Cold Lust

1: Fight

♬|--Never - Cry of Fear--|♬

-----------25th June 2015-----------

The road went on without a worry, not emitting a single cry for it's damned emptiness. All the nights this month had reeked of cold rattling winds and an overflowing sense of dread and horror, but tonight was gloomy at best, which had settled on the shining streets of Brisbane. The moon shone like a great dome of paleness, stretching for miles upon its dead ashy surface. In this night at a narrow alley, walked Eddy Breckwins—clutching his jaw after escaping a fight narrowly, making it out with a few bruises and a jaw partially broken. He walked in a crooked but frantic way as he cursed under his breath whilst he held support against a light-post, blaming himself as to why he had been involved at a fight like today. It seemed like he had received quite the beating of his life.

He would then see the glaring lights of his apartment building after about an hour of trudging through more pathways, being thankful to have even come out of there with a beating heart. As he took the elevator, he hoped to never meet with people like the one whom he had gotten into a fight with again. On opening the front door expecting hard-earned solace, he found none other than his older sister Rose, sitting at front the TV.

"Oh hey, Edd," she exclaimed after hearing the door unlock, noticing him bruised up. "Got into a fight again?"

He tossed his black leather jacket on the floor. "The hell do you care about?" He replied, his tone annoyed. "And where'd you find out I did?"

"Don't think I don't know you," Rose diverted her attention to the TV. "There are leftover ice packs in the fridge, get some."

Eddy marched off towards the kitchen with a grunt, preparing himself for the night. He would be just your average unemployed young man, relishing his younger years until the day where it would be too late to avoid the consequences of it. His hair was brown and shaggy, going down to his nape and making it seem like he never cuts it out. His skin was luminous, being paler than paper. His daily outfit consisted of an oversized black jacket and underneath a grey hoodie, his jeans long and his sneakers white.

The young boy took a chunk of ice from the fridge and held it firmly against his cheek. He thought that he wouldn't have been in this state after coming home late despite jobless, if he had made the right choices. As he held the ice, Rose approached towards him, with a look more stern than usual. "Where have you been?" she asked, her tone deep.

"Hanging out?" he replied, dodging the question.

"With whom?"

He tried hard not to make eye contact. "Don't know."

She turned away from him for a moment, to later find the big picture of his whereabouts. "You better not be doing anything behind my back okay?" she finished, leaving him alone.

Eddy nodded, slightly relieved from getting out of that. But still he couldn't tell her of where he was all this time. He knows he has to be more responsible and honest about himself, especially to keep his sister's trust. He then heads to the bathroom.

Rose Breckwins was older than her brother by five years. Unlike him, she worked at a nearby convenience store as a cashier. Her hair was brown and silky which she kept in a nice bob-cut, going down chin length. Even if she didn't have unusually pale skin like her brother, her skin was still milky nonetheless. Her attire usually consisted of a cozy black hoodie, pair of jeans with sneakers..

After some time Eddy headed over to the dinner table after she called him in, only to see the same spaghetti as before. "Again?" He scowled, poking over his food with a fork. "We had this before!"

Only a subtle  groan was met by her. "If you took the time to buy groceries like I told you to," she came back with. "...We would have eaten much better."

Eddy gave out a sigh. "Alright, do what you want."

They both resume their dinner, as Eddy hanged his head. He knew she was right, but it's hard to let go of old habits, let alone confront your own weaknesses. It's indeed hard for someone to cope about their problems when they get lectured right after they returned from a fight at the. Rose soon asked him something while in the middle of their dinner, her question stating. "What happened to that girl you've been talking to?" she said. "From three weeks ago?"

The boy slowly put the spoon away from his mouth. "Oh yeah, that bitch finally met in person to tell me we're breaking up." he responded.

She sipped from her glass of water. "Oh wow."

He pointed at his left bruised cheek, almost purple in colour. "This was her parting gift," stated he. "Delivered by her boyfriend."

She gave out a small but eminent chuckle as the water almost escaped out her mouth.

"You think this is funny?" He groaned.

"Well... at least you still have me!" Rose replied in a chirpy tone in order to make him feel better.

"Yeah, I guess."

They soon resume their meals after that conversation. Despite his apparent dislike over the spaghetti, he went ahead and began devouring that meal as if he never ate in a year or so. Rose watched with a keen eye as she understood that today was quite a challenge for him for he's just trying to better himself in the future, and she couldn't help but form a warm smile. Both were soon halfway done with their dinner, accompanied by the dim low-light above them, casting prominent dark shadows round the gray walls. Their lives were as dim as the light—like a glass bottle floating amongst the vast blue of the ocean, with the rolled paper inside containing words of endless tales and stories that led them here.

As dinner ended, the both of them soon retreated back to their rooms. Eddy's room, unlike his sister's, was one that any man just like him would dream grandly about. The shelves exhibited figurines of various characters which he won at conventions, along with the white walls bearing posters of different games and movies, all won from those same conventions. The celling light etched on the celling fan was all it took to cast everything around his room in god's dim grace of light. With a sigh, the young boy plopped face down on the gray bed which sat on the uttermost middle of his confined space, thinking about all the mistakes and wrongdoings of his life, or quite exactly today. This confined space of his was no more than an isolated cell of comfort, but even that it couldn't protect him from the repercussions which today bought upon him, whether it would be getting beaten by his ex's partner, or lying to his sister. He knew that he won't be forgiven easily.

Thinking this, Eddy flipped over to his right, hoping to improve himself in the future. The only way to redeem himself as he thought, was to vow to his loved ones that he'd never make such foolish mistakes like this and to never wrong anyone in his life ever again. He gazed aimlessly at the whirring celling fan and at the stage of figurines and posters, wondering what had led him here, stuck on this contraption which he called his bed. It had been too late for him to make any changes to his path, and that that he should probably give up and wait patiently for the sweet embrace of death for years to come.