I Wish We Met Sooner (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 11

Oliver

"HOW DID YOU ESCAPE?!" If only I could duplicate myself and let him answer all these annoying questions from mom. Seriously, over fifteen questions, I already wished I stayed in Daniel's place, hostage or not.

"They released me."

Mom and dad, including Emily, came to the apartment where Danny and I waited. The moment the car engine caught our attention, Danny made a ninja out of himself, and straight-up disappeared into the night. My parents aren't sharp as they used to be, which means they didn't see him. And I didn't get to say goodbye.

But then again, I don't plan to say it because this isn't the end.

Mom and dad were wide awake, throwing millions of questions as we were on our way back. Emily, on the other hand, being a toddler as she is, she's sleeping. I'm assuming they forced her out of bed to come and get me.

What an amazing little sister I have, right?

Not.

"Did you see the perpetrator's face?" Dad caught my eyes through the rear-view mirror.

"No, he was wearing a mask," oddly enough, that's the truth.

"Do you remember the location he dragged you to?"

"No," and that's a lie.

"Oh, come on, Oliver," he sighs annoyingly. "This is serious! You must remember something about this."

"Indeed," mom backs him up. "With the proper information, we could report to the authorities and finally stop him from causing more disaster in the future."

In my mind, they were right. The Red Demon has made quite a reputation for himself. Over a decade, and he's still on the loose. However, he didn't kill me. In fact, he saved my life, and I promised to never tell the authorities about him.

In the end, no matter what my parents say, I'll never tell them anything about Danny.

"Just be grateful that I'm not dead and forget this ever happened," I suggested. "Can we please do that?"

Silence swept through the car. Mom and dad exchanged glances before dad stared at me from the rear-view mirror once again.

"Alright, Oliver," mom gave in.

Well, that was easy. And a good thing too because we've reached home.

Dad parked the car in the garage as I stepped out and breathed in the familiar scent of our surroundings. Rusty metal, car oil, and gardening equipment.

Cage sweet cage.

The clock on the wall shows that it's close to six in the morning, just in time for mom and dad to get ready for work and Emily for school.

"I'm heading to bed," I made my way to the door leading to the house.

"That's a good idea, bud," dad said.

"You'll start college fresh next week, alright?" Mom said.

"Yeah, okay."

She reminded me that I've skipped college for three days. At first, I was worried about getting expelled, but then I remembered that I had a valuable excuse. And the school couldn't do much when a person is kidnapped. So, I'll be alright. Though, I'll just have a swarm of homework and assignments to attend to.

I don't even want to think about midterms, even though I knew it was around the corner.

I walked up the stairs and into my room and crashed on the ground. Thankfully, the soft carpet saved my face from getting bruised. I'm all dirty, and there's no way I'm sleeping on my bed. I'm too tired to take a shower, so I'll just sleep on the ground.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on my door, and mom stuck her head in.

"Ollie, there's a call for you," she hands me her phone.

I held her phone and recognized the familiar number.

"DUDE?!" Victor screamed, nearly causing my ear to bleed. "You're home?!"

"Wait, he's really there?!" Adriana's voice got clearer.

"Yeah, I'm back now," I responded. "Whoa, Adriana, I didn't think you'd missed me."

"I- I don't!" She stuttered. "I'm just worried about the aftermath. I wouldn't want to be the person to cremate your body."

"Yeah, you love me," I teased.

"How did you escape?" Victor brought us back to the first subject.

"They released me."

"HA! It clearly shows you're so annoying that even kidnappers don't want you!" Adriana laughed sarcastically.

"I learned it from you, so thank you, Adriana!" I smirked and laughed.

"Why you little bitc—"

"Come on, girl," Vic's voice became soft as they were both talking now. "He just got back. Can you just say you miss him and call it a day?"

"Okay," I dragged the word. "Why are you both together, anyway?"

"Since someone has kidnapped you, Adriana started coming over in the morning to accompany me to college," he said. "I guess we both we're just paranoid about getting captured too."

"You were right to," I yawned. "Anyway, I'll talk to you guys another time. I'm going to hit the hay now."

"You're not coming to school?" Vic asked.

"Hell, no," I responded. "I'm exhausted."

"Lazy slop," Adriana muttered.

"I heard that."

"You were meant to!"

"Alright, alright," Vic pushed her away. "Rest up, dude. We'll see you soon."

"Later," I kept the phone aside.

They say that there is no better place than home. A place where you can be yourself and not give a damn about anything or anyone. If that were true, why do I feel empty lying in my own room after being kidnapped for two nights? I should rejoice or show some kind of happiness, but I'm just... normal. Not even my comfy bed puts a smile on my face.

I returned to my old life, and in a way, I feel trapped.

Home? More like a cage.

Somehow, I can't get Danny off my mind. And as strange as it is, he woke something in me. Something I had never felt in a long time.

Being alive.

And I want to feel that often.

"I'll see you again soon, Danny."