Hell of a deal

6

Collapsed on the Gymnasium floor, a young man laid limp and blue in the face. He faced the ceiling rafters with open eyes. Sirens blared outside.

Splitting like the sea, students parted to make way for scrambling paramedics. Two rushed to the young man's aid. Together they worked tirelessly to resuscitate the collapsed soul between them.

There was no willing life back into him. The dead young man's face looked aghast in horror. Something so uncomfortably grim stuck in his final moments. One paramedic bagging the body wished he could see through the dead man's eyes. The other couldn't bring himself to even look at the haunting frozen gaze.

Under an ambulance's flashing lights, the body was hauled away. Covered and bagged, paramedics wheeled it into the back of an ambulance. The vehicle drove off into the night leaving a crowd shaken.

Silent and cold, Pip stood among them. His blue gaze followed the ambulance down the street. Just as it turned out of sight, someone sidled up behind him.

"There you are." A relieved voice said.

Turning around, Pip found himself in Kenny's arms. The other blonde held Pip tight, comforting the young man whose night just didn't seem to be getting any better.

"...that chap. He perished." Pip whispered mortified.

"Apparently that dude had asthma." Kenny winced. "Something set it off. Must've been all the body sprays and stuff."

While yes, the student body produced a mushroom cloud of overwhelmingly conflicting smells...Pip knew it hadn't been the bully's downfall. He said nothing on the matter. Kenny took his silence with pity.

Shirt doused in fruit punch, Pip's white garment lay stained and slightly damp on him. And grossly sticky. Students filed back into the school. Music resumed, but no one could bring themselves to enjoy it.

Kenny offered to take Pip home.

"Listen, we don't have to stay here." He reasoned. "Let's go."

"I need some time to myself...have yourself a safe night."

Pip walked away on his own, deflated and detached. Naturally the young man was shocked...everyone was. Pip's disheartened footsteps echoed something morose. Seeing him leave in such a state, it didn't sit right with Kenny.

He wanted to follow him. The blonde took one step and stopped. Pip needed space. Kenny didn't want to tarnish their boundaries more than he already had.

xxxxxx

Standing before his bathroom mirror, Pip stared back at his own reflection. The hollow gaze didn't blink. Spider-like fingers reached around him, unbuttoning his stained shirt.

"You reek of cheap sugar." Damien complained. "Such a nauseating sweet stench."

The sticky fabric parted, revealing the blonde's slender chest. Red and shiny from dried up juices, the pale skin took on a visceral sheen under the fluorescent lighting. Pip wanted to gag. It reminded him too much blood.

Dazed with grief, Pip stood stiff and near lifeless. Guilt consumed him. Damien pulled the blonde's messy shirt off, ignoring Pip's evident trauma.

"...you killed him. You weren't supposed to kill him."

Damien's red eyes met Pip's in the mirror. He ran one finger up Pip's chest.

"You never said such a thing."

"I didn't think you'd-"

Damien lightly brought his finger to the blonde's lips, stopping him mid-sentence. He tapped twice.