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Chapter 4
Promise by Moonlight

It was half past nine when Virgil and Daniel finished cleaning the party room and resetting it to its former state. The great window, occupied hours earlier by the angel Maria, had its heavy white drapes drawn to a close as if to symbolized the closing of another day in the Reed household. Although the walls of the party room were still bleached a snowy white, the white carpet was tarnished by miniscule drops of Terrence’s blood and, unlike the walls surrounding it, was no longer pure white in its pigment. Twenty minutes earlier, Daniel had attempted to rub out the horrendous and convicting stains, but could not because the snowy carpet had absorbed the evidence too quickly.
Presently, Virgil was examining these few drops of blood and recalling what had transpired hours before. He felt a sense of shame in knowing that he sat idly by as the monster known as Terrence pummeled Daniel. Each kick to Daniel’s ribs hurt Virgil tenfold, but he did not even move to save his friend from the vile monster. “Yes,” thought to himself. “A monster, and who could stop a monster?” This liberating thought pacified his inner fears and gave him a reason to believe that whatever he could have done to aid his friend would have been futile. After his mind discarded the violent thoughts of the evening, it began to dwell on the whereabouts of Daniel. Earlier Daniel had said that he was going to clean up downstairs but he never came back. Virgil thought this as unusual and left the spacious, once-pure room and went in search of his friend
After a long search of the house, Virgil noticed a shadow-like figure outside the kitchen window half bathed in the pale glow of the moon. Although the moon’s glow illuminated the surrounding area, its celestial luminosity could not penetrate the shadow-like figure’s structure. It sat quietly on the porch’s wooden railing and shifted its weight occasionally as if it were becoming uncomfortable staring at the moon’s pale, purifying glow.
The back door leading to the kitchen swung open and the shadow turned its head. Its darkness receded and a yellow ray of artificial light from the kitchen revealed to Virgil that the quiet shadow was his friend.
“That’s where you were,” Virgil said almost scolding Daniel. “I wondered where you were, Daniel. When you didn’t come back upstairs, I was thinking that—” Virgil stopped short in his explanation to notice something strange about Daniel’s facial expression. From Virgil’s point-of-view, Daniel’s eyes seemed glassy and red as if he had been crying minutes before. The pale yellow rays from the kitchen light unraveled to Virgil why his friend had not come back up stairs: he had been crying the whole time.
“Daniel?” said Virgil as he closed the kitchen door behind him. The light receded back into the kitchen and now darkness and the celestial glow of the moon surrounded both boys. “Are you ok?” he asked. He continued to ask as he examined his friend. Daniel had already turned his body back towards the moon’s glow and became the shadow-like figure that caught Virgil’s eye minutes before.
“Yeah, Virg, I’m fine,” he responded apathetically, not even turning back to look at Virgil. Even from looking at his friend from behind, Virgil could tell that Daniel was saying this while quietly examining the moon. To Virgil, Daniel’s voice seemed strained, as if he did not want to speak at that moment. It was as if Virgil were annoying him. A cool autumn gust blew by and ruffled their clothes. As if by response to this nightly wind, the shadow shifted its weight again, coughed a bit, and, after a long silence, started to say, “Virg, do you know why I decided to come out here?” No, Virgil did not. Why did he? Was it because something was bothering him?
“Because,” Daniel answered calmly. His eyes were now focused on the clouds sailing past the pale moon, intermittently blocking its glow. “Because,” Daniel restated. “it’s a calming thing for me. Usually I don’t have the time to sit and enjoy nature. Do you have time, Virgil?” From knowing Daniel for over five years now, Virgil could easily discern from the slight quaver in Daniel’s voice that Daniel was obviously lying.
“No, I guess not,” Virgil said, silently agreeing with Daniel’s lie. Changing the subject, Virgil quickly asked, “What’s the real reason why you’re out here, Daniel? I’ve known you for a little more than a third of my life and I’ve never seen you outside staring at the moon. What do you see? Some sort of salvation within the stars? I want to know,”
Daniel didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. Virgil knew that Daniel was transfixed by the moon’s hypnotic vibe and not even his words could awaken his friend. Virgil heaved a sigh and began to step closer towards his friend. With every step, dead leaves, now almost invisible in the night, crunched under Virgil’s shoes. Soon Virgil was a few feet from where the shadow rested and stood there, waiting for Daniel’s next question.
“Virgil, do you have any promises to yourself that you intend to keep?” Daniel inquired casually. No, not really. Why would you ask that?
“Because,” Daniel said, now turning his head to Virgil. “I do,” At that moment, Virgil witnessed a sense of coldness and desolation in Daniel’s stare. His friend’s eyes, once warm just hours earlier, had become cold and apathetic. It was as if the boy in front of Virgil wasn’t his friend, but more of an unfeeling android. Daniel turned his head back and looked back up towards starry sea above. “Remember when we first met, Virgil? It was a long time ago to me, but I’m sure you remember it enough,”
“Yeah,” Virgil said as he fell back into the memory that his friend had conjured up within him. “I remember. You saved me from drowning in the pool,” Virgil’s voice softened and became a slight mumble. “You saved my life,”
“Yeah,” Daniel said in the same apathetic voice. “But that’s not the reason why I asked you do you remember. I wanted you to remember the couple of words I said after I pulled you from a possible watery grave. I’m sure you remember those words, Virg. I told you never forget them,” Virgil soon noticed that Daniel’s voice was expressing a deep emotion that had lain dormant within Daniel since they met. The apathy in his friend’s voice slowly diminished and a somewhat demanding tone emerged. “Do you remember?”
