When Aunt Judy rushed back to the apartment, she wasn't surprised to find Nate laying in his bed with his back turned, staring at his wall. She exhaled a small sigh; what Dante had said mustn't had been very friendly if this was how Nate responded. Even though she still believed that what he had done to Tyler was uncalled for, Nate was still her nephew and she cared for him deeply. Besides, she had made her own share of mistakes as well; there was no benefit in continuously diminishing him with the same repeated words over and over again.
He didn't say anything when he heard her footsteps, nor when she sat on the edge of his bed and laid her head against his shoulder. All he did was squeeze his blanket a bit tighter. He himself wasn't entirely sure why letting go of Dante was so difficult; it was as if he didn't realize how much he truly cherished their moments and their intimacy until it was no longer a normal aspect of his life. It brought a purpose to him, a thrill he never felt before, and he wanted to live that again.
She felt him flinch when her fingers reached forward and delicately caressed his disheveled hair, sighing when she heard his long exhaled breath. "Do you want me to make you some food?"
"I'm not really hungry," he mumbled.
Aunt Judy snorted, pushing her head away for a second and staring at the back of his head. "You're not really going to be upset the entire day because an assassin said he doesn't want to hang out with you anymore?"
"Always making a joke out of everything," he grumbled, turning to face her with his narrowed gaze. However, he did chuckle when he saw her lengthy smile. "It's not that simple."
"It is that simple." She pushed herself to her feet and fixed her ginger curls. "Besides, you can find another man ten times better. How about we go out?"
"To a bar?"
"Yeah, why not?" She shrugged her shoulders, beaming at the thought. "You're a little upset, I'm bored," she clapped her hands together, "perfect combination."
It was an idea he was interested in, except when he remembered what Dante had said. A scowl returned in his face and he folded his arms. "I shouldn't drink," he said sadly, his bottom lip puckered. "I might say things that I'll regret—"
"Enough with that sob story!" She threw her hands in the air. "We are going whether you like it or n—"
Sploosh.
Nate was confused when she paused, no more sound from her lips that were brandished into the longest smile he had ever seen. She seemed paralyzed in her happy pose, her arms lengthened in the air with her eyes giddy, excited for what was to come. However, he found it odd when her irises seemed to have dimmed, as if she was slowly losing her colour, her light.
"Auntie?" No response, stuck in the same pose, as if she had frozen in time. "What are you doing?" He snorted, surprised by that pose and how long she was able to hold it. More so confused as to why she decided to just pause, and he pushed himself to his feet.
However, before he could reach her, her entire face drained of colours and her knees collapsed, falling forward flat on her face. Nate was taken by surprised, unsure what was occurring but knowing her forehead slamming against the carpeted group certainly didn't feel nice. Until he saw the dampness of the back of her head, overwhelmed by a thick liquid that was leaking at each sides of her face and beginning to stain the carpet.
He was still confused, kneeling beside her and touching her back. "Judy, get up, what are you doing?" he chuckled, tugging her shoulder but not feeling any help from her. "You'll hurt yourself. We were just about to go to the—"
Sploosh.
This time, he heard it. And instantly, there was a splatter, a liquid suddenly splashed across his face. He felt her body twitch under his touch, but there were no other movements that followed. The liquid in her hair dampened even more, but he only realized what it was when he touched his face and eyed what had been there.
And realized that it was red.
"What the hell, you're bleeding..." Her entire scalp had been swarmed in blood that he couldn't even see the colour of her hair. It was leaking around her as well, Nate's entire mind drawing a blank as he stared at his aunt on the ground, laying flat on her face without anymore breath. He felt as if he could no longer speak, his throat suffocating on its own as he couldn't pull his eyes away from his red stained palms.
He didn't move, didn't say a thing, stayed silent, with his aunt's blood across his face. This all felt like a nightmare, one that he didn't really understand nor knew how to react.
He didn't even lift his eyes when he heard the footsteps approach the bedroom, nor when he heard a familiar voice hiss, "We're leaving."