The dream—or memory—turned off like a screen, switching to black in a pop of light.
At first, Fen wasn't aware he was fading out of unconsciousness but assumed he was still trapped in half of a dream when all he could do was stare at the moving lights. And it wasn’t until several heartbeats that he realized he’d been awake all along and just watching the static of a TV that wasn’t supposed to be on. He blinked to clear his vision, resisting the urge to follow the shadows that seemed to be moving throughout the room unattached to anything.
Somewhere, he heard noises—someone slurping something wet—and tried to move. Pain shot through him, as fresh as the first blow and he groaned, holding back tears since his eyes already stung. He looked around, the static casting an odd mix of light and darkness throughout his apartment and his clouded gaze settled on the form kneeling close to the TV.
It was moving, leaning down and tearing at something, he heard those wet noises and the harsh snap of something else breaking. Both sounds made him shiver.
The metallic smell of blood pulled him from his daze and he noticed it all over his hands. His own? No, there was too much of it. His heart was uncontrollable at this point, probably ready to stop at any second as he followed the red trail from his body to the thick pools that covered the floor. Fear focused his eyes and he saw red on the walls then the ceiling, splattered everywhere like a horrible nightmare. He sounded, unable to stop the noise of terror that escaped his lips and he couldn’t even find the courage to move, the fear sealed him in place. He glanced back to that strange figure.
His heart stopped.
It was watching him.
Red eyes peering through the shaded corner. He saw a smile, bloodied and pointed.
The figure shifted like a contortionist as it stood and stepped out of the dark corner, every inch of moving light morphing its inhuman silhouette back to the body and face of the man he’d seen every night for weeks.
Gabriel.
“Oh god…” Fen whispered roughly against his broken breaths and oncoming sobs.
“Who?” Gabriel asked with a perfect, stained smile as he knelt beside to Fen, his red eyes still pulsing.
The man kindly stroked his face and hair with sticky, wet hands while Fen glanced behind him to see what he had been doing.
A body—no, a torso—laid in a circle of red and flesh, ribs forced apart and pointing upward in grotesque angles with entrails hanging off like an infernal work of art. Limbs were scattered around, broken parts of a doll all snapped or ripped apart, and the closest piece to him was a hand. He counted the small crosses inked into each finger and his heart skipped again. Kellen.
Fen screamed and managed to force himself up through all the pain, backing away frantically, slipping on blood and feeling the sting of something broken in his body. He backed against the wall, wide eyes staring at the still-warm body then to the man—or creature—responsible, tears running down his face.
Gabriel was still smiling, but this smile was different, now he was pleased with something.
“I must apologize,” He said in a cold and soft whisper, and Fen almost thought he heard other voices speaking with him. “Normally I’m not so messy, but this is a special occasion. Don’t you think?”
Fen said nothing.
Gabriel looked as if he was waiting for something, then a voice entered the room through a crack in the door.
“Fen, honey? You alright?” His neighbor, Bunny, asked as she pushed the door open.
Gabriel was gone, Fen inhaled sharply.
“No! Don’t—!”
The woman took a step inside.
Suddenly, her face was violently grabbed and she was pulled in.
Her face crushed by Gabriel’s hand, muffling her cries. The door slammed against the wood but did not shut all the way. Fen stared in horror as the man dangled the woman in the air before bringing her close and ripping into her throat. She screamed against his hand and Fen screamed too. Gabriel chewed and sank his fangs further into her neck, holding the convulsing and twitching body in a tight embrace.
Fen went for the door and tripped out of the apartment. He hit the wall but recovered quickly so he didn't fall onto the floor. He ran through the hallways and down every flight of stairs, slipping every few steps until the blood on his feet were wiped dry. The building doors were thrown open and Fen ran out into the night, heading in a direction without a destination, but with no plans to stop.
He turned the corner and pushed past two men who sounded in disgust when they realized he'd smeared them with blood. Even then, he didn’t slow his pace.
Only until he was yanked back by one of the men who gave chase did he stop, but he immediately threw his fists at the stranger, trying to escape him. “Let go!”
“Hey! Calm down! Are you okay?” The man tried to steady Fen’s violent struggling, eventually grabbing his wrists. “Let us call an ambulance!”
“You don’t understand! We need to run!” He yelled, his voice echoing into the night.
“John! What’s going—“
A horrible gag was heard and the two of them turned to see the other man was gone, his hat laying on the sidewalk in front of a small lot shrouded in darkness.
“Lee?” The man let go, but Fen grabbed his arm, trying to drag him away.
“Stop! We need to call the police, we need to run!”
The man pushed Fen away, more concerned for his missing friend as he jogged to the hat and picked it up. “Lee?!” He called again, glancing into the darkness of the lot until his eyes went wide and his skin turned white. He nearly fell backward in his fright, but he caught himself and ran to Fen, pulling out his phone with shaking hands. “Hurry, back to the—“
Snap.
Gabriel twisted the man’s head, breaking his neck instantly and watching the body to drop to the concrete, Fen was already backing away when those red eyes turned to him with an avian-like stare. Then, he approached as casually as a morning stroll, forcing Fen into the alley with his presence alone.
His back met something, an old car that he didn’t dare look at, too afraid to even glance away from those red eyes. His body shook and his breathing came out rough, a series of tired and fearful gasps.
“Are you going to make me kill everyone on this block?” Gabriel asked, almost sounding gleeful at the idea.
“W-What….what…?” He tried to gather his words, but his jaw hurt and his mind wouldn't focus on what he was trying to ask.
Gabriel cocked his head, a curious tilt as he stared at him. This close, Fen saw the man’s coat was clean like he’d taken it off before committing his murders. The clothes beneath, however, were covered in red splotches. “I think you know the answer if you’d let yourself believe it.”
“W-Why?”
“Because you asked me to.” He responded as if the answer was obvious.
“No, no, I just wanted help.”
“You wanted him dead.”
“No! Fuck, no I didn’t!” Fen said quickly.
“You asked me to save you, so I did, and so I shall continue to do so.” Gabriel’s voice reverted, retrieving its charm and warmth despite the bloodied lips and sharpened fangs. He took Fen’s hand, guiding him away from the car in a dance-like grace, whether he wanted to move or not.
“This isn’t real. This isn’t real! This is a nightmare!” His hands tore away from Gabriel and began slamming his palms into the sides of his head, tightening his eyes shut and inhaling for a few seconds. Listening to nothing but the vicious throbbing inside his head.
He opened his eyes and saw Gabriel staring at him.
“Did you wake up?”
Fen nearly fainted, but when the man started circling him, he grew stiff and stood straight.
“Are you…going to kill me?”
“Oh, how I wanted to. I thought about nothing else every night since the first time I looked up at your window.” Cold fingers grazed his neck, sliding across his skin as the man continued to move. Fen tried to follow, but every time his eyes shifted, Gabriel was somewhere else beside him. “I wanted to rip into your throat and cherish that moment for eternities to come. But now, I have other ideas.”
Fen was almost too afraid to ask.
“I-Ideas?”
There wasn’t an answer.
Instead, Gabriel pulled Fen against his chest and carefully embraced him from behind, nuzzling into bloody strands of hair and letting out a soft sigh of content. “Forgive me, my dear, I have waited for this moment for weeks, maybe centuries, and all your questions will be answered in due time.”
Concerned, Fen wanted to ask what the man meant, but all his words and all his questions were replaced with a deep scream the moment Gabriel's fangs sank into his neck and held him painfully close.
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