Universe (VegasPete) R18

Prologue

"One, two, three, four, five, six..."

The night had fallen upon Bangkok, and the radiant lights emanating from the surrounding buildings cast an eerie glow on the shattered glass scattered across the floor.

"One, two, three, four, five, six..."

It was a tranquil night, a deceptively beautiful night, where the only audible sound was the labored breaths of a man, counting tirelessly.

"One, two, three, four... Open your eyes, please, open yours eyes. I'm begging you."

And as darkness enveloped the city, the bright reflection from outside illuminated the pale faces of two bodies lying in a pool of their own blood.

"One, two, three, four... Come on! ...five, six...It's not fun anymore. Wake up! Open your eyes!"

A man kneeling beside the one he loved, pressing relentlessly his chest until his arms grew numb, until his hands hurts, trying to overcome the stillness in his heart.

"One, two, three, f..our... You can't leave me, you can't! I'm not fucking asking, you hear me? Open your eyes!"

He sealed his lips to the bloodied mouth, again, and again, he didn't know how many times, he stopped counting, desperately attempting to breathe life back into him, waiting, hoping, dying to see the rise and fall of his chest once more, wishing he could be the one to bring him back to life.

"One, two... three... four... My love, I'm begging you... five...Open your eyes. OPEN YOUR EYES!"

Out of breath, jaws clenched, drops of sweat and tears falling, crashing onto his lover's face, mingling with the blood on his cheeks— those cheeks he had kissed so tenderly a few hours before.

"One... two... three... Stay with me... four... You can't leave me...You have no right to leave! Stay with me. I'm begging you, my love... Stay with me..."

The silence filled the room, only remained the voice of a devastated man, his breaking and pleading voice. His clothes, his skin coated with the blood of the love of his life, every part of his body aching with violence.

Yet, relentlessly, again and again, he continued to press his joined and trembling hands against his lover's chest, against his heart—the heart that had once belonged entirely to him. Again and again, out of breath, exhausted. Broken.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and people rushed into the ravaged room, followed by two men racing behind them. As they entered, they froze, struck dumb by the horrific scene that unfolded before them, a nightmare brought mercilessly to life.

Paramedics gathered around the lifeless bodies, their steps spreading the blood already staining the floor. Someone with a strong grip enveloped the kneeling man, the one who was still relentlessly trying to bring back to life the one who had stopped breathing.

The man held him firmly from behind, dragging him away from the scene, away from his beloved.

The devastated man fiercely resisted, but the grip was unyielding. All his strength seemed to have drained onto the ground, left there, with the one he couldn't live without.

"Vegas, don't."

But when he recognized the voice, he stopped moving instantly.

An excruciating pain tore through his heart, his soul, his entire being as reality crashed down upon him with unbearable force. His eyes fixated on the man, his man, lying motionless, his skin and lips pallid, his eyes closed. And the blood, the blood was spreading everywhere. His legs gave way. He crumpled to the ground.

Kneeling again, far away, too far away from the lifeless body of the love of his life, the fire he was breathing scorched his lungs inside his chest. Drowning in his own tears, his nails digging into the arms of the person who held him close, tight, in hostage.

Those tears transformed into sobs he could no longer control, violent spasms taking control of his body, unable to move, unable to breathe.

"Start compressions,"

The night had fallen upon the city, and in its darkness, only the cries of despair were piercing through.

The cries of a man who had found no other way to release the excruciating pain of a thousand bones breaking at the same time, the agony of a knife plunged right into his heart, tearing him apart.

These heart-wrenching screams shattering the silence and everything around. A man on his knees, a man who had been robbed of his soulmate, watching everything he ever loved crumble to dust.

He would have surrendered his own heart, handed it over, bleeding, still beating inside his palm without a second thought, just to see him smile once more, if only for a few seconds. Just one more time, even if that smile was not meant for him.

"Still nothing,"

Nothing.

As he closed his eyes tightly, as the anguished cries faded into silence, dying in a choke, and before everything went dark, he realized that the question he had posed earlier, the question that had gone unanswered and had broke his heart, was now unfolding before his eyes...

... Pete had taken the bullet for him.