DYSPHORIA

23. False Euphoria

*I cried so fucking much while writing this chapter. It made me sick, but these are real things that happen*

[3RD PERSON POV]

"Thanks for coming with me!" Christina chirps as she clings to Vahn's large upper bicep.

"Eh, I had nothing better to do. Besides it's kind of fun," he shrugs. The shy young man looks around the loud street fair feeling anxious.

"What's wrong?" She giggles as she pinches his cheek.

"I have a bad feeling for some reason," Vahn explains, desperately searching for the cause of his nervous anxiety.

"A bad feeling? Maybe you just don't do well in crowds," She suggests as she flips her hair back.

His anxiety was contagious as he looks back and sees it.

One suspicious looking older man dressed in all black stood in the corner behind a booth. The two make eye contact for a brief second and fear strikes Vahn's heart as he makes quick assumptions.

"We have to go," He says and without giving Christina the chance to argue her way out of it he grabs her wrist and starts walking in the opposite direction.

"No! Vahn I thought you were having fun!" Christina calls out while being dragged through the side of the large crowd of thousands of drag queens, transgender people, and allies gathered in a festival of celebration. Vahn stops and Christina bumps into his chest.

"Don't argue with me," He says with such a tone that she instantly stops talking, fear striking her beautiful face. He tries to leave through a side street but there was another one, dressed in all black. This time a woman, just watching with a blank stare.

"Vahn?" Christina clings closer to him. He looks around. Searching for anything that would keep them safe when he spots a couple dodging into an apartment building.

Without saying another word he drags Christina towards the building and just as they hit the stairs, the jackets of the people in black come off and the screams of horror begin.

As if time starts to slow with the fast adrenalin rush Vahn grabs Christina by her waist and jumps into the building.

Covering her body with his own as the explosions begin.

One after the other, loud bangs mingled with Christina's screams into his chest as he used his large body to shield her from as much harm as possible. Keeping his head down with glass from the door imploding and scratching him.

The brick walls start to shake as if the entire building was about to collapse but he stays strong. He counts each explosion with every breath he takes, fearing it would be his last.

Thirteen.

There were thirteen bombs in total.

After the explosions stop, the ringing fills his ears and he waits. Closing his eyes as he waits for the ringing to stop. Christina's scream had now silenced and he opens his eyes again to slowly lift off her, She lay underneath him. Perfectly untouched with tears of terror streaming down her face.

He raises a single finger to his lips to keep her silent and she nods. Covering her mouth with her delicate hands.

A single drop of blood falls to her cheek and he sits up. Feeling the crimson substance dripping down his face.

A few bricks had fallen out of the wall giving him a view to the outside world as he peaks through. The plaster surrounding him crunches under his feet before he hears the first gunshot.

Unable to see where it came from was concerning, but Christina's small scream in fright causes him to look back at her and shake his head. She gives a slight nod, biting down on her lip as she did.

Vahn looks out again to find the source of the gunshot was coming down the street.

He tries not to focus on the bodies strewn over the street but on the person dressed in black, shooting anything that looked like it was moving.

He curses in his head as more black hooded figures follow behind. Searching the rubble and empty buildings.

His body switches to survival mode as he goes back to Christina. Using the sounds of ringing gunshots to cover his footsteps as he picks her up off the floor and carries her through the hole of a blown out plaster wall.

Once crossed to the other side he puts her down and pressed her against what's left of the wall. Hearing footsteps enter the building they were currently hiding in he steadies his breaths and prepares for either his death or their great escape.

Vahn knew there was a slim chance of making it out of this alive, but he wouldn't mind if it was to protect Christina, who's like a close sibling to him. And he would always protect his precious little gender queer sibling at all cost.

By the footsteps echoing off the destroyed walls, it sounded like there was only one person coming towards them. A stiletto comes into view and he looks over to see Christina was holding her electric blue high heel like a weapon of mass destruction. He gives her a vigorous head shake and she hands him the other one.

He looks back at the hole to see a black hooded figure step through. The hood covering its face as it held an AR-15 tightly. The hood making it so the monster underneath could only see straight forward.

Vahn holds his breath as he swiftly walks behind them, fearing for his life but raising the high heel and bringing it down to where he assumed to be the neck with all the force he had.

Unable to scream the body falls and Vahn drops the heel to pick up the weapon. Holding its neck was a woman, with a devilish smile spread across her face as she held her neck. She opens her mouth, and Vahn shoots her without questioning it.

He looks back at Christina. Realizing she's barefoot, he runs up and holds her in his arms again, before diving into the room. They only had a minute or two before the fallen figure's comrades noticed she was missing and he didn't want to chance it.

Finding themselves in the back of the flat, stuck in a room with only a single window, he quickly breaks the glass by kicking it and clears it with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. A whistle is blown and running can be heard through the house. It would be only a few moments before the hooded figures were here.

Without thinking twice, Vahn shoves Christina out the window and turns with the weapon, spraying bullets through the wall to try to stop them for as long as he could before a searing pain from a bullet hits his shoulder and he screams in pain, dropping the AR-15.

Suddenly yanked through the window by Christina he shoves her forward and the two start to run down the back alley towards the main streets.

The sounds of sirens flood the streets in the distance bothering his sensitive ears as they run as fast as their legs could take them.

Running into the empty street they quickly turn left and Vahn spots a man resting his moped while texting.

With one fast punch, he shoves the man off the motorized scooter and gets on with Christina hopping on the back before they, speed off.

"Are they following us?" He asks and she turns her head, her light blond hair now covered in plaster and dirt.

"No. I don't think they made it to the alley," she says and holds his waist tighter.

But he couldn't rest until he was sure they were safe.

So it wasn't until they hit their shared flat and got through the front door, that he hit the clean hardwood floor and blacked out.