Vanilla Dusk ✓

Loop Part 9

'Right,' growled Shayne, digging into his pocket and pulling out the watch. 'So it's your doing, right? You're fooling with me, huh? Huh?'

He stared at the jinxed trinket for a long time before clenching it so hard it left marks on his palm. He lifted his hand and before he could throw the watch to the ground, he stopped. He opened his palm again and gritted his teeth.

'And I won't give up,' vowed Shayne. 'No matter how you toy with me. I'm not letting him die, you Devil.'

He pressed the crown and he was back to the party. The lights were flashing and some couples were dancing to the beats of Sia's Chandelier. When it ended, Lady Gaga's Judas was playing. They were at the bar table drowning themselves with liquor and Erik was talking about his hunting experience back in Norway when he was a child. Shayne didn't listen this time. He glanced around and caught the couple making out in one corner. The boy was fiddling with the hem of the girl's top, his hand slowly sneaking underneath her hoodie as she clasped his hair and shoved her tongue deeper into his carven.

About time.

'Shayne?' gasped Erik as Shayne suddenly grabbed him. He dragged him off the bar stool and through the crowd.

'What are you –'

Shayne shushed him, putting his index finger on his wine-tainted lips. With a confident smirk, he took Erik to the first floor and dragged Erik into the bathroom located on the far end of the hallway.

'Why did you –'

Shayne locked the door and shushed him again, this time, latching onto his lips. Erik didn't resist. Instead, he melted into the sudden passionate kiss. Shayne had been acting weird lately, spacing out from time to time, waking up from nightmares sweating and sometimes showering him with unpredictable affection, but Erik didn't want to dwell too much on the thought. Shayne's lips tasted sweet and warm. Their kiss got more heated and soon enough, their hands were roaming each other's body. Shayne sustained the pain spreading through his belly, where a new gash had probably formed from the fourth time he operated the watch. It felt like being stabbed until one's organs were full of holes and he realised that it was the very same pain Erik had gone through during the attack. He had to bear it in his place.

Shayne didn't let Erik take off his shirt. Erik didn't take off his shirt either.

They stumbled into the bathtub, whispering words of love to each other, biting each other's earlobes, fondling each other's chests and rubbing their crotches against each other. Soon after, their soft moans resonated in the bathroom and they were so engrossed in making love they failed to hear the voices, the screams and the horrendous fight below. When they were done and withdrew from each other, simply admiring the work they had crafted on each other's necks, the police sirens blared in the street. Only then did Erik realise what was going on downstairs.

As they walked down unkempt and drowsy, the whole place was surrounded by police officers. Peter was pressed on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back. Shayne peeked at his pocket watch, which had stopped ticking in his trousers.

IV

He looked back at Erik, who was still horrified by the nauseating mess in the sitting room, finding it incredulous that he and Shayne had just narrowly escaped death.

Shayne knew better. Even if it was going to cost him more than he could risk, he wouldn't stop. He would keep coming back in time to save Erik.

After the incident at the party, life was back to normal for a while before Shayne started to notice that the more often he used the watch, the more frequently Erik died. The time of peace shortened and Erik's death grew more macabre each time. Shayne still lost his composure whenever he witnessed Erik die in front of him, but instead of following him to the hospital and going through the same process of clinging to his corpse, crying till his eyes were sore, getting sedated by others and attending the funeral, he simply pressed the crown and let the clock tick. Once it started ticking, they would travel back in time, back to the day Shayne lost Erik in an atrocious incident.

The fifth time came when they were at the cinema watching Harry Potter and the Curse Child. Midway through the film, Shayne had to use the lavatory so he placed the huge pack of popcorn in Erik's hands and rose from his seat. Shortly after he left, Shayne heard a thunder. He was still inside the lavatory washing his hands in the sink when the ground began to quake and some parts of the wall cracked with debris falling from the ceiling. Shayne knew something was wrong the moment he stepped out of the lavatory and the entire corridor was engulfed in soot and dust. And the cinema room Erik was in was...

Blown up alongside many other rooms.

Those who survived were coughing, shielding their faces with their hands and yelping for help. Those who barely survived crawled their way out with their burnt bodies and missing limbs. Shayne ran back to where Erik was supposed to be only to see a pile of ruins completely blocking the entrance.

He learnt later from the news that it was a terrorist attack. Someone had planted mini-bombs inside the cinema and activated them when the place was full.

Shayne didn't bother to retrieve Erik's body this time. He took out his pocket watch and started the day again. Instead of going to the cinema, he took Erik, though much to his protest as he was fond of the film and had been looking forward to it since last month, to the seaside for a picnic.

The sea was calm that day, with water as azure as the sky and small white waves gently lapping the shore. The sand was sponge-soft, smooth like cream and lukewarm as the sunlight illuminated the beach creating tiny glitters. They had some sandwiches and biscuits before lying side by side on a picnic mat, simply relishing the serenity. Shayne, still haunted by the grisly images of the wreckage, stared blankly at the thin layers of clouds overhead. When Erik suggested going into the water, Shayne shook his head and smiled.

'I'll keep watch of the stuff here,' said he. 'You go and have fun.'

After Erik wandered off to pick the seashells and cool his legs in the water, Shayne propped himself up and peeped at his bruised body. It was starting to ache a lot. Even his joint stung when he made the slightest movement.

'Guess this is how it feels being blown up into pieces,' muttered Shaye. What he didn't know was that Erik's death came so much sooner this time. The moment he lost sight of him in the sea, he began to panic. He raced, despite his debilitating and agonising body, towards the water where Erik was convulsing, flailing his arms due to a cramp. When he swam to the middle of the sea, Erik had already sunk to the bottom. He took a deep breath and dove in as Erik's ghastly body plunged into the dark pitch, his platinum hair flowing like soft tendrils and his eyes wide open. Rings of bubbles floated and popped above his pale head. Shayne caught Erik and dragged him back to the surface.

'Damn it!' he cried as he swam back to the shore with Erik's stiffened body. His chest was no longer moving.

'We're not going anywhere this time, love,' said Shayne as he pressed the crown for the sixth time.

They woke up in their residence hall. They cancelled their date and spent the day snuggling up in their room.