What started as a mere sprinkle soon turned into a cold shower.

“Ah, rain... It was raining that night too... That night, the night I almost killed the person I cared about the most.”

“Hey, Konstantin, calm down. Let's talk about this.”

“That about what? About how you slept with my girlfriend and bragged about it to everyone? About what an excuse of a human being you are? WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT NOW?”

I felt a pain in my chest, as if someone had stabbed me.

“I didn’t mean to do it. I was drunk. You know how I get when I drink...”

“Yeah? Well, now I'm drunk. Let's see what happens.”

A devilish smile appeared on his face as he pulled out a knife.

I backed away and felt my back touch the counter.

There was a lightning, then a loud thunder. Konstantin came towards me, gripping the knife with both hands. I managed to dodge him, but he cut me. He turned to face me.

“Stay still, you fucker. You knew I wanted to propose to her, yet you still did it. I left her in your care because I trusted you. And you took such good care of her, that you got her pregnant.”

“I didn’t. We only did it once and we used protection. I swear.”

“You swear...”

He came towards me again and I pushed him. He stumbled and hit his head on the corner of the table. He hit the floor with a loud thud and a circle of blood began to form around his head.

I ran outside crying.

A car that was driving by him honked as he tripped and hit his left shoulder against a wall.

“Shit!” he hissed.

The rain was getting heavier, the sound of the raindrops hitting the parked cars filling his ears.

There was a bus station a few meters away from him. He stumbled there and, just as he was about to fall, he gripped his hands around the bus stop sign.

A taxi was approaching, and he waved at it, but only for a split second, before he placed his hand back on the bus sign. The driver stopped and Aleksandr got in. They sat in silence for a few seconds.

“Well? Where to?” the driver finally asked.

“Take me to OX Street.”

“I need the full address, sir.”

“I don’t remember it. Can you drive towards that street? If I don’t remember the address by the time we get there, you can drop me off at the end of the street.”

The driver shook his head. He hated troublesome customers, especially drunk ones, but he could tell Aleksandr wouldn’t be able to get home safely on his own. He started the engine and drove off.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“What a weather we’re having...” the driver muttered after a while. “You can’t see anything.”

“I heard there’s a storm coming.” Aleksandr replied, much to the driver’s surprise.

“God forbid! I just started my shift an h-” The driver hit the brake and honked. “What the fuck, man?” He shook his head and continued to drive. “This is why I hate bad weather. As if bad drivers aren’t enough to get people into car accidents.”

They drove in silence. The only sound was that of the rain hitting the car furiously, as if trying to break it.

Aleksandr opened his eyes and looked out the window just as a bright light illuminated the interior of the car. He heard a loud honk, and the car shook violently. He felt a sharp pain as the car began to roll. The driver said something, but he couldn’t understand what. He closed his eyes, and everything went silent.

--------------

“Should we consider disconnecting him from life support?”

“No!”

“But, mother, he’s been like this for months. We don’t have enough money to keep this going.”

“I’ll take another loan. We can’t let him go.”

‘Mother is crying.’

“Helen, we don’t want this either, but-”

“NO!”

Aleksandr’s hand twitched underneath his mother’s.

“Aleksandr!” the woman shouted, jumping from her seat.

The man opened his eyes and looked around. A big room with white walls. Machines beeping behind him. People looking at him and his numb body.

“Mother.” he tried to say, but no words came out. Only his lips moved.

Everyone came closer to the bed, looking at the patient with amazement. His mother bent over and hugged him. “My baby.” she said between sobs.

“I’ll... I’ll call the doctor.” a man said.

The door opened and closed.

Aleksandr began to regain his senses. His whole body was aching. “What happened?” he whispered.

A doctor came in, followed by a nurse and the man that left not long ago. “His condition is stable, but he should stay here a while longer, maybe a week, so we can monitor his progress.” he said after examining Aleksandr.

“Yes, of course. Thank you, doctor.”

The doctor smiled and left.

“Let me know if you need anything.” the nurse said before following the doctor.

“You’re a tough one.” his brother said with a smile.

Aleksandr looked around the room once more. “Shoot! Demyan!” he said as he tried to get up. He felt a sharp pain and laid back in bed, holding his head in his hands.

“Who?” his father asked.

“Demyan. The man I met in Tuva. He's living with me.”

His family looked at him in disbelief and then at each other.

Silence.

“What?” Aleksandr asked, slowly lowering his hands.

“Aleksandr, baby, you never went to Tuva.”

“Huh?”

“You... had a car accident. You've been in a coma for 5 months. Just before you woke up, we were wondering if we should keep you connected to life support.”

“No...” Aleksandr shook his head. His thoughts were a mess and his headache was getting worse. “This can’t be true. Everything felt so real...”

His mother squeezed his hand.

Silence.

“As if bad drivers aren’t enough to get people into car accidents.”

“Leshy might take your soul.”

“Say, Aleksandr, don’t you want to know more about me?”

“I’d rather you stay here. For as long as you want”

“... live the rest of my life in this Void.”

HOOOOONK!

“Grab onto something!”

Both his mind and the outside world went silent as Aleksandr fainted.

-------------

Almost a year had passed since Aleksandr woke up in the hospital bed.

He moved to Himki and is now living a normal life. There's nothing left of the man that he used to be. He has a normal job and lives a normal life. He doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t party and doesn’t sleep around. Only one thing remained: the memory of Demyan. He feels like he’s always watching over him. That's why he decided to become a new man – a man that he would be proud of.

--------------

“Today was another good day at work.” Aleksandr says as he wraps his arms around himself. ‘The wind is chilly. It's going to rain soon.’ he says to himself as he looks at the dark clouds covering the sky. ‘Nothing good happens when it rains.’

As he’s making his way through the crowd, he walks past a short man with pale skin and silver hair.

Aleksandr turns around to look at the man. He does the same.

“Demyan?” he whispers.