The Red House

Chapter 1

The pain was eating him alive. It killed him, practically. The image of Erin walking away kept replaying in his mind like a sick tape on rewind. And it makes him want to kill himself or someone.

He always thought she was the one. He knew she was the one. And, he'd like to believe that she thought he was her "one". But one mistake-one stupid mistake took his future away from him. One stupid mistake made her walk out of the door, no turning back. And, after just one slam at the door, his vision of their future together lapsed. It was all gone. 6 years-all gone.

Matthew's life has been torture since Erin left. He quit his job, turning his back on music. He cut his hair shorter. He stayed in his apartment 24/7 shutting himself away from the world, only to go out for food and the occasional need of fresh air. He's even taken up smoking.

"Matt, Matt, wake up." Adrian, his best friend that's basically his brother, shook him.
He had fallen asleep on the couch again. It was where he would sleep nowadays, since his bed still smelled of Erin.
"Matt!" Adrian called out louder.
He scratched his eyes and yawned. Upon opening his eyes, all he could make out was a blurry vision of his older best friend. He closed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again. "Adrian?" his voice cracked.
"You were hammered last night again, weren't you?" he handed him a cup of Starbucks coffee.
"No." he lied. As he sat up, his head started to pound on his skull. He took a sip of the hot beverage to try to soothe it over.

"Matt, you gotta get out of this apartment." Adrian said, kicking a pile of empty beer cans off his path. "Or at least, hire a maid. Seriously, bro, you're a mess."
Matthew adjusted the blanket on his legs. "Why bother?"
Adrian rested both his hands on his waist, "Dude, come on. It's been a month! You should be over her by now."
"I am over her!" Matthew insisted.
Adrian picked up a take out bag of McDonalds full of empty containers. "You still live in a cave."
He shrugged. "It's Carson City, Nevada, everyone lives in a cave."
Adrian shook his head. "That's not true."
Matthew rolled his eyes. He took another sip of his coffee and licked the residue off his lips.
"You know what you need?" his best friend smirked.
"A coffin?" Matthew guessed.
Adrian tried to ignore his brother's statement. He took out his wallet and pulled out a worn out, wrinkled address card and handed it to him.
"The Red House?" Matthew read.
"You obviously need an outlet to release all your frustration." Adrian shrugged.
"What is this, a whore house?" Matthew made a face.
"Not just a whore house, Matt! It's heaven on earth!" Adrian exclaimed. "It's got it all: strippers, whores, hookers, heck, and even some porn stars live there. It's like a hotel. They let you stay there, pick a girl... and get it on as long as you want."
"Why do you have this? You're a married man." Matthew asked, throwing the card on to his coffee table that was full of trash.
"I had that before I married Layla. Now come on! You need this Matt." He picked up the card from the table and handed it back to his brother.
"Adrian, I don't think having sex with a random hot girl is gonna help me." Matthew whined. He stood up from the couch with his blanket draped over his shoulders, and headed for his fridge.
"No, but, Matt, this is more than JUST sex." Adrian winked. He followed Matthew into the kitchen.
Matthew opened his fridge. "What do you mean by that?"
"You'll see." Adrian smirked.
Matthew took a quick look inside his fridge and realized he didn't have anything in there but water. He shut the door in frustration. Adrian was still holding up the card with an excited face.
He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Alright!" he snatched the card from Adrian's fingers.
"Yes!" Adrian cheered. "Trust me, brother you will not regret this."