Air. An essential element needed to maintain human life. Often it is wasted on pointless arguments over silly meaningless things. Luckily, it can be found abundantly all around us. From the space that surrounds us to the oxygen atoms contained in water. Despite this commonly known fact, Chester was drowning.
Wobbly packets of air gathered into small groups and floated past the young boy’s bulging eyes as he struggled to get out. Clawing at the pair of arms holding his head down the porcelain tub, Chester fruitlessly screamed in a silent plea for help. With a sharp jerk at the roots of his platinum blonde locks, bringing tears to his eyes, he was forcibly pulled back up onto the surface. Air. Sweet sweet air. Droplets of water dripped from the clumped tips of his hair as he desperately gasped, sucking in the life saving element, nearly choking on it. Every time he tried to breathe, his lungs burned as his throat constricted from abuse. He didn’t care. He could finally breathe now.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He was just silently cramming for school, minding his own goddamn business. One smartass remark led to a heated argument and the next, assault.
Chester’s moment of bliss was short lived when suddenly, his assailant slammed his body to the side of the tub with a loud resonating bang in the brightly lit bathroom, smacking the poor child’s head in the process.
“AH,” he cried.
Tears pin pricked the corner of his eyes while a dull pain blossomed from the back of his head. Looking up through blurry eyes, the assailant smile glistened as he leaned down and firmly yanked Chester’s head to look at him. A pair of cold dark green eyes stared down a set of pitiful doe eyes, daring the other to do something-defy him if he wishes, if he has the balls for it though.
“Little brother, are you ready to say that to my face again?” he jeered.
“Fuck you” he mumbled.
“Say that again,” wrenching once again on the poor boy’s mistreated scalp, he continued, “I couldn’t quite hear you.”
“...”
Sighing, the older brother squatted down to Chester’s cowering level, firmly gripping the silvery locks like a leash.
“Chester,” he began darkly, “Answer when you’re being spoken to. It’s quite rude if you don’t. Mom and dad taught you better than this. I shouldn’t have to discipline you like a mongrel. Now I’m going to ask you one more time,” he paused, “Learn your lesson yet?”
Hesitantly, the boy croaked out a yes, pleasing the elder. Flashing a smile once more, he finally released Chester and rose back up, in a upright position. From where Chester was curled up, he silently released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding as he tried to massage his scalp. It stung like a bitch.
“Don’t think we’re finished just yet Chester. Now tell me, do you regret your actions from earlier?”
“Wha-what?”
“Ugh. Are you that dumb as to not remember what happened earlier. I want you to apologize to me for this morning. Now if you don’t apologize right now, I’m going to get really upset at you again,” he warned.
Despite not having a single clue about what he’s going on about, Chester quietly apologized to the imposing figure. This seemed to have appeased the elder as he turned around and began to leave. Pausing with one hand on the doorknob, he advised Chester to clean himself up before school, before finally leaving with a slight snicker under his breath.
Releasing a frustrated sigh, Chester cursed as tears began to trickle down his pale face.
***
Tick. Toc. Tick. Toc. In a large classroom filled with preteens, Chester furiously scribbled on his notebook, as he tried to pay attention to the teacher droning on about triangles and shit. It wasn’t working. From behind, he could still hear the mindless chatter his classmates were making instead of shutting the fuck up. He could fully understand what they were saying, but he just wanted to take his notes in peace.
“Fucking, Chester. Always raising his fucking hand. Bitch, I just wanna leave already.”
Well fuck you asshole.
“Why does he even bother? It’s not like this shit is even going to be useful. I just wish he would stop trying already. His star student act is really getting on my nerves,” one of them sneered.
Chester gripped his mechanical pencil as he silently breathed in and out, keeping his eyes at the board. Just stay calm. You’re better than those shit eaters.
Inhale.
“By the way-”
Exhale.
“Hmm?”
Inhale.
“I heard that he was going out with somebody.”
Exhale.
“Really? Pffft-I already feel sorry for them,” one of them chuckled.
His breathing got cut short as wave of numbness washed over his body as his pencil snapped in half, digging nails and shards of plastic into the palm of his hand. When the bell finally rang, Chester, as subtly he could, stood up from his desk and carefully plucked the shards out, drawing a small stream of blood. He shook his hand out and hastily shoved his stuff into his bag and made a beeline for the door. He didn’t look at anything else, but the exit. The long halls and the crowds of people littering them blurred in his tunnel vision.
