He heaved once more, tasting the sweat on his fingers as they jammed themselves furiously in the back of his throat. His heart pounded and his lungs squeezed the last bit of air out as he sobbed loudly at the few people who were watching him flop on the floor.
"Please! Call my mom!" he cried out, hot heavy tears tore down his face as another bout of pain hit him and he fell again, landing next to the drain.
He shut his eyes, the pain grew and he prepared for the end, wondering what he should be doing. Should he be praying? Cursing? Waiting silently for the end? Arms wrapped around his shoulders and yanked him up.
"No no, don't you dare give up!" a female voice growled at him before several sharp jabs to his stomach made him gasp in shock before they came again. He gagged now as a fist ground into his abdomen as they held him over as finally the contents of his stomach began reappearing. A cup was held to his mouth. "Drink it! It will help." Vinegar entered his mouth mixed with something else that had a terrible taste. He swallowed reflexively, tears still running down his face and the response was immediate.
He crawled away and began throwing up again, more small white pills appeared on the floor mixed with the house brew. He heard cursing before the arms were around him again.
"That's it, get it all out. Drink it again." The cup was back and he drank it greedily again only to find himself heaving again with a new found burning roaring through his throat. Finally his stomach settled and his vision darkened as he finally looked up, half expecting Sylvia to be the one holding him up. He was surprised instead to see a washed out girl with long hair leaning over him with concern before he knew no more.
Dominik woke again to a pounding headache and a mouth that felt glued shut. He moaned quietly as he worked his jaw.
"Work on opening your eyes first before you even think about swallowing." It was that voice again but he did as he was told. Finally he met the harsh morning light and pale white hair. He watched eagerly as she lifted a glass of water with a straw in it to his mouth and stuck the straw between his lips. A few tiny gulps lately and he felt loads better.
Well, he still felt worse than shit but he felt better than before.
"Who?" he breathed out.
She smiled softly, "Kahla. What is your own name?" he winced as he sat up a bit.
"Dominik." His voice sounded unused and rough but never before had he been so glad to hear it.
"Well then Dominik, sleep for now, after the night we've had you need it." Reaching over she gently closed his eyelids and he found himself disappearing again into darkness.
Kahla sighed as the boy- no, Dominik began to breathe deeply again, falling into a peaceful sleep. The tiny apartment seemed even smaller in that moment as a breathing piece of the world lay in her bed with no apparent care about the outside world. Glancing out the window at the dreary day she stood from the stool she sat on and shuffled into the bathroom.
Her reflection glared back at her, colorless as always. With pale white skin with white hair and nearly black eyes to show for color she certainly stood out against the navy walls.
It had been hard getting him home, firstly for managing to pick him up. Then again, the slight boy was bordering on existing as skin and bones. Then it was a real circus carrying him through the streets and ignoring the strange looks gotten for her carrying him first off and his incoherent babble that seemed to never stop until she put him down on the bed. As a watcher, she expected it. As a girl, she wished in some part of her that it was the other way around: that some prince charming in silver came in to save her from the jaws of death.
Stripping off last nights white dress now stained with the contents of Dominiks stomach and pulling on a pair of loose shorts and a very large t shirt she stuck the dress in the wash and began putting together a light soup. Nothing really serious, chicken broth and a couple noodles and some majorly shredded chicken. The aroma from the soup rolled to her own stomach and caused it to flip over once before accepting the fact she was hungry.
An hour later she went back to her bedroom to find Dominik sitting up and staring at the room in mild curiosity.
"Hi," he mumbled and she ducked her head quickly as a greeting.
"I've got some soup out in the kitchen for you and before you protest it is because you need the calories and that it will bring back a sense of normalcy- for both of us." She told him before stripping the covers off his undressed body. He moved to cover himself but she caught his hands and proceeded to help him stand.
It wasn't hard to support his weight and they got to the kitchen fairly quickly and he was installed at the table easily enough. Setting a small bowl of soup and a spoon in front of him she grabbed a bowl for herself and sat across from him.
"Where are we?" he asked. She shook her head, a plan already forming.
"For every bite of food you may ask a question." She answered before spooning the broth into her mouth wincing slightly at the feel. He shoveled a bite into his mouth quickly, most of the soup hadn't made it to his mouth but she accepted it.
