The torch was flickering, just like Evan's emotions. Using one arm to support Jonathan behind him, he turned to face Luke.
The monster was standing there casually, as though he was just a normal person waiting at a bus stop. He wore a red hoodie that was ragged around the sleeves, his hood up hiding the upper half of his face.
It reminded Evan of his YouTube channel, and suddenly the red devil fit much more closely to the being before him. The monster let out a soft chuckle.
"What did I tell you Evan?"
He looked into his eyes, lit up golden in the fiery light. His pupils were practically nonexistent, and his expression fit the deranged persona perfectly.
As he glided forward, Evan wished he could take Jonathan and step back.
"Go away! Get away from him!"
"Oh?"
Luke tilted his head, giving a toothy smile. He took another step.
"You do realize that your trespassing on my property, trying to take something that belongs to me?"
"He doesn't belong to you, you monster! Look what you did to him! And you took his sight, you tortured him! This can't go on, Luke!"
"His sight? Oh, that must've been from the acid. I told him to look at me, and the thing wouldn't even listen...thought I'd teach him a lesson."
Evan grit his teeth, biting his tongue to keep from doing something he'd regret, a coppery taste filling his mouth. He could still feel Jonathan shaking behind him.
Luke continued moving forward, his footsteps loud and ominous. He started to laugh again, a sinister chuckle that reverberated around them.
Evan knew he had to do something, anything. He turned one last time and briefly kissed Jonathan, and took a step forward.
Luke looked interested as Evan came to meet him, the gold in his eyes swimming with cruel interest. He hadn't expected Evan to be this desperate, but who was he to make assumptions?
"So, are you going to leave? Having you here is anything but a pleasure."
A knife suddenly appeared in his hand, a dark blade that glinted wickedly in the torch light. Evan couldn't hear anything except the blood pounding in his head and his lungs taking in air. There was no going back.
He let Luke approach him, and when he lunged with the knife he went into action. A long time ago, Evan's parents had given him self defence lessons, which at the time he dreaded. Now he was thankful as he pulled Luke into a complex flip and pinned him.
The monster struck out, the knife cutting a solid line across Evan's cheek as he dodged too slowly. Acting quickly, he dug his fingers into the pressure point of Luke's wrist, the knife falling from his fingers. He kicked it away.
"Luke, I'm warning you. Leave this place, leave Jonathan and everyone else, and never come back."
His voice was steady, but the underlying emotion broadcasted his delirium like a beacon. Luke was silent, and they sat there for a long time, the silence only being broken by the slight rattling of Jonathan's chains as he shifted.
And suddenly, Luke was laughing again, but this time it was different. The sound would crescendo and decrescendo at random intervals, a broken sforzando of sadness. It was a pained sound, the sound of a broken, helpless man.
The monster shifted, and Evan slowly released his hold, allowing him to get up. They both stood, and Evan watched as Luke slowly walked towards the door, disappearing behind some crates. He made his way over to Jonathan, and embraced him.
"It's all over now...everything's gonna be okay..."
He whispered as he ran a hand through his hair, sinking down to the ground and sitting by Jonathan's legs. He brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and burying his face. It was too much.
After everything they had been through, he felt like reality wasn't as clear as he once believed. Things could change, and in his mind nothing was no longer possible. It was like he was truly breathing for the first time.
As he sat there, he felt the invincible pressure recede, and soon everything would be okay again. His phone was dead, but in a few hours Tyler would find him. They would embrace, and Evan would apologize and Jonathan would get help.
They would go back to their domestic lives, get married, maybe adopt, and everything would be perfect. They had gotten through the worst scenario possible, and they had won against fate.
Evan smiled to himself, the smile of someone who had seen too much, too young, and relaxed. As the tension eased from his muscles, he felt a nudge from Jonathan, soft but strained.
"E-Evan..."
He looked up at the love of his life and ignored the lifeless eyes, wide open in the dark room. He smiled again, and put a hand on his leg.
"I'm here."
"N-no...E-Ev..."
He broke out into strangled coughing, sounding like his throats was being torn apart. It pained Evan, but he knew it would all be fine in a few hours. Just a little bit longer...
Suddenly, he saw something reflected in Jonathan's chains, the shackle moving as Jonathan struggled against an invisible force. He turned around.
"Wha-"
The knife came down quickly, and yet everything seemed to slow down. The shock overtook his body, and Evan was powerless as Luke brought down the knife that would be his death. He closed his eyes, and realized that this was it.
He had let Luke walk away, and his mistake would cost him his life. He had failed Jonathan, and he was about to leave him alone, all alone in this hell.
A large shattering sound broke the dystopia, and a pained half-scream made Evan look up. It...it was Jonathan!
Somehow, the chains had been broken and Jonathan had gotten the blade from the forgotten pocketknife. He had stabbed Luke, he had saved him. He had killed a man, but he had saved him.
Jonathan gasped and let go, blood spurting out as Luke's eyes rolled back and he fell. Jonathan began to sway, and Evan caught him and pulled him to his chest.
He pulled them away from he monster's corpse, and they lay intertwined as though they were cuddling back home in the house, as though everything was as it should be.
Evan let Jonathan cling to him, both of them shaking, and prayed. He wasn't religious, but he thanked every God he could think of. He thanked them for their lives.
Jonathan started again, jumping out of his skin and instantly alerting Evan that something was wrong. He checked to make sure Luke was still on the ground, unmoving. The blood coated even more of the floor now, and he realized that he and Jonathan were both covered in it.
"Jon, what is it? What's wrong?"
"T-there..."
He put a hand on his face, encouraging him through the tears coating his face. His unseeing eyes were shiny with moisture, and for a moment Evan was reminded of the galaxies they used to be.
"S-Someone's here..."
Evan sat up silently and pulled Jonathan into his lap, scooting them back away from the doors and the light, wanting nothing more than for them to be left alone.
Then he heard it; the sound of metal clicking against the hard ground. From the darkness that surrounded them, a man appeared.
He was tall but average, with a forgettable face. Dark mirrored sunglasses accompanied a sophisticated white suit, a sleek flip phone in his gloved hands, pressed to his ear.
"The experiment is failed. The rest subject is here still, but there's an obsolete with him."
After the monotonous voice had spoken, there was a pause and the faint sound of someone speaking on the other side of the call.
"Okay. I'll be back at ten 'till."
The man hung up, and made direct eye contact with Evan despite the darkness that surrounded him. He walked forward as Evan pulled Jonathan to him, trying to use his body as a human shield. He clenched his eyes shut, and revoked his previously prayed thanks.
Why couldn't it all be over?
There was a click, and Evan opened his eyes to the barrel of a gun being held against his forehead. He flinched back from the freezing metal, fear coursing though him, and a gunshot went off. But it didn't hit him, he realized, it hit J-
"No!"
He pulled Jonathan to him, sobbing in pure pain as the man walked away as though he hadn't just shot someone. He shook Jonathan desperately, cradling his limp head with a hand.
"Jonathan? Baby, please! Please don't leave me!..."
He broke down into more sobbing, his throats aching as the weight of the world crashed down into him. His world succumbed to darkness as his heart shattered and his lungs struggled desperately. For the first time in his life, he regretted, and he could do nothing as his pain overtook his consciousness.
For perhaps the last time, Evan fell to the darkness, his shattered soul drifting away like sand in wind. He had failed...
The End