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“Charlie!” Collin cried. But Charlie refused to turn. His neck was stiff and stagnant, he ran slowly and phlegmatically while his partner was stolen from him. His body couldn't run anymore. It wouldn't let him. Sharp gusts of wind cut through him as he struggled to breathe. “Charlie?” the shorter boy yelled. It sounded more like a question, one with no answer.
Everything started to go dark and Charlie was losing his mind. I need to get out he thought. He stood unstirring while he listened to Collins's lifeless cries. They had gotten louder, closer, more vehement, more alive. The screams echoed through the empty subway station, reverberating off walls.
“Charlie!” His blood ran cold as he heard this yell. It felt like all the alarms in his head were blaring. Lights flashed in his face and the screams got louder.
“Charlie wake up! Im leaving with or without you!” Charlie shot up awake, cold and disoriented.
“Dude, I've been trying to wake you up for like five minutes now, how late were you up last night? You know we have plans, or did you forget about those?” His boyfriend asked.
Plans? The taller boy was confused, still trying to shake himself out of his haze.
“I know, we're going to the thing, with uhh, you know,” Charlie said, trying to calm his panicky lover, it doesn't work, but it's polite that he's trying.
“We're going to that abandoned library you told your lame friends you'd go to.” The smaller boy answered, rolling his eyes and suppressing a laugh.
“My friends are not lame; they're eccentric, " the brunette responded, getting up and walking to his closet.
“Uh, they are lame. They just canceled on us,” Collin said, showing him the text on his phone. The text was phrased oddly. “We can't go. Sorry.” Yet the boy paid no attention to it
“Do you still wanna go?” the nervous boy asked, his three friends, Ava, Dean, and Tori often canceled on the pair but the boys hardly seemed to mind.
Collin shrugged as Charlie pulled his shirt off and replaced it with another. He walked down the stairs and followed the smaller boy to the car. They drove to the abandoned spot, listening to the staticky radio, and slowly lost service as they arrived.
“You excited?” Collin asked, looking weary.
Charlie shrugged as chills ran up his spine as they got out of the car. The boy was nervous, of course, but tried to pay no attention to the previous, fake, reality he pulled himself out of. He sighed as they approached the doors, cobwebs covering them. He pushed the door open and sucked in a sharp breath. The smell of old books and dust made him cough violently.
“Charlie!”
“Collin? What’s wrong? Where are you!” Charlie screamed, looking for his partner.
“Charlie, calm down. Im right here. What's been going on with you?” The blonde said, standing right next to Charlie.
He must think im crazy The taller one thought as tears threatened to spill.
“Im fine, I - I just thought I heard something,” Charlie answered, Shaken up and terrified. He knew it was just a dream, just a dream He tried telling himself. His boyfriend grabbed onto his hand, and he instinctively pulled away out of fear of what it was, before returning his hand. Colin gently rubbed his hand with his thumb, trying to lessen his worries.
“We can always leave if you want to go. I don't wanna force you to be here if you're not okay.” The blonde stated gently.
“No, I- Im okay” He replied, his voice being barely above a whisper.
“Promise?” The sweet boy asked, offering up his pinky.
“Promise,” Charlie stated firmly, interlocking his pinky with the boy’s.
A strong, sharp gust of wind blew through the library, and a scream rang through the brunette's ears, Collin’s scream. The boy's shout shook him to his core and he spun around looking for the now missing boy.
“Collin! Collin, oh my God, this isn't funny.” He shouted.
“Dude come back! I can't do this.” His breathing is getting faster, his heartbeat is racing. He tries to look around, he tries to calm himself. It's not working. His boyfriend was gone, he was having a panic attack, and he forgot his inhaler at home. Everything started to go black in the already lightless area.
“Charlie!” Collin screamed.
His throat was closing up. His chest was getting tighter by the minute.
Everything went black.
Almost everything.
In the left corner of the library lay a lifeless Dean, looking like he'd been bludgeoned by a copy of War and Peace. Charlie's scream terrified even him. It was bloody and lifeless. He tried to run but it seemed the ground fell and his legs gave out beneath him. However, the limbs that lay just 10 feet away from Dean aided in the fall. It was Tori, it seemed her neck was slit with Ava's switchblade, she took that stupid blade with her everywhere. He tapped all his pockets in search of his phone to no avail. No light, no way to call for help, and no one else there to help him. He tried to call for Ava, he had given up on his boyfriend, imagining the worst. The images of Tori and Dean wouldn't leave his mind no matter how hard he tried to forget. Finally, the memories left and were replaced by thoughts of Collin. Beaten up and bloody like the first time they met.
He remembers pulling his thin frame back to his dorm away from the alley, patching up his wounds, and falling for him that very night. The blonde, even after dating for three years, refused to tell the taller one what happened that night. He started to walk away from the bloody scene and tried to find a way out. He started to hear calls from the pair from before. Tori and Dean screamed his name as they sobbed. He knew the screams were fake, but they felt so alive.
He fell once again, this time it was worse. The area had gone completely dark and he hadn't noticed the approaching stairs.
“God Collin please, please come back.” He cried as he sat in the dark, cradling his leg knowing it would bruise soon. They echoed which was strange given the small size of the area.
He sobbed, his whole body shaking as he cried. Collin please, please come back.
“Charlie?” The familiar voice from behind rang through the boy's ears as he hastily jerked his head to the silhouette of his boy, his collin.
Charlie leaped into the boy's arms, barely avoiding the lifeless body of Ava. The pale girl lay there, her cold skin indicating she’d been there and dead for quite some time.
“Where- where were you, I couldn't- I didnt- where were you?” The taller, persistent boy shouted, tears spilling onto the other boy's shoulders and cries leaving his lips without permission from his throat.
“Everything went black and I was in this- this dark room. I heard you crying , and I couldn’t help you and I- God I’m so glad you're okay” The short boy answered, tears that threatened to spill from his storm cloud-colored eyes almost fell, but he held back.
“Let’s go home baby.” Collin said
gently, tugging at the boy's arm while he wiped a tear away that fell.
“I love you.” Charlie said, it was the first time he said that to the blonde boy. Collin’s mouth fell agape as he let go of the boys hand and smiled.
“I love you too.” Collin answered , he had started to slow down in order to fall behind his boyfriend's speed of walking. As Charlie turned around to look at Collin in the dark room he suddenly realized one thing.
His boyfriend was gone, and he could once again hear his cries.
“Charlie?” The boy shouted, and Charlie’s vision went black.
“Charlie.” The boy cried, and Charlie’s ears began to ring.
“Charlie!” The boy screamed, and Charlie’s whole body began to shake viscerally.
“Charlie, Charlie come on wake up.” The boy said, no infliction in his voice, no screams nor cries, just silence now. Charlie shot up, cold and scared.
“Dude, I've been trying to wake you up for like five minutes now, how late were you up last night? You know we have plans, or did you forget about those?”