Darkness in the Neon Lights (H2OVanoss)

Chapter 2

I sigh as I curl up in the corner under a overpass. Rain is pouring down hard, and thunder crashing as well as lightning lighting up the sky is making sleep come to me much harder than I would like. Not to mention how cold it is.

It's been a month and a half since I left home, and I've kind of been having a hard time getting by. I've been trying to find a job so I could save up money to buy things like a car or rent a apartment, but I've had no luck. The items that I took with me were already sold, and now I only have the clothes on my back and the picture of my parents and I before they started their addiction. I even sold the backpack I left with.

My eyes are heavy, and all I want to do is sleep and hope to wake up from this nightmarish life, but I'm shivering far too hard to allow myself to sleep. Lightning strikes across the sky, allowing me to see what's under the overpass, and, weirdly enough, I see a man starting to walk under. Seconds after the lightning vanishes, thunder roars out, and I see a light come on from where the man is. He points whatever he's holding towards me, blinding me for a second as he checks to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Lightning strikes again, and I see the man is starting to walk closer to me, and I instantly back away, not knowing what this man will do to me. The last thing I want is to be attacked by some stranger. "I won't hurt you," I can barely hear the man yell over the rain.

Lightning strikes again, allowing me to see the man hold out his hand towards me, and it's then that I realize who it is. A man named Ryan. He's some weird guy that I met at the park I've been sleeping at. Well, weird is a bit harsh. He's a nice guy, always giving me a breakfast sandwich every morning he sees me when he's out for a run. It's just weird to me that he tries to talk to me too, always asking me why I'm not at home. The only thing we know about each other is our names and that we both like video games, but nothing else.

"It's okay, Evan," he shouts over the rain. "It's just me; I'm not going to hurt you! I just want to help you! Just, take my hand and come with me!"

"Go with you? We barely know each other! Why should I trust you?"

"Because I don't want you to get sick! It's almost winter, and if you get sick now, you could die! Just let me help you!" He starts to walk up to where I am, and I try to push myself away from him. However, it's no use; my back is already pressed against the top of the concrete above me.

He gets onto his knees in front of me and puts his cellphone down in front of him. Lightning strikes again, lighting up the space between us, and allowing me to see the corner on his face. "I know that you don't fully trust me, but I only want to help you."

"Why do you give a shit about what happens to me? Like I already said, we barely know each other."

"Because, a few years ago, I was in the same boat you're in. I was homeless at a young age. And I know that I would have killed for the chance to sleep on a couch when it started raining. So, I want to give you what I didn't get."

I blink and stare at him in shock. This answers so much. He was homeless, so he wanted to help someone that reminded him of himself... This could seriously get me killed.

He holds out his hand towards me again, and this time, with a little hesitation, I take it. We slide down to the sidewalk and he starts leaning me to wherever he lives. We run in the rain for about two or three blocks until we come up to a big apartment complex, which I recognize very quickly. Its around the corner from the park I had been sleeping at.

Ryan leads me to a door on the first floor and rushes in, holding the door open for me. I walk in and look around the room, which was shocking big. There's a long black couch, a big flatscreen TV, a bar, a kitchen, and what really catches my eye is a pole in the middle of the big room. I blush as I eye it, and Ryan quickly notices.