Golden Keeper Ch. 06

Kind of like a peace sign…only without those little dots. He shook his head and peered closer at the mirror.

"Okay, really. What the fuck happened?" he asked, all joking pretense gone.

"I…" May trailed off, unsure. She looked up to the other man for answers.

"Ah," Grant started, "we were all sort of hoping you could help us with that."

He cleared his throat at approaching the uncomfortable topic. Emmett heard May's breath catch and he looked over. She was crying…again.

"May, you don't have to keep crying. Aside from my mutated eye and skin that's in need of a tanning bed, I'm totally fine. Besides, when you're dead, why does it matter?"

But she wasn't paying attention to him. She was leaning into Grant for support while he soothed her with comforting words and adorable pet names. His eyes were a startling gold, which were filled with sincere concern for Charamaine.

When May turned back to him, she looked heartbroken. "Emmett I'm so sorry!"

She practically jumped onto the bed, shoving him over to make room for her. Emmett would've laughed if May wasn't still crying.

"I know. I know." He watched as Grant sat down in the recently vacated seat, his eyes on May the entire time.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. All of th-that." She choked up on the last word.

"'S okay. We're both here now. That's all that matters."

Emmett found enough strength in him to raise his hand, attempting to pull her closer to him. When he lifted his hand, there was a single ray of sunlight that seemed to find its way into the room and onto his skin. He gasped in pain at the contact.

What the hell? He reassured Charamaine, telling her that he was fine…though he was still confused about it himself.

"Oh Emmett," sighed May as she took in the scars that were—Emmett now realized—all over his hand. They continued up his arm and down his chest until the blanket covered them. "What did he do to you?"

"Do you really want to know?" he asked quietly, as he stared at her flawless hand against his. Hers a perfectly cut marble, her veins just visible underneath her pale skin, and his a never-ending pattern of white streaks and angry slashes.

Grant went unnoticed as he slipped from the room to give them privacy. Emmett looked into her pale eyes, saw her understanding and realized that, not matter what he told her, she would be there for him.

___

May totally understood how Grant felt when she told him…was it only a day ago?

Rage. Blinding, furious, rage.

But there was nothing she could do now. Emmett told her that after Collin left him to hang, he heard someone come and…and kill him. So the boogey-man was gone, but there was so much more they had to deal with.

Emmett told her that all Collin talked about while torturing him was how 'Master' wanted this, and 'Master' wanted that. So if there was a 'Master,' and Collin wasn't just certifiably crazy—which would be an easy explanation—then they still had a reason to be afraid of the dark.

At first May didn't understand why Collin would hurt Emmett. Nice, funny, hilarious, good-looking… gay, Emmett. Collin kept Emmett there just because he was gay. She couldn't believe that that was the only reason, but after Emmett told her that Collin had… had raped him brutally with a cane…throwing degrading and painful words in his face… that was obviously the reason. She could tell Emmett was holding out on her, but she didn't think she could take anymore. Not then.

___

As he told May his story, Emmett could see every moment behind his eyelids. He was reliving it… and it was torture all over again. He stopped at his rape…the next part was beyond pain, beyond any comprehensible sense of agony.

He barely remembered what actually caused it. All he knew was that he had almost died after Collin beat him so hard. Then his skin was on fire…like someone was sticking thousands upon thousands of white-hot needles into his skin. He knew he screamed and he figured that since the neighbors didn't call 911, the basement was soundproof. Then he remembered waking up… stronger… but still not strong enough.

___

Kill me, kill me, kill me, he chanted over and over in his head. He hung limply in shackles attached to the ceiling. He was rendered immobile by the intensity of the pain surging through his body.

It was worse, so much worse, than anything Collin had done to him before. Worse than his torture, rape, branding, cutting… all of it. He'd take all of it one thousand times over, and be thankful, if the current pain would stop. Pain was radiating down his spine, sending terrorizing shocks throughout the rest of his body. His tall frame was thrashing subconsciously in its unsuccessful efforts to expel the unwanted feelings.

