The Boy In The Box (Newtmas au)

Chapter 32

Newt's POV

Life can be bloody scary sometimes. In my twenty-five years, I've only had a handful of terrifying moments, yet they all manage to huddle their way into my brains and keep me awake at night. The evening when Alby returned, I had that gnawing feeling that something bad would happen, and that feeling stayed there.

At night I wake up, screaming, not knowing where I am or what is happening. My body would always be dripping with sweat, but I'd feel cold and shiver all over my body. Thomas always tries to calm me down, make me go to bed again, but I'm always too scared to close my eyes again.

You'd expect that I'd rather be awake than asleep then, but to be honest, being awake is sometimes even worse. I can't walk over the street without the feeling that someone is going to jump out of an alley to kidnap me. Or kill me. And in the past weeks, I haven't been sure anymore what's worse.

Sometimes, when the memories from Boyd kidnapping me come alive again, I feel like I'd rather die than to have to go through that again. But when I see Tommy then, that feeling vanishes again.

It might be horrible for me to think like that, but I can't be dead, because that boy needs me. This might sound quite egocentric, but I am pretty sure he would be lost without me. He needs me just as much as I need him, and he would be devastated if I died. 

Alby has been acting different than I remember. And things are getting weirder and weirder with him. After spending time with him again, I noticed something in his eyes. Alby always had that kind of glow from authority in his eyes, but that glow is gone. He is more built than he was two years ago, yet the look on his face makes him look small. It has become obvious that he is traumatized. He just doesn't know exactly what that trauma is. If that's even possible.

It could also be the fact that he can't remember anything.

Today is Thomas's first day of class again after the holidays and I promised to pick him up at the end of the day, but I have to go to work first.

...

"Hey, Newt! Happy New Year, bro!" Louis pats my back when I arrive at the office.

"Yeah, happy New Year, Louis," I smile at the guy.

Working hard on my computer, I suddenly get disturbed by my name being called from behind me. I look around to find my boss, Mr. Janson - but Lou and I call him Rat Man, because he kind of has the head of a rat - standing there with a creepy smile on his face.

"How can I help you, Mr. Janson?" I ask politely.

He shrugs. "I just wanted to say that I heard that your friend Alby is back. I'm happy for you." I smile but can't help the frown in my eyebrows. 

"Thank you?" I say, my answer more sounding like a question. Rat Man starts walking away, but turns around one last time to say: "Oh, and WICKED wishes every one of her coworkers a happy 2016. May everyone..." and then he glances at me,"... be safe." He grins and walks out of the room. I hear some people whispering, but I can't understand what they are saying.

"That was so fucking weird," Louis says. I totally agree with him.

"I wonder what he's up to."

I decide that I shouldn't break my head about it, so I let it go and get back to work.

When I'm driving towards campus in the afternoon, I let my thoughts wander back to that weird conversation. How could Janson possibly know about Alby? I can't even remember telling him about my friend in my entire life.

This is so bloody weird.

My thoughts go elsewhere when I drive up the parking lot of Tommy's school and see him standing at the side with a couple of friends. I get out of the car and wait until he comes towards me. He sees me step out and immediately waves goodbye to his friends before walking in my direction.

"Hey babe," he says while approaching me. I put my hands on his waist and he pushes me against the car. He grabs my face and brings my lips to his. I kiss him slowly, smiling.

"Hi," I say, looking at him.

"I missed you today," he says. I kiss him again.  "How was work?"

"It was alright, weird, but alright. How was class?" 

Thomas sighs. "Boring. But at least I've got these guys." He points at the group of guys and girls he just came from. Some of them are laughing, others quickly look away when they meet my gaze.

"Good. Let's go." We get in the car and I take one last look at Thomas' friends. They have all gone back to their conversation, except for one guy. A person with a black quiff is looking at us with a weird, creepy grin on his face. I can't help the shiver running down my spine.

"Thanks for picking me up, Newtie," Thomas says smiling. "Now tell me, why was your day at work 'weird'?" So I tell him about the events of the day. About Janson being a weird shank and about him telling us to be safe.

"That is weird," he answers after I finish my story. "But it'll be nothing, right? I couldn't believe that your boss would know something about us, or you, that we don't know."

I shrug. He was being weird, but then again, I haven't been myself either since I have the nightmares. I drive up the parking lot of my building and go to my apartment.

Tommy and I decide to have a chill night at home. He has a bit of work to do for school anyways, so we're staying inside for the evening.

Just when we were about to settle in for the night and go to bed, the doorbell rings. I open the door to find Alby standing there. He looks out of breath and shocked, like something extremely bizarre has just happened.

"Newt. I need to tell you something. Thomas too," he says, words thrown in faster than a shucking Ferrari. He's now breathing heavily and I have to try my best to calm him down.

"Alby. Calm down. Talk to us," I say, my voice firm and calm. Alby looks at me and shivers, like whatever happened to him earlier just happened again.

"I had a dream." 

Okay. If he had said that three months ago, I would have just grumpily tell him to go home, because 'I don't care about your bloody dream', but after the dreams I'm having, I am very curious - and anxious - to what his dream implied.

"What was it about?" I carefully ask.

Then he looks at me with pure terror in his eyes and says: "It was about WICKED."