Kairos - Blood (MxM) | Book 2 | ✅

53.Crunch!

Henry.

My fingers clung on to pebbles and dead leaves as I slowly crawled back and away from the trunk of the car.

Henry...

A large hand pulled me up by the fluffy collar of my Santa shirt.

"No, no, no. You don't get to run away now, dweeb."

Donnie's brute force pushed me forward, toward the trunk, toward the blood and toward the body soaked in it.

Henry!

Those hooded eyes stared up, glossy and lifeless. I wanted to close them. I wanted to shake Henry back to his senses. But all I could do was hang on to the edge of the trunk as if at any moment, the ground would have fled from under my feet. My right hand burned in anguish yet I couldn't let go.

"W-why...?"

Chuckles burst from Donnie and his heavy palm smacked my back.

"You know why. The guy's been your shadow for weeks now." Warm breaths fell on my cheek as Donnie added, "Did you really think I wouldn't find him in that alley nearby? Did you really think I'd make my move without takin' care of your little stalker here?"

"No. He was supposed to leave — for good. He shouldn't have been in any alley. He shouldn't..."

I choked on a sob and on my stupid assumptions. Of course, my soldier would have returned to make sure I hadn't gotten into too much trouble. Of course, he'd keep an eye on me... Until the end.

A thick hairy finger poked Henry's chest and then raised up to my eye level, crimson and cruel. Donnie wiped the blood on my Santa costume, staining the white fluff on the collar.

My stare of disbelief met with Donnie's perfect grin.

"Oh, spare me the act. This guy was a nobody. What? You gonna cry?"

One swing of my left fist, blind and merciless just like Donnie's words.

Crunch!

He hunched, and a palm covered that creepy mouth of his. Donnie spat out a red blob of saliva and looked dumbstruck.

I lunged at him without thought. Every fiber of my being ached to tear Donnie to pieces so my hands and feet moved on their own, punching, gripping and kicking.

The world tumbled over and my front hit the frozen ground as my shoulders cracked, tendons stretched to the point of snapping and the entire weight of a monstrous body set on my back. My hands forced up to my shoulder blades, I writhed nonetheless and screamed my pain into the shrouding night. The forest rustled before falling into its usual stillness and uncaring silence.

"Are you done?" Donnie's deep voice slithered close to my neck.

Heaving and grunting, I refused to utter any words, instead I forced my body for one last push against the towering hulk sitting on me.

My head got pushed forward. Tiny specks of light danced before me as a tornado of anguish ran through my skull, one spot on my forehead in particular, and between quick blinks, I noticed a rock on the ground tainted by my blood. Droplets dripped along my brow and down my nose, warm and oddly comforting. I felt alive.

But Henry was...

"Are you done now?" Donnie asked.

"Why the fuck did you kill him?! Why'd you have to do that? What the fuck, Donnie..." I huffed desperately, flailing under the weight of his body.

Silence. And from silence spun thin ropes of guilt — around my neck, around my limbs, around my chest. I hated this silence. I hated this familiar emptiness. And I hated the horrible thoughts forged in silence, sharp and precise in their ability to cut through the ropes freezing me in place.