text: The fire dances to the wind this November night, the moon a full circle of light shining above it. I am covered in a blanket surrounded by my friends Kai, Diana, Emi, Theus, and Dmitry. Echoes of “Happy Birthday Effie!” sing beside me. “Thank you, guys!” I smile, “I’m not getting up because the fire feels nice and I’m freezing to death!” What’s your birthday wish?” asked Kai... “Uhm, probably for my loved ones to be healthy,” I said, “I don’t think I want to face any more deaths this year.” Six months ago, I lost my grandfather to cancer and went through the worst heartbreak the week before. “Yeah Effie, you went through a lot of shit this year,” said Diana, “you need a break and some wine!” I didn't want the party to get depressing, so I think of something witty. “Well, since there is a full moon tonight,” I stand up, holding a glass of wine, “I wish none of you turn into a werewolf.” I take a sip of wine and feel a hand pulling my arm. Let’s DANCE!” said Emi. We drank wine to keep ourselves warm and danced around the fire. “Effie, Effie! Your phone is ringing!” I walk towards Kai and grab the phone. “Who is it?” I ask. “I don’t know, but they're from the area,” he says. “Hello?” I answer. “Hey, happy birthday.” I recognized the voice and stay silent. “It’s Rio hahaha.” “Oh hey,” I answer quietly, “uhh thanks.” What are you up to tonight?” he asks, “sorry if it’s weird to call, I just wanted to see how you’re doing.” Rio broke my heart twice. I couldn't grieve my grandfather because I was grieving him, and the second time he texts out of the blue, hoping to rekindle the relationship, and once I lure him back, I find out he was dating someone else. Rio was a narcissist, a manipulator denying his errors and not holding himself accountable. The wise thing to do was tell him to go to hell, but I thought, maybe this time, he finally acknowledged everything he did. After all, the transformation was part of a full moon. “I’ve been doing well,” I said, “I’m actually celebrating at the beach right now.” How nice, he softly answers, “I moved back to the city.” It surprised me mostly because he tried moving out of it since we first dated. “Why’s that?” I ask, “I thought you hated the city.” “Nah,” he said, “you were right about how lonely the east side was.” Before luring him back for the third time, I reminded him of the crap he put me through in July. That’s over,” he said, “You probably have every right not to believe me but, I do want to apologize in person sometime, I know I hurt you a lot.” I did miss Rio, despite the 2 heartbreaks I went through, I missed his presence and warmth. The third time’s a charm I guess. “Well, we’re at the beach right now,” I suggest, “you can join if you want.” “Of course,” he says, “I’ll be there soon.” My friends were all sitting by the fire covered in blankets. I sit next to Theus who’s singing along to his favorite song. “Who was it?” asked Emi, cuddled next to Dmitry. I awkwardly smile. “Oh no, don’t tell me,” answers Diana. Dmitry turns to look at me. “What did he want?” he asks. “Nothing, just wishing me a happy birthday.” Theus puts me on the spot. “You were on the phone for like 10 mins!” He slaps me on the shoulder, “Tell me, girl!” I look at the fire for a second then answer. “It was Rio, the guy I was dating earlier in the year." Theus wasn’t around much after he moved out of the house and I was too busy to update him on anything. “Ugh, you should have called me!” he responds. “Well, he texts me out of the blue in June and wants to hang out,” I explained, “and in July, Diana showed me a picture he posted on Instagram and I find out he’s two-timing me, or her I don’t know." “He also denied it,” Emi said. I look towards her. “Yeah, typically narcissist,” I turn to Theus and jokingly add “Oh and he’s an Aquarius like you!" “I mean yes, Aquarius can be narcissistic, but did he make it official again?” Theus asks. "No," I answer softly. Theus continues asking questions. “So, he denied the other girl he was seeing, even after you showed him the picture?” he asks. I pour myself more wine and avoided Theus’s interrogation. “Anyway, he apologized,” I take a sip and say, “but 3 strikes, he’s out, FOR SURE." “Did you invite him tonight?” Dmitry asked in a stern voice. “Mmmaybe,” I slowly answer, “he’s back in the city too.” The whole circle grows quiet. I couldn’t see Emi’s face buried in Dmitry’s chest, but I felt her concern. Emi and Dmitry were my closest friends, so I understood why they thought I was dumb, but they never judged, they worried. “Yeah, just be careful,” Emi said, “this is the third time friend.” My phone rings, the same number as before. “Hey, I’m here, you’re the ones sitting by the fire right?” I get up and see the tall silhouette standing by the parking lot. “Y-yeah,” I say, remembering the shadow I saw earlier, he wasn’t wearing the fisherman hat though. “come on down.” “So who’s going to call him out?!” laughs Theus. “Shut up!” I say, punching him in the arm. “Hello.” Everyone turns around and sees Rio walking towards us. He immediately sits next to me. “I brought wine.” “Whooo!” cheers Diana and Theus. “Thank you!” I say. Rio turns to me, “Of course, happy birthday,” and kisses me on the cheek. Theus pokes his head towards