By The Way, Danplan Oneshots

Cuckoo's Nest (4)

Jay stared at the broken man in front of him, watching the blood run steadily from his hand and drip silently in the floor. Startlingly blue eyes pieced into his own, wide and unflinching. Jay stepped backwards slightly as Hosuh tilted his head, expression blank.

"Hosuh." Jay was suddenly speechless, only able to repeat his friend's name dumbly. Hosuh blinked at him slowly, his hands moving to wrap his arms around himself. They were trembling.

"Jay?" Hosuh sounded unsure. Jay nodded.

"It's me." He confirmed. The wood slipped from his hands as his gaze locked onto the dead woman lying spread eagled next to Hosuh, her blank eyes staring at the ceiling. The blood that coated Hosuh's hands was as scarlet as the pool on the floor, still dripping from his hand, and Jay stepped back in horror at the realisation.

In silence he watched Hosuh crouch to the ground, pressing his head against the wall.

"You can go, you know." He whispered brokenly. Jay didn't even realise he was being addressed until Hosuh looked at him slowly. "I won't mind."

Fear coursed through Jay's veins, and he couldn't move if he wanted to. Hosuh was frightening.

That was what made him so terrified; not the blood staining the floor, or the dead corpse, or the screams and shrieks and shouts that echoed through the halls around him like the wind's gale.

Hosuh, the one who laughed at his jokes, was squeamish at the mere mention of violence, who was always the most sensible of them all – had fell apart like rainfall. In replacement was an almost shadow of Hosuh who was standing with blood dripping from his fingertips.

But Jay found himself shaking his head slowly. His feet were no longer rooted to the spot out of fear, but out of loyalty and the remembrance of who Hosuh had been – who still was, somewhere deep inside his tortured self. He had been wounded deeply, the scar ripping across his heart under his rib cage, his eyes the only window to the cruelty and abuse he had experienced in the short years that had passed.

"No." Jay didn't move, but didn't back away anymore. The hallway was long, bleak and the two figures cast silhouettes with their shadows as an act of defiance. Jay refused to leave Hosuh alone again, not when he needed him most. "I'm going to get you out of here, away from all this."

Hosuh was silent, a hand dragging through his untidy locks. He let out a low moan.

"That's what that woman said." His whisper was broken but Jay heard it. He looked over at the corpse Jay had carefully avoided glancing at, his eyes void of any emotion. The lack of empathy was strange, not right. "But..." Hosuh never finished the sentence, staring at the wall towering over him.

"I'm not one of them." Jay dared to move forward slowly. "I never knew you were here...I never wanted you here, either. I only knew today...and then this happened." Closer to Hosuh now, he could see the specks of blood that littered his friend's face, and the hollow look in his eyes that took over his features. A knife was clutched in his hand, the blade an inch from his pale wrist.

"And I'm sorry." Jay said louder. Hosuh didn't react to him, but pressed his head into his knees, letting out a low groan. His body shook with tremors and his feet tapped against the cold floor.

"Do you want to come with me?" Jay asked. His hand moved to touch his shoulder. All it took was the fingers to brush the fabric and Hosuh sprang up with surprising agility, pinning him to the bloody wall.

Wild eyes pierced into his own, flaming with fear and insanity. Jay struggled under Hosuh's grip, feeling a hand close over his throat. He clawed at it frantically, kicking his legs. Something flashed in the half light. A glinting blade, clutched in Hosuh's hand.