My eyes open to an alleyway. Dark, gritty, and dirty: It has a faint smell of sweat and feces to it. Police sirens wail in the distance faintly, they must be far away.
My torso screams as I force myself into a sitting position. I'm covered in the marks of my father's fists and boots. Disgusting blooms of purple litter my body, and I vaguely recall how I got them. But I don't remember how I got here. All I seem to be able to remember is the feeling of my heart breaking with each new blow to my ribs from my father. I guess he decided he didn't want me anymore and dumped my unconscious body out here.
I have a feeling he doesn't QUITE like me, so I doubt I'm in a safe part of town.
Better get moving.
The urge to cry out from movement washes over me, but I surpress it. I slowly manage to curl my left leg under my body. Then the right. I'm sure I looked like a feeble old man when I tried to push myself off the ground, summoning all my strength to perform an otherwise simple task.
Just as I'm about to take my first step out of the alley, I hear a clang coming from behind me. I whirl around but see no one. Just a mountain of garbage carelessly stacked into a corner. Weird.
I carefully step out of the alleyway and into the main street. The street is narrow and each side is crowded with big blocks of cement closely packed together. Harsh neon lights try to illuminate the night, but they are so scarcely placed that they do almost nothing to detract from the ominous feeling of this neighborhood. Garbage litters the pavement, both in bags and out. No one is outside right now except for me. Perfect.
I have absolutely no idea where I am, so I decide to head right. After all, right must be right, right?
Each step I take makes a hollow thud against the sidewalk. My hands instinctively cross over my chest as if my doing so would prevent harm from befalling me. I make a conscious effort to watch where I step, being careful to avoid the disturbingly plentiful number of needles under my feet. Despite the fact that I can't see anyone near me, I can't shake the feeling that I'm in danger. That every step was a gamble: either taking me to devastation or salvation. Still, I continued to walk.
I walked.
And walked.
And walked some more.
I walked until the moon, once perched firmly in the middle of the inky sky, was threatening to disappear behind the rundown housing to my left.
A small sense of hope fills me. Morning would mean that I could maybe get some help. I could find a police station or a school or something. Morning meant safety.
"HEY! Grab the little fucker, Fucker!"
A voice shouts from behind me. Confused, I turn around. Two figures were now sitting on stairs that led into one of the apartment building. A taller, more foreboding, third figure was standing behind them, staring at me, and pointing to something in the middle of the street.
Pointing at a small rabbit.
"Luke, grab it! Before it gets away."
For some reason, it doesn't disturb me that this person knows me. It doesn't register that the rabbit isn't moving, just sitting quietly. It doesn't cross my mind that I should keep walking and get help. My legs move toward the small ball of fluff automatically. With the confidence of someone who'd been around rabbits all their life, I scooped up the small thing and faced the group.
Meanwhile, the little fluff curled into my chest, almost burrowing into the spot above where my heart lied. An instant bond forms between the creature and I. A mutual understanding. A kinship.
"Now bring it here so we can skin it alive." The harsh voice of the middle figure yells out.
My arms tighten around the rabbit, noticing that it's shaking with fear at the figure's statement.
"Wh- why would you do that?!" The softness and airiness of my voice takes me aback. Was it always that light? Why does it sound like I'm speaking through water.
Instead of the tall figure responding alone, each figure responds in turn.
"Because it's small so I can." The gruff, primitive voice comes from the leftmost figure. The one hunched over so far I'm surprised their knuckles don't hit the floor. It's features are reminiscent of a neanderthal's.
"Because its coat is not rich enough." The rightmost figure chimes in. The voice is high-pitched and clipped, like it's obvious that this rabbit is far too inferior for them. The figure is short and has a more feminine figure than the other two.
"Because it will never be good enough for me." The third, largest figure finishes. The voice is authoritative. Strong. It leaves no room for argument. The figure stands tall, not just in height but in confidence. Back straight, eyes forward, shoulders back, like a General calling his soldiers to attention.
