Moon Bound

Chapter Three

It's been three days since the incident happened at the Horizon, but Keith hasn't seen any Blackwaters around. It's a good thing for him. He will never see those jackasses again, especially Darryl.

Keith took the bubble wrapper he had and wrapped the paintings carefully, one by one. It's Tuesday and his day off. He was planning on taking the paintings to Amelia Art Gallery, where his other paintings were displayed. The gallery was an hour's ride away from his place. When Keith finished wrapping, he looked around his home. It was still a bit unclean with all the paints and canvas lying around, but he felt satisfied.

"I'll come back and clean all of you," he whispered. Keith went to his room and changed into jeans and a plain brown shirt paired with white sneakers. He grabbed the keys from the table and carried the paintings to the parking lot. Keith opened the backseat door of the secondhand car he bought with his savings from putting his paintings in the gallery and his job in Horizon. When he was done, he closed the door and went to the driver's seat. He glanced in the mirror and started the car.

The ride was peaceful, with his favorite song by Taylor Swift played on the radio. Keith hummed while his fingers tapped on the steering wheel. It was a sunny day, and there were lots of people and cars on the street. Keith turned around and stopped in front of a building. He rolled his windows down and honked his car.

"Harry!" he called. The old man outside, tending to the flowers, looked at him with his eyebrows scrunched up. "It's me!" Keith added. Harry smiled at him. Keith immediately went out of the car and greeted the old man.

"Hi, Harry! How are you?" he asked. Harry chuckled and gave him the tools for gardening, which he immediately took.

"I'm okay, lad. Glad to see you. It's been ages since you last visited," Harry said.

"You're exaggerating it, Harry. It's only a month," Keith said and led the old man inside the gallery. "How are things here? I'm actually here to put my paintings, again," he added, and put the gardening tool inside the counter. Amelia Art Gallery was named after Harry's wife as she loved paintings more than anything else. She died two years ago, and the gallery was now under Harry's management and their daughter, who was away from work.

"Your paintings were all sold out," Harry said, hands on his back. Keith looked at him dumbfoundedly.

"What?" Keith asked. "What do you mean? It's impossible," he added. Although he can sell his paintings for up to three, they have never been sold out before.

"Yes, the lad likes them all, especially your painting 'The Boy in the Seesaw,'" Harry said and looked at Keith. "He actually tripled the price for it and bought all of your other paintings," Harry added. Keith's jaw dropped.

"Are you fvcking kidding me right now?" he asked with a shocked face.

"Language, lad!" Harry yelled and hit his shoulder. Keith meekly smiled and apologized.

"But Harry, I can't believe it," Keith said, and sat on the chair.

"Well, you are a talented painter, Keith. You must have captured the lad's eyes with those paintings of yours," Harry said.

Keith scratched the back of his head. Most of his paintings were sad and about his broken self. It was inspired by his experiences in life, especially "The Boy in the Seesaw." It was about his young fragile self trying to balance everything while taking every painful word, beatings from his father, and the disgusted faces of his packmates.

"Did you get his name? I wanted to thank him," Keith asked. Harry shook his head.

"I did try asking, but he only gave his initials," Harry said, and took a paper out of his pocket. He handed it to Keith and smiled. "Here," he added. Keith took the paper away from his hand and opened it.

"D.E.B?" he asked. "What is he?" he added.

"I don't know, lad, but I think he's a werewolf," Harry replied. "By the way, here's the money," he added, and gave Keith a small envelope. Keith accepted the envelope and counted the money.

"Thank you, Harry. I brought another batch of paintings. Please tell me when that man comes by," Keith said.

"I will, lad," Harry replied. Keith went out of the gallery and took the paintings into the backseat of the car. He helped Harry put up the paintings.

"Thank you so much, Harry. This means a lot to me," Keith said. Harry smiled at him and shook his head.

"You're one of the few painters displaying here, lad. I'm glad I could help you," Harry muttered. After talking for a bit, Keith left the gallery while smiling. He went to his car and went to the nearest café.

"Rein, you here?" Keith asked upon arriving in Reinhart's place above him. He had a cake and smoothie in his hand and wanted to share them with Reinhart.

"Yes, yes, coming!" Reinhart said and opened the door.

"Hi, I brought you these. Let's eat," Keith said, and showed the cake and smoothie to him.

"Oh my, what's the occasion, babe?" Reinhart asked and let Keith in. Keith smiled as he put the food on the table before sitting on the chair.

"Well…my paintings were all sold out," Keith shyly confessed.

"Oh, gods! That's wonderful, babe! Congratulations," Reinhart said and hugged him. "Thanks for this, babe. You're in time. I'm starving, haven't eaten anything," he added and pouted.

"Go on, eat," Keith said.

"You're not on duty today, right?" Reinhart asked while eating. Keith shook his head.

"Gods, I envy you. I'm so tired I don't want to work," Reinhart said and chuckled. "Have you heard the news?" he added.

"Nope, what is it?" Keith curiously asked.

"There's a vampire rogue roaming around. It's said that he already has five victims," Reinhart said. "It's scary!" he added, and drank the smoothie.

"Damn bloodsucker," Keith said. "Want me to accompany you later?" he added. Reinhart shook his head.

"No, I'm good. George will fetch me," Reinhart said. Keith's eyebrows raised.

"Who's George?" he asked.

"Well… he's the guy I met yesterday, and we kind of hit it off. Damn, he's big!" Reinhart said and giggled. Keith gagged jokingly.

"I'm happy about your s*x life, my friend," Keith said genuinely.

"I'll be praying for your s*x life, babe," Reinhart said, and they both laughed out loud.