Spooky

Chapter 5

-Scourge's POV-

A jolt of adrenaline rocks my system as I let out a gasp, thrashing wildly about for a second. My right hand collides with the wall, and I sit up abruptly, immediately pulling it to my chest with a muffled curse. My heart pounds, the horrible gory images from my nightmare still playing in my eyes as tears threaten to choke me; clapping my free hand to my mouth, I squeeze them shut, eyelids clenching tightly about my irises, but still the tears leak out. The air in the room feels hot, suffocating, so I turn and rapidly sling my legs off of my bed, eyes opening again, and I'm greeted by a remarkably tranquil scene.

Moonlight streams in from the one lone window, casting a square of bright light into my eyes. It bends about both our nightstands, finally coming to a rest on the floor, and across from me, Shadow lies silently in his bed, his chest rising and falling peacefully, with the blankets drawn up around him and his jacket on despite the heat in the room. Unfortunately, however, he isn't facing the wall; with a jolt, I realize two red orbs are staring at me in the darkness, and immediately embarrassment floods me. Oh, God, I think as more tears threaten to spring free from my eyes, he just saw me cry.

The blankets are tossed aside in a swift and clean movement as he sits up, slowly, looking at me like a National Geographic photographer probably looks at a wild animal; frightened, but awestruck, and taking great care in each movement. "Scourge?" He whispers softly, carefully getting up, but he freezes as I recoil backwards, eyes wide in alarm. My voice is stuck in the back of my throat, holding back a barrage of sobs; I still see the awful, awful things in my head, I'm still not entirely here... "Did you have a nightmare?"

I stare up at him, uncomprehending. His voice is so gentle, soothing, concerned even; I expected a look of ridicule to be on his face, I expected a lot of laughter and teasing—the great Scourge, terror of the school grounds, crying, is a punchline too good to pass up, isn't it?—but I see none of that. Shadow creeps forward again, stretching a hand out as I remain immobile, stunned by everything happening around me. As he grows closer and closer, my heart starts to pound—what is he going to do? Is he going to wait until he gets close to jeer at me or something? I stiffen automatically, expecting the same horrible treatment I've always gotten for crying, but what he does stuns me even more than any of his previous actions. Slowly his arms wrap around me, tugging me close—god, he smells wonderful, what the hell? Who gave him the right to smell like a goddamn fruitbasket?—and after a second of bewilderment, I realize he's hugging me.

He's hugging me.

Time freezes. My eyes well up with tears again, but this time I don't hold them back. No one has ever done this before. No one has ever even tried to help me, not even my own twin, and I can't believe this is happening right now—people always either jeer or turn a blind eye, yet here Shadow is, silent, supportive. I can't fathom the concept of someone doing something so kind—I must still be dreaming, I tell myself as a sob finally escapes me, choking and weak. This can't be real.

"Hey, hey now," Shadow rumbles, sounding a bit awkward and uncertain yet still compassionate, "it's okay. It was just a dream." His left hand gently rubs the space between my spines as I find myself immediately lacing my arms around him; he's already having to do this awkward half-squat to hug me, and I'm making it even more difficult for him to stay standing, but I don't care. I just need something right now, I don't know what, but I think he has it, because the longer I hold on to him the more my breathing slows, my heart's pounding relaxes, and my eyes begin to dry up. Though really, I have to wonder—

Why is he doing this?

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-Shadow's POV-

My bloodshot eyes are glued open wide, staring at Scourge's posters, tacked along the wall behind him. He snores softly, facing the wall, and every now and then his ear twitches. Other than that, the only sound in the room is the crickets chirping outside our window, the only movement the shadows cast by clouds passing over the moon.