Taken

Chapter 22

Win woke slowly and reached for Bright, his hand meeting with the cold fabric of their blankets.  The fog of sleep receded with his alarm when he remembered Bright's state from the night before. He quickly got to his feet and darted to the bathroom, the few short steps to the kitchen and living area, finding no trace of his partner.

His feet slapped the floor as he rushed back to the bedroom and grabbed his phone, only to sink further into a sense of dread when calling made Bright's phone ring where he'd apparently left it on their bedroom floor.

"Please don't do anything," Win begged as he called Bright's family members and their manager to see if anyone had heard from Bright. He reached out to Dr. Saetom as well, but the doctor hadn't been contacted.

"Please."

Win called his own family as well, more for emotional support than thinking Bright may have gone to them without him.

"No, mom, we didn't have a fight."

"Are you sure?" She asked him over the phone. "You do tend to play and don't always know when the other person is serious."

He rolled his eyes, glad he wasn't in front of his mom. "I'm sure. Go have fun with your friends. I'm probably over reacting because of the disappearances."

"Make sure to apologize properly to him."

He couldn't hold back his sigh. "I'm going to hang up now. I love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart."

He dropped his phone to the mattress, his head in his hands, just hoping that his stressed out, miraculously pregnant boyfriend was safe.

~

Bright found a secluded spot on the beach, laid out a beach towel he'd found caught on a pile of rocks, and curled into a ball on top of it. He breathed deeply. The sound of waves tugging gently at the shore finally let his over-worked mind rest.

He tilted his head so he could see the sky. Something had come from there, taken him, and changed him completely. Changed his very DNA and the course of his life forever.

He couldn't think about what was growing in his stomach right now, he just couldn't.

Win was probably worried about him, especially after the freak out he'd had last night, but he couldn't deal with Win right now either.

"What am I going to do?"

A seabird shrieked in the distance.

Bright felt like he was suffocating. Everything had seemed so perfect; his career was finally taking off, he'd helped his mom retire and get her own place, he'd fallen in love...

"How do I even know if that's real?" And he wanted so badly for it to be real, but everything had only started after he'd changed. Would Win have still fallen for him? Would he have still fallen for Win?

~

"He still isn't home yet?" Bright's mother demanded when Win let her into their condo. Win's call earlier that morning worried her so she had to come check on her son herself. She couldn't rest without knowing if he were okay.

Win shook his head, trying not to show how close he was to tears.

"And you weren't able to call him?"

"He didn't take his phone with him, Mom."

Her soft, pale face crumpled. "That's not like him. Did something happen that you're not telling me about?" she asked. "I've felt something was different about him these past few months and just called it him being in love. People change when they're in relationships, but he's been secretive.  If there's anything you know that could help us find him..."