Virgil stood behind the shadow in silence. To his chagrin, he could not remember the words that Daniel said to him that fateful day. The incident seemed so long ago. Although he could remember his friend saving him, he could not remember the words he had said to him. He felt embarrassed knowing that these words were important. They meant everything to Daniel and nothing to him. Such disregard troubled Virgil as he silently awaited Daniel’s next sentence.
“I expected that,” Daniel said with the same monotonous tone. He sighed slightly, moved again and resumed looking up at the moon and stars. “Virgil, those words were important. They were the way I wanted to live my life. Of course, I expected you not to remember. They weren’t as personal to you,” Daniel’s voice suddenly expressed a tinge of anger. “ as they were to me. All you were ever concerned about that day was going home and leaving the site of your potential demise. I don’t think you were even listening to me that day, were you, Virgil?”
Virgil was taken aback by the resentment in Daniel’s voice. Unfortunately, Virgil knew that Daniel was right. He wasn’t listening that day. He was still in shock that day years ago and did not want any human contact. Virgil could have died that day. His mortality had hit him hard and he could not listen to anything anyone had to say to him, not even his savior. He felt a tinge of guilt and quietly mumbled, “No, I wasn’t, Daniel,”
The shadow got down from its perch and stepped into the grass. He now was looking ahead at the wooden fence surrounding its home. It stood there motionlessly for a few minutes and then said, “The words were, Virgil, ‘I’m there for you.’” Daniel became silent again as if waiting for Virgil to remember the words. “Do you remember those words now, Virgil?” The emotion in Daniel’s voice was restored as he said this. Virgil remained silent.
“No?” Daniel questioned. “I guess you weren’t listening that day. Well, I said them for you. Don’t forget them. They probably will be the last time I’ll ever say them to you,”
Soon after the cessation of Daniel’s sentence, a question arose in his mind. It slowly made its way from his mind to his mouth, and, after a long silence, Virgil inquired, “What does this have to do with anything?” Virgil heard Daniel sigh and mumble a single word. Since Virgil was at a distance, he could not hear this word.
“What did you say?” Virgil called from the porch.
“Maria,” Daniel answered loudly. “I said Maria. She’s the reason why I came out here to think. I was thinking about her and how it was my duty to protect her from Terrence. I also mused upon did I really protect her from him, or did I just stop him for a while. His last words still haunt me, Virg, and I can’t stop thinking about them. What is—or was—he planning to do to Maria? Before she hurt him, I was paying attention to you, Virgil. I was debating on whether or not you were going to kiss Renee. Soon after that—“ Daniel decided not to finish his sentence. He knew that Virgil knew what he was going to say next. The fight, the pain Maria endured, Daniel’s stubbornness to allow his cousin to have his way, all of these things Virgil knew that Daniel wanted to say, but couldn’t.
Virgil stepped closer to the railing so Daniel could here him from the yard. “Yeah. I see what you were thinking,” On the inside, Virgil wanted to ask why was his friend crying before. Surely Daniel’s fear of what Terrence could have done to Maria wasn’t the reason. Out of the three of them, Virgil was the most sensitive. Something as small as this led Virgil to believe that there was something else that Daniel was thinking about…something much more pressing.
Daniel walked back towards the porch and picked up some rocks from beneath it. He looked at each one and then pitched one at the wooden fence. The loud knock from the impact made Virgil shudder. Then Daniel threw another rock. Next time three at once. Each time he threw them with more force then the previous one. Each time, the knocks became louder and soon acquired the sound of a gunshot. After Daniel ran out of ammunition to throw at the wooden fences, Virgil asked why was he throwing the rocks at the fence in the first place. Daniel was going to wake the neighbors.
“So,” Daniel said with the same apathy. So stop, Virgil demanded. Daniel stood silent again and made his way back up to the porch. He walked over to Virgil and leaned against the railing, this time his back was towards the moon as if in protest of its glow.
“Virgil, I want you to make me a promise, okay? Not some of the stupid ones you make. I mean one that you will keep forever. I want you to live your life the same way I want to: helping and protecting others,” Daniel turned around to face the same way his friend was facing: towards the moon. Virgil hesitated at this request. He couldn’t follow Daniel’s demands. He knew he was far too cowardly. Suddenly, Daniel turned his attention from the moon to his friend.
“Will you keep this promise, Virgil?” Now Daniel was looking at Virgil. Although Virgil knew this, he decided not to acknowledge his friend. He continued to stare at the moon as if he were the one hypnotized by its power. In a desperate move to regain Virgil’s attention, Daniel punched Virgil in the arm. Virgil, turning to his head to Daniel expecting to see his friend smiling at him, looked at his friend and saw that Daniel still had the same serious, yet handsome visage from minutes before.
“Virg, will you keep this promise for me?” Daniel repeated, this time more forcefully than before. “Please, for Maria’s sake,”
In the harshest corner of his mind, Virgil had already decided on what he was going to say. For him, the answer was no and this decision would never change. But as he gazed into his friend’s eyes, he caught a glimpse of desperation in Daniel’s warm brown eyes. Saying no to this desperate plea would hurt Daniel, and that would be the last thing Virgil would have wanted to do in his friend’s most vulnerable state. Giving in, Virgil reluctantly agreed to this heavy proposal. “Besides,” Virgil began, “I’m your friend. I’ll help you whenever you need it,”
Daniel patted his friend on the shoulder and gazed at Virgil. Despite the darkness around them, Daniel’s eyes seemed to shine in the moon’s glow. “Thanks, man,” Daniel said turning back to the moon. “You really are a good friend. I’m glad I can count on you. You’re that type of person, Virg. A person that I can depend on forever,” After a long observation of the moon, Daniel, changing the subject minutes later, said, “You know, the moon is nice tonight, don’t you think?” Virgil smiled as he gazed at the moon and quietly said, “Yeah, Daniel, it is nice,”