CARNIVORE [MxM+]

Chapter 20 Part 1 [Revised]

Before revision, this chapter was 1637 words long. It is now 5642 words long, so I'm dividing it into two chapters. Also, grammarly straight up is not working and I'm a complete dumbass with computers, so even though this is a revision, there are going to be grammatical errors. My bad.

Tycho Black.

A HOME. A lived-in kitchen made of wood. In it, the windows were open, letting golden daylight flood the room. The air held the sun's warmth. I wasn't familiar with this place, but something told me it was mine.

A laugh. The sound of someone setting a cup down. My vision focuses on the figure in front of me, leaning forward on the kitchen island, his forearms holding his weight. His face comes into view. Louis Crameo.

"So what, Tyke? You know I don't mind."

I don't know what he's talking about, but I do at the same time. My mouth moves on its own. "I know, Lou, I just... didn't want to bother you, I guess."

He scoffs lightly with a playful smile on his face. "Sweetheart, you know I love you, right? You're incapable of bothering me."

What? Sweetheart?

I leave my side of the island and join his. I wrap an arm around his waist and pull him flush against me. I'm not doing this.

"That isn't true, you said just the other day that I was, in fact, bothering you." I feel myself smile.

What am I talking about?

His jaw drops, and he dramatically tries to push me away. "Okay, that's different. I was working, and you wouldn't stop shoving your head under my shirt. You almost knocked over my laptop!"

He isn't actually mad. I see it in his eyes.

His arms wrap around my neck, and we're closer than ever before. I feel my heart pulse deeply in my chest, but not from fear-- from excitement. What the fuck is happening to me?

Our foreheads connect. "And you wouldn't have it any other way."

He giggled. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

I can feel it on my mind, on my skin. I want to angle forward and kiss him, and he wants me to.

But I can't. I can't.

A flash of light. I blink hard, and Louis is no longer there.

The kitchen around me is different. This one is much darker, with curtains over the windows. Everything around me is aged and disgusting; it hasn't been taken care of in years. I'm home.

A cough mixed with choking. Louis is here, but he isn't by me anymore. He's in the center of the kitchen, collapsed on the bloody tiles. Some blood is old, and some is new.

"Tycho... Tycho, please, help me." His voice is frantic. He's begging.

Someone stands over him. A hulking figure, barely even human. I recognize its eyes instantly. I could recognize them out of an infinite crowd. Jason.

His fists are dripping with red. He's angrier than I've ever seen him. "This is what happens, boy! No one is coming to save you!"

He beats Louis with all of his might. I want to scream. I want to tackle Jason and kill him. But I can't move. I can't speak.

I stare into Louis's eyes as he bleeds out on my kitchen floor, the same spot I've been in countless times. It's all my fault.

It's like I'm chained away in my mind as the events unfold. I beg and plead, and pull and thrash. Nothing happens. I'm too weak to save him.