Selfish || Vance Hopper

8. Blanket

The door opens. I'm scared.
"Back up!" The Grabber yells.

Vance and I move back to the end of the mattress.

He walks out. He looks at us carefully.
"You found my gifts." He says smiling.
"A better gift would be to let us go." Vance says.
"I will. Soon." He says.
"How soon?" I ask.
"I don't know."

He looks at me carefully and takes a step forward.
"Let me see your bandage." He says reaching for my hoodie. Vance grabs me and pulls me behind him.
"Don't fucking touch her."
"Defensive much. I'm not going to hurt her. I just want to see her a little better." He says looking at him.

Vance's hand curls into a tight fist.
"Don't." Vance says between his teeth. I notice something sharp in The Grabbers hand. I grab Vance's hand and pull him closer to me.

"If you're not bringing us food, clothes, or letting us go, don't fucking come down here." Vance says staring at him intensely. He turns around and leaves.

"Why'd you do that?" Vance asks me.
"He had something sharp in his hand."
"What?"
"I don't know what it was, but he would've hurt you. Or maybe even killed you."
"I'm going to kill that piece of shit."

"We have to find a way out." I say.
"What do we do?"

I hear a noise.
"Shut up." I whisper.
"What?"
"Shh."

I hear a door open coming from near the bathroom.

I run over and hear the sound of a door shut come from inside the wall.

"Vance." I call for him. He runs over.
"What?" He asks.
"There's something there." I point.
"What could it be?" He asks getting close to it.
"No clue but it's right there."

"Let's find out." He says.
"How are we gonna do that?"
"I could hit it."
"It's cement. You'll break your hand."
"Go look at the toilet and find something."

I walk over to it and pull off the lid.
"This work?"
"It could."

I hand it to him.
"There's like an outline if you look carefully." He says pointing it out.
"Okay, see if you can break it."

He hits it and the wall cracks a bit. I grab a metal rod as I help him break it.

"Shit!" He yells grabbing his side.
"Vance?"
"The stab. It hurts."
"Mine too." I say.
"We have to get out." He says going back to hitting it.

He winces everytime.
"Vance, maybe you should take a break."
"No. I want to get out."
"Me too, but we can't if we're hurt."
"I'm getting us out." He says ignoring me.

After a couple more hits, he yells, throwing the lid to the side before walking off. I set the rod down and follow him.

I see him facing the wall as he hits it with his hand.
"Vance." I mutter grabbing his shoulder.
"I can't do it. I'm weak." He whispers.
"Vance, look at me."

He turns around softly. I see the tears forming in his eyes.
"I just want to go home." He mutters as a tear falls down his cheek. I hug him tightly.
"We're gonna go home." I whisper.
"I can't do it."
"Yes, you can. You know what everyone says about you right? They say you're the toughest kid. If anyone can get us out of this shit hole it's you." I say looking at him carefully. He gives me a soft smile.
"Thanks, Chippy."
"No problem, dipshit." I say smiling. His smile grows.

"And I was starting to debate on whether or not to share that blanket."
"You're funny." I say running to it.

He gets to me and tries to grab it. I throw it over me and run to the mattress. I let it roll around me.

"Don't play with me." He threatens.
"It's mine." I taunt.
"We'll see about that." He mutters.

He grabs my side and spins me over. He's basically towering over me, while my back is on the mattress.

He just looks at me while I do the same.

I see his eyes glance towards my lips. He leans in closer.

There's a click meaning the doors about to open.

Vance rolls to the side falling down next to me on the mattress.

I bring my knees up covering myself in the blanket.

The door opens and The Grabber walks in. He looks at us both carefully.

"I have food." He says holding a tray.
"Leave it there." Vance says to him.
"Don't wanna talk?"
"Dipshit. Of course I don't wanna talk to you." Vance says instantly. I place my hand on his arm trying to keep him from doing something stupid.

"Put the fucking tray down." I say glaring at him and his stupid ass mask.

He sets the tray down on the floor before looking back up at us.
"You can leave now." Vance says. "Unless you're planning on letting us out."
"Not yet. You're special."
"Shut the fuck up."

The Grabber backs up and the door locks with a click.

Vance gets up and tries the door, even though we both know that it's locked. He grabs the tray and sets it down on the mattress.

He sits down next to me.

"Okay, bro, it's actually cold. Fucking share." He says. I laugh.
"Say please."
"Please?"
"Okay, fine." I sigh dramatically before lifting my arm for him to take some of the blanket.

He moves in even closer to me so it can wrap around him.

We both take a sandwich and start to eat.
"Do you think he'll ever let us out?" I ask.
"The fucker? Probably not." Vance says.
"I just want to go home. I miss my bed." I say.
"I miss my Pinball Machine." He mutters. I laugh softly.

"What?" He asks.
"Sorry." I say shaking my head.
"No tell me."
"I just think it's funny that what you miss most is the fucking pinball machine." I say continuing to laugh. He starts laughing too.

We both stop laughing and just look at eachother. He smiles softly.

"I'm kinda tired." I whisper looking down. He nods.
"Me too."

I lay down pulling the blanket away from him. He grabs my waist and pulls me close to him.
"I'm telling you, I'm getting a part of this blanket." He says throwing it over himself.

Our bodies are only inches apart.

I decide to move closer to his warmth while his arm wraps around me tightly.

"Night." He whispers.
"Goodnight." I whisper back.