CONFUSION
Chapter Four
Of Shopping and Horror
"G'morning, jerk," May giggled as Drew's eyes fluttered open. The room was bright.
"You might want to get away from me while I'm experiencing morning grumpiness," Drew croaked and made his way to the washroom, stretching his strained back.
He looked at himself in the mirror. He looked better that morning. His cheeks had gained a bit of color. Suddenly, images of May's sleeping form the night before flashed before his eyes and color flooded his cheeks. Drew groaned irritably and headed under the showerhead.
When Drew emerged, he spotted May sitting on the mini dining table, delicately munching on some pancakes. Her hair was let down in tufts with a Beautifly hairclip on to keep some hair away from her face. She was wearing a long sleeved navy and black striped woolen top with buttons that stretched from her collar bone down to her chest. She left the first three buttons open. Accompanying it, she had skinny jeans on her crossed, slender legs. May caught Drew looking her up and down and blushed.
"Hope you don't mind room service," May spoke. "I was craving pancakes this morning."
"Great. Perfect start to the morning," Drew spoke, realizing how underdressed he was compared to her, considering the fact that all he had on was a towel to cover his bottom half.
He noted a slight tinge of pink on May's cheeks. He smirked knowingly that she liked the sight of him. He got into a pair of navy blue cargoes and a fitting white top and then proceeded to join May at the table.
"So, you're going to the doctor's today, right?" May asked, sipping on some tea.
"What? You're not going to apologise to me for taking over the bed? I slept on the COUCH!" Drew retorted, surprising May.
"It is my suite after all. You're just some stranger!" May laughed into her cup.
"Oh so now I'm a stranger? Great!" Drew spoke sarcastically, forcefully cutting into his pancakes. Then he couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.
May eyed the laughing young man and smiled along with him, admiring him for his ability to be sensitive to her feelings, especially after what had happened the night before. She rested her sculpted chin on her slender interlocked fingers and watched him elegantly chomp down his food.
"You know, I've never really noticed this but you've got really nice eyes," May broke the silence, save for the utensils scraping on the plate.
Drew put his utensils down after finishing the last morsel of pancake on his plate and abruptly leaned forward across the table, purposely staring into her eyes. May kept her cool and stuck her tongue out at him.
Drew burst out laughing again.
"Okay, enough of this nonsense. This town's got great heritage and the reason why I was here was to learn about it. You have anything planned?" Drew leaned back in his chair again.
May shook her head. "I just came for the food and the shopping!"
"Great! Then you can come with me!"
"Nonsense! I said I'm here for the shopping!"
"Oh then you don't know me, ma'am. I love shopping as much as any fine lady on this planet. If you come with me, I'd guarantee you'd feel happy and knowledgeable and you can brag about being here to everyone… and you can get fine souvenirs as well. But then we'll take up most of our time shopping," Drew smirked, winking at the last line. "So how about it?"
It was an irresistible offer. May groaned and nodded. They headed out in the cool crisp Autumn morning.
"Woah, this will look great on you, May!" drew exclaimed excitedly, almost like a girl. He showed her a long, satin ruby dress with a flowing skirt, the hem of its corset top lined with Swarovski crystals. The corset top was laced with black.
May whacked him upside the head.
"I'm a young lady, not a whorish sex kitten!" May punched him on the arm.
"Don't you think you'd be able to carry it off, though? You look far from cheap to me," Drew retorted, tousling his fringe.
"Whatever," May huffed. "Ooh look! Now there's a perfect top for you!"
They went about like this for hours till about 3pm, and that was when they decided to head out for some evening touring. May's kitten heels clicked along the pavement as Drew attempted to show her around based on his own basic knowledge of the place. In the cold air, their breaths came out in white puffs. They passed through the darker part of the town. Lesser people were seen in this area. The people seemed to regard them suspiciously, eyeing them menacingly. May grew a tad unnerved.
"And this is the great Monastery of Littleton." Drew exclaimed, gesturing towards a large, crumbling building with broken windows. "It's abandoned as of now, but back during the Poke War, it used to house hundreds of refugees from across the continent. Due to lack of good facilities and disease outbreak, hundreds died in there, unfortunately."
May gulped.
"This place is rumoured to be haunted," Drew spoke again, glancing towards May who had begun to hug herself.
"No kidding. This place gives me the chills." As though to emphasise this, she shuddered theatrically.
"If you need someone to keep you close and safe, I'm here!" Drew grinned masochistically, opening his arms wide.
"In your biggest dreams, jerk!" May snapped. "L-let's get outta here. Please?"
"Don't tell me you're scared!"
"I'm not! I just have a bad feeling about this."
"Please, May. You're way stronger than that!"
"I'm leaving!"
With that, May strode off towards where they came in from. Just as she passed by a dark alley, two dark hands reached out for her and hauled her in as though she were a fish in the river. Too shocked to react, May hardly found time to scream. When she felt the huge hand grapple under her clothes, she found her voice and shrieked for help.
Drew saw it, heard it, panicked. He ran to where May disappeared but his eyes failed him in the darkness. May's screams had ceased.
"May?!" Drew bellowed out, his echo the only response. "MAY!"
Just as he took a few steps into the alley, he doubled up in such excruciating pain that came from his abdomen. His breaths were shallow and ragged, his hands clutching his stomach as he keeled over. Sweat dripped into his eyes. Not now, damn it, not now!
May! He had to help her! Damn it!
He gave occasional grunts of anguish, knowing that in this state, May would get hurt, or even raped! He tried to muster all the strength he had to overcome the pain in his stomach but all he could do was scream in agony.
"Aaaaugh!! Urgh- MAY!!"
With every ounce of his energy left, he managed to stand on his feet but he had to lean against the wall. In earnest, he edged along the side of the wall as silently as possible, even though his hard pants betrayed him. His eyes perked up at the sound of metal clanking and a small cry from ahead of him. He edged further in, feeling the darkness descend on him.
NEXT CHAPTER!
