge. As expected of Alynna.“Oh shit! And here I am, yelling at the top of my lungs!” she thought to herself. “Sorry. I’ll talk to you later,” she said as she excused herself and scrambled away.I couldn’t help but chuckle at her outbursts. Alynna was the type of person who would force you to talk about your problems with her, which some people might find repulsive. But she genuinely cared about her friends. Derrick, on the other hand... Derrick would always be Derrick.I returned my attention to my script. Soon after, the production assistant summoned me and informed me that it was time for our next scene.━━━━━━ ◦ ◦ ━━━━━━“HELEN, I’m going on a business trip. Let’s talk about it some other time,” I said to my wife without looking her in the eyes.I’m Angelo from the movie right now. Helen started another argument with me about spending quality time together and going somewhere.“Really? You’re just going to cut us off like this?” Helen scoffed in disbelief. “How much do you despise me now, Angelo?” She went on the offensive return.I paused from tying my tie and turned to face her. “Hate? What gives you that impression?” I responded with a question.Helen burst into tears. “You don’t say it, Angelo, but I can feel it. You despise me,” she insisted.I clicked my tongue, annoyed that our relationship was disintegrating. “Stop complicating things, Helen,” I said as calmly as I could.“Complicating?” she retorted, scoffing. “So now I’m complicating things?” Helen hugged herself and sobbed uncontrollably. “I’m attempting to mend our relationship here, Angelo!” she yelled.“Are we going to do it again? Helen?” I yelled angrily at her. “I have a flight to catch in two hours. Do you really need to cause a commotion right now?”Helen screamed, as if she was cursing me for interfering with her ability to express her feelings about the situation. “Angelo, how can you be so shallow?! I’m extremely upset at you!” she screamed.I didn’t want to argue with her anymore, so I turned away from her. I finished tying my neck tie and took my luggage with me. Helen called out to me as I was about to leave our room.“Don’t leave me behind, Angelo,” she pleaded.“I told you—”“Don’t leave me behind.”[Huh? What was that all about?] I questioned myself.I suddenly remembered something. But it was too hazy to tell what it was. I tried to ignore the uneasy feeling and returned to the scene.“I told you—”“Don’t leave me behind, (.....)!”[That happened yet again!] I thought and completely lost track of my next line.People around me were perplexed as to why I stuttered. I noticed some of the crew waving their hands at me, signaling me to keep acting. Director Kim was speaking to me, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying.Natasha, like everyone else, was perplexed when I looked at her. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.“Stay with me…”[Is it possible that I’m recalling someone else’s memory?] I reconsidered. I had no idea I was acting strangely in front of everyone. I was holding my head with two hands and kneeling on the ground.“Why are you leaving me behind, (.....)?!”“(.....), come back to me!”These words rang in my head over and over. The voice was in excruciating pain. I lost my mind as it kept repeating.“Cut! Cut! Cut!” Director Kim finally exclaimed.I exclaimed and was yanked back into reality. Alynna and Derrick were running towards me. Derrick assisted me in standing while Alynna checked on me.“Are you all right?” Alynna inquired, concerned. I gave a weak nod.“Pull yourself together, man,” Derrick said as he carefully pulled me up and helped me maintain my balance.“Are you okay, Leon?” Director Kim stepped in.“I am. I apologize for the inconvenience, everyone,” I said weakly.“It’s all right. You must be exhausted. For the time being, return home and rest. Send me a message when you arrive home safely, please.” he said, and I agreed.“Thank you,” I said to Director Kim, who motioned for Alynna and Derrick to send me off.━━━━━━ ◦ ◦ ━━━━━━DERRICK drove me home in his car, and Alynna accompanied him.“Would you mind telling us now?” Derrick spoke up.“Keep your eyes on the road, stupidhead,” Alynna reprimanded. “How do you feel now, Leon?” she inquired. She accompanied me to the car’s back seat.Before responding, I took a deep breath. “I saw someone’s vague memory.”“Huh?!” Derrick reacted in exaggeration. “Are you a medium, man?” he remarked. I saw Alynna brandishing daggers at him. Derrick saw it through the rearview mirror and gulped.“Whose memory is it, exactly?” Alynna challenged me.I sighed softly. “I’m not sure,” I said.“Does it have anything to do with your recurring dreams?” she inquired.“Sort of,” I admitted hesitantly. “I can’t tell whose memory it was,” I said, staring out the window of the car next to me. “The individual…” I paused. “The guy who kept repeating those words... It seemed like the words he kept saying were directed at me,” I explained.“Geez, Leon, that’s creepy. To be honest,” Derrick said.“Shut up, Derrick!” Alynna yelled. Derrick shivered.“No. Derrick is correct, Alynna. It’s creeping me out as well,” I defended. “I’ll talk to Sheldon about it,” I said.