Wild (Cherik Book One)

Safe, Just For Tonight

"There's a heart stain on the carpet."

______________ERIK_____________

Erik twiddled with his hands as an officer emerged from the empty doorway. He stood still for a moment as if observing Erik like a zoo animal. The slow cling of his keys against his belt echoes horribly. Erik didn't make eye contact, having learned it's safer that way. Instead he waited, the only part of the officer visible being his thick leather boots. Erik's nerves were shot by now and he wasn't sure what to expect. The quiet mumbling of profanities from the officer made Erik's face hot. He knew all they saw looking at him was his father and it didn't help that Erik threw an even meaner left hook. Erik's ears perked up as he heard his last name slur out of the officers mouth thickly. Like it was sour in taste. The Lehnsherr name is a damn curse.

"Lehnsherr, look lively your bail was posted. Must be nice having friends in high places." The officer huffed in disbelief. 

Erik frowned at these words for several reasons. One, he knew his mother couldn't afford whatever bullshit bail they put up and two the officer seemed hasty in his movements. Like he was being rushed or threatened. And from quickly evaluating these two things Erik came to a conclusion. Only one person can afford the bail on such short notice and cause such a ghostly look on an officer's face. Only one family holds that kind of power over the small town of Brooksville. And it made Erik's stomach lurch thinking about it. He hadn't seen Charlie for weeks. How is it fair that the only times they ever get to see each other is when something is wrong? That's why Erik requested his mother not call Charlie. Because he didn't want to see him like this...or maybe it was shame. He was ashamed to be caught like this, bloody and broken after a stupid fight. A fight over something Erik wasn't brave enough to voice yet. His stomach churned uneasily as he pursed his lips.

"Lehnsherr!" The officer shouted and Erik jumped slightly before standing rather rigidly. His heart racing from the sudden break in his thoughts. He looked at the young officer who was staring at him strangely before nodding his head toward the exit. He thought about Charlie and his mother waiting for him beyond that door. What would Charlie look like now? Raven said he was thin, ghosting out like a shell of his former self. Can Erik handle that? Would he be able to hug him without breaking him in half? As it turns out the answer to these questions wouldn't be answered as quickly as he would have liked because when the door opens all he's met with is the short thin figure of his mother. Her frizzy brunette curls framing her sharp cheekbones. She looked even more tired than usual and Erik hated that he was the cause of it. Her dark eyes were puffy and red from what Erik can only assume is crying. She clutched her Star of David necklace and Erik felt the burn of his own under his shirt.

"Erik!" Her voice was thick as she ran and embraced him. Shivering and rough, her hand gripped onto his t-shirt like a life raft. Her speech was muffled in his shoulder as she spoke urgently in German. Her perfume was easily blended into the usual smell of Lysol and bleach from the hospital. And despite his towering height over his mother Erik had never felt smaller. He had never felt more completely and utterly grateful to have her sober and awake in his life. His heart clenched into a feeling he didn't know how to describe. Nostalgia, maybe? Whatever it was caused him to collapse into her like a small child. And alongside it came all the pain. His bare skinned knuckles cramped as he held onto her old sweater. The itchy fabric was strange against his dry hands but he didn't dare let go. He could feel the mumbling prayer dancing from his mother's mouth against his neck. A prayer he doesn't feel he deserved.

"Are you okay, Bärchen?" Her rough hands patted Erik's cheeks as her eyes met his. They looked so lost for a moment, as if whatever she was trying to find was gone forever. Maybe it was his innocence, which left the second it exploded through a fist full of fire. Maybe, and however terrifying it feels, his mother was realizing how lost Erik was. For years it was blind leading the blind in the Lehnsherr household.