His second chance at a happy life

The Stare Down

Trevor and I ran out of beer at his place and I couldn't get into mine thanks to my smart self-leaving my keys in my locked car." He laughed awkwardly, finding the beer and opening one.

"Trevor's here?" She asked, surprised. "Where has he been?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, he hasn't been around, and no one could get a hold of him." Ellie says, getting a beer her back towards me for the first half of speaking.

"He said he had a family emergency or something out of town." Emilio shrugged. "He's out getting more beer, be warned him and his father got into a fight, so he is a bit banged up." My eyes widened. That must have been horrible.

"I'm going to use the restroom." I mutter as I pass Ellie. I started to feel a little light-headed. I shut the door then turned the water on. I looked at my hands. They are shaking. I breathed, closing my eyes, the pale man's eyes appeared. 'He is looking at me, he is looking at me!'

"Sammy?" I heard a soft knock and Ellies' worried voice through the door. They both sound like bombs in my ears. "Are you okay?" I can't breathe. She sounds like a hammer banging in my head, I can't breathe, I can't breathe. 'He's looking at me!' That thought on repeat in my head, he is sucking my air out of my lungs, the room is getting so cold.

"Samantha, Samantha, open the door, Samantha." I hear a man's voice in the distance, but I can't focus on it. He is staring at me. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. "Move from the door." I hear the voice again, Trevor! My eyes opened, tears streaming down my face. In the mirror is the pale man staring at me? My blood runs cold. He isn't looking at me anymore but the door, slowly he reaches towards then out of the mirror like a ripple in the world. I hear a metal clanking from the door,

"Don't open the door!" I shouted, but they weren't listening, "I said DON'T!" I shouted again. The shower started to make a weird banging noise as if there was an earthquake. The pale man's shoulders are visible in this world. One hand reaching out, the door swings open, Trevor stares down at the pale man. Seconds later, Ellie runs past Trevor. It was like the pale man was water and fell in a puddle into the sink, at least the parts that were outside the mirror.

"Are you okay?" I must have fallen on the ground since Ellie squats down next to where I am in front of the tub. 'When did I get down here?' I looked past her to Trevor and nodded somewhat to Ellie, somewhat to Trevor as a thank you, not really wanting to talk about, what just happen I stand up swiftly,

"I'm fine, I need to, Gigi, give me a second kay." I say somewhere there is a buzzing in my ears, and I’m not sure if I made all the right sounds as giving her what I hope is a smile and lightly push my way out of the small bathroom and straight out of her apartment. I walk down the one staircase that leads outside and start to pace back and forth, my nerves so shocked I can't stop moving the coldness still lingers. I can't get warm, I can't get warm! I can feel the ice still in my lungs. I took a deep breath in it was warm air, but it did nothing to calm me or warm me up.

"Samantha." He says it like a statement. The sound of the door closing comes after the voice. When I turned to look at Trevor he had a worried expression all over his face.

"Yeah." I responded in a small voice, folding my arms and holding my elbows in close, 'I'm still so cold.' I can't shake the cold off no matter how much I move. "No, it's hot like a tropical summer day." My eyes widened at the surrounding voice. I feel my throat closed. What the hell is happening? My head is starting to hurt. He took a step closer.

"We should talk." He starts, and he tries to talk again, but my voice comes out,

"What the hell can you see them? You saw him, he stared at you and you.... you...?" I trailed off. I have so much to ask but no words come to mind. I feel lost. I can feel myself slipping.

"Samantha." He says again, a little softer, pulling me back to focus.

"Leave me alone." I mange.

"Samantha, I... Let me..." I shake my head I don't want to listen. If he knew about these monsters, stopping my train of thought, I mentally shook my head. Of course, he knew about them. He isn’t blind. He has been around us for a long time, but he never says anything, does he have the sight like me or... I can’t breathe.

"I need to be alone. I don't know what is real and what's not. I am losing it, I am constantly scared, constantly worried about Gigi's life and about Ellies! F*ck I'm scared for my life all the time. For crying out loud, it's as if my life isn't even mine," I shouted. The tears cascading down my face would not stop. "It never has been, it's no wonder my mother was an addict. She couldn't stand her life with all the horrors she had seen. She decided to kill herself was better than this f*cking hell we are supposed to call life. This isn't even living, I am stuck in a prison." At this point I am livid, my voice quivering and my tone ranging from shouting to whispering at times needed. I'm upset, not stupid. Seconds pass, I can't get myself composed, I’m crying so much I can't speak, I even start to hiccup. Trevor, on the other hand, didn't miss a beat and pulled me in close without a single word. Everything I was feeling all the mess in my life I have been holding on to for the sake of those I love comes flooding out for no reasonable explanation, but the point in fact is seeing him starring, in the one thing that has haunted me for the last six years, the thing that no one, not even Gigi or her friends have seen only heard of in tales was seen by Trevor, and he starred him down has got me on a wild trip of feeling flooding out. I'm not going crazy. I keep thinking, I'm not going crazy, even so I don't feel an easy lifted from my suffering I know nothing can. I cried into his chest. Ugly sounds come out from fear, suffering and odd relief spouting out all at once. After a while, my crying subsides, and I calm down enough to ask into his chest,

"How?" I lean slightly to look at him. He brushes my hair out of my tear stained face and proceeds to whip the leftover tears then to my embarrassment some snot with the back of his sweaters sleeve.

"I will tell you everything but not here. Are you alright with coming to my place? It's well protected and sealed that not even he can find it." He gives me a warm smile, I nod in response. I pull my body way from his, but his arms don't let go.

"Let's go inside to get our things." I blush taking an actual step back causing his arms to move back to his side or at least one of them since one of his hands reach for mine.

"Don't worry I won't let you leave my sight again." He smiles at me when he noticed I wasn't moving, he begins to rub his thumb in circles on my back of my hand oddly enough it was calming me. My face goes red but I simple nod and follow