“Make certain you do,” Alynna advised.We arrived at Sheldon’s house not long after. It surprised my boyfriend to see them, so I told him they knew about us and that he could trust them not to spread rumors about our relationship. Alynna informed Sheldon of what occurred during the shooting. And, surprisingly, Sheldon remained calm throughout their conversation, until Alynna and Derrick took off.━━━━━━ ◦ ◦ ━━━━━━“DRINK some water, Leon,” Sheldon said as he handed me a half-full glass of water.I accepted it and drank the entire glass of water. Sheldon was looking at me with a worried expression. He did it for a few seconds, as if he was waiting for me to say something. “What?” I said, breaking the awkward silence between us.“How come you didn’t tell me anything?” he began. He appeared disappointed, but I could tell he was more hurt than angry.“I didn’t want you to be concerned. I expected it to stop after a few days. I honestly didn’t expect this to happen,” I admitted. Lying to this man was pointless. It would only make things worse.“Didn’t?” Sheldon declared. “I’m your boyfriend, Leon. What kind of boyfriend is unaware that his lover is suffering from something and is unable to console them because they are ignorant of the situation?” he exclaimed.“I see what you’re saying. I’m sorry for keeping quiet until now,” I admitted.“No. Don’t give me that excuse, Leon,” Sheldon said.[What exactly is going on here? What’s the deal with Sheldon’s rage? Is he upset because I informed Alynna and Derrick before him?] I thought as I stared at him, puzzled.“Sheldon, are you m—?”“I am not, Leon,” he interrupted. “I am not,” he said again, this time more calmly. And his expression had changed to one of sadness.I reached out my hand and caressed his left cheek. “I apologize for causing you concern. I won’t do it again,” I apologized sincerely.“I’m sorry for raising my voice at you, too,” he apologized.[Oh, my boyfriend is so handsome,] I suddenly thought.Even before we became lovers, Sheldon was appealing to me. I admired the way his eyes seemed to pierce right through you if he stared at you long enough. They were bluish gray in color. He once told me he was half-blood, but we never talked about it. His skin had become tanned. He had a good build for someone who didn’t exercise. He had a seductive jawline. He was a truly lovely man.I’d never dated a guy before, and I’d never dated a girl either. Sheldon was the beginning of everything. He was the one who stood beside me when I was completely lost and unable to find my way through this hostile world.And yet, I did something selfish that disappointed him.“Sheldon…” I said.“Yes?” He replied sweetly.“It’s all about my dreams…”to be continuedLEON I DIDN’T know where to begin at first. I had no idea how it all started. I had no recollection of any traumatic pasts that could have been the source of what was happening to me. “Does something bother you, Leon?” Sheldon inquired. I agreed by nodding. “This may sound strange, but I had this vivid dream that kept repeating,” I began. “At first, I thought it was because of stress. I mean, we’re currently filming a movie, and I’ve barely gotten any decent sleep, so I assumed…” After that, I exhaled. “Yeah, I know,” Sheldon said softly, implying that he understood what I was saying. “What exactly is this dream you’re talking about? Is it really that unusual?” he inquired. “Voice…” I almost said it in hushed tones. “Voice?” Sheldon arched his brow. “There was a voice... It was a man’s voice. He was calling out for someone, but I’m not sure who,” I explained. “If you put it this way, he seemed to be talking to me when he said those words.” “What did you hear in your dreams?” Sh
LEON THE next day, Alynna barraged me with questions. “Are you all right, Leon? Why aren’t you responding to my messages? I understand you don’t like chatting, but I messaged you before it was too late in the evening. I was so worried about you,” Alynna said when she approached me. Her words made me frown. “Messages? What are the messages?” I inquired, completely unaware of what she was attempting to say. She clicked her tongue, then yanked out her phone and handed it to me. “You just read it all. Everything,” she emphasized angrily. It shocked me to see it, and I read them all before defending myself. “Alynna, look, I slept right away—” I halted and returned my attention to Alynna’s messages. When I noticed something suspicious, I was horrified. “Derrick came to my dressing room yesterday, Alynna. He didn’t come inside, but he told me you were looking for me,” I told Alynna, and her jaw dropped. “I also turned off my phone before going to bed last night. When you sent all those m
LEON THE instant when Sheldon answered his phone, I said, “It’s me.” “Hi. What’s up with the abrupt call, Leon?” my boyfriend asked from the other line. “I’m going to have my phone checked today, Sheldon. I’m telling you now in case you can’t reach me later,” I said to him. “Oh, right. Did it malfunction in some way?” he asked. “Not really. I’m not yet aware of what’s wrong. I’ll call you back when it’s done,” I said, and overheard him sigh. It was subtle but loud enough for me to hear. “Leon, do you have a moment to chat briefly?” he begged, which surprised me. “Go on,” I concurred and perched on the edge of my bed, noting that I wasn’t in a rush anyway. “Well… I get that you are busy and you’re almost done shooting your movie, but can I ask why you didn’t answer my calls the other day?” he calmly asked. “Huh?” I was dumbfounded and confused. “You called? What time?” I asked him back. “Around eight in the evening, maybe? I called many times, but you didn’t pick up at all. Di