But seemingly as soon—when Emmett had lost consciousness, the concept of time was lost—as it started, it stopped. The pain faded away completely. No soreness, no aches, no cramps. Nothing. The absence of pain was the most shocking thing at that moment. When Emmett was able to gain control of muscles, he opened his eyes and squinted them, peering out into the dark room. He felt different…but, surprisingly, not in a bad way. He felt stronger, but his attempts to remove his bonds were futile.

He had no idea how long he hung there.

I feel like a dead fish, he thought wryly.

He measured time by the labored breathing he heard from the next room. He knew there were more of them, but he couldn't get down. When he finally heard footsteps upstairs, he knew they weren't Collin's. He knew that someone had come here and killed him before the pain started.

Hopefully his body is rotting somewhere down here. He was jarred from his thoughts when he heard someone kick down the first door… then the second… then the third…

Along the way, Emmett heard the distinctive sound of a knife cutting the flesh of any survivor. Any hope he had that he'd be saved was squashed when the heavy breaths of the woman in the next room were silenced. He didn't want to be next, but he didn't know what to do.

Maybe he won't see me in the darkness? he thought. He could only hope.

When his own door swung open forcefully, he saw that the intruder was tall. Probably just about his own height, but it was hard to tell. He could also tell that the man couldn't see him. Emmett saw him reach for the light and then he was blinded, the bright light overhead clouding all his senses, burning his recently cooled skin. His skin was on fire this time, burning. Screams ripped through him again and he lost consciousness as the man grabbed him and ran.

___

Emmett focused back on the present, trying not think about the past. It pained him to do so.

"So then how did your eyes become like this?" he heard May ask.

"I don't know…" Still, he thought about it for a moment. "Maybe I should go to a doctor."

"Yes, yes, we'll have Doc take another look at you."

"Doc?" Emmett questioned.

"Oh, erm… yes, he's sort of the resident doctor."

"I didn't think they'd have doctors in the afterlife," he joked.

May snickered with him. "Yeah, about these," she said, sitting up and wrapping her wings around herself. Emmett had thought he was hallucinating when he saw those before.

"Whoa. Freaky, May. And here I was, thinking I was the weird one," he chuckled.

"I don't know what happened," May said softly, spreading her wings out. "I woke up in a forest and I had these." She pointed to her giant, black wings.

"Well," Emmett said and paused. "They certainly give a new meaning to the term 'wingspan.'"

"Emmett!" She balled up her small fist and punched him in the shoulder, the blow barely felt by Emmett.

"We could really open up our own freak show," he continued. "Think they have those here in heaven?"

Or wherever we are, he added silently.

May laughed, thinking he was making a reference to her wings again. "I missed you so much, Em." She cuddled up to him, bringing back memories of happier times.

"Me too, babe."

He sighed. "So what now? And what kind of afterlife is this? I though heaven was supposed to be all fluffy clouds and shit." Emmett looked around the dark room.

"Oh, yes," she joked, "heaven in the middle of a forest. How genius."

"Forest?" Emmett asked, clearly confused.

May stared for a moment, realization dawning on her, she thought he'd been joking. "Yes, Emmett," she said, slowly, "we're in a cabin… in the forest."

He scoffed at her. "Honestly, May—"

"No, Emmett. We're really here. We're staying with Grant and his… family."

"So they're all dead too?" He looked down at May and saw she was staring up at him with bewildered eyes.

"No—"

"I'm not stupid, May. Is this like some sort of purgatory? Ew, this sucks. I don't wanna be here forever. It's dark and depressing." Emmett could feel his somber surroundings affecting his normally cheerful mood.

"Ugh. No, Emmett." May released a heavy sighed beside him.

"No what?"

"Listen to me!" He could tell she was reaching the end of her patience.

"Easy, hon, don't yell at the sickly… or the deceased," he joked.

"You're. Not. Dead."

One of Emmett's eyebrows raised up sarcastically. "Ri-ight," he responded.

"Emmett, you're not dead!" She slapped his bare chest, hoping her words would sink in.

He harrumphed. "That's impossible…I don't have a heartbeat."

He's right… She only heard one heartbeat.