“Fuck them and fuck their shitty chatter,” he muttered angrily to himself. The more he dwelled on his classmate’s conversation, the more his headache started to pound.
Upon reaching the tall metal gates, he stopped and watched the steady stream of students fade over the horizon of the setting sun. Just looking at those careless faces was enough to make the small boy vomit. These people just live their damn lives without a single care in the world, Chester thought bitterly. The longer Chester watched the people walking past the tall metal gate, the angrier he became the more he waited.
“When is he coming out? He’s five minutes late,” he mused, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. He began to tap his foot impatiently while slowly easing his jitters. Suddenly he felt something embrace him from behind. The poor child nearly jumped out of his skin as he yelped and whipped his head around, slamming his head into a sea of dark brown locks.
“ACK,” the other boy cried as he finally released his hold on Chester and rubbed his forehead. Taking a deep shaky breath, Chester looked up.
“Don’t fucking do that Allen,” he scolded, “You know how easily startled I can get.” He continued tapping his foot in annoyance, as he watched the other beam a light hearted smile. Chester rolled his eyes, grabbing the boy by the wrist and gripping his backpack in the other.
“Look I’m sorry, I’m just tired.”
“It’s ‘sokay. I just wanted to surprise you. You just seemed extra annoyed than usual today.” Looking back at his companion, Chester’s breath nearly caught in his throat. His eyes widened while a shade of red dusted his cheeks. The rays from the setting sun, highlighted the other boy’s short dark hair, giving it chestnut highlights while emphasizing his honey colored doe eyes. Paired with that sickeningly dumb smile of his was nearly causing Chester to have a heart attack. Fuck he’s cute.
Chester coughed into his hand and began hastily walking away, in a futile attempt to chase away his gay thoughts. He struggled to keep his mind steady as the tips of his ears started to heat up. From behind, footsteps could be heard the faster he tried to run away.
“Aaaaaaugh! Chester slow down! Why are you walking away so suddenly? Chester!”
Allen struggled to keep up with the blushing boy as he was literally dragged him to where ever he was heading to.
“Chester~ Where are we going,” he whined.
“Somewhere.”
“Huh? Chester that’s not really specific.” Allen blinked and ran up to Chester before twisting his arm in his clammy grip and holding his hand in return.
“I just want to get away from here, okay,” he snapped.
Refusing to look back at Allen, Chester bit the inside of his cheek in shame and continued walking. Nothing, but the sound of their footsteps beating against the pavement, filled the silence between the two as Allen rubbed small, calming circles onto the back of Chester’s palm with his thumb.
Around them, the crowd started to wither down little by little as they made their way towards a grassy area. The soft glow from the street lamp casted away the growing darkness around them as night time rolled around. The harsh taps against concrete was soon replaced with muffled steps on grass as they approached the a stone arch with a metallic sign on top.The stone walls reflected a portion of the street lights, giving it a slight sparkling look, contrasting its grey exterior while the two strolled the grassy path.
Perking up at the sign that read, park, Allen smiled and tugged on his companion’s arm, leading him inside. Crushing families of daffodils and small yellow flowers, the pair searched for a place to rest before settling on a large oak tree.
Placing their bags down against the rough bark, Chester stared at Allen, while he gleefully patted the space next to him. Sighing in defeat, he quickly took the spot next to him and leaned into his shoulder.
“Should we really be here Allen,” he muttered suspiciously.
“Don’t think about it too much, just relax!”
Running his hand against the grass, he mindlessly plucked at a few, staring at Allen’s determined expression.
“But I have a test to cram for,” he pointed out.
“But Chessy-”
“Wait a minute. Is that really what you’re gonna call me?”
“Yes and now as I was saying-”
“That’s really stupid, don’t call me that,” he whined.
“Huh! How is it stupid? I personally think that it’s a nice nickname for you,” he pouted.
“Oh God, fuck no. You are not calling me that. It sounds like something you’d name a horse after. In fact, I’m vetoing that idea,” Chester dismissed, with a wave of his hand.
“What! Oh c’mon Chessy~”
“What did I just say!”
“Pleeeease?”
“No.”
“But it sounds really cute!”
Lazily poking Allen’s puffed out cheek, he lightly laughed and replied, “No.”
Upon seeing him laugh, Allen warmly smiled and lightly held Chester’s out reached hand.
“You’re finally smiling.”
