The Tiffany Box- ONC 2021 Shortlister

15- Nightmares and Angels

Haven's nightmare wrapped around him like a vice. It squeezed until he thought his lungs had no more air inside them. He felt someone pin him down by the throat, and when he clawed at the hand it felt like it was made out of concrete. Haven's wrists were bound. The rope was pulled and he was dragged to the other side of the alley as the two men laughed. Haven's skin burned. When he opened his palms, he felt a knife slicing into them. Blood poured from two nearly identical wounds.

"Look at you," said the pock-faced men as he stood over Haven and laughed, "a back-alley Jesus. Too bad I ain't a religious man, even though my daddy was a preacher."

"Don't fuckin' lie, Roach. Your pappy was a dirty drunk who sat on his porch all day misquoting the bible."

The men's words fell over Haven as he lay helpless. Before him, he saw darkness. "Didn't someone stab him?" one of the men said yet it suddenly sounded like bees buzzing.

"Who?" replied the other.

"Jesus you nit."

Before Haven could hear a reply, he felt the pain, hot and stinging as the knife slid through his thin shirt making a bloody line from navel to his hip. Two more slashes came. None of them were deep enough to cause permanent damage. Their intention was simply to cause pain.

When the knife-holding man stepped away from him, his friend slithered closer towards a wincing Haven and hoisted his bat over his shoulder. "I always preferred the Babe over any Gody hoky-poky."

"Who the heck you talking about Sam?" asked Roach wiping blood with a black handkerchief off his knife.

"Not a sporty bone in your body," scowled Sam readying his bat. "Babe Ruth you fool."

When the bat came down on Haven's shoulder he howled in agony. He was sure he heard bone break and the shards cried all the way up to his temples.

"Did you hear that?" whispered Roach excitedly, "I heard it crack. You think we broke his arm?"

Lowering the bat, Sam leaned on it like it were a cane. He glared down at Haven who was writing in pain. Tears slipped from his eyes and created little pools at his side. The sight of blood and tears made Sam feel giddy. "I could make an exception for this one," he muttered to himself, "Yessiree." Dropping to his knees, Sam cupped Haven's face roughly. "You're kinda like a girl." His voice carried venom.

When laughter came from behind him, Sam dropped Haven's chin and turned sharply to Roach. "What?" he said sharply.

"I never thought you'd turn fag," Roach replied sniggering.

Heat rose in Sam's face as he quickly stood up and pushed Roach out of his way. "Ain't no dirty faggot. That's your department."

"Least I always pay them," Roach said as he gestured for Sam to go away before he knelt by Haven. "How about twenty bucks. You'd let me stick it in you for a twenty, right?"

When Haven took a breath, he thought his stomach and sides were being ripped open. He tasted copper in his mouth. "Fuck off," he said with whatever strength and courage he could muster. When Roach leaned in closer, Haven spat bloody spit in his face.

Lifting his hand to punch him, Roach sputtered, "You piece of sh –"

Were it not for the howling of a siren, Haven was sure he would have ended up like Ryo...only worse.

The two assailants scattered when the flashing lights trickled over the alley. They ran to their truck and took off, leaving Haven at the mercy of the night.

It was the sound of crying that woke Eli, loud, painful sobs that came from sheer agony. Kicking off his covers, he got up and looked towards Haven's bedroom in confusion. "Hayv?" Barefoot, he made his way quickly to the door and pushed it open. Seeing Haven thrashing before curling up into a small ball, Eli rushed to his side and touched Haven's arm, lightly shaking him to wake up. "Hayv? It's me, Eli. I'm here."

Opening his eyes, Haven let out a mightly sob and buried his face into his pillow. "Eli," he whimpered.

"It's me. Shhh." Eli sat at the edge of the bed. He reached for Haven's silver-white hair and began stroking lightly. "You're ok. Whatever it was, it's not real. Not no more."

Turning gingerly, Haven looked at Eli, his face streaked with tears. With sad little sounds escaping his lips, Haven moved to place his head on Eli's lap and clung to his legs. "It was real," he uttered through tears.

"Not no more," Eli said as he continued to stroke Haven's hair.

Sucking in a few mouthfuls of air, Haven tried to stop the tears from flowing. He swiped at his eyes and gave himself a moment to calm down a bit. "Remember the guys I told you that..." he whispered, "that hunted me down?"

"Yah," Eli replied softly.

"They did catch me," Haven's voice was so faint that Eli strained his ears to hear him properly. "I was cut with a knife. Beaten. They broke my shoulder."

Eli frowned, anger was a seed that had just been planted inside him. Now he understood why Haven shrugged with only one shoulder. The other had been damaged. "The marks I saw in the shower?"

Haven nodded. "They did it." Opening his palm, he showed Eli the faint scars. "There were two. One had terrible pock-marks. Roach and Sam. That's what they called each other. I'll never forget..." Haven paused and brought his hands to his face briefly. "They wanted to...hurt me," he moaned at the memory, "but they heard a cop car before they could...One even offered to pay me twenty dollars to do it."

Fear came with the anger Eli felt with each confession, Eli wanted to storm out of the house, find the two men and hurt them. "Oh, Haven, I..." Eli knew whatever he'd say would not erase what had happened. "You escaped. You survived. You're here now and they are far away."

"You're here," Haven said in a broken tone. "I've never had anyone by my side when I had a nightmare. Thank you, Eli." Giving Eli's legs a small squeeze, Haven then moved back to his pillow and looked up at the other. "I came here to get away from them," he said in a small voice.

"You did get away." Nodding, Eli looked down at Haven. "I'm here now. If you have any more nightmares, I'll be here."

"Comforting me?"

"Yah. I can do that."

A tear trickled out of Haven's eye. "Will you...I mean..."

"What is it, Hayv?"

Shyly, Haven pointed to the empty space beside him. "Please stay. I don't want to be alone."

"I can do that," whispered Eli as he snuggled in beside Haven and touched his fingers to Haven's hair.

"Eli, will you do something for me?"

"Sure Hayv."

"Continue touching me till I fall asleep. I feel safe when you do that."

"I can do that," Eli replied and ran his fingers through the pale strands until Haven fell asleep. 

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