Gold And Coal (Ryden AU)

1.17 ◇ Crash And Burn

To say I was confused when I woke up would be an understatement. At first I panicked slightly, because it wasn't dark and I thought I had overslept, but then I remembered I had fallen asleep as soon as I got here, which was in the morning.

Yawning, I stretched under the soft blanket, wincing as I heard my bones crack unhealthily.

I took the liberty of just staring into nothingness for a while, thinking about nothing in particular. I liked doing that, so I had realized the past few days. To just forget about time, responsibilities and problems. To dream yourself into a world where none of that mattered.

Unfortunately, I rarely had time to do that, because I was either too busy trying not to get myself killed or too tired to function.

So I appreciated this a lot.

●●●●

Yesterday past by in a flash; I had decided to take Brendon's words to heart and didn't wander far from home. My father was too hungover to care much about whether or not I was there, so the day was pretty uneventful.

But here I was, early in the morning, so early you could think it was midnight, standing infront of the building I despised with all my heart and soul.

Inside, I sighed. Oh how I'd missed this.

Not.

"You're back...?"

Back at my regular spot, I laid eyes on a young man about my age, with messy dark brown hair and big brown eyes.

"What d'you mean?" I replied, meeting his questioning gaze.

"Well, um, we all thought you were... um, not coming back, you know. Where'd you go?" He guiltily shuffled on his feet and sent me an apologetic look.

"Oh. Um. Different spot," I mumbled.

"Huh. Glad you're back. I'm Jon by the way."

Smiling, I shook his hand. He was nice. "Ryan."

We were interrupted by a terrifying bang.

I instinctively jumped backwards, away from the noise, my heart beating furiously.

Loud crashing noises followed the bang and I saw smoke rising from the corridor next to mine.

I stood there, completely still, not daring to move a muscle. I doubted that I could anyway, I was scared stiff.

Screams followed, screams of fear, mixed with screams of pain.

Jon looked over to me, and I saw my own terror reflected in his eyes.

Being completely petrified, I failed to notice my name being called in a desperate, panicky voice.

Before I could react, I saw Brendon running towards me and practically jump onto me.

He wrapped his arms around my neck and burried his head into my shoulder, mumbling incoherent words.

"Thank fucking god." I finally understood from his chocked up words.

"It's okay. I'm alive", I whispered, hesitantly wrapping my arms around his body.

I didn't think I was that important to him. That boy always found a way to surprise me.

When he finally let go of me, panic had errupted in the factory.

"Don't you have somewhere safe to be?" I asked him, an arm still around his shoulder, one of his still clinging to my shirt.

"Yes, but I'll stay with you."

I scoffed and pulled him with me to where a large group of people stood. We pushed our way to the front and my eyes widened with dismay as I laid eyes on the disaster.

Brendon pushed his head into my chest again and I felt his body shake silently, dry sobs escaping his throat every now and again.

I put my arms around him again, silently staring at the scene.

Two, maybe three, machines had exploded, pieces of metal and tin scattered across the floor. Also scattered across the floor were a number of bodies, some unrecognisable, body parts and blood decorating the floor. I closed my eyes and fought the urge to throw up.

"Come on, let's go." I tried to keep my voice as steady as possible, failing miserably.

More and more silence fell, the more people caught sight of the bloodbath.

A considerable distance away, I let myself sink to the floor, Brendon still quietly sobbing into my chest.

That could have been me. I had been so close to being blown to smithereens. So close to dying. Again. It really needed to stop. It was starting to mess with me, those constant close calls.

"It's m... my f... fault."

Jesus Christ, why did he think everything was his fault?

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"It... my... father left me in charge. I should... I should have... done something... known something..." he sobbed, his voice muffled by the fabric of my shirt.

"There's no use crying over spilt beans, Brendon. What's done is done. No amount of 'What if's' will change that. But if it makes you feel better, you probably did a better job than your father could ever have done, so don't beat yourself up because of this."

No answer, but I think his sobs became less frequent and his shaking slowly stopped too.

"Where is your father?" I don't remember seeing him at the scene.

"Probably covering this up."

My lips twitched slightly, my anger at the man tearing me apart on the inside.

"Those people had family," Brendon continued, a sob resurfacing.

I pulled him closer, patting his back, hoping it would comfort him. I didn't exactly have experience with this. But I think I was doing alright.

"They... will you help me? They should get a funeral."

"Of course I will." He actually cared about our lives. He was human, and not some fucking soulless monster.

He was good. A speck of light in this gray world. Someday he would turn into the sun. And I would do my best to help him do so.

~ Let me be the one you call, if you jump I'll break your fall, lift you up and fly away with you into the night ~