Sighing, with half lidded eyes, he tried to thank him until something from the corner of his eyes caught his attention.
“What the fuck?”
Nearly blending in dark corners of the park entrance and shadows left behind the receding sun, was a strange figure peeking out from behind the stone structure. The figure was facing them, but it wasn’t doing anything. Just watching them. Unnerved, Chester quickly got up and pulled Allen up as well.
“Chessy? What’s wrong,” he asked confused.
Moving in front of Allen, to shield him from the interloper, he answered, “It’s getting late. We have to go.”
“But we just got here,” he complained.
Picking up their stuff, he grabbed Allen’s arm and tried walking towards the exit as calmly as he could.
“Chester you’re not answering. What’s wrong?”
When he tried to look around, Chester got close to him and told him to keep looking forward in a low voice.
“Don’t do anything suspicious, there’s a guy watching us,” he warned.
“Chester-”
“Shh! Keep walking. As soon as we get to the exit, we’re gonna run. Okay?”
Allen fought the urge to question his plan and silently went along with him. Two kids like them wouldn’t stand a chance if the stranger was an adult. Even if they called the cops, they probably wouldn’t make it in time.
With each step the two took among the dimly lit stone pathway, the more they felt like something was behind them. Carefully, Chester craned his neck and saw nothing but tendrils of darkness slowly trailing at their feet. He gulped and looked away. There was nobody.
Looking up, he spotted the golden glint of a sign above another stone arch. Glancing at each other, the both counted to three and ran like hell-refusing to look back.
“Chester is anybody behind us!”
Quickly snapping his neck over his shoulder, he saw no one and sighed in relief.
“No,” he wheezed. They kept running until they saw the neon lights of a convenience store, piercing the night sky. They finally stopped and leaned against street lamp to rest. Chester’s heart was pounding in his ears. His legs felt like they were on fire, while struggled to catch a breath. The two of them stood there for a minute, regaining their composure. Looking up at each other, they broke out into a haze of crazed laughter, startling the passing drivers. As their laughter started to die down into a puddle of tears, Chester broke down and started sobbing. Rushing over to his side, Allen wrapped his arms around Chester’s crumpled form as he wailed into his shoulder. When he was finally settled down, they kissed each other goodbye, latching on as if they couldn’t see each other anymore. He wanted to walk Chester home, but it would’ve been bad if someone in his house saw them together.
Hesitantly the two of them waved each other off before walking to their respected homes while texting each other along the way. Nothing happened when Chester finally reached his house. Strolling alone on the empty road, he awaited the scolding he’ll get from his parents for being home so late. However, didn’t care at the moment. He was worried about Allen. He didn’t want anything to happen to him. That boy was practically the only ray of light in his crappy life-he can’t let that get away.
He ran up the steps to the metal door. Lights spilled from the window as night approached, cold air nipping at his skin. Digging into his pocket, he withdrew a key and opened the door as silently as he could, looking back one last time into the night-nobody.
The living room was empty. Nothing but shelves of books, a lonesome piano, pictures of a blonde haired man, and an array of aged furniture inhabited the room. On one wall, was a vast collection of large awards, ranging from many subjects such as sports and debate. All addressed to his big brother Slone, not him. The light reflecting off of the metal ornaments practically mocked the poor child as he tore his gaze away from the garish display. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a note on top of the large oak table. Shutting the door behind him, he snatched the note and read it.
Dear Chester,
Your father and I will be working overtime at the clinic because of a medical emergency. Sorry. Call us if you need anything.
-Mother and Father
(XXX) XXX-XXXX
Groaning in frustration, he crumpled up the curt note and ran up the stairs and into his room. Throwing his bag to the corner of his room, he loosened his black necktie and collapsed onto his haphazardly made bed. Exhaustion had finally taken a toll on his small frame. Looking at his phone, he texted Allen that he was home and that nothing bad happened to him. He smiled a bit when light bing popped up, signalling Allen’s response. He put his phone to the side and placed an arm over his eyes. His chest steadily rose and fell, syncing up with the clocks in his room. From there, his eyes fluttered in and out of consciousness before finally submitting to the sweet allure of sleep. Suddenly he heard a voice.
“You’re home already?” He ignored it and kept his eyes closed.
“It’s too bad you weren’t caught. You’re disappearance would’ve made life better for everyone,” the voice teased.
“Shut up,” he mumbled from the side of the pillow.