LEON “SIR, it’s done,” I felt relieved when she talked again. She handed the phone to me before giving me the results. “Nothing’s wrong with your phone, Sir. Everything is working well. There were no bugs in the system. It’s also safe from any malwares,” she declared. It disheartened me. That wasn’t the answer I was hoping to hear. I expected her to say that my phone had an issue or something. [What do I do now?] I helplessly thought. In the end, I paid the lady for her service and left the shop with a heavy heart. ━━━━━━ ◦ ◦ ━━━━━━ [IT IS over. I’m going crazy,] I thought to myself as I walked in the corners of the street with an absent mind. I staggered, and didn’t care about the judging eyes of the people that passed by me. “Psst! Hey, you!” I stopped in my tracks when I heard a voice coming from a guy, but I had no idea where he was. “Over here! Look to your right,” the guy instructed me, and I followed what he said. I weakly turned my head towards his direction, and befor
LEON “I’M sorry,” I apologized. “Nah, I get it a lot. I even dress like this to look like the real deal, but my appearance probably spoils the whole vibe,” he said. “I didn’t ask for this gift. I saw how my parents died because of this ability, and it made me regret everything. I was on the verge of giving up, you know? But, I saw you!” He pointed a finger at me. “You knew that I experienced weird nightmares and heard voices. How can you tell? You haven’t touched my hand yet,” I asked. The guy sitting across from me went silent for a while. He just stared, and stared. Then, he spoke softly, “My name is Roark. I’m a psychic,” he revealed. “This,” he pointed his thumb at his cloak. “And this,” next, he pointed a finger at the table. “All of these…” he traveled his eyes around the whole place, and continued, “...are just for show. But, I am not lying about being a psychic!” “Why are you telling me this?” I asked, confused and conflicted at the same time. Roark cleared his throat bef
LEON I BARELY noticed that Roark was holding my hand again, but this time, he was unfazed. “You’re an empty vessel, Leon. I can sense no life from you,” he announced. “What the hell are you talking about?” I asked in confusion. “This thing that is following you… I think it wants you,” he speculated. His grip on my hand tightened a little bit, worry was present in his eyes. “Everything that has been happening to you lately…” he paused for a while, slightly turned his head to my left and stared at something that I couldn’t see. “This thing is trying to keep you away from the people you know to this day. I can’t fully understand its purpose, but it also means no harm against anyone,” he revealed. “Roark, the voice in my dreams said something like… something like… They are going to kill me!” I panicked. “No, Leon,” Roark disagreed. “It’s a warning from someone who must be very close to you,” he clarified. “Someone close? If you’re referring to my family then I no longer have that!” I
LEON “WHAT’S the meaning of this, Helen?” I asked my wife. I just got back from a long day of work. When I came home earlier than expected, I caught Helen lying butt naked next to a guy in our very own bed. Helen was horrified to see me. “Angelo, please let me explain!” she pleaded, and got up while covering her naked body with our blanket. “What’s there to explain?” I scoffed and forced a smile. Helen tried to grab my arm, but I distanced myself in repulsion. She got hurt by that but still, she tried to lie her way out to this. “Angelo, I can explain everything so please, don’t leave me,” she begged, and shed crocodile tears. The guy reacted, and laughed sarcastically. “Are you going to tell your husband how much you enjoyed my rod, dear Helen? C’mon, you can do better than that, baby. Tell him how many times you complained about his lousy sex techniques and how bad he is in bed, honey!” “Shut your trap, you big oaf! This is my house!” I shouted at him. He ignored my outburst, a
LEON I RAN to a nearby dark alley and there, I staggered and panted. [I can’t breathe!] I exclaimed in my mind. My vision started to get blurry, and I could feel my head spinning. It was way too early to doubt my boyfriend. We haven’t talked much lately because I became busier at work, so he must have changed his job and didn’t have the chance to tell me. “That must be it,” I convinced myself while trying to catch my breath. “Sheldon was always the one who considered my situation and went along with my one-sided requests. And not once did I ask if he was really fine with all of it.” Realizing all of these now scared me. What would I do if Sheldon grew tired of me? After that brief overthinking, I decided to go to his place so I could talk to the person himself. We’ve been lovers for more than six years! How come only now I would realize that I knew so little about Sheldon?! ━━━━━━ ◦ ◦ ━━━━━━ I ARRIVED at his place faster than I expected. Was it because of the adrenaline rush th