Children of the Night

Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

It was late, the breeze whispering through the window, making the thin curtains flutter slightly. Mitch sat on his bed cross-legged, flipping through a magazine. Earphones were stuffed into his ears, but even his music couldn’t seem to drown out the dreadful noise of bed springs squeaking and the moans of his roommate coming from the other side of the wall.

Sighing he slid off the bed and closed his window before grabbing his coat and hurrying out of the flat, thinking it best to go out for a bit until they were finished. He headed to the little park nearby as it was usually empty, as there was a larger park about ten minutes away that all the drunken teenagers went to hang out in.

He walked down the sloping path towards a bench further down, rolling his eyes when a man sat down on it, holding onto the lead that kept his dog beside him. Mitch carried on passed them, instead heading for a bench that was a little more walk away. The cool night time air felt refreshing, and when he had sat down he just closed his eyes for a while to enjoy the freedom away from the stuffy rooms of his flat. How he wished he could afford to live on his own, but he never would. He needed to meet someone special who he could move into a nice house with and spend life comfortable and without worries.

Mitch opened his eyes when he heard footsteps crunching lightly along the path towards him and looked to his right to see the man from the restaurant, who approached him and asked if he could take a seat. Mitch nodded mutely and for a while they sat in silence, Mitch wondering whether he should leave, feeling awkward.

“Lovely night isn’t it? It’s so relaxing to just have a nightly walk through here” the man suddenly said just as Mitch had decided he was going to get up. Instead he settled back against the bench and glanced at the stranger curiously, “Yeah it’s nice I guess” he replied shyly.

“Have you ever been to the art museum  in town?” the man then asked, turning his violet gaze on Mitch who shivered and looked away, cheeks going red. “I’ve been a few times, I quite enjoy going”. He hoped he didn’t sound like a loser for being so eager to share this information, but the man didn’t seem to mind his excitement. “My name is Antonio Carlos” he held out a hand which Mitch took hesitantly, shaking it and then quickly letting go. “I’m Mitch Anderson”.

Antonio stood up and then handed him a card with a number scrawled across it in large elegant writing. “If you would like to go again one day with some company…give me a call” with that he strolled away, leaving Mitch gaping after him with shock. ‘<I>Was he flirting with me or what…?</I>’ he thought, trying to go through the whole moment again in his mind. The man’s manner hadn’t been very flirtatious, he didn’t seem to be showing any interest in him in that way, but the giving out his number for no particular reason…the invitation to go to the museum, that seemed like he was being asked on a date. Was he getting it all wrong? Maybe he had just wanted a companion to talk to about art and whatnot.

Mitch eventually made his way home, hands stuffed in the pockets of his coat, cold fingers clutching the card. As he was locking the front door Madison came out of her room, the sound of snoring echoing loudly before she shut the door. “Sorry if we were loud earlier” she said with a little smile, then headed into the bathroom for a shower.

“No problem” he softly called, and then slipped into his own room, kicking off his shoes and stripping off his clothes before getting under the covers.

*

The next morning Mitch was sitting in the living room eating cereal, glad he wasn’t in work until noon. He was on the phone to Lisa, who had called up immediately after he had text her about the events of the previous night.