Withdrawal

Chapter 5

Actually, I wanted to meet up with Jane again today but she said she was planning to have an outing with her cousins and other relatives for the whole day. It was upsetting because I had no one to hang out or talk to other than Jane and Jess, however, both of them were rather busy right now so they were not my options anymore. So, I just decided to visit the bookstore I had visited yesterday to take a look at more books.

Jane isn't there so that means someone will cover her shift then, I bet John will be the one but I'm not entirely sure whether he's still working part-time there. And apparently, my guess was absolutely correct since I saw him right after I pushed the glass door of the bookstore. "Mike, is that you?" He said while smirking.

I could feel the playfulness in his voice. I guess he hasn't changed at all. John and I were not very good friends and we never got along. "How's my favourite gay boy doing for the past.... Umm, how many has it been?" He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Four years to be exact," I walked away from while telling him this to convey a message that I did not want him to go near me.

"Oh really? That was a very long time indeed. I thought you moved to another country or something because you just vanished into thin air."

Because I was trying to improve my life, away from you obviously. I just ignored him and proceeded to look around the store. It was really frustrating to see him again after everything that had happened in the past when we first met and I bet he has forgotten everything. His jokes and teasing almost drove me mad. Almost.

"Hey, why are you ignoring me? Is it the fact that I found out that you are a faggot 4 years ago when I eavesdropped your conversation with Jane? And you are afraid of me now?" he said as he kept pestering me to give him the answers to his questions.

I just kept my mouth tightly shut. I did not utter a single word to him. There was an awkward silence and I could feel the heavy atmosphere surrounded us. "Come on, say something, will you? Just give an answer, either yes or no, it's simple. I'm just curious about the reasons why you just disappear out of sight you know. After all, we were best friends so I deserve to know." He said with a mocking tone.

"Come on, tell me faggot!" He shouted and whispered the same while grasping my right wrist so harshly that I believed it would leave a bruise.

"Let me go, please," I said with pleaded tone and discomfort.

"You sound like a whore in heat. Is that the reason why you just disappeared? Because you just slept around with other guys in different brothels so you couldn't stay here? Is that it?"

"Please stop it."

"Wow, I can't believe that you who were called innocent by Jane would do such disgrace. I guess that was the reason why no men will ever want you in the first place and all of them rejected you in the end because you're disgusting."

"Enough, please." I could see tears building up at the edge of my eyes, threatened to fall.

My breath quickened and my vision blurred. I could feel my heart beat out of my chest and the air stuck in my throat. I tried to adjust my vision and shout for help but I didn't have the strength to do so. There was nothing I could hear but a muffled voice of John. Oh no, another panic attack, someone please help. Everything seemed to turn 180 degrees and my knees buckled. At the edge of my vision, I could see a tall man trying to let go of John's hand that gripped my wrist before falling into a complete darkness.

"I have already warned you, haven't I? If you keep doing this, you are giving a chance to take over your mind completely yet you still did it." A voice boomed throughout and around the darkness