Black-Eyed Seattle

Into the City

The closer we get into town, The scarier the reality becomes. The giant buildings and long streets are completely deserted, leaving a eerie silence in the air. The only sound is coming from the car, it's tires climbing the long trek to the next destination. We're about five minutes from the airport now.

"I don't like the vibe coming from this place. I feel like something's gonna jump out and try to kill us at any second." I blurt out. He takes his eyes off the road for a second and looks me in the eyes. "Hey, I'm sure it's just a holiday or something we don't know about. We haven't been living here for that long, I'm sure it's nothing." He says as he puts a hand on my inner thigh and rubs his thumbs up and down the material of my jeans.

The calmness and safety in his mind seems to seep through his fingertips and into my body, the touch of his hand making me feel better. I look over to him, knowing his facial expressions can't hide his emotions. His brows are furrowed and he's biting his lip. Concentrating.

We pull into the parking lot, completely deserted. "This is really weird. This is and airport! There's constantly people here, no matter what time of day it is! Why aren't there any cars here at all?" I ask, starting to panic a little. "Like I said, could be a holiday we don't know about. But this is weird. Maybe it's just bad weather and all flights are cancelled today." Chase replies in a calm tone. "I still say we park on ground level just in case something happens and we need to get the fuck out of here." I state. He nods in agreement.

He parks in the middle of the road, not understanding the use of a parking space at this point. We get out of the car one last time. We decide to leave his luggage in the trunk for now until we know what's going on. We make our way towards the main entrance. As we step up, the sliding glass doors slide open.

We finally see our first sign of people. There is a woman standing behind the checkin corner. We rush up to her, but as we get closer, we realize her eyes are completely black. She hears our footsteps and turns her head to look at us. The way she moves looks almost robotic. "How may I help you?" She says in a sweet tone. Chase doesn't seem to mind the black eyes, but keeps his distance. We stop a few feet from the desk.

"What's going on in this town? We're are all the people?" Chase asks in a concerned tone. The woman smiles for too long. No reply. Suddenly, she leaps over the counter and charges at us. Chase is frozen in place. I grab his wrist and run as fast as I can to the parking lot. He seems to catch on once we get outside, running fast enough to catch up to me.

I hear the woman cackling behind us. I have to use every ounce of my being not to look back at her. "We're almost there!" Chase yells as he passes me. He's running too fast to stop himself before he hits the car. He rams his body into the side door as he's fiddling with the keys.

I get on my side, keeping an eye on the woman. "She's getting closer!" I yell to him with urgency. I finally hear the door click open and I throw myself into it. For the second time today, Chase is speeding off before I can even close my door.

Chase speeds down the street, heading back to our house. "What the fuck was that!?" I almost yell. "I have no idea. But something is definitely wrong." We speed past the gas station we stopped at. The large city is just as abandoned as when we first saw it.

I pick up on the heavy breathing of Chase. I look over at him. "You alright?" I ask softly. "I'm-I'm fine.. just a little shaken up, is all." He replies in a shaky voice. "do you want me to drive?" I ask him. "I'd really appreciate that." He pulls over and I get out and walk around the front of the car. I open the door and Chase is already in the passenger seat, curled into a loose fetal position.

"You sure you're okay?" I ask him again. He nods in response and gives me a small smile. "Come here," I say as I pat my knee. He leans over and rests his head in my lap. I sit there for a minute, playing with his hair and rubbing his face.

I look up, one of my hands still tangled in his curls. Nothing in front of us. I look in the side mirror. Nothing in the back of us. I start the car back up, not going as fast as Chase was. He nuzzles his face further between my legs.

"You're lucky you gave me a nice good fucking last night or I would have pulled this car over and made you suck my dick by now." I say in a joking manner. He tiredly chuckles and pats my stomach.

"Do you want to put on some music?" I ask him in a light voice. I only get a groan back as a response. "I'll take that as a no?" Same response. I smile and shake my head at the childish manner. "I love you." I say under my breath. Chase mumbles barley audible words back as an I love you, it sounded more like 'iboveuoo," but I'll still count it.

My mind races through thoughts as the silence and inactivity get to me. We've been dating for almost four years. I think to myself. That's such a long time. We've both changed so much over the course of the relationship, both benefiting off of the other. I can't help but think of how lucky I am.

Over the next few minutes, I'm completely braindead. Not a single thought up there. I hear a phone ring. "Chase?" I say in attempt for him to pick it up for me. He groans and shifts around on my knee, pinning his body up with an elbow. He digs into my pocket and pulls the phone out. He holds the small device to his ear. "Speaker, please." I say to the older boy.

He answers the call, and immediately a panicking voice fills the car. "Jasper? Jasper are you okay!?" The person yells. "I'm fine, Justin. Why wouldn't I be?" I reply. "Have you been into town today?" Justin says in a slightly less panicked voice.
"Yeah, we only saw one person and she was batshit crazy. We're on our way back home right now."
"Good. Once you're home, make sure you put your car in the garage and lock all your doors. Don't let your dog outside." Justin states in a clear, professional voice. "Already planning on it, do you have any idea what's going on anyways?" I say into the phone. "I'll tell you more stuff once we're together. Oh yeah by the way, Maverick and I are coming over wether you like it or not, we live too close to the city." Justin says in the same tone. "That's fine by us, the safer you guys are, the better. I gotta go. I'll talk to you in a little bit."

Chase hangs up the phone before Justin could say goodbye. He shoves the small rectangle back into my pocket and gets comfortable again. I gently run my hands through his hair and rub his scalp. "We'll be home soon babe, I promise."