The Monster Beside Us [BoyxBoy]

Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Curtains Are Closed

Song: Slow Dancing In The Dark by Joji

"Hey, uh . . . Lucian? Wake up!"

"Huh? Wha—" I rose up from my bed as soon as consciousness hit me. I had fallen asleep. Looking around our room, I wished that I had never woken up. In my dreams, everything was normal. Now my stomach twisted as I relived the helicopter crash in my head. "What's wrong?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"Your watch is ringing," Vincent said as he sat next to me on the bed. "Or, well, it was until a minute ago. I think it's something important."

I raised my hand and stared at the bracelet. It was currently flashing an alert message. I tapped it once and a robotic male voice spoke loud and clear, scaring the both of us.

"Due to a large amount of residents, we have released a schedule to all of the members of The Widow's Web to keep order. You will be notified thirty minutes before you can leave your rooms to visit The Center and have breakfast, lunch and dinner or to visit the convenience store to get any supplies you need."

"We really got the short end of the stick, didn't we?" I said as our times popped up. Web 1 started an early breakfast and us on 6 were basically going to have brunch.

"I'm just grateful to be alive," Vincent muttered.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said, looking at him. His eyes were still red and sad. "Did you get any sleep?"

"No."

"I don't know how I got sleep, honestly." I wasn't going to lie, I cringed when I saw the time. I had slept through the entire night. How did I ever manage to do that? My thoughts were running forever. The opposite should have happened.

"Crying does make you sleepy," he said.

I pondered if it was a good idea or not to be open with my feelings and my thoughts. He and I were strangers, but we were going to be roommates for a long time until it was safe to go back to the surface, and who knew when the fuck that was gonna be. I was positive I wasn't going to know anyone in here, so I should start making friends, right?

"My parents died on our way here," I confessed. "So I don't know how I passed out. I haven't stopped thinking about it and it hurts in every way possible."

"I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "We were so close . . ."

"I want to believe my family is alive, but I don't know," he said as he stared at the ground. "My parents weren't here but my sister was. I don't have to wonder about that one. I know she's gone. I tried calling her so many times but she never picked up. I hope that means she was asleep. It makes me feel a little better."

Vincent had a very soothing and deep voice, but he was having trouble keeping his emotions under control. I didn't blame him, nobody in this life knew how to prepare for this.

"We have a few hours until breakfast, you should get some sleep. I'll wake you up before it's time," I told him.

"I'll try." He left my bed and went to his, pulling off the sheets and wrapping himself up until he was camouflaged in all the warm comfort.

I picked up the duffel bag and dropped it on my bed. As I unzipped it, a few envelopes fell out. Curiously, I went through the bag and was disappointed to find nothing important. There were books, medicine for my mother, clothes, and a mysterious little case that was locked with a code. I opened the envelopes and a bunch of papers flew out. I looked through them and found blueprints, something I was used to seeing a lot. I tossed them aside and opened the next folder, hoping for something good, but it was just more blueprints.