“Why not just end it now? It’s just a fruitless whim you’re chasing. How do you expect to catch up to me little brother?” Chester could practically hear the sneer in his tone.
“Shut up,” he growled, a bit louder this time. From behind, he felt a dip and a hand ruffling through his hair. Annoyed, he tried to smack the offending limb away from him, for it to only be caught in mid swing. He cracked an eye open, only to be meet with shadows once again.
“Chester, your relationship with that boy is built upon a meaningless pipe dream. Does mom and dad even know about it,” he chuckled. Upon hearing this, Chester twisted his hand out of his brother’s grip and lunged at him, locks of blonde and white hair framing their faces flailed wildly as they tumbled onto the hardwood floor with a painful bam. Making a fist in the collar of his brother’s white button up, Chester breathed heavily as he glared at his smirking elder through the cracks in his bangs.
“You,” he threatened, “wouldn’t fucking dare.”
“Hmmm, is that a challenge I hear Chester,” he mocked. Reaching an arm up to the child’s snarling face, he caressed his head lovingly before clawing his fingers into his hair and yanking him back away from his body, tossing him to the side of the room.
Upon landing against the wall, Chester saw stars before a sharp ache began to set in as he balled himself up in an attempt to ease the pain.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Chester slowly looked up as Slone slowly sauntered his way towards him, stopping one foot in front of the boy. The yellow light spilling from the door, contrasting with the vast darkness in his empty room gave off an almost angelic like glow around Slone’s tall frame from behind.
Looking down at the crumpled form beneath him, he smiled softly before crouching down to Chester’s level.
“It’s all a lie you’re deluding yourself with. I’m only trying to help you. So why don’t you just give it up and leave?”
Gritting his teeth, he was about to yell when his phone suddenly went off, slicing the tension with a loud briiiiiing.
“Go ahead, answer it,” Slone replied.
Picking himself off of the ground, he clumsily got up to his feet and made his way to his cluttered nightstand and searched for the source of the ringing. Upon finding the device, he flipped it over, nearly blinding himself from the screen. There in a garishly bright green was his name-Allen. His breath caught in his throat as he silently answered the call, a small pit forming in his stomach.
“Hello?” He tried to sound relaxed, but it came out feeble instead. He didn’t even have time to berate himself when the soft panicked voice of his friend came on.
“Chester are you alright?”
“Is that the boy you’ve been fawning all over,” Slone teased.
Bringing the phone away from himself, he quickly hissed out a quiet shut up before answering him.
“Yes I am. Sorry for not replying earlier. Look are you calling about earlier? Just forget about it okay? Let’s just go back and-”
“No Chester listen, we need to talk.”
“See? I was right. He going to leave you, Chester.”
“Shut. Up,” he growled.
“Chester? Chester what’s wrong,” he asked, alarmed now.
“It’s nothing,” he quickly added, “I’m just a little irritated right now. I’m pretty sure we’re both tired right now, so please just-”
“You know that I love you right? I’m your boyfriend, you can tell me anything.” Biting his lip, a wave of guilt washed over him and then a pause as he struggled to reply.
“He’s just toying with you. It’s all just a facade little brother,” he taunted.
“Chester...Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“He’s going to leave you one day.”
“...I’m sorry I’m really tired. I have to go study now. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay...I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said quietly before hanging up.
“Well isn’t that just sweet?” Clutching the smartphone in his hand, Chester whipped his head back to Slone, hair flying wildly in many directions.
“WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK-” When he looked up, the smug bastard was gone, leaving Chester to scream in frustration. The phone that was once in his steel like grip, now rested against the wall, shattered with cobwebs etching itself onto the glass surface, turning everything it touched pitch black.
Loudly cursing himself, he stormed over to his injured phone and carefully picked it up with trembling fingers. Sliding a thumb tenderly across the cracked screen, he checked if it was still working, letting out a shaky sigh of relief once dim lights spilled from the phone, avoiding the splotches of black that littered the screen.
“What he said wasn’t true right,” he asked himself, “He still loves me right? Right?”
Only the sounds of ticking answered his doubtful inquiries. Standing dejectedly near the entrance of his room, he silently walked over to his door, footsteps loudly echoing in his ears, and closed it with a creek. All traces of light, except for the one spilling out from the bottom of the wooden plane, vanished. Leaning his back against the door, he sat down and pulled out a textbook, drowning his thoughts in work as a feeling of hollowness started to envelope him.
