Odd Love

Chapter 9; Impossibilities

      The two opened the front door with giddy, one of Tom's hand intertwined loosely with one of Matt's, both of them smiling with glee. Their shopping trip had been full of baby stores and premature dad jokes, and it was, in its own way, a beautiful day. They walked into the house grinning and choking with laughter.

      They walked to Tom's room, their soft footsteps going in unison,

      "Do you think blue or purple would be better?" Matt brought up, a smile on his freckled face. "I dunno, they'll probably like both." Tom said, voice wandering off as they continued down the hall. When they reached his room, Tom immediately felt something was wrong, something didn't feel right, didn't... smell right.

      He opened the door slowly, exhaling all of breath when he looked at the grisly scene, speechless.

      This... This....

      "Hey... What's wrong?" Matt's grin faltered upon seeing Tom's disdain, not knowing whether to laugh or be upset with him. Tom shifted, taking his hand out of Matt's and blocking the door with his body.

      "Matt... Don't go in there..."

      Tom's voice was strong, trying his best not to let it waver and breakdown in front of him. Matt laughed, trying to peak around him, his smile turning into confusion when Tom's shaking hands gently pushed him away.

      Matt pushed jokingly him in return, knocking him back a few steps.

      "Matt PLEASE." Tom panicked, pleading, holding his arms out to stop him. Matt brought down Tom's barricade, smiling softly at him as he swung the door open.

      "STOP! "

      He turned his head to look into the room, and for a moment, it was silent. Then, Matt screamed, tears beginning to streak down his face as his hands covered his mouth, running to the bathroom to vomit.

      Tom dropped the ground, his facade shattering as choked sobs escaped his lips. Trembling, he reached for the crushed creature, trying to feel whatever life it could've had, the name he could've gave it, the way he would've raised it. Tom's teardrops fell to the floor numerously and without stopping, all the feelings of happiness from that day gone in the blink of an eye. He held the lifeless clump to his chest, blood seeping through his hands and clothes.

      Matt threw himself into the bathroom, emptying his stomach in the toilet, his body shaking and trembling. He fell back, starting to rock back and forth in sheer panic. His breathing was fast and shallow, lungs and throat burning from the sudden stress. He felt like his heart was going to escape out of his chest.

      Tom was mumbling words, trying to someone get the creature to respond somehow. It was obviously futile, the poor thing was in tatters, but he tried anyway. His lips quivered as he spoke, each inhale being interrupted by a fit of coughing. The more his choked on his own sobs the harder it was for him to find time to breath. He clutched the creature, so acutely aware of his own heartbeat. Everything ached with a yearning to somehow give the creature the ability to live that he had; give it his heartbeat and his breathing and the ability to move and think and do all these great things. Tom yelled, crying out because it couldn't, because it was impossible to do such a feat.

      Matt wobbled, unable to even bring himself to stand to wash his face. He cradled the toilet bowl, unsure of when the next phase of heaving would come. There wasn't even anything left in his stomach, but his body still tried to push out whatever was there. He, too, was finding it hard to catch any breaths and his eyes were slammed shut as he cried.

      Tord sat with his back against his wall, eyes staring across to the opposite end. He was motionless and tense, ears listening to the horrified sounds down the hall. He flinched, hearing slow- almost hesitant- footsteps heading towards his door.

      There was a series of knocks, and Tord pushed himself to stand. He took deep breaths to calm himself, trying to regain his composure as he opened the door.

      Edd was standing there.

      "Hey, Edd..."

      Tord quickly kicked his bloody clothes under his bed, forcing out a bark of a laugh, his normal toothy grin looking deformed on his lips. Edd looked at him, a number of concerns written in his brows. "What the hell is happening?.." He asked warily, his voice only just above a whisper. Tord's heart dropped, thoughts racing as he swallowed a lump in his throat.

      "Nope, but.." He began, spewing lies about false alibis, careful to not make them contradict each other. Clear sweat made its way down his face. Lying was a simple thing for him, a daily routine even, but the guilt in his stomach made his mouth angle down into a frown, throwing off his normal demeanor.

      Edd stared at him a moment, noting Tord's lack of clothing, but saying nothing. Edd continued to slowly nod along, eyes wandering around his room haphazardly. "Never... Never mind I guess..." Edd mumbled, turning away from Tord with a sad smile. Tord returned it with a wolfish grin, coming off harder than he wanted, his hands grasping the door before Edd was out of the room. Once he was out, Tord exhaled regret, his face taking a sad shape once again.

      Maybe I should tell them the truth.

      He shook his had at himself, denouncing his ridiculously stupid idea.

     Tom would kill me.

      He rubbed his hands around his throat nervously, sitting himself atop his bed. Tord wasn't sure how long he could hide the fact he caused this; that he had killed that small, innocent creature.