"Where?" he asked again, slightly angered.
"In my home on Aughterdele Street." Kahla answered immediately and she watched as he took another bite. "Do you want any juice with that? I know it's hot." He nodded slowly after a moment. She rose and poured out a small cup of apple juice. He sipped delicately.
"How did we get here? Last thing I remember is being at the club." He winced at the words coming from his mouth. She giggled sadly.
"I carried you." His head shot up and he stared at her. "Don't give me that look, you weigh 130lbs at the most." She mumbled. He took another bite and realized suddenly that he felt better and as the fog lifted from his mind his embarrassment flooded to the front of his mind in a tidal wave.
"I'm done. I didn't ask for your fucking help." He shoved himself away from the table and stalked back to the room and slammed the door leaving Kahla sitting there staring at the spot he had sat.
The moment the door shut Dominik slid down against it and put his hands up to his face, feeling tears again. Quietly, he sobbed against the door before allowing all the rage he had stuffed deep inside himself out and he found himself thrashing against the door screaming in rage.
He woke up again back in bed and the room dark. Outside the door he heard soft music playing and a voice murmuring without the signs of any listeners. He crept to the door and cracked it open before sitting down and peeking out.
Kahla sat there at a laptop he hadn't seen before talking. He could vaguely make out other boxes on the screen holding other faces.
"I don't know if I can do this guys, I knew what I was getting into when I joined the room. But… it's a mirror to myself." She shook her head jerkily before grabbing the glass beside her and swallowing some of the clear liquid. "Fucking jagged pill to swallow." The faces all nodded and she swiped away a tear quickly before saying goodbye and standing up erratically and stumbling to the window.
Dominik watched her shoulders shake as she pounded against the glass once before falling to her knees. She punched the floor several times before standing up abruptly and nearly running to the kitchen.
He went back to his bed and sat there listening to the steady clinking of glasses and plates and waited for the smell of food to permeate the air of the bedroom. It didn't take long, the smell of chicken and a vegetable invaded his head and he realized how much he missed food and just the actual act of eating.
A soft rap on the door then 'Dominik? I made dinner. Come out and eat with me.' Her already soft voice was softer, nearly a whisper. He stood again and reached the door in two strides. A hand on the frigid doorknob he looked about the plain room once more before opening the door to face her.
Over a silent dinner he studied her. She was small and pale. She almost looked sick the way he saw it. The chicken was good and he found himself eating the serving she gave him in its entirety and the green beans she had prepared alongside it.
"I, hope the meal was alright. I don't cook much." Kahla murmured while collecting dishes.
"It was fine." He supplied. She glanced at him with sad eyes then dumped the dishes in the sink.
"How do you feel? Check yourself over, does anything other than your throat and stomach hurt. What do you remember? Start from your earliest childhood memory." She asked before sitting down again at the table with him. He thought a bit and decided everything was in order.
"I'm fine." She laughed shortly before running a hand through the white hair falling past her shoulders.
"I'd say you need a therapist but from the looks of things, that is how you got here." She said at last. He swallowed embarrassedly.
"I don't want to die."
Kahla grabbed onto his hand then, "Good."
"I heard you talking, what were you doing?" he asked. She froze a moment and looked down.
"It is called the watching room." She answered "It is much like this place called the Suicide Room only we have no leader and our goals are much different yet altogether the same." He stared at her at the mention of the Suicide Room.
"How do you know of the Suicide Room?" she looked down and held herself.
"Should it not be obvious? I was there once. I was like you." He stood now, a hope bursting in his chest.
"Then you can let me go there," She shook her head empathetically at that. Anger struck him at that "why not? You can't tell me not to go there! People are waiting on me!" he yelled and she glared at him.
"Why not? Why not? Because that fucking room -" She screamed back before clapping a hand to her mouth and backing up to against the wall. He stopped as the words sunk in.
"What?" tears began to fill her eyes as he spoke and she shook her head, small sounds escaping from behind her hands. He took a step closer and she fled, the bathroom door slamming shut and the sound of a body being tossed against it following immediately after.
This time it was he left in the kitchen staring at the spot on the wall Kahlas tiny body had been pressed to and it was this time that he listened to her own screams and the pounding on the walls before silence engulfed the small apartment.