Okay, because Flash Gator asked so nicely, I decided to buckle down and type this up. I may even throw in a third installment, if I don't get burned at the stake or anything first. ^_^ Enjoy, or don't. If you do enjoy, please pretty please review and let me know!
Please note that everybody is over 18 up in this version. I may be sick and twisted in many ways, but that is not one of them.
A warning: There are some seriously messed up goings-on in this one, ladies and gents! Don't blame me if you get heavy-angst poisoning. Symptoms may include vomiting, weeping, and whole-body cases of the jibblies. If any of these persist, contact your psychiatrist immediately and get thee some therapy.
Ahem. Anyway.
The song from which the title is derived is from the soundtrack to Where the Wild Things Are, and is sung by the lovely Karen O, the singer from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which is the band responsible for the song that inspired Runaway. Yay.
~*~*~*~
Hideaway, well they'll seat us in the sun, Right away, gonna take me from my man, You'll ask your reason why,
By the way, know you've always been the one,
You'll ask your reasons why,
What once was yours is mine,
My baby's gone.
By the way, no they'll never understand,
We'll have a bit of fun,
watching everyone,
Pass us by.
What once was yours is mine,
My baby's gone.
I opened my eyes. Blinked. Rolled over and saw that Harkat was gone.
I sat up with a muffled groan and looked around the hasty camp we'd set up in the pitch black forest of the strange, distant world Mr. Tiny had sent us to. Harkat's bedroll was empty and rumpled, like he'd been awakened by someone or something. For a second I wondered if he'd gone on without me, but I dismissed the thought quickly. He'd never abandon me, especially not in such a dangerous, alien place. Even as angry as he was with me for following him there, the Little Person was still the most loyal friend I'd ever had, and I could tell he wouldn't stay mad for too long.
I prodded at the dying embers of our campfire and glanced around once more. Something had woken me; I was pretty sure it had been voices. I strained my powerful hearing and caught a snatch of conversation from somewhere ahead of me in the darkened woods.
"…understand… upset… got… here with…"
"…not… agreement… Darren… away… safe!"
It sounded like Mr. Tiny and Harkat, but I couldn't make sense of what they were saying. The Little Person definitely seemed angry about something, and Mr. Tiny, as usual, sounded mildly amused. I moved closer through the trees, silently stepping over fallen branches and leaves so that they wouldn't be alerted to my presence. I still couldn't see them, but I could hear them more clearly. Mr. Tiny spoke again, and my vampiric ears magnified his voice so well that he might as well have been standing right next to me.
"As I recall, our agreement was that I wouldn't divulge your little secret if you died out here all alone. There was no mention of my keeping quiet if he came along."
"You know I didn't want him to come along," Harkat growled. "I wanted him to… stay behind. To go to Vampire Mountain with… Debbie and Alice. I was fine with dying, so long as… he didn't find out about that!"
"Hmm…" Desmond Tiny sighed lazily. "What a dilemma. Can't send him home now. To be honest, I'm quite interested in seeing how young Darren would react to learning the truth."
Truth? Truth about what? Harkat's real identity? I snuck a little closer, avoiding low-hanging branches.
"You said you wouldn't tell him. You said." Harkat sounded angry and desperate.
"Ah, but that was before Master Shan invited himself along. Now it's up in the air. I may mention it, I may not. What to do, what to do…"
The Little Person snarled furiously. "You treacherous, conniving bastard, don't you dare-"
"Of course, I suppose I could be persuaded to keep this delicious tidbit of information to myself," Mr. Tiny continued, ignoring Harkat's outburst.
"What do you want from me?" Harkat asked sullenly.
"Well, gosh," Tiny seemed suddenly enthusiastic, falsely jolly. "I can think of a veritable myriad of entertaining activities I could have you perform, but since we don't have all night, and we certainly don't want Master Shan waking up and finding us…"
There was the faintest rustling noise, and a sharp intake of breath from Harkat, followed by a kind of wretched, fearful silence.
"You're… you're not… serious." I heard shock, revulsion, and absolute terror in my friend's voice, and suddenly I understood what was about to happen.
"Of course I'm serious. See my serious face?" Desmond's tone was light and mocking, tinged with sick enjoyment and anticipation. "Now, I don't really trust that mouth of yours, what with the copious amounts of sharp teeth, so we'll have to do this the ol' fashioned way."
"I won't," Harkat sounded like he was about to vomit. "I won't do it. Something else. Please. Ask me to do anything else. Not… that."
I almost cheered in relief.
Mr. Tiny's voice turned cold suddenly. "But I'm not asking, Harkat."
I felt the bottom of my stomach drop out. I was frozen to the spot, waiting with silent apprehension.
"It's a simple matter, really," the Little Person's creator took on a more reasoning, almost conciliatory tone. "Would you prefer this pain and humiliation, or Darren hating you?"
Again that sick, wrenching silence, but I already knew Harkat's answer. We all did. I began to push my way through the brambles as quickly as I could, praying that I would reach them in time. Don't do it, Harkat, don't do it, don't do it.
"Fine," I heard him say hollowly. "I'll do it. Just… don't tell him. Don't ever tell him about any of this. Ever. Whether I live or die."
"Certainly, my dear Harkat, certainly," Mr. Tiny said jovially. "I can understand how you'd want to forget this incident. So let's make it as brief as possible, shall we? Now, then…"
I tore through the forest like an arrow, whipping past the branches, not caring as they sliced my arms and face. I had to stop this from happening. I caught sight of a light- a lantern in a clearing ahead. I burst into the clearing, roaring:
"NOOO!!!!"
