Love Next Door

Chapter Sixteen- Unwelcome

** language warning

Jay pulled the head of his black hoodie on tightly to blend into the darkness of the night, and shield him from the slow but relentless wind. He began walking, hating to hear the faint thudding of his shoes on the stone path. He kept to the right and counted the houses as he went. They all looked identical.

He held tightly onto the fraying straps of his backpack and regulated his shallow breathing. Eventually, his slow walk approached the twelfth house. He pulled the photograph out of his jeans' pocket and examined it in the faint light. He looked up. The house was two storeys and much larger than the others he had walked past. The many front windows featured dark stained glass, adding to its aged look. It had flowers growing all over it on every windowsill and in the front garden, like a disease. There were three large stone steps to get up to what must have been the front door. The door itself was large and menacing.

The photograph seemed to match, though. He took a deep breath in and approached the stairs to the front door, quietly climbing them. He went to knock on the door, but stopped. It was quite late at night, he couldn't just knock on a random door in the middle of the night, perhaps waking the occupants.

What If Ash wasn't there? What if someone else opened the door? What if they didn't speak English? He was beginning to panic. He walked away and continued down the street until he reached the edge of the house. He decided he could sit by the side of it, away from the street, for the night and then try to find Ash in the morning when it was light and he was more confident. It wouldn't be pleasant but he couldn't think of anything else to do instead. He couldn't go back. There was no archway back to normal land anymore. It faded when Ash's brother did.

As he continued considering his options, he didn't notice a shadowy figure come out from behind him. Suddenly he was grabbed and pulled back further from the street. Before he could make a noise, a warm hand clamped down on his mouth. This is it then, this is how I die or something. He tried thrashing out but he hit nothing, he had never been good at self-defence.

He was pulled into a faintly lit alleyway beside the house, under an awning . He was facing the street, his attacker still behind him, feeling their heavy breath on his neck. His arms and torso were gently let go, but a voice whispered in his ear,
"Be quiet."

Did he recognise it?

His mouth was freed by the warm hand and he turned around sharply to face his attacker. A tall person, covered by a black hood and robe. The hood was removed, slowly, and his heart caught in his throat again. It was him. It was unmistakably Ash, but somehow different. He so badly wanted to wrap his arms around the man and kiss him, but he was unable to make himself move...and was about to cry.

"Ash...?" he whispered.

The man nodded. The edges of his mouth quirked as if he was about to smile, but his lover's face turned instead into a grimace. Jay felt his own faint smile of relief drop from his face as quickly as it had appeared.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" he growled.

Jay began to doubt that this was the man he had been in love with for the past four months. His Ash never grimaced, ever. This Ash had long, unkempt hair which tangled and bunched up below his chin. His Ash was either clean shaven or had neatly trimmed stubble along his chin. This Ash had thick stubble descending into his neck and around his mouth. He had eye bags. This Ash was a mess, and angry.

"I-I came to find you..." He replied sheepishly, feeling like a fool.
He began to regret making the journey.

"Why would you do that? This place is incredibly dangerous for people like you, I've told you that before."