When Fen woke with the nightmares still riding him, he had a terrifying moment of not knowing where he was. It happened often. He’d wake up expecting to be in his room, his old room from more innocent times, smelling breakfast and seeing sunlight, and laying in a bed that had never been shared with another man.
Then reality would sink in like fangs against his skin; he was in his rundown apartment, sunlight blocked and the air smelling of smoke and sex. His head hurt and he needed water, but he was awake and glad it was morning. He had enough of nighttime and shadows.
Vic was already gone, mentioning earlier he’d be back sometime soon and left when Fen was still asleep. After spending time in jail, the man had things to do and people to see, so it didn’t seem right to ask him to stay longer or to come back any sooner.
And it felt like he should do something other than sitting around and waiting for evening to fall, anything to get his mind off the anxiety that brewed deep within him. That asked him if Gabriel really knew something or if he was only fishing? Why else would he ask every night to be invited in instead of coming to his door like all the others?
Fen sat in bed, biting his thumbnail and trying to convince himself that everything was okay and his past was left in another city with another name. How would Gabriel know his secrets when he never told anyone? Not even Vic.
He’s lying, he’s just trying to catch me off guard.
With that thought, his anxiety settled…for now, and he got out of bed. He slipped into the shower and dressed in the last of his clean clothes. A hint that it was time to do laundry, so he gathered up all the dirty clothes he could find and removed the sheets from his bed.
It was a joke to think the apartment’s laundry room was available to use, the machines were always broken from somebody stealing coins or parts and it was never clean. The landlord decided it was useless to keep bringing in new washers and dryers if it meant someone was just going to rip them apart the next day. Therefore, he carried his bag outside, his eyes adjusting to the light of day, and headed for the laundry mat.
The building was empty, thankfully, and he piled his clothes into the biggest washer so he could get everything done as quickly as possible before he took a seat to wait. He laid his head against his arm, staring at the coins in his hand and thinking about several things that all led back to last night. The open door brought in the outside noises; the faint bass of cars driving by and a group of young men who listened to their friend talk about something Fen only heard parts of.
“…found him ripped open!”
“No shit!”
“What the fuck?!”
A shiver rolled down his spine.
A few hours later, after laundry and other mindless chores, Fen stood at his kitchen sink, absentmindedly doing the few dishes he had.
The clock read seven, no word from Vic, no word from anyone else.
Then, a powerful blow struck his door.
He jumped and turned, the glass in his hand slipped out of his wet grip and shattered onto the tile. He stood, staring at the door as someone beat against it.
He heard Kellen's voice.
“Fen! Open the door!”
He hesitated.
"Open this fucking door now!" The banging got worse.
At that, Fen hurried over to the door, undoing the locks and opening it.
“What is— “
The blow came quick and hard, a punch to his face that knocked him into the coffee table. He felt blood pouring from his mouth and pain against his face, his heart quickening when Kellen stepped inside, slamming the door shut behind him.
Fen tried to back away, seeing the uncontrolled rage in the man's eyes, but his shirt was grabbed and he was pulled forward, receiving another hit to head. And another, and in between them, Kellen raged on. “You fucking slut! You mother fucking whore! You think I wouldn’t notice my money gone?! You think you can steal from me?!”
When he tossed Fen aside, he paced around like a mad dog watching its victim cower on the floor. His money, get up and get his money!
“Get the fuck up!”
“Kellen, stop…. I didn’t take—” Talking hurt, getting to his knees hurt and everything hurt more when he was kicked across the head. He hit the floor.
Everything became a blur, images going in and out of focus, his mind trying to tell his body not to go to sleep, not to shut down. Somewhere in the background, Kellen was screaming, ranting and throwing things around.
He didn’t want to die like this. Kellen was going to kill him.
Then, despite the entire world being caught in a blur of chaotic images, he saw someone standing on the fire-escape outside his window. He saw every perfect feature and started to cry when the man smiled.
Gabriel!
Fen lifted his hand and reached for him.
“Come, my dear, come to me,” His voice sounded clear enough to be inside Fen’s head.
“Ple-Please…” He lifted himself to his knees, shaking and slowly crawling for the window where the man opened his arms.
Just...a little more…
But Fen was grabbed by the hair and yanked back so hard it felt like his neck was going to break. He screamed.
“N-No! No!” Fen tried to protect himself, tried to escape Kellen's endless blows and the pain that followed. He turned back to the window and reached and reached. “G-Gabriel! Gabriel…SAVE ME!”
The lights went out.
Kellen froze, looking around in his drugged-daze like a panicking rabbit. Fen laid against the floor crying and shaking.
When he looked back to the window with a clear eye, he saw Gabriel was now inside. But his light had gone out and for an unreal moment, it looked like the darkness of the room came to life and clung to him like dark wings. His blue eyes cracked at the irises and red spilled into them like blood against water.
“Who in the fuck are you?” Kellen asked.
Fen didn’t hear the answer before he blacked out, just a soft whisper and the scream that followed.
Comments (8)
See all