An old crime

Amanda stayed awake all night waiting for max's return, at the same time thinking about prince's behavior which was getting more and more strange every day and could not find a logical explanation for it, prince had never drawn before and no one tought him the drawing, althought that he painted the same picture that max drew years ago without even that he sees it before. And at exactly four o'clock in the morning max returned quietly wrapping a white bandage arround his arm to find her awake and sitting on the bed mind wandering in void to ask her calmly : Did you not sleep yet ?

His question woke her up from her distraction as she was not paying attention to ask him seriously : Max did you draw a picture for prince ? Or did you teach him your style ?

Max annoyed : You know that i stopped drawing after our marriage, it is s hobby not a profession

He passed her over to open the closet and change his clothes so that amanda spoke seriously : So prince's actions are really getting stranger, today he painted my picture in the same way that you did before our marriage, even though he had never seen it before

The shirt fell from max's hand because of his shock and his heart was beating quickly from the tension to add amanda worried : I'm really worried about our son a lot

Max lifted his shirt from the ground and answered with a clear tension : Maybe he got the drawing from somewhere

Amanda seriously : I also thought that at the beginning but i made sure of it myself, he really drew the picture. How can a four years child who has not learned to draw before drawing a woman's face with such precision and ingenuity ? Our's son situation is very ambiguous and we must take it seriously

Max lay on his bed speaking in a tense tone as if he was trying to hide something : Don't think about it too much, he just like drawing like his father

Amanda seriously : If you like drawing so much, why did you stop it ?

This question made the blood froze in max's veins until he sweated as if he had no answer at all, so he remained silent, while amanda sat beside him at the edge of the bed asking him seriously : You always liked drawing max, so why did you suddenly abandon it ? Specifically, after our marriage, not only drawing but i noticed that you changed a lot after our marriage

Max did not have an answer to her question so he chose to shout to evade the answer and responeded to her angrily : Yes i have changed a lot, because i was a single teenager without responsibilities, my goal was only to impress you, but now i am married and father of a child, i have responsibilities and drawing does not feed bread. Are you relaxed now ?

He lay on the other side to meet her with his back and pretend to be asleep while amanda murmured a frown : It was an intuitive question why he got angry like that ?

She hugged him from behind to apologize to him spontaneously : I'm sorry my love don't get angry. In any case, i love the new max more

Max did not answer her and was looking at the void with empty expression saying to himself : I have never changed amanda, i have been like this from the beginning

Around five o'clock in the morning, max was napping and apparently watching a distrubing nightmare, his forehead was sweating even though the room temperature was moderate, and moved his head left and right with fear while he was delirious in panic : He is my son don't take him from me, amanda mine they are mine leave us alone

Amanda woke up from her sleep because of max's delirium and immediately she raised her head off the pillow, lit the lamp next to her and placed her hand on max's shoulder to wake him up in a gentle voice : Max woke up

He opened his eyes quickly and lift his head off the pillow in panic hardly breath to ask him amanda seriously : What is the story of these strange nightmare ? What scares you so much ?

Max wiped his forehead sweat with the palm of his hand and said : Nothing scares me amanda, you know that

Amanda sharply : So why all this sweat ? Max i feel that you hide something

Max answered her with a slight nervousness : I don't hide anything amanda stop your silly question

He left the bed to go to the bathroom. Amanda sighed in despair and continued her sleep while max stood in front of the mirror and washed his face several times with cold water, looked at his reflection asking himself reproach : Are you happy now ? Did you take what you wanted ? And now what ? You will pay the price for everything you took, because it is not yours

At that moment, behind him a young body appeared, his face completly burnt, and he said in his frightening voice and his provocative tone : This is true, they are not yours

Max turned quickly for him and he was terrified, but the body suddenly disappeared as if an illusion, while max continued to scream in the void in anger : What do you want from me ? Do you think that it's easy to mess with me ? You know very well that messing around with me is very costly, i killed you once and i can do it again, did you hear ? I do not regret anything, and if the time took me backward i would have kill you again

His screaming woke amanda from her sleep so she ran to him quickly to check on him, put her hands on his sheeks and made him look at her asking seriously : Max dear look at me, calm dowm, i'm by your side, tell me what happened ?

Max seemed very frightened by something and his brathing was very fast due toprince the tension. He noticed that the young man with a burning face had disappeared so he passed amanda and left the place wihout answering her

Max has not been able to sleep since he saw that ghost in the bathroom and even amanda, on the one hand prince's behavior worries her, and on the other hand she feels that max is hiding something from her and she cannot know it

The sun shone but for them it did not shine, both of them could not sleep all night but they are obliged to act naturally for their work and their child

Meanwhile, amanda had prepared herself to go to the work, but she wsnug as homeless in front of the mirror as she remembers max's delirium and his strange behavior recently, then he got out of the bathroom while he closed the buttons of his white shirt saying in a clear tone : I have an important meeting today so i must go early to the company, but don't worry, your car arrived this morning, take prince to the kindergarten

Amanda shook her head with understanding so max smiled sweetly at her and while he was leaving she asked him seriously: Max who did you kill and you don't regret it ?

Her question made him froze in his place in shock. She was waiting for an answer from him that would relieve her heart which was burning with anxiety and he is not a murderer, but he was only meeting her with his back and he seemed very tense because of her question, he slowly turned towards her to look directly into her eyes unable to tell her the biggest secret of his life