(My roommate suggested this song. He thought it fit well with the idea of the story and I think he chose disturbingly well.)
It was nearly four in the morning when Taylor finally got out of the taxi. He glanced around in the darkness as the car drove away, taking most of the light with it. After a few moments, he started walking toward the house, but something was bothering him.
Pausing, he turned around, but nothing was there. The crisp night air drew a shiver through him as he made himself inhale, then exhale slowly.
Just calm down. They haven't attacked us yet. Adon probably went home and put his phone on silent to get some sleep.
Of course, he knew that that wasn't the case. He'd already gone to the guy's home, and he'd definitely not been there.
Fingering the spare key in his pocket, he turned around again, only to jump back abruptly when Caleb was suddenly there. His injured left foot gave immediately, dropping him to his back in the driveway as a harsh icy feeling bolted through his chest.
The chill had him panting for breath and grabbing at his chest. It was freezing even through his shirt, and when he opened his eyes, he realized why.
Caleb's hand was outstretched, as if he'd tried to catch him.
He couldn't touch me, though.
It was odd to think about, since he'd seen the wraith affect the physical word before.
I'd even grabbed him during the car crash.
He wasn't really sure why he'd seemingly tried to help, but he had more important things to think about right then.
"I'm okay. Thanks for trying, though. I just hurt my foot in that wreck so it doesn't hold my weight that well," Taylor said as he carefully started getting back up.
The fall awoke his other minor injuries, making him wince several times and stagger once. When he was finally able to steady himself and stand, Caleb was nowhere in sight.
Inside then.
To his surprise, the door was unlocked when he got to it.
Adon must really be here.
He hurried inside, noting the dull light in the kitchen being on as he pushed the door shut behind him.
Don't want Nikolai getting out, if he can leave the house at all.
"Caleb?"
He turned in a circle, but the wraith had really disappeared. Since he was the only one there at the moment, he glanced toward the chalkboard.
Heees nggr yy
"He's... angry?"
Taylor looked around again, but he didn't see anyone.
"Adon!" he yelled as loudly as he could, then listened for a response as he walked hesitantly closer to the destroyed wall leading to the basement.
Pulling his phone out, he checked to be one-hundred percent sure that Adon hadn't tried to contact him. While he was on his way to the house he'd made sure to text Sasha to let her know where he was and what he was doing. She was probably asleep, since she hadn't replied and it was still extremely early, but it was better than nothing.
"Alright. Time to do this."
Turning on his cell phone flashlight, he carefully made his way through the destroyed wall. The sound of his shoes stepping onto the dusty basement landing seemed too loud to his own ears.
"Adoni?" he called again, silently praying that he'd hear a response. Unfortunately, there was none.
Making sure that the phone was pointed downward, but also slightly forward, he slowly started descending the old stairs. Some of them creaked from age, but thankfully none noticeably moved.
He was grateful when he finally managed to get close enough to see the bottom.
Where are Caleb and Nikolai, though?
His thought was disrupted the moment he turned his head and spotted Adon lying a few feet away. He hurried over, dropping to his knees as he shone his flashlight over the open wound in the other man's chest.
"What the heck happened?"
Yanking off his jacket, he quickly got busy wrapping it around Adon's chest. Once he'd managed to fasten it well enough for the time being, he carefully started trying to get him to sit up.
Thankfully, the man seemed to come around as he was working, a tired cough letting Taylor know that he was conscious again.
"Hey, what happened?" he whispered as he started getting them to their feet with a little help from Adon.
The man shook his head, clearly having trouble with the simple gesture, as well as just staying standing.
"They'll kill you," he finally rasped shakily through clicking teeth, making Taylor look around again in the darkness.
He couldn't see a whole lot of anything. There were no windows and his phone flashlight didn't do much in the utter darkness.
"Who attacked you?" he asked, his own voice quiet as they started slowly making their way back toward the stairs. It was hard to stay upright with his bad foot and Adon's growing shivers, but the adrenaline in his body thankfully kept them moving.
"Nikolai... but I think Caleb was the one who pulled me down heâ"
Taylor didn't need to guess why Adon had stopped talking. Caleb stood before them on the last step from the bottom, backlit by the miniscule glow coming down from the light in the kitchen.
"Caleb, we're going upstairs."
There was an eerie silence for several long moments before Taylor's phone chimed in his pocket, having put it there in order to help lift Adon. When he ignored it, clearly focused on their more-important current situation, it chimed again.
Shit.
Yanking the device free, he looked at the screen and felt his heartbeat double.
Stay
"We aren't staying, Caleb. Your brother hurt my friend. He needs help now," he said, pushing past the pain running up his leg as he fought to stay upright with Adon.
His phone chimed again, drawing his eyes down to it.
Happy birthday
Taylor bit his lower lip in frustration at the messages. If the calendar in his dream had been correct, his birthday had been a few days ago.
Shaking his head, he carefully lowered Adon so that he could lean against the wall, then looked back up at Caleb. The young man hadn't moved an inch, his faded eyes staring at him without really seeming to see.
His phone chimed again as he straightened, drawing his eyes back down.
Run!
The warning made a shiver run down his spine, but then Taylor remembered the dream the calendar had been in again.
"You wanted to run away when you turned eighteen, right?"
Caleb suddenly blinked four times as his head ticked the slightest fraction to the side.
Well, that's a reaction I haven't seen before. Hopefully that's a good thing.
"Were you going to run away with your brother? You were going to leave this place, weren't you?"
Caleb vanished the moment he finished speaking and his phone went off again.
Run run rn rn urn runnrnn unr rnnnnn
Not sure how I'm supposed to interpret that, but I'll take it literally this time.
Pushing himself as hard as he could, Taylor got Adon back up after putting his phone away and forced his legs to nearly drag the man up each and every stair. By the time they managed to get to the top he was shaking nearly as much as Adon, but he refused to drop yet.
Outside. At least one can't get us there.
He was honestly confused as to where Nikolai even was, but that definitely wasn't important right then.
Just glad he's not here.
Focusing on just putting one foot in front of the other, he somehow managed to keep dragging Adon toward the door. As they passed the counter he felt the man shift and glanced sideways to see him reach up with his shaky right arm and grab the fish bones there.
Why the heck would you take those?
Adon stopped abruptly right as they were about to step out the door, making Taylor misstep and drop to his knees due to the pain in his foot. Adon came down with him, his body sagging to the side and his arm over Taylor's shoulder slipping slightly.
"Adon? What happened? I need you to help me get you outside."
There was no reaction from him for several long moments, making Taylor begin to finally panic.
"Adon? Come on, just a little farther," he pleaded, knowing that their time was limited as he tried, and failed, to get them both back up.
When the man finally managed to lift his head high enough so that he could meet his eyes through his messy bangs, Taylor felt his heart nearly stop.
That left eye... is not the right color.