A man wielding a heavy ax plodded through the abandoned warehouse. The young teen girl hid in a closet that didn't fully shut. A thin strip of light shown on her fearful eye as she watched the crazed murderer with bated breath.
"You 'n yer friends can't hide no more!" he shouted. "You're all DEAD!"
The blonde teen's lip trembled. The psycho started limping towards the storage closet where she hid. His hands slowly grabbed the door handle...
"I can't watch! Tell me when this part's over!"
A young man not yet in his twenties stepped out the door, looking around at his surroundings. He hadn't been in this part of town in a long time. It hadn't changed much, save the fact that a few of the small-town businesses now had blank storefronts: a sign of the hard economic times.
He glanced around the street, trying to remember which way he needed to head.
The blonde teen had thrown a handful of small screws at the man's face and kicked him in the shin in an effort to confuse him. She used the split second the distraction bought her to dart of the closet and run into another dark room.
"Why do they always pick the abandoned warehouse? Why not run into a great big office building? Or the police station?"
"Is he dead yet?" A set of hands still covered fearful eyes.
"Not yet..."
It was becoming more familiar with each passing building. Memories not so far off flooded back in a torrent.
A loud gunshot went off. A collective scream sounded in the living room as they jumped into each other's arms, then drew apart, slightly embarrassed.
He had only spent roughly two years of his life on the street, but he felt so much more familiar with it than any two years' acquaintance could possibly allow. The houses, the fences, the trees, the cars; everything about it oozed charm like a volcanic fissure. Some faces he even recognized, harkening back to a simpler time, a more innocent time he longed to return to.
They looked at each other and grinned. They suddenly sprang to their feet, the movie still playing, showing a denouement neither of them would see.
A blue sedan drove by, and he looked intently at the face of the driver, trying to see if he could recognize her. The face looked familiar, but he couldn't be sure for the sunglasses the woman had on. He thought he caught her head turning towards him in recognition as she drove by, but he figured he was just imagining things.
The sun was setting, but the unusually warm weather refused to relent. Shocks of heat bore down on the small town, and the humidity moistened bodies and clothing. People sought refuge in their climate-controlled cars or air-conditioned homes, and if neither were available, a scoop of ice cream served as a viable alternative, especially for the children. He didn't have any of these options, though.
A car full of teen girls, who would be juniors by the time the next school year rolled around, came running down the street, the top of the convertible pulled down. He turned around and watched them approach, having heard the engine running, but above that, the loud rock song blasting from the speakers. A few of them called out to him, though not by name. He dimly recognized a few of the faces, but couldn't place a name to any of them, either. One girl, a tall blonde one sitting on top of the back seat, wolf-whistled at him. He looked down and remembered he had taken off his long-sleeved shirt he had on, leaving him with a tank top, exposing his biceps. He looked back up as the car sped off, the blonde girl in the backseat looking over her shoulder at him, wiggling her fingers goodbye. He blushed slightly, then shook his head once they were out of sight, remembering what he had walked all this distance to do.
Hands eagerly unfastened shirt buttons. A finger pressed flush against a set of lips to silence the voice behind them.
"Let me just... look at you... and remember how you look right now..."
Hands gripped a set of hips firmly and pushed them down onto the bed.
Shoes were carelessly kicked off. A shirt was eagerly pulled off and hastily tossed aside, accompanied by excited giggling.
He stood and looked longingly at his old house. An unfamiliar car sat in the driveway. He could make out the jolly, freckled face of a young girl of no more than seven years old with vibrant red hair looking out the living room window. She waved at him. He grinned and waved back. She smiled, revealing her missing front left tooth.
"Hmm... I love you...."
"I love you too..."
He slowly turned and headed down the street once the little girl left the window. He wondered if he was even doing the right thing at this point. The familiarity with the surroundings was suddenly incredibly uncomfortable.
He shook his head and pressed on. Better to know for sure than spend a lifetime wondering "what if..."
They slept in each other's arms on the bed, on top of the blankets, which were slightly askew. The blacklight on the dresser by the door flooded the room with a purple hue, causing various objects and clothes to glow under the ultraviolet light. The stillness in the room seemed to ignore the noises of the surroundings: the winds howling against the siding of the house, the cars driving by with their engines humming loudly. Their skin was damp, partially from sweat, partially from the humid summer air that hung like a coastal fog on a dark morning.
He stood on the sidewalk, at the beginning of the walkway leading to the door. He bit his lip, nervous about what would answer on the other side. Not only was he curious about who would answer the door, but he wasn't sure it would be prudent to knock on the door at such a late hour in the first place. Tomorrow would be a more opportune time, after all: they would at least have the luxury of more time to deal with, no matter who opened the door, or how much that person may have changed.
The bedroom, along with everything in it, seemed separate from its surroundings. Occasionally a particularly strong gust of wind would rattle windows behind drawn blinds, but they slept completely undisturbed. The night was warm, even for a Californian summer, but any time the heat almost woke one of them up, the air conditioning would turn on again, gentling their heated bodies with soft, soothing waves.
He shook his head and turned away, walking northbound down the sidewalk. He had a new destination in mind.
The two sleepers passed the night serenely in each other's arms, oblivious to the world outside the bedroom window, oblivious to the reality that surrounded both of them, oblivious to the turmoil that daily life would inevitably bring once the alarm went off the next morning, content to just be there, with each other.