Death Bite (Peterick)

Part 16: Ambushed

Patrick's POV:

It had been a while since I last was at Pete's house, and I vaguely remembered the street it was on, but my memory was all I had left. I wandered Chicago for a half hour, trying to figure out where Pete had taken me initially. Eventually, I came across a familiar road, and a certain home caught my attention. Flashes of the night I spent there flooded my head in a frenzy. An almost entirely naked Pete found its way through, but I pushed it back into the very corner of my mind.

He deserved respect, not lustful thoughts. Pete was an attractive man. I wasn't going to deny that, and what may have been might've just been beautiful. But it hadn't been, and it would never be because he was gone. I approached his door, rattling the handle for some slight chance it was unlocked, which it wasn't.

His window was a tiny bit ajar, and I attempted to stick my fingers underneath the opening. My nails scraped the edge, but they were only able to move the glass up half an inch. I was about a second away from giving up entirely until I had a ridiculous thought that Pete would leave a key underneath his doormat. Ridiculous, yes, but Pete turned out to be a ridiculous guy since he indeed had hidden a spare when he knew William and his gang were after him. I shook my head in disbelief and took the key, making sure to overturn the welcome mat before unlocking his door a moment later. The air felt stale as if Pete had kept it closed off for a long while, so I left the door open to allow nature to freshen up his home. Everything looked the same as it had before, but I let it all soak in this time around because who knew what was going to happen to it now that it held no occupancy?

The leather love-seat was still there. I brushed my fingers loosely on the smooth material. It didn't take me long to reach the bedroom. I opened his drawers, brisking through his clothes. My head turned to his restroom where I had seen him in his towel.

God, he had been gorgeous. I picked a few shirts out, stuffing them into my bag. I wouldn't try them on; I just needed them there to look at. Knowing he had worn them, gave me a strange comfort. I glanced at the closet door. What lied behind it was unknown to me, but it was time to find out.

Once I had opened the closet I found it to be filled with boxes of things. I pulled them all out, one by one, laying them on the ground around me. Slowly, I revealed each of their contents. Some boxes had been labeled with certain years. Others with just a decade.

He had collected important things, things that seemed to matter to him in some way. I observed each one. They all had knickknacks like soda bottles or glass figurines, but one box labeled 1997 stuck out to me. I knew that year. There was a photo album on the top of the pile.

I opened it cautiously. There were only a few pages of Mikey and Pete. The rest of the book was blank. He had probably planned to fill it with more until William took away what mattered to him. I set aside the happy smiles and romantic kisses in exchange for a look at the necklace Pete had described to me.

In the very bottom were the wheels that appeared to belong to a skateboard. Whose skateboard it was exactly wasn't specified, but I figured they were his own. I was in the process of tucking everything away when a knocking sound distracted me. My body turned to find William standing outside the bedroom window, having somehow opened it.

"What-what are you doing here?" I asked, "It's daytime. How...how are you-"

"It's a secret, my dear boy. Now tell me why I'm finding you snooping around my friend's home."
"Your friend? How dare you call him your friend?
"Aw. Is little lover boy sad that his boyfriend got toasted?"

"Leave me alone. Haven't you tortured me enough? Does nothing satisfy you?"

William smiled and placed his elbow onto the windowsill, leaning his chin on his hand.
"Your blood would be nice. It's what I've wanted from you all along. Let me nip you on the wrist or something. Then I'll be on my way."