I shake my head fervently and step backwards, away from the three figures.
"Never! You can't touch him!"
The three figures growl. The two sitting figures rise to join their companion and they all stalk toward me, talking in smooth, scary tones.
"Don't act like a wuss."
"Don't act like a pleb."
"Don't act like a girl."
I try to back away further, but I can't. My back immediately hits a wall, forcing my body to remain in front of these figures... these monsters. Their hands extend in front of their body, reaching toward me.
"Do it, or I'll beat you and kick you out."
"Do it, or I''ll hold you down and rape you."
"Do it, or I'll make sure you never see 'him' again."
Tears stream down my face as panic swell in my chest. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to save the rabbit. I don't know how to protect myself from the demons in front of me without sacrificing the innocence in my arms.
Just as I was about to relinquish the poor creature to them, the figures freeze in place. First the neanderthal, then the elitist, then the general: one by one they collapse to the ground and disappear into the asphalt.
Behind where the monsters used to be, stands a teenage boy.
A man.
My man.
He rushes toward me and envelops me in his arms. Without hesitation, I wrap my suddenly-empty arms around his torso, pulling him ever closer.
After a few seconds in his warm embrace, he pulls back to look at me.
"Are you ok? They didn't touch or hurt you, Luka, right?"
I smile happily into his eyes. "No, you saved me. Again. Thanks, again."
His eyes soften with relief and he chuckles. "Luka, how many times do I have to tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"Nothing could ever stop me from protecting my Rabbit."
*beep* *beep* *beep*
The slow, steady beeping of the heart monitor wakes me up. It takes a couple seconds for me to be able to open my eyes and even when I do, I'm temporarily blinded by the artificial lights above me.
Just a dream...
I sigh as I take in my surroundings. I'm in the hospital, obviously. There are a bunch of monitors and machines hooked up to my body through a couple of tubs in my arm. I'm a bit numb, so I guess they have me on morphine or something.
For just a moment, I wonder if my father knew I was hurt and if he had come to make sure I was ok. I wondered if, when I turned my head, I'd find him sitting in the chair these hospital rooms always provided for worried family members to watch over their relative. I wondered if it'd be like the stories, where the worried parent has sat in the chair, waiting for their child to wake up so that they could shower them with love.
Then I remembered who put me here.
"Oh my God, Luke!"
Sean's weak but happy voice sounds from the corner of the room. His eyes are red and bags are under his eyes. They show endless concern for me and my situationIt hurts my heart when I figure out he'd been crying, but I notice something that makes it clench with love.
He's sitting in the chair.
A smile immediately widens across my cheeks. He was worried. He stayed to watch over me. He waited for me to wake up. He loves me.
Sean is my family.
My only family, now.
But, however sad it may seem, I'm strangely okay with it.
He slowly gets out of his chair and walks over to me. Gingerly, he takes one of my hands in his and places his other hand on my cheek.
"Are you ok? Your father hurt you, Luka, right?"
I fight the urge to laugh, knowing he wouldn't see why it was funny.
Maybe it wasn't just a dream...
I can almost feel my eyes shimmer with happiness.
"I love you, Sean."
His eyes water a bit, so I raise my free hand to wipe away his tears.
"Not as much as I love you."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey,
Sorry again about not updating Monday. For those who didn't get the memo, I had a HORRIBLE relapse of depression. Like, really bad. I couldn't get out of bed because I was afraid I'd hurt myself.
I'm fine now, but there was no way in Hell that I could write anything at that time.
I hope I made up for it today. I knew I wanted a dream sequence for when Luka was unconscious, and I thought it'd be fun to be all symbolic. I hope you guys got the meaning behind the three "figures". The rabbit is obvs our bb boy, and I hope my descriptions of the other people were just as easy to comprehend.
Anyway, I would like to reiterate that I'm fine. I am back to my normal happy-go-lucky self, and I promise I'll be ok.
Be sure to vote and leave a comment, and I'll see y'all later!