Appointments || DNF

chapter one ✤

It was October, which meant with each passing day it was starting to get darker slightly earlier. It was what happened every year in London, England actually. The trees had been late to turn orange though and there were still a few stubborn leaves whose vibrant green wouldn't transform into a dull brown.

It was eleven o'clock at night and George was walking home. He had been at a bar the majority of the evening, but he had a paper due tomorrow and he had only half completed it, so he had left Wilbur and the shots that had been bought for him behind.

He wasn't scared of walking through London alone at this time but it wasn't particularly one of his favourite things to do either.

He didn't like how his own shadow looked against the cracked pavement, he didn't like the sound of drunk men catcalling the few women who dared to walk alone but most all he didn't like how you were always being stared at, at this time of night.

It was even worse today because of the couple of drinks he had had meant he needed the toilet and badly.

George stopped. He walked down a flight of stairs, ducked his head and entered a public bathroom. He hated public bathrooms especially the ones dotted around London, they always stank of urine and the people that used them weren't always friendly.

He needed to move quickly.

He chose a stall with a door, used the toilet as fast as he could and then headed towards the sinks.

By the sink was a boy who he hadn't seen when he had entered. He was wearing a very large green coat, black trousers and a grey hoodie, which he wore with the hood up. He was tall and in order to wash his hands in the sink he was having to lean over.

George walked to the sink next to the boy. He turned on the tap and started to scrub his own hands. He wasn't concentrating on what he was doing though, instead, he was watching the person next to him.

The boy was washing his hands incredibly slowly but that didn't concern George because the water was very warm and he himself could feel his blood start to rush back into his hands which was a very comforting sensation. Rather George was wondering why the boy's hands had cuts all over them and how the boy wasn't wincing as the water cascaded onto them.

The boy must have been aware that George was watching him because he turned his head and stared at George. Now that George could see the boy's face, he tried his best to remember it in the few seconds he could before he would have to look away out of awkwardness.

His face was smooth and sharp in all the right places, he was clean-shaven and apart from the graze on his cheek, he looked put together and clean. But then, George looked into the boy's eyes and realised that he was anything but clean.

The boy's eyes were bloodshot red and his pupils were dilated to such an extent that George could almost see his reflection. The boy's lips also had a blue tinge to them making him look slightly scary.

"Are you looking for an appointment?" The boy suddenly asked, catching George off guard. "Because you're going to have to make it quick."

George froze. The water was now boiling and he had to quickly remove his hands from under the tap before they could burn.

"What do mean an appointment?"

George watched as the eyes of the boy before him changed. They had been unnerving before and had even had a slight look of disgust, but now they looked confused.

The boy started to stutter. "I thought you were in here for an ...... it doesn't matter." He said, shaking his head.

Now it was George's turn to be confused.