The Black Rose (completed)

six

WARNING: This chapter contains a few homophobic ideas and slurs. This may be upsetting to some readers, so please use discretion when reading. (I'd like to add that this chapter does not reflect my own personal viewpoints at all.)

Castiel lived in an apartment building with several conservatives. His neighbor, Zachariah, hated him.

Zachariah was... a bad person.

He worked in an office building as a manager. He was good at his job, which mainly consisted of punishing bad employees and firing them. He loved his job. No one dared to step out of line, and everyone had a place. Zachariah got to control all of them, and that was his favorite part.

So when he came home one night and saw his neighbor Castiel entering his apartment with a man hanging off his arm, he got very angry. His employees were perfect, loyal to him and his ideals. But his neighbors? Shameful fucking pansies.

Zachariah grimaced and looked away. He knew Castiel's name, but nothing else. They had never been properly introduced, so he couldn't exactly intervene.

But the second time, he became furious. He saw Castiel with the same man as before -- who Zachariah realized was fucking blind -- and they were holding hands. The apartment door opened, and the couple went inside and Zachariah saw them kiss. "Disgusting," he grimaced again. It was right around Christmas, too, and they were ruining everything.

Zachariah started to feel a little bit better as time went on, because he hadn't seen Castiel or the blind gay fuck in a few days. New Years came and went, and Zachariah slept soundly.

But then on New Years Day, all of his anger came right back.

Castiel was with his twin, and Zachariah was walking behind them, silently furious.

"How did you sleep yesterday, Cas?" Jimmy had a wide grin on his face. He was poking his twin's side, a playful, yet extremely childish taunt.

Castiel rolled his eyes and smiled, embarrassed. He pushed Jimmy's shoulder, "Come on," He said admonishingly. "You know Dean and I were together. Why do you have to embarrass me?"

Zachariah scoffed quietly to himself.

So his neighbor was a gay fuck, too. The man practically confessed to it. Zachariah clenched his hands into fists and pushed into his apartment. "Fucking faggot," He grumbled. Why did other people have to be so ... wrong?

So Zachariah made a plan.

Castiel had gone out to work, and would be back later on. So Zachariah waited in the stairwell until night time. He watched the door for hours, waiting for that gay fuck to open it. When he finally did, Zachariah hid from his view. He waited as Castiel walked up the stairs, one at a time.

Castiel jumped when he saw Zachariah, "Whoa! Sorry, you scared me."

"You're a fucking pillow-biter, aren't you?" Zachariah's hands clenched into fists and he spoke forcefully.

Castiel flinched and stared with terrified, wide eyes. "What?"

"You heard me," His voice was firm and full of hate. "Get the fuck out of here."

"Look, man, I'm just trying to go home," Castiel raised his hands in a sign of peace, but also to defend himself if needed. "I won't do anything to you, and I promise you'll never see me again."

"Shut the fuck up," Zachariah was practically shaking with fury at this point.

"Please, just let me get past. You'll never see me again, I promise," Castiel was getting scared. He was strong, and he could handle himself in a fight, but he really didn't want to fight this guy. He was alone, and this would probably end badly for him if he started the fight. He backed away as far as he could, pressing himself into the wall. "Please, just --"