How to Survive Your 19th Life [BL]

Chapter 96: Family Matters

We went up to the cabin for the weekend. Emiel put on a ruse that he didn't want my grades to suffer, so it was better to wait until we didn't have class. However, once we got to the cabin, I found that he'd prepared to have the cabin transformed into a small arcade with pinball machines, Street Fighter, and even a vintage House of the Dead game.

The bedroom had the romantic touches of rose petals on the bed and a warm bubble bath, with a bottle of champagne. I ran straight to the Tekken machine. I felt like a little boy again, gaming with Henri after school until my mom had to come searching for me. Smiling broadly, I waved Emiel over to join me, which he did after taking a picture of me on his phone.

I froze for a moment. Had Emiel ever taken a picture of me? Had I ever taken one of him? We were together all the time, so there was hardly a need for mementos.

We played Tekken first for about four rounds, all of which I won. Emiel put a lot of effort into the game, but it was clear he'd never played it a day in his life. I enjoyed myself quite a bit, bumping arms with Emiel while mashing buttons as fast as we could. After that, I watched him on the pinball machine for a while and cheered him on, but he was miserably terrible at that too.

This made me happy for some reason... that I was better at something than him. Sitting in Emiel's murderous shadow had become rather suffocating. Being killed so many times was quite the shot to my pride. Even something this silly as pinball, when I beat his score by thousands of points, I was more satisfied than I'd been in a very, very long time.

After dinner of simple bacon cheeseburgers and fries, Emiel and I sat outside on the deck in front of the stone fireplace with a couple of beers.

"Why'd you take that picture of me earlier?" I asked him.

Emiel took his phone out and stared at the photo. "I guess I just want to remember you this way."

He's already planning to kill me.

Sickness spread through my stomach at the thought of how little this bothered me. When I took a sip of my beer, my hand didn't even shake. I'd become the perfect actor.

"We should come here next year," I said. "I wonder what the houses go for in this area. Maybe I can buy one of these cabins when I graduate and become a millionaire. It'd be nice to have a vacation spot here."

"No need for that." Emiel's voice was quieter than normal.

"Why? You don't like it here?"

"No, I like it... Well, I like being here with you."

I finished my beer and cracked open another one, flicking the metal cap at Emiel. He put his phone away and instead watched the fire, barely paying attention to me now.

"What's up?" I asked, leaning to rest my elbows on my knees. "You look kind of down."

"No, it's just..." He breathed. I braced myself. "My uncle's house is near here. About five minutes away actually."

I did my best to contain my excitement. "You mean where you grew up?"

He nodded and swallowed. I could see him clenching and unclenching his jaw like the beating of a heart.

"I'd like to see it if that's okay," I said in a small voice. My legs trembled and I hoped Emiel couldn't tell.

"There's nothing there. It's just a big old house..."

I got up and walked over to him, sitting on his lap. Emiel wrapped his arms around my waist. I couldn't help but notice how strong his thighs were and how his stomach rose and fell as it pressed against my hip. I'd never really sat on someone's lap before. It was a different type of intimacy. I felt petite in a vulnerable way, and I didn't quite like it.

"I was actually scared you wouldn't open up to me," I said. Honesty came in handy sometimes. "I've told you a lot about myself but I feel like I don't know you at all."

"That's for the best," he said nonchalantly.

"You don't mean that, Em. All I want is to be closer to you, to know you." I leaned down and kissed him softly. When I moved back, I found Emiel staring at me in that way that scared me. It was the look he gave me before we burned together in my tenth life.

"I'm so happy right now Solomon. So happy I could die."

In one swift move that even I didn't see coming, I smashed my beer bottle across Emiel's forehead, so hard that it shattered. Glass exploded into my face and I threw myself off his lap. His hands went up to his face as blood gushed from a fleshy wound above his eyebrow.

I threw myself to my feet and crashed back in the house. I could have maybe gone for a knife while he screamed and raged blindly outside. I maybe had a chance. But this was Emiel, and I was no longer a fool. He had all the advantages, all the time. All I could do was scramble.

I tossed my phone into the kitchen sink and snatched Emiel's car keys from the hook by the door. In less than thirty seconds, I started the car and backed from the driveway. Emiel slammed his body into the side of the car but fell to the ground. I pulled all the way back onto the street, which was dark and without traffic. I had a thought to put it back in drive and run him over, but he'd already climbed the steps to the cabin.

I lowered the window and shouted, "Race you back to Javernick, you fucking asshole! Tell Rani I said hi!"

I wasn't going to Javernick of course. But my words would throw Emiel off. It would confuse him on who to trust and hopefully, that would buy me time. That's all I needed. That's what started this whole mess in the first place. Time.