Roman's Angel

Chapter 35

Roman stares at the window of his room, petting Dean's cat, Ginger, who is curled up in his lap. An hour has gone by since Dean had went to the store. An awful feeling is starting build up inside him. What if something had happened to him? He scolds himself for not going. He should've went with him anyway, despite his protests. He fears he had made a mistake by letting go by himself. Still, a part of him is telling himself that he is overreacting, that Dean will be walking right through that door any minute now. He was right to have these worries. He just didn't know how right he was.

Knocking downstairs at the front door startles him. He gets up from his bed, setting Ginger down on the floor, who trots off somewhere else in the room. He walks downstairs and over to the door. His grips the handle firmly, taking a deep breath. He opens the door just a tad bit, peering outside. He was hoping to see Dean standing outside, the reason for his knocking was because he had forgotten his keys. But it is not Dean who is at his door. It is Kenny, who looks a bit out breath and also a bit panicked.

"Kenny? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. Can I come inside?"

"Of course." He opens the door wider, so that his friend can come inside. He closes the door behind him as Kenny walks inside. "What's going on?"

Kenny doesn't answer, at least, not right away. He is pacing back and forth in the living room. It's obvious he is trying to come up with the right words to say. Roman can only wait for him to speak, he knows something is terribly wrong.

"Kenny, you're starting to scare me. Just tell me what's going on."

He stops pacing, but he doesn't look at Roman. He just stares at the ground, nodding slowly. He takes a deep breath, as if trying to calm himself down before speaking. "I-I saw Dean earlier...Outside..."

"You saw him? Where? Is he okay?"

"No! He's not fucking okay!" He snaps. "Some guy...I don't know who it was, but...I saw him grab Dean and take him into his car." His voice starts to tremble a bit. "I didn't do anything...I'm sorry Roman, I should've tried to help."

His words hit him like a knife to the chest. He feels a surge of anger at himself for not going with his lover, for not being there to protect him. Why didn't he realize something like this would happen? A feeling of dread fills him as he wonders who this man is that has kidnapped Dean, would want to hurt him. He doesn't want to think about the worst case scenario, but he can't help himself. The thought keeps creeping into his mind, and it's terrifying him.

"Kenny, you said you didn't recognize the guy who kidnapped Dean...Was he older...? Like an adult?"

"Yeah. Why?"

He can hardly bring himself to say it. "Was...was his hair gray? Did he have a beard?" His voice is starting to waver, as if he's on the verge of tears.

"I don't know. I didn't get a good look at him. I just know he was older than us."

He starts to hyperventilate. He can't catch his breath. It's him. The man who kidnapped Dean is his stepfather. He's going to hurt him, he's going to kill him. But why? What had Dean done to deserve this? He doesn't understand.

Kenny puts a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. It doesn't help. He only pulls away. All he can think about is how Dean, their unborn child, are in the hands of a madman and he is not there to stop him from causing horrible pain to him.

"I have to go find him."

"What? No! That's too dangerous. We should call the police and let them handle it."

"And what if we do? By the time they find him, who knows what could happen to him!"

"I'm serious, Roman. We should just let the police handle it."