Home Sweet Home (mxm)

Chapter 1: Welcome

(So, I've been having a very dark nightmare for months and every time I have it, it gets more and more vivid. This first chapter is basically that dream with a character replacing me. Maybe it will lead somewhere, and finally get out of my head... please. The song above is pretty darn good at describing the idea I'm considering for a storyline, especially the chorus.)

Blinking open tired eyes, Taylor yawned and sat up, scratching at the back of his head. A slight shiver tickled his spine as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, then stood up. After adjusting his boxers on his hips slightly, he stretched his bare arms over his mop of messy dark brown hair and sighed.

A faint clink of metal on... something, met his ears, drawing his attention to his open door, but when the sound didn't occur a second time, he shrugged it off and walked out of his room, intent on grabbing a cup from one of his still-packed moving boxes and getting a drink of water.

As he was heading toward the kitchen, a door caught his eye in the opposite direction. He didn't remember it being there when he'd gone over the home with the inspector, but then again, the man had been pretty quick with his review.

Curious, he turned toward it, then walked over. It looked like any other regular door, and Taylor figured that there was just a simple closet or small storage room behind it. When he actually grasped the cold handle and turned it, then pulled it open, his eyes widened with intrigue and confusion.

He knew for a fact that the house hadn't come with a basement, but there was no way he wasn't going to check it out. With his thirst at the back of his mind momentarily, Taylor carefully began heading downward. Another loud clinking sound reverberated around him and vibrated through his bones the second his foot set down on the top step, but after a long pause, the sound did not repeat.

Not one to be discouraged, he finished walking down the flight of stairs without any issue. At the bottom, his jaw dropped open as his eyes took in something he definitely hadn't expected. Before him sat a large three person silver and black triangular hot tub on a small risen wooden platform with a couple of the quieter jets running just enough to agitate the water, but not make too much noise.

It was impressive, but it paled in comparison to what was behind it. A massive, floor to ceiling wall of what appeared to be three foot by three foot fish tanks neatly stacked upon each other seamlessly, making the entire area glow with backlit water and brilliantly colored fish. It was honestly far taller than possible considering the house built above it, but Taylor dismissed that thought, deciding that its height was just an illusion.

He had no idea how the animals had gotten there, or how they were even taken care of without a massive ladder and a full-time worker. He couldn't imagine how much time it would take to manage such a large collection of animals.

The wall took his attention for quite sometime, but after a while he felt his eyes redirecting across the room to his right. He wasn't sure how the basement could be so huge, but he didn't question it as his eyes traveled across the huge area to land on a king sized bed with dark purple blankets and a deep, rich wood headboard. It looked incredibly inviting, but even as he walked a few steps closer, he knew that it would be rude to just sleep in someone else's bed... who needed to move out of his house as soon as possible.

He wasn't a mean person, but there was no way he wanted to live with a roommate anymore. He'd been there and done that more than enough. He'd finally managed to save enough money, and gotten lucky enough for such a cheap house to abruptly come back onto the market after the last buyer wanted a quick sale. It had been sold for nearly twenty-thousand under value, and since the inspector had said that everything was generally sound, Taylor had pounced on the deal.

He evidently just needed to evict some sort of loaded squatter. The thought was odd, but he couldn't understand how everything had even gotten down there past the inspector and previous owner without them somehow knowing and just keeping it quiet.

Turning, he caught sight of a large black stove in a little nook with two cabinets on the wall above it. Walking over, he frowned at the mess that had been left. A herb mixture of some sort that had clearly been freshly prepared instead of dried and premade lay scattered about the top of the stove with a small hand-cranked horizontal spinning peeler placed in the corner. Inside the open-bladed device were plenty of tomato skins and dripping thickened juice that had congealed on the item, but what caught his attention was the one cherry tomato seemingly stuck in the top blade, sliced open, but not enough to spill its juice or seeds.

"That wouldn't be something I'd use to peel or cut those, anyway."

It made no sense.

Frowning, Taylor walked to the middle of the room and looked around.

"Excuse me?" he called out as he slowly turned in a circle.

He was just about to shout again, his mouth parting for the words, when he slowly closed it. A small calendar hanging on the wall drew him closer, his eyes squinting to try and see what was written on a circled day. When his feet finally stopped in front of it, his eyes widened as a nervous shiver shook his body.

The calendar wasn't recent. The faded paper showed a large picture of a goldfish on a shadowy black background, and underneath it had the month of May in worn black cursive. What had Taylor wanting to back away from the item was the circled day, and more specifically, what was written there. It was one simple word on the twenty-second.

Run!

A loud clink racketed off of the walls around him, making him swing around, ready to defend himself from whatever was sure to be there... but everything was exactly the same.

His heart beat hard against his chest as he hesitantly glanced back over his shoulder at the calendar. The single word was gone, but in its place were two new ones.

Happy birthday!

Unnerved, Taylor turned and hurried toward the stairs, only to be stopped near the hot tub, as if something were physically holding him back. Unable to take another step forward, he tested which direction he was allowed to go. Backwards was fine, but he could feel his legs growing heavy with each step he tried to take.

After a few moments, he hesitantly tried taking a step toward the hot tub. The action went unhindered, leading him to take another, then another. When he stepped up onto the raised platform, the underwater light installed in the tub turned on, illuminating the tiny bubbles from the lower-power jets that were running, making them shimmer enticingly.

His muscles did ache... and the steam rising from the water meant that it was plenty warm to sooth his body. It was his house, anyways, so surely his unwelcome guest wouldn't mind him using the items he'd left on his property.

With fogging thoughts, Taylor carefully climbed into the hot water, sighing as he sank down into one of the three seats. The temperature was a tiny bit too hot, but after a few moments he relaxed and leaned his head back, then closed his eyes. His mind wandered as the warmth began to spread through his body. Right as he began to drift off to sleep, something stiff but strong grabbed his ankle tightly and yanked, dragging him beneath the water.

(Welcome to my nightmare :D)