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A cacophony of cackling filled the cold, dry air. The sound of metal against flesh could hardly be heard over the noise, remaining soft and tender despite the blade’s harsh thrusts through muscle, tissue, and maybe even bone. A pool of crimson blood had already been forming around the now lifeless body, once animated with joy and life. After the countless amount of stabbing the corpse had received, the laughter slowly dissipated into manic giggles. Soon, all motion stilled. The manic killer finally reached the clarity he oh-so desperately needed.
Zack’s pleasant moment was interrupted by a sharp buzzing sound. He fished around his jacket pocket to find the source of the buzzing, an old and slightly busted burner phone that a certain someone had loaned him. Seems like said certain someone was the one calling him. Zack glanced at the caller’s icon, and swiped the screen towards the green circle on the right.
“What do you want, Tony?” Zack’s tone was still leaning on delirious. He squatted down next to the body, expecting this call to be a longer one.
“What do I want?! You stormed out in the middle of a manic episode and haven’t been answering any of my calls! You know damn well what I want! I’ve been calling you all night, where the hell are you?!” Zack pulled the phone away from his ear, grimacing at how much Tony was yelling.
“I’m sorry,” Zack muttered. His phone’s microphone seemed to pick it up well enough, given the heavy sigh he heard from Tony afterwards.
“Tell me where you are. I’ll bring you home.” Zack stood to his feet, no longer paying any attention to the corpse lying beneath him.
“Yours?” he asked. Tony gave him a swift hum as confirmation. Zack grumbled slightly and ended the call—he accidentally cut off Tony’s ‘I love you’, whoops. He’s probably going to be salty about that later. Zack swiped down on his phone screen, searching for the little button with a location marker on it. He tapped the button, watching the circle light up and turn white. That should mean his location is on, and Tony will find him in no time.
As expected, it didn’t take Tony very long to find him once his location was turned on. When he arrived, Tony took one look at the corpse still lying in the alleyway and sighed.
“Let’s get you home before the Reverend finds out about this, yeah?” Tony set his hands gently on Zack’s shoulders, guiding him away from the body himself when he took a little too long to move.
“So what if Mr. Father-Son-And-Holy-Spirit finds out? You know I never cared about what that old bastard says,” Zack spat. Tony sighed once more, shifting his right arm around Zack’s torso.
“If Father Gray gets involved, so does Rachel,” Tony said in a sing-song tone of voice. A growl-like rumble rang through Zack’s chest at the thought of Rachel being told about another one of his escapades . She’d likely press and push and prod, asking if he needed stitches again. Zack didn’t have the energy to try convincing her that he wasn’t on the verge of death after every manic episode he had. Only the severe ones.
“You piece of— whatever . Just get me out of here.” Tony smiled, leaving a small peck on Zack’s bandaged cheek and immediately grimacing at the taste of stale blood.
“Change your bandages when we get home, that was disgusting.” Tony wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
“You made that poor decision, not my fault you’re stupid,” Zack teased. Tony muttered a comment about Zack’s illiteracy, earning a string of colorful language in return. As the shadows of the alleyway shifted in the moonlight, the two left the corpse behind them as they made their way home.