Flawed

6.

I can hear it in the distance, screaming. It seems like no one else can hear him, but someone needs to help him, I can't not hear him, I need to help him.

"Inez!! " came the voice beside me followed by the sudden crash of a pillow on my face.

"I swear one more word from you and I'm throwing my slippers at you next. Can't a guy get a peaceful night's rest? Is that too much to ask for Nez?"

It takes a second to remember where I am. I lay so still I forget to breathe for a second. I knew that if I woke him up again he wouldn't hesitate to carry out his threat, plus worse, so I don't sleep back.

I stare at the fan dangling from the ceiling in the little living room of my hostel room and listen as it's creaking sound created a rhythmic beat with Orson's soft snores.

Turning to the side in an attempt to make lying on the floor more comfortable, I turn my focus to Orson's sleeping body splayed on the couch so vulnerably, and try to remember the dream, to remember the voice, a voice that sounds awfully like his.

I try to remember but I can't hear the voice any more, I can't hear his voice anymore.

For the rest of the night I count the ceilings, for the rest of the night I search for the voice in the Abyss. Spoiler, I don't find it.

After hours of waiting, It is finally day break. I watch the sun rise from the little space between the closed curtains.

It was a long night, a long sleepless night, it felt like the light would never come, but it did.

A glimpse of the light immediately brightens my day, so I hop off the floor with newly found enthusiasm that I immediately regretted finding, and head to the bathroom to freshen up.

I spend exactly 55 minutes in the bathroom scrubbing every inch of me that could possibly be stained with the nightmare of the afore night. I scrub until I can't remember the screaming.

"Nez? Oh God, you scared me. I didn't know you came back yesterday" Auriel says coming into bathroom with a baseball bat in her hand. I wonder if she'd have succeeded in knocking out the possible intruder with it.

"What the fuck happened to you?" she continues, her eyes scaling the length of my body. She sounds worried, however her eyes tell me she's more disturbed at the sight than she is worried.

I catch a glimpse of my self in the mirror, and I see patches of red on my skin from the scrubbing and the burns from the shower. I guess that's why she looks mortified. Quite an exaggerated reaction in my opinion.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure I'd come back either, I'm not even sure how I got back" I say ignoring her actual question and burning gaze. I bet her gaze can burn another red patch if she tried hard enough.

I lied, I knew how I got back, I knew what I did last night, what we did last night. I knew how it got so bad the bartender had to take it up on himself to take us out and back here. I knew how we ended up pulling ourselves up the stairs while talking about how we're geniuses. I knew how we ended up falling asleep with in my living room. I know Penelope will never forgive us.

"Oh um okay" Auriel says, finally averting her eyes and stepping out of the bathroom. I guess she figured I may need some privacy. That or she figured that since I'm here, he probably is also.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I go to the room and put on something covering and comfortable, with more hopes that it'd make Auriel comfortable around me, than that it'll make me comfortable.

Orson is up before I'm done, and by the time I'm out, he's being nurtured back to health by oh so sweet Auriel.

Shockingly enough, there's no extra hang over tea for me, not even left overs.

Shifting not so subtly away from Auriel to put some space between them, Orson turns to me. "Hey, let's go to my place, My roommate is not around, so we can make as much noise as we want and trash the whole place" He says, but I knew he actually meant 'Hey, let's leave here before your roommate has the chance to lock me up in her room and rape me, I swear I'd do whatever you want'.

"You can make as much noise as you want here Orson" Auriel says closing up the space Orson worked so hard to put between them. I wonder how she didn't get the hint, or maybe she did and doesn't care. Oh well, she's hopeless.

"Alright, grab your stuff let's move" I say to Orson, ignoring Auriel's offer. I could use the change of environment.
______________________________________

"How stupid would you have to be to knowingly walk right into a death trap" Orson yells tossing the popcorn in his hand at the TV screen

He has always loved horror movies, especially the ones with dumb main characters. Although he'll never admit it, he loved how he could always hate on them.

"mhmm" I say, not once shifting my focus from my disgustingly delicious ice cream and popcorn mixture. "Ors do you have more ice cream in the fridge, I'm about to run out"

" I think it would be better if you run out, or better yet never be let within 10 feet of ice cream, ever" Orson says sparing a glance of disgust to the bowl in my hand before directing his attention back to the movie.

I roll my eyes, not gracing him with a reply. He should be used to my combo by now, he's just childish.

"Fine, I'd go look for myself" I murmur to myself and go to raid his fridge.

After minutes of searching, I come to the conclusion that he has also run out of ice cream

"Okay, movie over, it's time to go grocery shopping" I say standing between him and his view of the TV.

"Ughh Nez. Did you check the time? the Mart would soon close" Orson says while effortlessly pushing me out of his line of sight.

"That-is-why-we-need-to-leave-now" I say, using all the strength I have to push myself back into his line of sight, or at the very least annoy him enough to give in ... and it did.

"Fine!! Go warm up the car, I'll join you in five, deal?"

"Deal" I say, ecstatic at my win and pick up my phone and the keys.

As I step outside, the blasting sound of the ambulance siren fills my ear. It is so close to causing me permanent hearing damage. I could see the vehicle approaching from the distance.

I feel the vibration of my phone. It was Auriel calling. She never calls.

"Hey?" I say responding to the call

"Nez What the fuck I've been calling you where did you drop your phone?" She says in a frantic

"Calm down Auriel, I left my phone on vibrate, what's wrong?"

"Girl next door umm what's her name? Penelope? Yeah ... Blood everywhere... Ambulance" She keeps rambling frantically, but I couldn't hear anything else over the sound of the ambulance siren.

I stand frozen, the phone glued to my ear and my eyes glued to the ambulance as it zooms by.

Auriel keeps on rambling, but the words she is spitting as well as the sound of the ambulance siren fades into the background as I feel a wave of nausea wash over me, and right back up my throat comes my ice cream and popcorn combo.