Obsession, Wanting you (BoyxBoy) [ON HOLD]

chapter 9: research

"Did you see a small boy run down this way?" I asked my next door neighbor. She had always been a very nice woman who always noticed everything. She was a sweetheart with a plump frame, but in this moment, she stared at me as if I were speaking a different language. "He was wearing a white nightgown!" I shouted. She jumped back from me as if I was scaring her, and maybe I was. I was desperate and my body was weighed down by a sorrow I had never known in my life. I was close to reaching out and shaking her. I watched her with my eyes wide, and that seemed to make her react. She lifted a shaky finger and pointed down the street.

"H...he ran down the street; nothing is down there but a dead end...just a dead end," she whispered to me. Her face was drawn with worry and her large black eyes seemed to be searching for something that wasn't there as I stood outside her door drenched from the rain.

"Thank you," I whispered to her.

She mumbled a quick reply, and then pulled her night robe tighter. I was offended, but I said nothing, I had no time for her. I turned and walked briskly to my car. I could feel her eyes on me, yet I felt so very alone in that moment. I listened to my heart pounding in my chest, it almost hurt. I was slightly numb, except for the sadness, that feeling was very present.

Sure enough, I came to a halt at the dead end barricade. I stepped out of my car back into the pouring rain and paced back and forth for a moment trying to keep my mind sane. I stared into the dark wet forest. I was shaking now from fear, my legs were like noodles. I was so close to crying, still I knew I had to think straight. I put a trembling hand on my forehead and took a deep breath. I felt something inside of me welling up and I wanted to kick something really hard, though I knew it wouldn't help anything.

The rain was so strong that it began to feel like an assault. I looked into the woods, then caught a glimpse of something torn and white against a tree branch so I rushed over quickly. I wiped my hair from my face, slicking it back so I would be able to see. My clothes were so heavy, adding unneeded stress. I felt my breath hitch when I realized it was from Michael's night gown. I took the white cloth into my hands and before I could stop myself I was shouting. I was screaming so hard I felt as I if could shake the fucking earth with my scream alone; so this was what had been welling up inside of me.

"Michael!" I shouted his name as if it would bring him to me. I was so frustrated the heat I was feeling inside was impossible. I looked back at my car, then back at the woods and decided that finding Michael right this instant was more important than driving my car home. I hadn't even needed to think about it that long for I pocketed my keys, broke into the woods, and instantly found some sort of path.

I pushed down that path clutching the torn remains of Michael's gown. I was basically ripping apart tree branches that didn't need to be ripped apart. I was angry and I desperately needed to vent so I kicked up moss and dead leaves. I had to constantly push my hair out of my face and struggled to see the tiny foot prints in the mud; he had crushed many sticks in his wake.

I had already torn off my own jacket and left it behind me on the trail; I had also taken off my hoodie it was stuck to me like it was a second skin. All I had on was a mere t-shirt though I didn't care; I ignored the cold and the rain. I could see my breath in the air and feared all the more for Michael.

I hadn't been paying enough attention to my own footing. My gaze had been distant while I was mechanically following the barefoot steps in the muck so when I tripped and went tumbling to the ground, I landed with a sickening thud and sat in the mud for a moment, stunned from the sudden fall. I tried to stand up but cried out when I realized I had sprained my ankle.

I hissed in pain. I had sprained my ankle in football practice many times, as a result I was used to this type of pain. I remembered even playing on a bad ankle so I could take my team to state.

"This is nothing" I whispered to myself, still the stabs of agony ached through my entire left leg. I used the support of a nearby tree to get to my feet. I coughed, wiped my hair out of my face once again, and pushed forward. I even walked normally, even though the pain increased with each step, I couldn't waste time trying to hobble. I traveled for another twenty minutes, following the footprints thinking of everything but my sprained ankle. And Then I found him...

After struggling to follow his footsteps and freezing my ass off, I had found him. I felt my heart pounding in my chest, I wanted to run to him, but the pain wouldn't let me. I went to him as fast I could. He was balled up against a tree, with his eyes shut. His night gown was ripped to shreds. I couldn't imagine how cold he was.

As soon as I reached him, I yanked him into my arms, wrapping him in my warmth. He felt so delicate in my arms, his body so slender and the purple bruises stood out against his pale skin. His midnight hair clung to his face and his eyes fluttered open.

"You came…" he whispered softly, as he shivered, his arms tucked tight to his chest.

I looked down at him and quirked an eyebrow. He reacted awkwardly and turned his gaze from me.

"I'm so sorry," he uttered softly but I heard him and placed my finger over his pretty pink lips and hushed him.

"Did you think I wouldn't come for you? Don't be so foolish. You are mine, I will always come for you, no matter what," I replied over the noise of the pouring rain.

His cheeks flushed and his arms wrapped around my neck as if he wanted to embrace me. I stood to my feet and wobbled unsteadily, the pain had increased drastically. Still I carried him.

"Jack!" he cried when he saw my eyebrows furrowed in distress He looked up at me with his eyes wide and green, flinching as the raindrops splattered against his face.

"Don't worry," I said softly. He opened him mouth to speak but I glared down at him and he shut his mouth submissively. I was so tired, the added weight of him in my arms made it worse but I couldn't put him down, and I wanted to feel him against me, his cool body warming now that it was against mine. I was afraid that this wasn't real and that he might disappear in my arms. His thin night gown clung to him and he laid his head against me while I supported him completely.

"I can't believe you came," he whispered before he dozed off in my arms. His chest rose and fell like a gentle butterfly, his shivering slowed then stopped.

I carried him all the way to the car because I didn't dare to put him down until I could lay him out in the back seat. Once there he instantly curled up and remained asleep. I slid into the front seat and pulled my keys out of my pants pocket. My foot was aching, I shut my eyes and counted the seconds, I had to think of something else but the pain for a second. My mind went to Michael's gentle breathing and I felt the tension in my body release. I had found him.

All I needed was enough willpower to get us home. I flipped on the heat so Michael would feel more comfortable and drove down the road. At this point, I couldn't even think of myself. He stirred in his sleep a little and I looked back at him every few seconds. I couldn't help myself.

I pulled up to my house and pulled Michael out of the backseat. He was shivering again and was as white as a sheet. I rushed into the house with him in my arms. I realized that I was carrying someone who meant almost everything to me, and I couldn't explain why he was so precious to me.

I found a note stuck to the door when I entered into the house. 'Went to work, left dinner in the microwave' the note was sloppy and quickly written. I was used to little notes; mom usually had to rush off to work, especially in emergencies. She was a great doctor, before she was a great mother.

I struggled up the stairs with Michael in my arms. I was almost used up and could feel myself ready to collapse but Michael was shaking from hypothermia, and I had to get him warm. I pushed into the bathroom and shook him so he would wake up.

"Get in the shower," I ordered him.

He looked up at me shocked but I didn't have the energy to give him an explanation. I set him down and he began to awkwardly pull off the remains of his night gown. When he stepped into the shower, I turned on the hot water. He groaned with pleasure and ducked his head under the quick droplets of heat.

"Join me?" he asked happily with his eyes wide and innocent.

"I…can't," I whispered to him before I stumbled out of the bathroom. I didn't even make it to my bedroom before I fell to the floor and darkness stole me from reality.