I'm Not Insane (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 4 - Hurt

"What are you talking about?! How could I do something?!" I exclaim, feeling anxiety creep up my throat.

"Ryan, calm down. I'm just saying that maybe whatever you did made me get hurt. Maybe it had something to do with the black smoke?"

"But... I didn't do anything. You just made me so mad," I say, feeling a tear slip down my face. 

More tears follow, before I'm sobbing. I don't understand. What's happening to me? Why am I like this? What did I ever do wrong? 

An arm wraps around me, then I'm pulled against a solid chest.

"Hey, it's okay. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry you think I try to boss you around. I just want you to get out of here and live a normal life."

I sniffle, looking up at him with wide, glazed-over eyes. He takes his thumb and wipes away my tears.

"We'll just have to work harder. We'll make sure you get out of here, cured."

I nod, feeling exhausted. We never did eat our meal, which I assume was our dinner. My eyes start to droop, and I yawn suddenly, starting to wiggle out of Asher's embrace - well, I try to.

"Shh, shh," he whispers, starting to stroke my back.

Okay, this is strange. Why is he so... touchy all of a sudden? Sure, he holds me sometimes, but never like this. We've only known each other for a week! I haven't even had human contact in twelve years, so this is definitely strange for me; but... is it bad? Do I really have to get out of his warm embrace...

Of course, idiot. You barely know him, and he could never replace your family.

"Uh, Asher...?"

"Hmm?" He mumbles, his head now resting on mine.

"Can you, I don't know, let me go?" I ask, struggling a bit to prove my point.

He suddenly jolts up, letting me go.

"S-sorry! I was falling asleep, and you're so warm. Like a giant teddy bear," he says, sighing at the end.

"Okay? I'm going to bed. Night," I say, before heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When I come back out a few minutes later, dressed in only a pair of pajama bottoms, I find Asher already asleep, snoring softly.

I sigh, heading to my own bed - well, mattress. The moment my head hits the pillow Asher got me, I'm out. My dream that night is strange, though...

"Mason! Emma! Mom!" I cry, seeing them all standing in the middle of the darkness.

"Ryan!" Emma screams, waving her arms frantically.

She looks terrified, tears streaming down her face. 

"Emma! Mason! Mom! I'm home! See? I'm not an insane!" I cry, running to them now.

"Help!" Mom suddenly screeches, staring right at me.

"Help? What's wrong?! Are you hurt?!" 

"Help us!" Emma sobs.

Once I get close to them, Emma suddenly drops to the floor, screaming in agony.

Warning: slight gore. I'll tell you when it's not very bad anymore. 

Her body jerks around, before it slowly starts to deteriorate. Her skin begins to peel back, revealing muscles and sinew that slowly turn black, the tissues bubbling. She screams again, clawing at her face until it starts to crumble too. Her tears are now black blood droplets, streaming down her face and making a hissing sound against her crumbling skin.

Okay, clear!  

She screams again, before she becomes a pile of ashes. Mom suddenly screams, her body crumbling to ash as well. Mason turns to me, backing away a bit. 

"Mason? What's going on?" I whisper, feeling cold tears streak down my face.

"S-stay away! Don't come near me!" He shouts, holding his hands out.

He suddenly doubles over, screaming out in pain. I rush over to him, touching his back softly. He screeches in pain, the shrill sound making me jump back. His body turns to ashes before he can hit the black floor. 

I sit down, looking at the pile of ashes that were once my family members. 

"No," I whisper, not believing the're gone.

They can't be! I just got them back!

"No! No, no, no, no!" I panic, my voice rising slowly.

"NO!" I scream, suddenly sitting up.

"Ryan?!" Asher exclaims, apparently right next to me.

My breathing is coming in ragged pants, my heart racing. I feel something wet on my face, and I realize I've been crying.

"Was it a nightmare?" Asher asks softly, leaning over and wiping away my tears again like earlier.

I nod, looking away from him. This is weird. What's going on? Why is it that right after Asher arrived, things started happening. First, the weird encounter with Doctor Wilson, then Asher getting hurt somehow, and now this.

"Wanna talk about it?" Asher asks.

I nod again, and he sits down beside me.

"M-my family. They were yelling for help, so I ran to them. When I got close, though, they started falling to the ground, crumbling to ash. Then, my brother told me to stay away. Then he became ash, too. I was all alone after that," I explain. 

He stays silent the entire time, as I explain more of it: my feelings and my fears about what's going on. The whole time, he just...listens. It's nice. I haven't had this in a long time. Someone listening to me.

"Listen, I'll be right here, okay? I won't leave your side the rest of the night. You'll be fine. Maybe, tomorrow, we can talk with Dr. Wilson about what's been going on?" Asher offers.

"No! Not Dr. Wilson! I hate that guy," I exclaim, shaking my head vigorously. 

"Oh, okay. Um, then they don't have to know. It'll be a secret for just the two of us, okay?"

I nod, looking down. This makes me feel like a child, but I'm okay with that. It's strange, yes, to be treated like a child and fawned over like one, but it makes up a bit for what I went through all these years. 

"You will stay here?" I ask quietly, feeling my cheeks warm when I hear myself say this.

"Of course. I'll be right by you."

I nod, laying down again. Asher scoots me over, laying down next to me. I gasp slightly, feeling my cheeks warm up more. This is so...weird. I've never been in this type of situation before, and I don't know how to react. 

"Goodnight, Ryan," Asher whispers, holding me to his chest tightly.

"Goodnight," I whisper back, still in shock.

Right before I start to fall asleep, I feel a light and feathery touch of pressure to the side of the back of my neck. Maybe Asher's fingers strayed. It doesn't feel bad, though. It feels... nice, I guess.

Maybe... maybe having Asher here isn't so bad after all.

Yay, Ryan's finally starting to warm up to Ash! I'm happy! Sorry the story is so boring right now, it gets better in the next few chapters, though!

QUESTION TIME: If you could travel through time, would you travel to the past, or to the future?

My Answer:  I would travel to the future, because my past was cringey, I don't wanna re-live bad experiences, I wanna see what I'm doing when I'm older, and also because it would be fun to see something NEW, not re-live the old.

Comment, vote, and share plz!

-Mel