Darkside (a Jeff the killer romance)

chapter 3

Roommate might not have been the right description for what Jeff became. In the month since agreeing on the arrangement, Adrian had only seen him twice; quietly emerging from the trees backing onto the property and sneaking into the shed in the early hours of the morning before sunrise, presumably sleeping all day, and leaving the following night. Adrian wasn't sure how many times he'd been back as he would only see him by chance from his bedroom window. He also noticed that food would sometimes go missing from the kitchen and started making an effort to buy things and leave them on the counter.

"Thanks for the lift, guys." Adrian says, getting out of a car and turning back to face said car and its occupants. He intends to say something else, but the car pulls away before he can, nobody bothering to say goodbye.

He sighs, glancing up at the sky as he runs a hand through his messier than usual brown hair. The sun will be rising soon. He had wanted to stay with his friends longer, but it got too late and they all wanted to go home. Adrian frowns to himself, remembering the days when everyone would end up staying at his house after a night out. He had always liked that. As everyone got older and started to move out of their parents houses, it happened less and less.

Rather than going inside his house, Adrian walks around the side to the back garden. He sits down cross legged on the patio and starts rolling a cigarette. Just as he's about to light it he hears the quiet yet distinct sound of the shed door opening, looking up and just about making out the shape of a person there in the darkness. "Jeff?" he calls down the garden. The figure seems to freeze for a moment, before disappearing into the shed and closing the door behind them. Adrian sighs and lights his cigarette. When he's done he goes to bed.

That morning (well, 3pm is the morning if you were up all night...) Adrian sits at his kitchen table checking his phone with his nutritious breakfast of pop tarts and red bull. Only one message, from one of his friends asking to borrow money. This particular friend had already borrowed more money than most people would lend, but Adrian agrees anyway. "You'll come hang out soon right?" he sends after transferring the money he'd asked for. After a few seconds the response comes through. "Yeah totally, real soon bro. Maybe next week. Super busy atm."

He finishes his breakfast and stands up, yawning as he wonders which of his friends might be free to hang out today. "Hmm..." the memory of last night crosses his mind and he turns to look out of the window at the small building at the bottom of his garden.

Adrian knocks at the door, purely out of politeness since his mysterious guest seems to hear him approaching pretty easily. "Jeff?" He opens the door, stepping into the room and finding Jeff sat on the sofa looking at him, seemingly having just woken up. "Morning." Adrian greets cheerfully, closing the door behind him. "It's nice to see you."

Jeff laughs slightly, his face shifting from wary to amused. "I'm sure it is." he states in a tone that Adrian can't quite read.

"M-hm," Adrian nods, walking over to the window and absently looking out and up to the sky. "I was wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out?"

"Hang out?" Jeff scoffs, standing up and stretching.

"Yeah. we could uhh... play that game again?" Adrian turns from looking out of the window and gestures to the games console. "You liked that, right?"

Jeff makes a dismissive sound. "Simulated violence really isn't as fun as the real thing."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You're very scary." the teen rolls his eyes. "But seriously, come on. It'll be a good way to pass the time, right?" he starts setting up the game without waiting for an answer. "Plus I'm just gonna sit here and play without you if you don't, which would be annoying wouldn't it?"

"You know, kid," Jeff sits  back down, picking up the controller that'd been tossed onto the sofa for him. "I don't appreciate the sarcasm. I am, in fact, very scary."

"Again with calling me a kid." Adrian sits down on the opposite side of the sofa. "How old are you anyway?" he clicks start on the game and they start playing.

"Uh..." Jeff thinks for a long moment. "Early 20s? I haven't been counting." he shrugs, directing his attention to clumsily mashing the buttons on the game controller. Adrian giggles slightly at the thought of someone not knowing how old they are, glancing over at Jeff quickly and studying his face for a second.

"Yeah, early 20s seems about right, I guess." he agrees, though it's kind of hard to tell with all the scars and burns.

As far as Adrian can tell, Jeff's moods varied and could change quickly. As he seems to be chatty today, he decides to push his luck and keep asking questions. "So how do you like staying here?"

"Like I said before, it's better than most places I stay. Other than the annoying boy who seems to value playing video games over his own safety." Jeff chuckles, "Dunno what his deal is."

Adrian laughs. "Well, I'm glad you like it here." he says, not taking his eyes off the screen. "And I know I'm annoying. But, if you ever want company, I'm happy to-"

"I don't need company."

"Okay well I said want, not need. They're different."

"Fine, then I don't want company."

"I don't think that's true..." Adrian turns to look at Jeff. "Besides," he smirks, "wouldn't you just stab me or whatever if you really wanted to be alone?"

Jeff grins, looking at the teenager with violence gleaming in his eyes. "That, and so much more..."

"See," Adrian turns back to the game, doing his best to show no reaction at all. "But you haven't."

"You already made the point yourself that it's a rare and valuable opportunity for me; Having somewhere to lay low where no one would suspect because of the alive and well resident. Plus," Adrian can feel the intense gaze of the psycho's eyes on him without having to look. "There's still time..."

"True... but in the meantime, isn't it nice to have someone to talk to?"

"It's... different." Jeff mumbles, seemingly unsure of himself. Adrian smiles.