Vixen (boyxboy)

[9] Peace and quiet.

     Vendetta was right.

     Vixen felt the way he did as a kid. The feeling of walking the streets aimlessly with not a care or responsibility, just living the present as it was.

     He was back in his town after one week of drinking with Vladimir and Zero, walking and palling around with Leo when he was rarely home and talking on the phone with Vendetta, who moved back to his own place.

     It struck him just now that he actually had friends. Well, three villains, one hero, and then there was Zane, towards whom he was heading just now. He was planning to keep the plan of enjoying himself and ignoring his purpose, Zane was a grand idea.

     Even the people glancing at him had smoother faces, void of pity or worry. Vixen was rather relieved about that. Did Crow not attack since he left?

     The hero stopped at a newspaper stand and bought one, then read it as he walked, glancing up now and again to make sure he was on the right way to Zane's place.

           Crow is back

     Senanue Haylee, kindergarten teacher, brutally murdered in front of the children.

 

     Vixen switched the page, avoiding the paragraphs on how it affected the kids. Then he brought the paper closer.

      -and he has not attacked since. Will this lead to yet another cliffhanger?

     Vixen switched the page yet again, deeply focused on the recipe for Arepas, set on avoiding anything that might relate to his hero alter-ego. Just when he got to the climax, the part in which the exterior hardens while the interior remains soft, a dreadful screech caught his attention.

     The newspaper wrinkled in his fierce grip and he glanced downwards too see the crow, the one that would stay at his window. It was flapping its wings hysterically, occasionally nipping at the hero's black jeans and oversized brown boots.

     He kicked it and went to keep moving, but it started pulling at the hoodie Leo let him have, the large, brown one. Doing a double take over the crow, he looked at its eyes.

     Wide and dark, glistening almost as if they were teary. After spending a life surrounded by its kind, he grew to decipher the tones of their noises. And this was new, desperate, almost pleading?

     Then it flew away, and with a shake of the head Vixen followed.

--------

     He rounded a last corner, his boots slapping the pavement loudly, but the moment he stopped silence settled over as if his eardrums popped.

     His panting paused too, and he let out a strangled breath, then another, which he could no longer take back. His entire body started shaking and he felt like crawling up and vomiting.

     This... this hurt more than the bleach.

     "Crow." he whimpered. "Crow.. God, Crow."

     He approached with slow drags of the feet, the only things scratching the silence. His hands were raised frontwards, fingers twitching hysterically.

     Then he gagged, covering his mouth and nose and glancing aside through teary eyes. "God..." he moaned. "Crow."

     But he kept walking closer to the big dumpster until he could feel the smell pierce his lungs and kick at his stomach.