Darkside (a Jeff the killer romance)

chapter 12

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It's a dreary afternoon, rain is falling from the dark cloudy sky. A beat up old van pulls into the car park of a cheap hotel. The van's rusty door opens and a man steps out. Everything about him looks exhausted; his expression, his body language, the way his dull eyes glance weirily up at the dirty old hotel building before he closes the door to his vehicle. The man walks into the building and down a corridor, eventually coming to the right room and stopping outside of it to rummage around in his pocket for the key. Just as he pulls the key out, the door opens from inside.

"You look tired." Says a woman. Paper white skin, pitch black hair, eyes just voids of darkness. The man enters the room and she closes the door behind him. "You should get some rest, you've been on the road for a long time." She speaks in a caring tone, placing a pale hand onto the man's shoulder.

"I didn't find anything, you know." The man mutters in a low voice, looking down at the ground solemnly. "Just more dead ends."

The woman frowns. "I know." She takes the man's scarred hands in her own gently. "But passing out from exhaustion won't help." solid black eyes meet tired green ones as the man lifts his head to meet her gaze. She smiles softly, and despite himself, he does too. He always finds himself comforted by her.

"Come now," she pulls him towards the bed.

"Jane," he protests. "I should really work out what to-"

"No, you look like you haven't slept in years. Come and lie down." She tugs off his coat. He allows it, giving in and climbing onto the bed.

"I just don't see the point in wasting time when I probably won't be able to sleep anyway." the man mumbles as he takes off his boots and tosses them to the side.

Jane sits next to him on the bed and places a hand lightly onto the side of his face, looking at him with sadness. "Are the nightmares getting bad again?" Concern and pity are clear in her voice. He doesn't answer, just looks away with a distant look in his eyes. "Liu." Her voice is suddenly stern and a dainty white hand with flawless black painted nails forcefully moves his head to make him look at her. She inspects his face, noting the dark bags under his bloodshot eyes. "How long since you slept?"

Liu takes a moment to answer. "When did we check in here?" This response doesn't impress Jane, who frowns and pushes him down onto the bed.

"Lie down." She commands, as if she didn't already force him to.

Liu sighs and gets comfortable in the bed, accepting that he has to at least attempt to get some sleep. Jane goes to turn the lights off before climbing back onto the bed and lying down next to Liu. "Get some rest, please." She whispers sweetly and pulls a blanket over the both of them, before shuffling as close to Liu as she can and getting comfortable. Liu puts an arm around her and holds her even closer to him, a peaceful smile making its way onto his lips as she snuggles into his chest.

Liu knows that he shouldn't let himself find comfort in Jane, that it'll only make everything messier in the end. But he can never help himself. It just kind of ended up this way; maybe it always will when two lonely people spend so much time together. Liu is sure there's a word for that even. Whatever the case, he can't pretend it isn't nice to be close with someone for the first time in... a long time.

And anyway, Jane being here like this, it helps him sleep. Nothing else has ever helped.

As he lies there, content in the warmth of the embrace, he tries not to think about how temporary this companionship has to be. Liu's got a goal, and he knows this will need to end before he can get to it.