eunoia ; malum

03

HIS NAME WAS MICHAEL. Calum found that out when he saw him again at work. Luckily, he was stuck doing dishes for Ashton in the kitchen. But over the steam, the swearing, food boiling over and everybody in the restaurant talking, the redhead's thoughts were the clearest.

Calum learnt that if the thoughts were angry, they were louder, and if they were sad, they were quieter. That was why he heard Ashton all of the time, and that was why he could hear Michael.

He looked up at the clock, nervous. It was nearly time 'til they closed, and that meant that the pale boy outside would wait for him. He texted Luke to pick him up in the parking lot behind the restaurant, where no-one but employees were allowed to go.

James better be right. If he's not here, John's going to be angry.

John came up a lot in the guy's thoughts. He wanted to know who John was, but didn't want to ask about it. Instead, he watched the minutes go by until the last meal was served. They let him leave early, and he ran out to the car-park.

He lit up a smoke and waited for Luke. His fingers started to get shaky like Ashton's always did, and he hated it. He couldn't hold the cigarette. The blond came ten minutes later in an old ute. Calum wanted to punch him.

"Why the fuck were you late? I could've fucking died!"

Ashton sighed, holding tight onto the steering wheel. "Sorry. Luke was in the shower."

The shy blond looked embarrassed, but was wondering what Ashton and Calum's deal was. He hadn't been told about people following them, because that would mean that he had to be told why they were being followed.

They drove out and Calum quickly ducked when seeing a head of bright hair. He kept his head in between his knees the whole way back to the blond's. Luke was starting to think that Calum was a fucking psycho.

They got inside and went up to Luke's room. The Maori decided on being nice and letting them make-out on the couch without him being a cock-block. So, he went and had a shower, stole the blue-eyed boy's jumper and put some boxers on. He didn't bother with pants.

When he walked down, Calum smirked when hearing that Luke was trying not to look at his ass and legs. All the thoughts were erased when he cuddled into Ashton, and then it got mushy again. It made the tanned boy want to vomit.

"I might just go upstairs or something. It's been a long night."

He laid down on the blow-up mattress and laid in his own puddle of utter jealousy. He hated being alone. Usually, he was with Ashton, and he was okay with that. They were dependent on each other. But Ashton had Luke.

Maybe he should've flirted with that bouncer harder.

He moved around uncomfortably, the frustration getting to him even more. Once he heard that their thoughts were slowing down, and they had fallen asleep on the couch, he moved up onto Luke's bed. It had been a long time since he'd slept on a bed that had a frame and sheets.

He cuddled into the quilt and fell asleep, only to be woken when the window was opening. He cringed at the cold air, and turned around to glare at it. But instead, he was met with a pair of green eyes and a knife near his throat.

Calum sat up, bolt up-right. He sucked in a harsh breath, and let out an ear-piercing scream that he knew would wake up the two downstairs. The pale figure tried to put his smaller hands over Calum's mouth, but it didn't stop the Maori from screaming.

Ashton ran upstairs and pulled him away from his best friend, punching whoever it was in the ribs, breaking at least two of them. Calum turned the lamp on and saw the redhead on the floor, groaning in pain. He quickly straddled him while he was down, putting the guy's hands above his head.

"Wbo the fuck is John?" he yelled in his face. The guy didn't reply.

Instead, he smirked. "You're cute when you're angry." The Maori put more pressure on Michael's already broken ribs, feeling them crack under his fingers just a little bit more. "Fuck!" he hissed.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Luke.

"Michael?"

Everybody stopped. Calum stopped shattering Michael's ribs, Ashton stopped encouraging it and Michael had stopped thrashing. All their eyes were turned towards Luke.

"Fuck." the redhead muttered, wincing as he sat up a little more.

Oh my fucking god, how am I going to explain this one? Michael thought.

"Say you were sneaking in to talk to Luke." Calum whispered, and the redhead was confused as he told Luke the same thing. Luke bought that, but he didn't understand why Ashton and Calum were beating him up.

They shrugged. Luke – still half-asleep – just said that they would talk about it in the morning. He headed downstairs again with Ashton in tow. Calum stayed on top of Michael, his hands holding onto the collar of his shirt.

You're so fucking hot. I wish I didn't have to kidnap you.

"Who's John?"

"He's my boss. He wants you." Michael said through the pain of shattered ribs.

"Why?"

"You know why."

The redhead didn't truly know what Calum was. He didn't know if Calum had super-speed, invisibility, telekinesis or whatever. All he knew was that he was assigned to kidnap two guys that had been on the run for nearly four years.

He knew that the two had outrun nearly every one of his colleagues because they were too damn smart. The older, stronger one – Ashton – always hurt them, and the younger, more domestic one – Calum – heard them coming.

Now, Michael had them cornered, just like every hunter before him had. But usually this was the point where he was fucked beyond recognition and they would be running away. They weren't running away this time.

"How'd you find us?"

"We have a guy with a keen sense of smell."

"You use us to hunt us; amazing."

You have no idea.

Calum wanted to ask him what he meant, but then Michael would realise what his power was, so he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he applied pressure to the pale boy's ribs again, leaning forward.

"Next time you think about hunting us . . ." he said seductively, his lips touching Michael's, "don't."

Once he saw that the guy couldn't even stutter out a reply, he pushed him through the window, making him land on the roof, and locked it shut.