Rio. “Hey, I don’t think we’ve met before,” he puts me on the spot again, “SOMEONE here never introduced me!” Rio laughs, the same laugh that gave me goosebumps. “You did hear each other through the phone though,” I remind them, “that one time Theus, when we asked you to come over, but you said he lived too far.” “Well, he DID.” Theus pointed out. Rio caresses my blanket. “It’s so soft, I like it.” He gets closer, pulling me in his arms. I place my head on his chest, feeling a lot warmer. Across me was Kai sleeping soundly by the fire. “How long has Kai been sleeping?!” laughs Diana. “He just came here to start the fire guys don’t worry,” Dmitry says. We all laugh together. I suddenly feel something sharp poking my leg. “Oww!” I look over at Rio, “is there a knife in your pocket?!” “Oh yes,” he says, pulling out a gray object shaped like an arrow. He opens it in an L-shaped form. “It’s a wine opener.” Kai wakes up looking confused. “How long was I out for?” “About an hour,” I say, “but you looked so peaceful we didn’t want to wake you up.” He sees Rio and waves hello. “Have we met?” he asks. “No, I don’t think so,” Rio says, “would you like some wine?” Kai disregards the question when he sees the sharp object in Rio’s hand and asks, “Omg is that a wine opener?!” “Yeah, do you want to look at it?” Kai grabs the arrow-shaped object. “Careful it’s sharp!” I point out. Rio pulls me closer to him, kissing me on the cheek again. “You okay?” he asks. “Yeah,” I respond, “just being dramatic.” We danced for another hour and sat by the fire. I look at the time. It was barely 9 pm. “What are you guys doing after?” asks Rio. “Probably just take an Uber home,” answers Dmitry. “What about you Theus?” I ask. “Well, some friends invited me to a club, but I don’t know if I want to go home and change,” he says. Everyone gets up and starts picking up their belongings. “Want to come over?” Rio asks quietly. For the first time, I hesitated, but mostly because I didn’t bring anything with me to shower or sleep in. “...Sure,” I said. An SUV pulls up to the parking lot. “Uber’s here!” says Kai. He hands Rio back his wine opener. “Before I forget!” “I call SHOTGUN!” Theus says. “You going to be okay?” Dmitry asks. “Yeah,” I nod, “just text me when you get home.” The SUV drives away and it’s just Rio and I alone at the beach. The fire continues to dance by the sea breeze under the full moon. “Did you drive here?” I ask. ‘” No, I actually went back to the place I was at before,” Rio says standing behind me, “it’s a 15-minute walk from here.” I’m snuggled in my blanket and think about the walk. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ll keep you warm the whole way.” I turn around and see Rio standing by the fire. An orange hue casted on his face, hair receding from his head, and a much rounder shape than I remembered. He sees my eyes wandering at his entire shape. “I know, I look a little different,” he answers, softly laughing, “you don’t mind right?” I nod my head. “No,” I say, “we should start walking, I’m really cold.” As we walked back to shire, I recalled the night he spoke about his weight, how his fatphobic aunt refused to look at him and didn’t want him near her. I met Rio slender, tall, with a lot more hair. I didn’t really recognize the man walking with me. “You’re quiet,” he points out, “are you sure the weight doesn’t bother you?” “No, sorry I’m just really tired,” I tell him. “Was it stress again?” I ask, “You told me how you lost a lot of hair because of stress.” “Yes,” he said, “that happened 5 months ago too.” Five months ago, was around the time he contacted me. From what he told me in the past, relationships, his ex-wife, and now, most likely the girl he was holding from the back, looking like a high school prom photo. “Did she break up with you?” I asked, expecting an excuse, “Is that WHY you’re here with me right now?” “No, no,” he quickly answered, looking as if he was making a political speech “I broke up with HER.” Rio continues his speech, trying to sound correct. “I gained weight and lost my hair, and she didn’t like that.” I didn’t need to ask him for the truth or for him to admit the girl in the picture from July was in fact a partner, not his “friend” which he switched to “stylist” in the same sentence. “Hopefully you find a new stylist,” I say. Rio sighs in frustration. The full moon’s light made it easier to walk up the parking lot. My heart felt heavy again, triggered by patterns of lies and excuses. I grab my phone and cancel Rio's request back to his house. “Hey,” I say, “I’m just going to call an Uber home no worries.” His eyes widen. “Is something wrong?” he asks. “No, I’m just too tired to walk.” “Okay, why don’t you call it at my house, you’ll be a lot warmer.” I stay quiet, trying not to shiver so much from the cold, hoping a driver is 5 minutes away. Rio walks closer to me, grabs my phone, cancels the request, and pulls my arm, wrapping my body inside his arms. I scream and pull away from him. I wasn't thinking clearly and ran back to the beach. “GO AWAY!” I scream. I keep running, feeling the cold wind numbing my face. “What did you say?” he responds. There was no distance between us, and I knew, as I heard his voice next to me that he caught up. Once