"A Sanctuary Safe and Strong"(Marianas Trench)

Chapter 15

"Sleep, just fuckin' sleep." Heart pounding beneath his ribs, Josh transitioned from even in-and-out breaths to erratic panting as he spoke, futilely trying to convince himself that he would be okay. "Get through this goddamn night and you'll be fine. Just do it," he mumbled, pulling the blanket up over his mouth. It all sounded good, but it wasn't nearly as believable as he would have liked. In fact, the longer he lay there, the easier it was for his mind to turn straight from the muddled mess it already was directly into a war zone. He continued to string a handful of positive cliché phrases together that he thought might help, but those fought a losing battle against the stronger assumption that there were armed men standing in every corner who were just waiting until he closed his eyes before they chose to attack. At least if he was watching for them, he could see them coming and do something to defend himself.  

The blond's eyes widened further as he listened for anything unusual and tried to catch the glint of metal in the moonlight or the quiet sssshk sound of a bullet being loaded into the chamber of a gun. Listening did no good. His breathing was too loud and ragged in the silence and it seemed to echo as it bounced back off the wooden headboard, filling his ears.  

It had been less than twenty minutes, but already Josh couldn't take the uncertainty and the fear any longer. "God no, God no, God no," he whispered as he struggled to push himself to sit up against the pillows before reaching over to turn on the bedside lamp. 

"Fuck! Shit!" he yelled when he looked over and caught sight of a figure that seemed to be stepping right out of the wall. "God, no, not again! NO! Fucking hell!" The singer scrambled to get out of the bed, to run from whatever was after him, but the sheet tangled around his legs, sending him crashing to the floor and nearly knocking the wind out of himself. Rolling onto his back, he writhed against what held him captive, gasping and moaning through the pain. He was positive that every suture that the surgeon had sewn into his body was currently tearing his skin to shreds, leaving bloody tracks across his body as they ripped free.  

Now certain that the body he had seen only a minute ago was looming down on him, Josh knew that he was easy prey, trapped as he was. The blond reached down with his left hand and pulled at the blankets as hard as he could, finally freeing himself from his proverbial noose. Clambering backward against the bed, he reached up to the mattress and shoved himself to stand, gulping for breath as a cold sweat formed across his forehead. He was convinced that he would have a heart attack this time if this intruder didn't get to him first. 

"Jesus Christ, nonono," he repeated over and over again, doing his best to avoid looking in the direction of his presumed predator. "Don'tkillme, don'tkillme, don'tkillme!" As focused as he was on his panic, Josh had forgotten about the pile of blankets near his feet. He took a step back toward the bed, sliding on them and knocking the lamp down onto the floor as he reached out to unsuccessfully keep himself from falling again. The bulb and the base landed with a crash, both shattering and sending shards of glass skittering across the floor, once again leaving him in total darkness and now unable to see a thing until his eyes were able to adjust to his surroundings. 

"Matt!! MATT!!" he screamed as loudly as he could when he was sure he felt hands grab his ankles as the blankets twisted around his legs for the second time. "FUCK!! MATT, HELP ME!!!" 

The door to the bedroom was suddenly shoved open and held back against the wall by a silhouetted figure, backlit and unidentifiable thanks to the bright hallway light coming from behind. "Fucking hell, NO! NO, NO!!! Don't!!" Josh yelled, still fighting to stand, but having no luck. The harder he kicked, the tighter the blankets wound around him, and the worse the situation got. "Don't kill me!! MATT! Help! HELP!!" he continued to yell, panting harshly between words. 

The shadowed person no longer stood in the doorway, but was quickly moving into the room, ascending on him like the prey that he had become. Whoever this was, he was directly in front of Josh now. The singer could smell him, feel the heat from another body inches from his own. 

"Josh!" From somewhere far away, he heard his name being called. "JOSH! MAN! Listen to me! It's me! It's Matt! You're okay. It's Matt," the voice reiterated over Josh's terrified screams as the blankets were slowly untangled from the blond's legs. 

"Matt!!" He hoped to hell that the guitar player heard him through the one still-closed door and a heavy sleep habit. Josh balled up his left fist and swung awkwardly at the person crouching so close to his face. He felt his knuckles connect with skin and bone and the intruder was knocked off balance. "MATT!! HELP!!" 

Fingers grabbed at the front of his tshirt, holding him down on the floor as he continued to fight against the strong grip. "Son of a bitch! Ow!" The borrowed shirt was released and Josh felt a hand against either side of his face. "Calm down. You're fine. I can't turn on a light because you broke it. You have to trust me. It's me! It's Matt," the voice said again.  

"Matt...? Matt! Where the fuck are you?? Help me!!" Josh pulled his head out of the hands that held him and fell back against the side of the bed, pain engulfing his entire upper body. "There's fucking someone in here! Get a flashlight! Get a goddamn light!! Look!!" He gasped quietly and put his hand up to his shoulder, pressing hard against it as another lightning strike of agony tore through him. "Fuck," he wheezed. 

"Josh, take it easy! It's just us in here. I promise. Wait, just wait. Don't move. Just stay there."  

The singer heard the disembodied voice get a bit softer as footsteps moved away from him. The slow creak of a door across the room scared him that much more, but he had to trust in Matt. "Wh-wh-where are you? What're you doing? Matt? Matt!" he stammered, praying to the universe that the younger man hadn't disappeared on him completely. 

"Josh, I'm right here. Hang on. Just...just give me a minute." There were several seconds of muffled groping before giving way to a light metallic jingling sound. Suddenly, a hundred and fifty watts flooded the room from the opposite end. Matt stood shirtless under the hanging bulb inside the closet, one hand on the pull chain, the other on his hip and his bare chest heaving. He saw the brunet let go of the chain to reach down and touch his jaw carefully. The singer followed the guitar player's eyes across the floor, seeing the trail of rumpled blankets and the glittering broken glass that he had left behind in the scuffle against his own imagination.  

Matt moved his hand from his jaw to his hair, running his fingers through it roughly. "You okay?"