Dan felt horrible. He wanted to tear his ears off, rip his tail off and forget all of this. But, he was a Neko, they would just grow back- he had tried to do it before. That was the reason his hair was all black. It had once been a chocolate brown; it had once been sweet. Now it was the colour of darkness and torment and Dan couldn't agree more with his own body.
Phil was pacing the corridor as Dan stood just as they left him. 'Phil, you're going to have to leave me one day. Why not now? I don't understand. Do you not see that the girl was right?' Dan's eyelids fell as he thought over the situation. He saw no other options but the inevitable. He would have to leave, again. He hated how this was becoming such a common occurrence but there was no other way to help Phil. Phil had saved him by putting himself in horrific danger and Dan couldn't repay that. What he didn't know was that Phil was already in danger and just having Dan with him was giving him the strength to stand up to the man at the door.
He hadn't paid him in days and the man was seemingly gone. He was glad; Phil could smile again. He was encased in a constant paranoia but it had lessened. Before, it was worse. The man at the door could be lurking anywhere but now, now that Phil didn't have to give him anything, he didn't fear him. He knew what to do; he had learnt the basics of self-defence and he wasn't afraid anymore.
Dan had given him that. Dan had given him his freedom. Dan didn't know that. Dan wanted to leave. Dan wanted to save Phil. Dan didn't want to come back. 'I do see that she was right but I don't care, Dan. I couldn't be gladder that you are here and I'm not letting you go again.' Dan hung his head low, almost petrified of Phil's naivety. He couldn't stop Dan from leaving and they both knew that yet Phil held such hope whilst Dan could only doubt.
'You should care, Phil! This could get you put in jail!' Dan shouted, his temper lost. Phil flinched but made no other movement. Phil stayed calm maybe only to calm the other boy down, he wasn't sure. He was never quick tempered nor could he always keep his calm so why was he keeping it now?
'I don't care, Dan. Don't you understand? I don't care if I get put in jail if it means that you can stay alive!' Phil broke. His voice was still quiet, still calm but his voice cracked and his eyes began to fill with tears, a bucket with the water slipping over the edges. Dan watched in shock at the man in front of him.
'Don't cry, Phil. Please don't cry.' Dan begged, going to comfort the boy but Phil shrugged him off.
'I need some time to think.' He muttered, pulling on a coat and shoes before leaving, his hands stuffed in his pockets to hide the violent trembling from Dan. Dan watched, frozen, he couldn't seem to do anything else anymore. Phil now hated him too. He felt a wave of darkness pass over him but he sighed and collected his things before mimicking Phil- pulling on a jacket and a pair of shoes. He was going to leave to but unlike Phil, he wasn't going to return. He was going to run until he couldn't be found. Before there had been something in him asking to be found but now, now that he knew Phil, he had to run- for his sake.
Dan shut the door for the last time and sprinted down the stairs and into the bland street. He looked left then right, only seeing houses for at least eight blocks. So, with that, he ran as fast as his weak, rickety legs would take him.
He had been eating recently meaning that his energy was much more than usual and took him at least three blocks before his weak body began to fail him. It had been maybe only just more than a week or two and in no way was that enough to recover such a weak body. Dan couldn't function when running. His breath had gone ragged and even with the adrenaline running through him, it felt unbearable to take any more steps. Either way, he made it four more blocks- limping- and found a dank alleyway, perfect for its purpose.
He sank to his knees and began to fiddle with his tail. He missed modern life already. Even if the TV was static, he could watch it. Even if the fridge was 'empty', there would still be enough for a small snack. Even if he wasn't tired, there was always a comfy bed to sleep on. Now, he had none of those things. He was alone, tired, bored and hungry. He was back to what he used to be.
Days went by like that and soon enough, Dan was unsure of why he was alive- again. It always seemed that its body had a higher capacity than it first seemed. When Dan begged for life, it felt as if he were deteriorating but when he begged for death, he had a new found energy keeping him alive.
He bad watched the sunrise and the sunset and all in the world was bleak again, He missed Phil, he missed comfort. He missed...having a life. He missed being a person. He missed the fact that if he died, someone would remember him. Now, he had no one. Phil would have reached home long ago and he would have seen Dan gone and he would have given up. That was the only plausible explanation, at least for Dan.
He didn't know that Phil had sent out a search party made up of his small group of friends to get Dan back. He knew Dan's reasoning and he knew it was nothing but selfless. So Phil was going to the most selfish and more selfless thing he had ever done in his life. Bring Dan back- he was going to bring him back and save him.
Two more days passed and they were beginning to lose hope. No one could be seen apart from some elderly woman and raucous children. Phil was beginning to fall. He hadn't eaten recently, nor had he said a word but orders to find his lost friend. No one had realised just how much Phil cared for ships new found friend. They had known each other for such a short time yet they had both saved each other without realising it.
The day that they found Dan was the day Phil had cried. Dan was huddled in an alleyway, three blocks away from the one he had first slept in and to his surprise. Zoe was the one to find him. Zoe took him back, checked his wounds and carried him when he could no longer walk. She was the one to cover his ears and tail so they wouldn't get caught. She was the one to soothe him when he was told of Phil's condition.
'I'm sorry for what I said before.' She murmured, Dan now cradled in her arms. His legs could no longer carry his weight; they were no more than sticks.
'Don't be. You were right. I still can't understand why Phil wants to find me.' Dan sighed, his voice croaking from lack of use and water.
'No, don't say that. This isn't a conversation we should be having, anyway. This is for you and Phil to talk about.' Dan nodded defeatedly as the lay finally made it to the apartment complex. Zoe had not told them that he had been found but it seemed the rest of them had given up as they came into Dan's view.
They were all hunched over on the steps, comforting Phil who now had tears spilling from his eyes uncontrollably. When he peered up and saw Zoe, a man in her arms, he couldn't have run faster.
'Dan!' He called, his voice tangled with a sob. 'I missed you so much.'
He whispered, taking Dan from Zoe's arms and into his, 'Please don't do that again.'
word count: 1378
published: 23.03.17
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Midnight Eyes ✵ Phan
Fiksi Penggemar''why didn't you just let me go... ...you sound like you expected me to,, Dan, a Neko, can't stand being alone anymore. He wants to die. It was the only way to fix his problems. He doesn't realise that a friend is really all you need...unless he wan...