***
A swarm of adolescents gathered over a piece of paper,like flies in a jar, against a wall. Murmurings of nervous yet excited tension could be heard from throughout the vast halls of the school. It was the results of a major test. Depending on where you ranked, you’ll be set with high regards from schools across the country. Chester really shouldn’t care so much about this, but he couldn’t. He doesn’t want the high rank for approval, no he needed it. If he didn’t then what was the point of well everything? His parents wouldn’t shut up about Slone for one goddamn second, not even when he did something worth their attention. It always about that fucker. Never about him.
With an overwhelming sense of tension and a bit of frustration, the small child shoved his way to the front and saw searched for his name from the jungle of of characters littered across the board. Frantically, he searched high and low before finally spotting his name. Clutching the strap of backpack in a tight fist, he paled once he saw the number-rank fifteen out of a hundred. No. No. No. NO! NONONONONONONONONONO! NO!
Nearly collapsing onto his knees he forced himself to stay up as he fought back an overwhelming urge to vomit. This can’t be. Chester studied his ass off for five goddamn weeks for this fucking test. Fifteen? Fifteen! This can’t be. FUCK!
His chest started to rise and fall rapidly as he bolted as far away from the dreaded board as far away as possible. Everything around him started to blur in a mix of greys and dark hues with a dash of mindless squabbling. He might’ve heard someone call his name, he doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter though, he just wanted out.
“Fifteen? Really Chester? Is that the best you can do,” a voice chuckled in his ear.
Oh no. Not him. Not now.
He continued to run as fast as his feet could carry him, bursting out through the front gates of the school and off to God knows where.
“Where are you even off to, little brother? You know you can’t avoid it forever,” he purred.
His breath started to quicken the more he ran from the blurred world chasing him. He paid no heed to the dwindling contorted shapes and figures around him, focusing only on his loud erratic heartbeat pounding in his ears. Lost in his own little world, he crashed into a teen with red hair, sending them both spiraling onto the cold hard pavement.
“Watch where you’re going asshole,” growled the figure.
Chester bowed his head and quickly muttered an apology and tried to leave, but he was stopped when he felt something strong pull on his arm.
“Hey wait a minute. Aren’t you Slone’s little brother,” they asked a bit too gleefully.
“...”
“Do you remember me? I used to come over to your house for dinner at Slone’s invitation. Maybe you don’t remember me since you were so little.”
“...”
“I’m sorry for your loss, but he was great guy when he was still around.”
“...” Chester tried to shake the person off his arm, but their grip tightened the more they talked about Slone.
“He was such an amazing guy, you know? I used to be in the same class as him. He was class rep and the brightest man in our entire school. Bastard had fucking everything, rank, people working for him and fuck even the entire fucking staff kissed his ass. Hahahahaha,” the person’s grip on his arm tightened painfully the more they reminisced.
“...”
“I really admired him you know,” he squeezed even more, surely leaving bruises, “He was at the top of his fucking world and poof. Gone. Dead. And you wanna know what’s the kicker,” they asked dazedly.
“Let go,” he demanded bluntly. That earned him another sharp squeeze, sending shards of pain shooting up his arm.
“Now that he’s gone, I guess you’re the only one left to fill in the void he left behind, huh?” There was a pause, followed by a dream like smile. A headache started to form in back of Chester’s head as he struggled to get the deranged figure to let go of his arm. Soon enough, he felt a cold hand caress the top of his head and then a whisper, “It’s a damn shame you’re falling so behind, Chester.”
When he looked up, puffs of black smog formed from the corners of the person’s mouth the more they talked, polluting the air with their words. He couldn’t even recognize what they were saying anymore, until he heard Allen’s name.
“You know, I heard you were in a relationship with a certain boy. What was his name? Allen?”
“Why do you know this,” he asked in a slow menacing voice.
“Hm? Why shouldn’t I know? You’re brother left quite a legacy behind, so it was a given that people like me would find out about your life eventually.”
“That doesn’t answer the fucking-”
“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”
The clamp on his arm was finally gone as a small body collided with the babbling figure. It was Allen. He must’ve been the one calling his name earlier while he was running. Why would he follow him though? Stepping in front of him, with hands on his hips, he glared at the teen in front of him.
“I don’t know who you are, but I want you to apologize to my friend right now,” he yelled, turfs of hair softly blowing in the wind.
“So you’re the one holding him back,” the red hair stated, annoyed.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but you making Chester upset, so now I’m mad.”
