CLOSE BEHIND | F. Hargreeves²

01

Beau and Jude lived rather happily day to day on a routine that was usually never on track due to Jude's impulsive decisions to paint in the middle of the night or sleep into the afternoon hours. Beau didn't mind much, however, as he had learned to be somewhat carefree with the help of the excitable blue-eyed boy.

Life in the 1960s was simple, to put it bluntly, but with that also came the fact that it was boringly mundane with little to do. Beau was just glad it seemed like there were much fewer people in the world. With the amount of time Beau had spent in the past, he was beginning to lose hope he would ever leave or find any other member of the Hargreeves, Diego was still institutionalised and looking very unlike himself though he was still passionately speaking about the president's approaching assassination. Jude was quite amused to hear about Beau's 'family friend' that had been locked away for such an absurd thing. 

It was a different story when the boy actually spoke to Diego, however.

"Your boyfriend is meaner than I thought and I thought he was a sweetheart," Diego huffed dramatically. Beau had visited him for the second time that month after a rather unusual call from the man. Jude had picked up the phone and proceeded to be asked a copious amount of questions about himself and his relationship with Beau and that was when Beau was thrown the phone out of nowhere which was a difficult thing to achieve seeing as it was connected to a chord. 

Beau stared at Diego blankly, "First, he is not my boyfriend. Second, what did you expect after asking him if we've had sex yet?" To say the least, Jude was mortified and still hasn't turned back to his normal complexion.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to take an interest in my brother's love life."

"For the last time, we are not brothers."

Diego rolled his eyes, "You have issues."

"You don't say." Beau deadpanned, getting up from the chair like he did every single time before, with a huff, and gave the man a quick slap to the back of the head, "I'll see you next month, Robin. And don't call me again." 

Diego stared aghast at Beau who was already halfway out the door, "Robin?! Are you kidding?!"

Beau smirked to himself, exiting the building into the rather pleasant sunny afternoon. Birds sang their song in the trees while children ran about in the street, excited to get home or possibly play in the park nearby the town centre; it was calm and it was safe. Beau never thought he would ever despise that word in his lifetime: safe, it didn't feel real or at all like what he deserved. He was stuck in a place he would much rather wish for in than for it to actually be a reality because it was all say grey, dull, sound, and Beau hated that. Beau was literally born into a world of magic and mystery, an unnatural anomaly that was never meant to be and now here he was, living in the past where everything felt as though it moving in slow motion around him.

There had to be a change and if there wasn't... then he had to leave one way or another.

Rosie was gone. She hadn't been around for weeks, not even a sign of her presence and Beau was surprised at how much he was okay with it because she had once been his lifeline and now she was completely gone, at least, from his physical perception. Jude continued to ask about her whereabouts until he realised why her absence was so critical and why that was alright.

But without Rosie came a nightmarish hallucination that Beau was sure Jude would finally. It followed him, watched his every move, whispered words of hatred and disgust with a voice that was beautiful yet so horrifying. The thing haunted Beau like his own shadow and often tried to make him feel insane in front of Jude and especially when he was alone; when he was vulnerable. Its eyes, so green that Beau would have mistaken them for the real thing if it wasn't for the crimson circle surrounding each iris like a pulsing light.