Psycho

Unit 29

three chapters are left after this one.

Disclaimer: This story contains violence, gore, sexual content and strong language. Subjects covered might trigger some. If you are very sensible or easily offended, please abstain from reading.

He hissed. Phil soaked his cloth with water again and pressed it against the cut above his eye. He admired the skin that was slowly turning a purplish color on his jaw and his forehead.

He had only witnessed Dan's aggressiveness in more subtle ways before. But this time, he hadn't even tried to hide it, or hadn't even been apologetic for it. He had shown him his strength and aggressiveness in its purest form and in the most direct way.

That was the difference between Dan and Phil. He was only realizing it now. Phil was strong mentally, slithering around and crawling in people's heads to get what he wanted, and Dan was strong physically, establishing his dominance by the wrath of his fists. They both inhabited these descriptions, but one clearly had more of the other.

As he grunted at the pain in his face, Phil couldn't help but play their fight over and over again in his head. He remembered thinking a few weeks ago that Dan's behavior had changed. He remembered asking him if he had always bottled up his emotions and let them burst at any moments. This was a perfect example.

Of course, he had initiated the fight, but the violence with which Dan had continued had been so surprising Phil still couldn't comprehend it. He remembered why he had punched him in the first place and scoffed.

"Nope." Phil told his reflection. "Nope, nope, nope, nope." He laughed nervously. "This is not happening... Coincidence..."

Phil had yet to prove himself right. The facts were under his nose, but he deliberately chose to ignore them. Without his own proofs, he would continue to deny everything he had deduced from his encounter with Quest Kadner. He would keep digging until he hit rock bottom.

He unclogged the sink and let the water go down the drain. Phil left the bathroom and looked around. Dan wasn't there, he was probably in the living room. It was better this way, if they had seen each other at that moment they would probably have initiated a second fight. They didn't need it.

He took a turn to go to his room and, to his delight, noticed Dan's was empty. He entered it carefully, as if his feet would get blown off by a landmine at any second. He stood there silently for a few seconds, listening to the sounds upstairs to see if Dan had moved. It didn't seem so.

Alongside with the GPS device, Phil had ordered a small sound recorder. After fetching it in his bedroom, he laid down on the ground, lifted the sheets and put the device so it was under the bed and would capture his every words, but in a way that Dan wouldn't be able to see it.

After making sure about three times it was on, he left the room without hearing Dan move in the living room. He then disappeared into his own and tried to suppress the fight from his mind.

~

The day passed slowly. The pain kept pouncing Phil's face and everything he had to do was painful. He didn't leave his room until his tummy started rumbling with hunger. He hadn't noticed the sun had set.

He got himself something in the kitchen and dared to enter the living room. There was nothing wrong with Dan! No deduction or no detective could tell him there was. No. He was his best friend, and he loved him.

He stroked the bruise on his jaw as he entered the room and shoved down the uneasiness that had automatically seized him.

Dan sat on the sofa with his laptop on his lap, as usual. Again, he looked peaceful and Phil could've smiled. But the bruises on his face and the memory of the fight brought him down to Earth. He pulled a chair and sat at the table quietly. On the television screen played the news, which Dan half watched above his computer screen.