“Allen,” Chester grabbed Allen’s shoulder with his uninjured arm and lightly squeezed it, “Let’s just go, it’s not worth it,” he begged, softly.
“You know, he could’ve been great if you weren’t the one holding him back.”
“Excuse me,” he asked, bewildered.
“Yes, you. If you weren’t the one holding him back, he would’ve been great like his brother. You’re leading him astray. Now step aside, I’m not done talking with him yet.” They took a step forward, but Allen didn’t budge. He continued glaring at the teen. Rolling their eyes, they grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt and threw him against the harsh pavement.
Dropping to his knees, he scrambled to his companion and checked him. Upon getting close to him, he was pushed him away with a bloodied hand while shooting him a reassuring look. A river of sanguine streamed down his nose, painting dark petals of blood on his white button up. Before he could make another move, the person kicked the dark haired boy in the abdomen, sending a flash of hot pain seeping from his stomach and onwards. Fuck why wasn’t anyone else here on this street?
“Allen!”
“If it weren’t,” kick “for you,” kick “he would’ve been great!” kick. With that blow, a small amount of blood trickled from the corner of the boy’s pale lips as he coughed and moaned in pain, clutching his stomach. Chester tried to cover Allen with his own body, but yet again, he was shoved away.
“For the love of God stop! He didn’t do shit to you! Just leave him alone,” Chester cried desperately.
Kick.
“And you. How could you do this to your brother? Messing around, indulging yourself in your childish fantasies. If Slone was alive, he would be pissed. Fuck, just looking at the both of you is pissing me off. You’re nothing like him,” he sneered.
“Shut up.”
“You’re just pathetic little brother.” The smog was back, this time coming out in vast quantities the more he spoke, shrouding the person’s figure in darkness. It was becoming difficult to remember what he looked like as Slone’s voice took over.
“Chasing after my shadows when you know, that deep down in your heart, you could never be like me.” There it was again, that arrogant smug smile of his, flashing the rows of sharp pearly whites.
“...”
“Who would ever want a useless child like you? That boy you’re hanging around with? He’s just playing you like a fool.”
“Shut up,” he whispered.
“Face it, you’ll never be like me. Your efforts are meaningless. Give up already. Maybe you had a chance, but you were blinded by your own delusions,” he laughed.
“Shut up.”
“Poor little Chester, blinded by an illusion of love and innocence. You’re less than a child, you’re just a little parasite barely passing by, living in a pipe dream. No one will ever love you, not by me, not by him, and certainly no one else.”
Something snapped inside as his arms started to move on their own. A cold feeling swept over him, engulfing him as he took a deep breath and began squeeze. He didn’t think much of it. Streaks of red started to appear on his arms the harder he squeezed and tore. Despite that, no matter how what he did, the smug bastard still smiled at him. Emerald eyes glistening in a haughty manner, while a pair of dull nearly pitch black eyes bore into his.
Everything started to blur once more into a mesh of greys with specks of colors here and there. The only thing he could see right now was red as he dug his nails into the man’s throat, but he was laughing. And laughing and laughing and laughing.
The sound of someone’s voice ebbed into the back of his mind as he continued his task. The number of streaks on his arms growing while the man beneath him laughed.
“CHESTER STOP!”
Somebody tackled him, tearing him out of his trance. Blinking his eyes into focus, the person crawled away from him as he turned his head and slowly curled and uncurled his hands in front of his eyes. They were covered with blood.
Looking up, he noticed Allen quivering and slowly backing away from him. From the corner of his eye, he saw a body lying in a small pool of blood, a portion of their throat missing. Seeing this however, wasn’t the thing sending shivers down his spine, it was the sight of a fearful Allen. Getting up, he walked over to the boy’s shivering form and held out his arm. The boy yelped as he smacked his hand away.
“Al-I’m-” He struggled to find words as he approached the cowering boy with horrified eyes.
“Get away from me,” he stammered. The closer he got to him, the harder he began to hyperventilate.
“Allen please, let me explain.” He held out his hand, reaching for the receding boy, hoping for something-anything really.
“Get away from me. I don’t want anything to do with you!”
When he finally got close enough to Allen, he screamed and pushed him away from him, running as he fell. He heard laughter from behind as he stretched his trembling arm out once more, in a futile attempt to capture the fleeing image in front of him. Alone, under the light of a flickering lamp, tears began to roll down his cheek, cutting lines through the smears of blood on his face.
