Soul Mate Service (boyxboy)

Chapter 18

THIRD PERSON POV

One second Thaddeus was standing in the Nutrition Pod, and in the next, he vanished.

The curly-haired man flew through the hallways, taking the stairs three at a time and not even stopping to consider that he would surely break his face if a step was miscalculated by even a single millimeter. It was his irregular heartbeat that kept him going without a second thought, the thump of it echoing in his ears like a ceremonial drum. It struck louder and ever more demanding as his feet carried him to wherever the fuck he was being drawn to.

Nerves crackled with certainty and the hairs on the back of his neck reached for the heavens despite the absence of a cool breeze. The itch in the back of his skull left nothing up for debate; something was very, very wrong. Thad was sure of it.

He had to find Bug.

The periphery of his vision tunneled and Society members unfortunate enough to find themselves in his path of destruction became nothing more than punching bags as he barreled through without a hint of regret.

He had to find Aria.

The need to be with him – to shield him from whatever was causing him harm – was a physical pain, a needle injecting pure anxiety into his bloodstream.

He had to find his Soul Mate.

That Bug was so fucking irritating, making him worry like this. To make his veins pulsate and his nervous system click into overdrive at the mere notion of the wisp of a man being put in any sort of uncomfortable situation.

No. It simply was not allowed, not even by Aria himself. Only Thad was allowed to bully him.

The hinges of the stairwell door screeched at the force with which Thaddeus burst through it when he finally reached the negative eighth floor. The man immediately frowned.

Why in the hell his eager feet led him here – to this semi-abandoned floor with only a few working lights that bathed the hallway in an eerie atmosphere – left him perplexed as the door slammed shut with finality behind him. But he didn't have to wait long to figure out the mystery, seeing as to how the next thing he heard sent a stalagmite of ice straight through his heaving chest.

The man almost tripped on his way toward the source of that mind-numbing whimper, the lack of light combined with his hasty movements not helping his long legs find stable ground.

Thad needed to find him. Like right now, or else he was definitely going to go insane. Or, maybe he already was.

He was falling into a neurotic state of consciousness at a rate of at least two hundred miles per hour, but somewhere in that tumble into madness, the man was able to gather enough sense to suck a breath into his lungs and hold it there. That metallic smell that he was positive would be waiting for him would only serve to make things worse, and if Bug was hurt, he would have to at least have a shred of logistical abilities left to get him to safety.

When he finally turned the corner, he saw him.

Even through the darkness, that diminutive frame curled up in a ball in the corner undeniably belonged to Aria. His hair was disheveled and frizzy in some places – a vast contrast to its usual wavy and perfectly groomed state – and curtained his agonized expression, blocking it from Thad's view. Bug shook as if he couldn't keep himself still, writhing around on the floor as misty whimpers of helplessness poured from his lips like water. Water torture, to be exact.

"T-Thad..."

It took all of a quarter of a second for Thad to reach Aria, and he wasted no time in crouching down and placing a hand on his shoulder. What he really wanted to do was run his hands down Bug's entire body, to manually inspect his skin and bones for breaks and bruises in lieu of the darkness of the hallway that so heavily obscured his vision. But he didn't get that far, instead yanking his hand back with a curse for two reasons in particular.