Harkat and Mr. Tiny looked up in surprise. The Little Person was pressed against a tree, hood pushed back, his creepy creator looming over him with a hand on either side of his head. Mr. Tiny recovered first, straightening and beaming at me.
"Why, Darren! What an unexpected surprise! Isn't it a bit past your bed time?"
"You shut the hell up," I snapped at him before turning to look at Harkat. The grey creature had pulled his hood back up and sunk to his knees, his eyes down, clutching his sides. "Harkat…" He didn't meet my gaze, only flinched and looked away when I took a step toward him. "Harkat, I… look, whatever this secret is, it's not worth… this." I gestured to Mr. Tiny, who looked mildly offended. "Don't do this, Harkat. I don't care what kind of deep dark dirt he knows about. It doesn't matter." I stepped closer and he shook his head.
"Go back to camp, Darren."
"What, just leave you here with Gacy Junior? Uh-uh, no. We're both going back to camp. Right now." I reached down to grasp his shoulder and he finally looked up at me, his big green eyes full of agony.
"I can't," he said quietly. "I can't. Please, Darren, just…"
"Look, just tell me this stupid secret," I said angrily. "It can't be that bad. Whatever it is, I won't hate you."
"You will," he said despondently, lowering his eyes again.
"No," I shook my head and squeezed his arm. "I won't. I swear."
"You might, actually," Mr. Tiny informed me cheerfully, watching us from across the clearing. I glowered at him and he chuckled.
Harkat stared up at me, and I could tell that though he wanted to believe me, he didn't.
"Just walk away," I whispered intensely. "Don't let him do this to you. I will never forgive you if you let this happen."
Eyes bright with tears, Harkat drew a shuddering breath and, slowly, nodded. I smiled and hauled him to his feet. We turned to go, but Mr. Tiny broke in before we could.
"How touching. Why, this is better than a soap opera. It's sad, but I'm afraid you may not feel quite so charitable toward your unsightly friend in a moment, Darren."
"Just drop it, you sick bastard," I growled. He sighed theatrically and spread his hands in a helpless gesture. I glanced down at Harkat and saw that he was visibly trembling.
Desmond Tiny grinned like a bear trap. "Yes, unfortunately, our friend Master Mulds has found that while he does not remember who or even what he is, he is still burdened by the slings and arrows of the heart. Despite his coarse, Frankenstein-esque exterior, he can still feel that terrible, sorrowful ache that most refer to as 'love'. And, to make matters worse, he had the misfortune to fall for someone who would never see him as anything more than a loyal friend."
I blinked and looked at the Little Person again. His shoulders were hunched like he was expecting a blow, and his hands gripped the hems of his sleeves so hard that his knuckles were white. I turned back to Tiny and spoke hesitantly.
"You mean… Harkat is…"
"Head over heels, I'm afraid," Mr. Tiny said merrily, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Profoundly and miserably in love with none other than yourself, Darren Shan. Aren't you lucky?" He hooted with laughter. "Poor Harkat. He's just been tormented over this. I don't think he's actually slept since the two of you got here. Wide awake with worry, I expect. That's why he didn't want you to come along. He'd planned on dying here rather than letting you find out about his little crush. And now look, you've found out anyway! It really is almost too funny." He winked smugly at me. "Not what you were expecting to hear, eh? Not feeling quite as comfortable with the thought of him standing watch while you sleep?"
"Harkat," I said, surprised by how steady my voice was, "Is this true? You… love me?"
He nodded, and I could tell he was wishing he had eyelids so he wouldn't have to look at me. "Yes. It's true," he whispered hoarsely.
I drew a deep breath. He tensed. Mr. Tiny leaned forward. I sighed.
"Okay. Well, we should get back to camp."
They both gaped at me.
"C'mon, Harkat." I took hold of his shoulder again and steered him away, back toward the camp. We had almost reached the trees when Mr. Tiny regained his voice.
"Wha- you… why aren't you disgusted? Or at least angry?" He was absolutely flabbergasted, which was surprisingly satisfying to see.
Harkat continued to stare at me in mute shock, but he looked like he'd been thinking pretty much what Tiny had just said. I paused and looked over my shoulder at Desmond.
"Because I'm not like you. And because he's my friend." I smiled at Harkat. "Let's go."
We walked away, leaving Mr. Tiny behind as he continued to gawp at us. Neither of us spoke as we navigated our way back. I spotted the dim glow of what was left of the fire and led us to it. The two of us stood in silence for a moment. At length, Harkat spoke up hesitantly.
"Why… aren't you mad? You- I- you should hate me."
"What for?" I asked, straightening out my bedroll.
"Because- because-" he stammered. "Because I'm- ugly, and I'm another male, and… and I admitted that I… have feelings for you! You should hate me, you should never want… to talk to me again!"
I dropped the blanket and stood up, looking over at him. He looked so lost that I almost laughed. I shook my head.
"Harkat… I don't hate you. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty pissed- but not for the reason you think." I said hurriedly when he looked down in shame. "I'm upset that you were gonna let Tiny do that just to keep this from me, and I'm furious at Tiny for blackmailing you like that. But I don't hate you." I half-smirked. "If we found out that, say, Hitler was your previous body, and that you kill children and puppies in your spare time, then maybe I could work up a little bit of dislike. Maybe."
He almost chuckled at that and I knelt in front of him, looking into his eyes.
"Short of that, I'm afraid you're stuck with me," I said softly, grinning.
"Why?" He asked in a weary, desperate whisper.
I leaned forward, reached up and brushed his hood back. I let my fingers trace a path down his face, following a line of stitches across his cheek, and he shivered against my palm. I smiled and tilted my head closer.
"Because I love you, too, Harkat."
I kissed him.
~**~
Please let me know if you think I should kick things up a notch, or just leave it there! ;)