High Tide (boyxboy)

Chapter 13: Fear

"No, don't touch."

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From exiting the bathroom, Stan heads back to his bedroom, with Nathan finally giving up on Stan and Stan giving nothing away.

He grabs his phone from the side seeing a few messages sent earlier that morning from Kai. He smiles to himself, excited to read them.

Kai 8:20
Are you awake? I need to see you.

Kai 8:25
Stan something's happening to me.

Kai 8:40
I'm scared...please come. 

Kai 9:00
There's something seriously wrong with me.

Stan takes on each message, his own panic increasing with each message. He hurriedly puts on some sweatpants and a hoodie and heads into the living area. Nathan is at the breakfast bar, scrolling through his phone. He looks up to see Stan pushing some trainers onto his feet without even undoing the laces. 

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"Kai's." Stan replies, short and sweetly, before heading out the door before Nathan has the chance to ask anything else. 

Stan wraps his knuckles on Kai's door "Kai...Kai opens up...it's Stan." It feels like an eternity before Stan can hear the latch moving. The door seems to open but he cannot see Kai. "Kai?" Stan asks cautiously.

"Just come in quick." Kai's voice can be heard from behind the door. Stan walks cautiously into the apartment with the door closing behind him.

Stan then turns around to see a figure. A figure with flame orange hair, pearlescent bluish silvery skin with those aqua blue eyes. His lower body had a scaly silvery shroud covering him, stopping mid thigh as if it's grown out of the skin and his feet are like two feathery fishtails.

"Kai?" Stan's eyes are wide. 

"Please Stan. Tell me...what the hell am I?"

Stan is temporarily stunned into silence. His mind is catching up with what he is seeing in front of him. "It is you. The boy who saved me." 

"I don't understand." Kai sounds panicked. "I...I'm not.."

"Yes you are Kai. I knew it. You don't need to lie." Stan takes a step closer. 

"I'm not lying, I swear. I don't know what is happening to me."

Stan reaches out to touch Kai's arm, mesmerised by the shimmering flesh, but Kai pulls away. "No, don't touch." Kai's body bangs against the back of the door. Stan pays no attention to Kai's request. 

He lets his fingertips run against the skin, the feeling like silk. Kai's body stiffens, his mouth taught, eyes screwed shut. His breathing was shallow. A sudden ripple of silver dashes across the skin, causing Stan to remove his hand. He looks at his palm, then at Kai, coming to a sudden realisation. "I think I did this."

"W...what do you mean?" Kai is confused. "How could you have done this?"

Stan starts to pace back and forth, trying to make sense of it all in his own head. "You said about your eczema." 

"Stan, look at me." Kai holds his arms out, looking down at himself. 'This is not eczema."

"No, what I mean is your skin. It was a shield. Hiding you from the world. For some reason it's reacted to me, when we touch."

"But why you Stan? I shake hands with people all the time. It's never made my skin turn blue."

"I...I don't know. And I don't know why you can't remember me because you are the boy Kai. You are."

Kai leans back further into the door. His mind and body feel so weak. "I'm so dehydrated. I've had like over 30 showers but I can't shake the dryness in my bones. 

"Nathan has a bath. Maybe you need to soak." Stan suggests.

"Stan, I can't go out there like this. What if I'm seen? No one must know." Kai begins to feel like he is hyperventilating. 

"We need to try...do you have anything to cover you?"

Kai nods and points in the direction of the bedroom. Stan heads that way and grabs the onesie hanging on the back of his door. He momentarily stops and looks at Kai's bed. His pillow is covered with what looks like black ink. It has stained the pristine white sheets. His blankets are unmade, revealing what looks like a shedded skin. Reminiscent of a snake. His thoughts are brought back to the present with Kai calling. "Stan. Where are you?"

"I...I'm coming." He takes the onesie and hands it to Kai who puts the item on, zipping it to the top. "You ready? Stan asks. Kai nods and Stan slowly and quietly opens the door. 

"Quick, the coast is clear."