Chapter Text
The End pt.1
“I'm home!” A voice echoed through the cold dark hallway of an empty apartment.
Only the jingle of keys was heard as the auburn haired young man shut and locked the door behind him before the house once again became silent.
Sighing Lucas slumped, leaning his back against the door, his head bumping against the wood as he stared blankly at the ceiling, exhaustion racked his body, bones ached and creaked in ways a 22 year old’s body shouldn't be able to.
‘I guess dad's still not home’ Lucas thought, rubbing his eyes that were threatening to close out of exhaustion.
His dad had been out late more often than not recently, at first he said he was taking more shifts to keep up with mounting ‘expenses’, Lucas had accepted that but deep down he knew that that wasn't the whole truth.
Not that Lucas blamed him for lying, his dad was going through a lot of stress at the moment. But without his dad around to greet him the house felt cold and unfamiliar, filled with ghosts of a happier time.
Lucas slowly slid down to the floor, his short and shaggy hair stuck up in the friction, he finally let out a large groan of frustration.
Rubbing his face Lucas tried to find the motivation to get off of the hardwood floor but nothing he did convinced himself to move, the walls seemed to creep closer, encircling him, the world felt off, his skin crawled and the pressure felt as though he was surrounded by a deep, dark, endless sea.
‘I'm drowning’ he knew that but without a lifeboat in sight, without a clue to cling on to, knowing only made him frustrated and after a while that frustration turned to apathy making the situation seem all the more hopeless.
_÷_
Half-an-hour later saw that Lucas had at least gotten himself off the floor and into the shower.
Stepping out of the bathroom, hair wet, wearing a large black t-shirt, boxers, and a towel around his shoulders to prevent it from getting wet.
His dark green eyes still held its puffy redness from crying earlier, red rimmed and yet to regain much more life in them than a dead fish, but at the very least he was consciously present.
Walking back into the living room filled with noises helped get a spark of energy back into his eyes, but not by much.
The old radio sitting on the kitchen counter was softly playing music, and the roomba that he'd found for cheap at a garage sale about a year or so prior was making loud beeping noises; it had somehow found a way to flip onto its back in the 30 minutes he'd left it alone.
Letting a fond sigh escape his mouth a slight smile settled on his lips for the first time that day, at the familiar sight, he walked over to the roomba to help turn it back around.
“Jeez, I can't leave you alone for more than five minutes can I?” he said with a slight laugh, slowly crouching down to carefully flip it back around, as if to not make it dizzy; before grunting in slight pain as he got up to make himself dinner.
_÷_
Lucas swiftly moved around the kitchen, years of living in the same house made it easy to navigate; only the occasional sound of cupboards being swung open then slammed shut, as well as the occasional slight clang of utensils or plates, broke through the tense harmony that had settled over the house.
Once Lucas was finished he turned the radio up before finally slumping down on the couch, being careful not to spill the two minute noodles, he had just enough decency to put in a real bowl, onto himself.
Stretching his legs out across the couch, leaning his back on the armrest and then lastly putting a cushion in between his bowl of hot noodles and his legs, Lucas finally got comfortable enough to listen to the radio as it turned from music to the news.
‘It's been 6 months since the disappearance of the international star actor and model asher-’
Lucas rolled his eyes as the news continued on ‘I don’t hate the guy or anything but geez are they still going on about him like 6 months after his disappearance.’
He could understand why, really the complete disappearance of someone that well known was shocking and worrying, never mind the fact that he still hasn't been found but that wasn't why he'd rolled his eyes; he'd rolled them because this is the third time they'd brought up his disappearance this week and ninth time just this month, and the month wasn't even half way through.
And It wasn't as if they had anything new to share.
How could they? The guy goes missing from his security tight mansion in the richest part of town, with no trace or clue as to where he'd disappeared to, no signs of a break in or struggle, the only thing worth looking into was a bright light that was seen coming from his bedroom in the evening but that hadn't led anywhere.
All in all it was huge when his disappearance hit the news.
But it had already been 6 months, without any new clues to where he could have gone, and Lucas's local news still couldn't stop talking about it despite the fact that there was nothing new to discuss.
Sure the guy had lived in the same city as him but it's not like it's the end of the world. In spite of the geographical closeness the guy could have lived on a completely different planet for all lucas truly cared, even if the guy had never gone missing it isn't like they'd ever meet.
Lucas stared off into space, his half eaten noodles left abandoned on his lap as his mind became a mess of thoughts until one finally stuck.
“Man I need a vape”
_÷_
Stepping out into the cold July night Lucas shivered. Despite the large hoodie and tracksuit pants he'd put on, the winter's night was nipping at anything exposed to the open, causing him to shiver as he lent against the waist high brick wall he called a fence separating his house from the footpath.
Lucas took a big breath in before breathing out and watching the vapor waft, swirl the dissipate into the air.
He'd only started vaping a few months prior. It was purely out of curiosity that he decided to give it a go, but Lucas had to admit he'd gotten hooked pretty quickly.
In a way it had helped him, his mind was always in a mess. Constant thoughts of mistakes made and repeated, of conversations he'd instantly regret later.
Of promises to himself and to others broken because he couldn't make himself stop.
But as soon as he vaped it was as if they all became quiet for a moment, not gone, never gone, but in those blissful few moments Lucas felt himself relax.
But not tonight, tonight the only thing Lucas felt was antsy, like something was crawling underneath his skin and it just wouldn't let him relax.
Then suddenly there was a noise.
A noise not coming from the background noise of a busy city but from the sound of shoes hitting pavement hard and an argument slowly rising in volume as two people drew closer.
Lucas for his part tried not to stare, he really did, but when two teenagers-a boy and a girl-were having a full blown argument across the road from where you were standing it was hard not to.
Despite the rise in volume Lucas couldn't really make out what was being said, they were obviously still aware of the residential area they were in regardless of their ongoing argument.
That changed when the boy had reached out, trying to hold on to the girl's wrist as she thrashed around erratically. That had only made things worse as the argument suddenly turned physical at a throw of a fist.
Punches, kicks, scratches and biting, all out brawl spawning from an argument. It'd almost seem comical if both of them weren't starting to bleed.
Instinctively Lucas's hand moves to grab his phone and call the cops, there's no way he'd be able to stop this on his own. But something caught his eye, a glint of reflective light, the girl had a knife.
It was only a pocket knife yet still, it made Lucas's mind go into overdrive as adrenaline rushed through his veins, and the only thought that ran through his mind as he jumped over the fence and dashed across the road was ‘I need to stop this.’
_÷_
Shocked gasps rang out into the night, as two teenagers stood frozen looking at the guy that was now standing in between them, the guy's body curled inwards-as if to try and protect himself from something that already happened- before his knees gave out and he fell like a sack of potatoes, still in shock the girl jerked away from the sudden movement- bringing the knife out a long with it.
_÷_
Lucas's chest throbbed, that was the first thing he thought as his mind tried desperately to catch up with his body, the shock slowing his response time, then it all caught up to him and he couldn’t even scream.
‘IT HURTS, it hurts so badly.’ Lucas's head spun, he was dizzy and it felt like he was going to throw up. His knees gave way and without anything to support it his body fell to the pavement.
Which in turn made the pain worse as he felt the knife leave his chest with a jerk.
Through the shock and pain arose a morbid sense of curiosity and his hand moved to where he was in pain.
The feeling of a warm substance coating his hand brought back some of Lucas's clarity.
This slow but sure return to clarity had him blinking down at his own hand for a few seconds before it finally caught up to what was happening, his hand was covered in his own blood…..
BLOOD..
HIS OWN BLOOD
HE'D BEEN STABBED