again, I am wrapped around his arms, my body falling on top of his next to the ocean waves. “Stay calm,” he whispers in my ear. I am too cold to say anything. “I knew you were just like them; you hate how I look, and never trust me.” I stay quiet. “You’re too paranoid,” he says breathing heavily, “I hate when people doubt my good intentions.” As the waves crash onto us, I can no longer feel my body. He pulls us farther from the waves. The only thing on my mind was death, and facing it once again, on my birthday. Rio, the narcissist won the battle against me. This day was never about me; it was about a man’s ego I destroyed. A man, once a boy, blamed women for his insecurities, failed marriage, weight gain, and hair loss. How does a narcissist prepare for battle? First, he’ll be alone, he’ll start running every day, lifting weights, using products for hair growth, and wearing nice clothes. He will look in the mirror and won’t recognize the insecure boy anymore. He is ready for the next prey, the one who met him as the gentleman with a slender figure who doesn’t know about the insecure boy underneath. The prey figured him out by her intuitive powers the 1st time, the 2nd, but was too late the 3rd time. I’m the one that has to pay the price. How does a narcissist kill? Strangling? Asphyxiation? My watering eyes capture the constellations in the sky right before death. “Cupid’s Arrow,” I say to myself. As my eyes cleared out, Cupid’s Arrow was a gray sharp object in front of me. Death by wine opener. I close my eyes and face Death. "Ahhh!!" I’m woken up, no longer feeling Rio’s weight behind me, no blood falling out my throat. I’m still at the beach, or maybe in purgatory. But there he was, in pain, looking up at me and struggling to speak. “E-Effie,” he says, “I’m burning!” I stare in shock. “C-Call for help!” No, I couldn’t trust him at all, especially now. I escaped Death and only had one chance. I stretch my arm out as a test. “You have my phone,” I remind him, “hand it over.” “L-left p-pocket,” he says, struggling to speak. The arrow-shaped opener was still on his hand so I tell him to throw it as far as he could. Before doing so, his whole body shakes until he stops moving. “Rio?” I ask, puzzled. No response. His fingers curled up near his shoulders, eyes, and mouth open, looking up at the sky, the full moon lighting a blue shade to the narcissist’s fate. My heart stops aching. Seeing death in front of me made me feel...liberated. I walk closer to him to grab my phone from his pocket until I notice something crawling up his stomach. It moves closer to the moonlight and I realize the large black venomous insect on top of him.... I quickly jump back. A SCORPION?! AT THE BEACH?” ... “Death by venom,” I say to myself. The scorpion looked calm, trusting, and I didn't feel threatened. But there was no strength left in me anymore. I wouldn’t make it out of this beach alive. My body, slowly losing blood circulation, numbing everything inside, I lay on top of the sand, facing death for the 2nd time. I look up at the full moon shining above me until a shadow stands in front. My eyes grow and I scream quickly getting up. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” said the shadow. It was an old man holding a flashlight. “I’m looking for Artie, my pet.” How much shit would I go through tonight? I thought. But the old man looked harmless. “Umm, I haven’t seen an animal sorry,” I said. He saw me shaking and handed me my blanket and...right, I forgot about my tote bag with extra clothes in it. “I found it near the steps before walking down here,” he says handing me the bag. “Thank you so much!” I said, “Let me change really quick if I feel warmer, I can help you find your pet.” “You should probably go home,” he smiled, “I got it from here.” I smile back, “if you call Artie’s name loud enough, it can probably hear you.” I suggested. I hide near a boulder and feel the warmth of my clothes in my body. I grab my blanket and walk over to see the old man near the dead narcissist. “There you are!” the old man cheers, grabbing the large black insect. I am in shock. Artie was the scorpion that killed Rio! My eyes were probably the size of the moon. The old man looks towards me and smiles. “Don’t worry,” he says, “he’s not going to hurt you or anyone anymore.” Before I said anything, my phone rang. I sigh in relief, thankful it was still working. Emi was on the other line. “Hey,” I said, “what’s up?” “Effie are you okay?” she sounds concerned. “Yeah, I’m still at the beach, I was going to call an Uber home.” “It’s ok, we came back!” I hear Dmitry in the background. “Yeah, we got home, and your location stopped moving so, we got worried,” Emi said. “Are you at the same spot?” I cried from happiness; thankful I had friends that looked out for me. I tried not to sound mopey over the phone, so I swallow tears before answering. “Yeah, I’ll meet you here,” I said. Before walking up, I had to thank the old man, but as I turn around, he was gone. Rio’s body is also gone. I take a second to see the night’s beauty, shining under the full moon. All I see are the waves in front of me, pulling the narcissist to his grave of water, taking every trace of the night back into the ocean. "Thank you," I say.