Lion (manxboy)

Chapter 19

The wind blew in from the open window of the bedroom. Lion slept soundly in the comfort of his blankets, but Lion's dream caused his heart to beat against his rib. Lion's brows furrowed, and his face contorted into pain with tears trailing down his cheeks.

Lion desperately tried waking up from his dream, but his body was too exhausted to move. His arms were limp against the mattress and legs shaking from the cold; it wasn't because of the opened window, but more because of where he was standing in his dream. Lion stood in the middle of the interrogation room with anxiety rushing through him. He hesitantly gazed around the room to find anything that could help him leave. But before Lion could do anything, the door opened, and Donovan stood a few feet from him with a hot piece of metal.

The boy squirmed in bed once, seeing the red stick. Lion wanted to scream, yell or punch Donovan in his dream, but he couldn't move.

Donovan approached Lion and yelled at him, screaming and slamming his hand against the table that separated them. Lion couldn't make out what Donovan was saying, but deep down, he knew it wasn't anything good. Once again, Lion wished for Elijah to save him. But in this dream, Elijah didn't exist and never would.

Lion began to whimper in his slumber, his body shaking and aching. The boy was scared for his life. Donovan rushed closer to Lion, but the boy couldn't move. He could only pray. Donovan rose his arm with the metal bar swaying in the air as he sputtered more words at Lion and swung the metal down at Lion.

Lion sat up with a panicked expression and his skin dripping sweat. The boy looked around the room but couldn't find Elijah anywhere and began to cry. His eyes burned with the warm tears that spilled down his cheeks, with his hands rapidly swiping to collect them. Lion couldn't stop crying. The boy moved the covers off and stood from the bed. He slowly made his way towards the door and opened it.

"Elijah." Lion whimpered.

The boy looked around the apartment to find Elijah watching television. Lion padded his way towards the man with shaky legs and his arms wrapped tight around himself.

Elijah looked over at Lion with a smile but frowned soon after seeing Lion's pained expression. Elijah noticed Lion's weak body and immediately stood to pick Lion up.

"What happened?" Elijah asked as he carried Lion back to their bedroom and placed the boy down on the edge of the bed, "Lion, talk to me. What happened?" Elijah repeated with a stern voice.

Lion pulled Elijah back against him and cried some more. His hands grasped Elijah's hair (not rough to hurt Elijah) and kept himself stable against the man.

Elijah tensed but quickly understood that Lion had a bad dream and wasn't able to speak. Elijah kissed Lion's head and pursued to picking Lion off the bed and carrying the boy into the bathroom. Elijah worked hard at getting the shower ready with a warm temperature, all with Lion's small body in his arms.

"With you." Lion choked and pushed his face against Elijah's shoulder.

Elijah nodded and kissed Lion's head some more before placing the boy on the small bench near the shower, "stay here, I'll be right back, okay?" Lion slowly nodded and watched Elijah leave the bathroom.

The man moved around the room and picked out one of his large t-shirt for Lion and a fresh pair of boxers before turning back into the bathroom and closing the door. Elijah then moved towards Lion's shaking body and kissed the boy one more time. Helping Lion to undress, Elijah opened the glass door and put Lion's dirty clothes aside. Elijah then undressed before taking Lion's hand in his and leading the boy into the warm shower.

Lion stood under the warm water and hugged Elijah's torso, his cheek pressed against Elijah's peck. Elijah was still worried for Lion, his arms wrapping around the boy's waist.