Erik's jealousy is fatal. I learned this the hard way. I made the catastrophic error of spending time with my best friend. Marguerite is just weeks old and I wrongly assumed that the happy parents would want time as a family, so I made an effort to keep my distance.
I've been staying with Clark, my best friend from the hospital. We get on well and crashing at his place has been fun. We're like big stupid kids. We've built forts in the front room and have chili challenges that we both failed. Life was good.
Erik and I had lunch (I ate, he just drank and watched me eat) and I thought it was a good visit.
"You've been avoiding me."
"I'm not. I'm giving you space. New baby."
Erik doesn't say anything for a while, I don't think anything of it.
"Do we need space?"
Alarm bells should have gone off there.
"You just had a baby, Erik. She's only a few weeks old. This is crucial bonding time."
"You would be around if the baby wasn't involved?"
I didn't ignore that one. Toni told me what happened with their twins.
"No! I mean, I wrongly assumed that you would want time—space. The baby isn't an issue. She's a precious thing."
"Yes."
"I've been spending time with my friend Clark. He's probably getting sick of me, we see each other every day anyway."
"Clark."
"Yeah, Clark. My best friend. Brother from another mother, my platonic soulmate."
"Soulmate?"
"Oooh yeah, destined for each other."
I sealed Clark's fate with that lunch date. If I had known any better or just thought about my actions and words, Clark would still be around.
He didn't show up to a shift, unusual. He didn't show up for the rest of the week, alarm bells went off. I stopped by his place, he wasn't there. His mail had piled up. He hasn't been home to collect it, sort it. Something happened to him, I knew it.
I was worried. I knew this wasn't his normal behavior. That weekend I considered filing a missing persons report. Erik sat with me after dinner. His affect was odd. He was very kind and supportive, but it felt ingenuine. Sarcastic. There was a sordid mirth behind his words of assurance.
"Maybe he forgot to tell you about a holiday."
"He's poor like me. His holiday is going to the store and buying day old cake and having that for breakfast and dinner."
"I'm sure, him being your soulmate, you'd know if something insidious had befallen him."
It was then, that I knew without a doubt Erik had done something. Maybe he scared Clark away or killed him, I'll never know, but I knew Erik is the reason Clark is missing.
Erik took my silence as compliance or acceptance, I am sure. He kissed me, pulled me close and sang. I was helpless, powerless. I was screaming inside, but my body was held captive.
Raoul pauses from the reading. He feels his heart turn cold. He's told Erik several times how important his brother and Meri Reyer are to him. He's told Erik that he loved Philly more than anyone, that Mer Reyer is his person, his platonic soulmate.
No.
Clark was a coincidence.
Had to be.
Philly and Meri are still here. They are fine. Erik wouldn't do anything to hurt them. Raoul would not stand for it, would not forgive it. Erik knows that.
Clark is a freak incident. It's a shame he went missing and that Denny lost his best friend.
Erik does have a funny view on murder though. Raoul has not seen Erik act out jealousy. Meri and Raoul have been in the same room as Erik, and nothing happened! They've had dinner together!
No.
This Clark thing, totally a misunderstanding. Denny is wrong here.
Raoul wishes his hand would stop shaking. It's making it hard to focus on the words he's trying to read.
Raoul sighs, he places the diary into his hiding place and locks it.
Meg is laying on her stomach on the bed. Her feet bang together as she chats merrily on the phone.
Christine is panicked and needs some vent and, oh my god, what did I Just do, help me through this, advice.
"I mean, I wouldn't consider it a betrayal. Just tell your mystical supernatural invisible boyfriend the truth."
Meg moves the phone away from her ear as Christine loudly and strongly defends her truth and Meg mocks her with her hand and rolls her eyes.
Meg does not notice her bedroom door open or feel her bed shift as another sits on the edge. It is too late to do anything as she is grabbed by the mouth, the phone falls to the floor.
Meg's body goes limp as she lapses unconscious, she carefully tucked into bed, kissed goodnight, her phone picked up, call ended, and mobile device slipped into a pocket.
The window has been sealed shut for a few weeks now, so that is not a problem. A piece of wood is placed under the door after it is closed.
Marguerite is secure. The princess is locked in the tower for her safety.
Raoul is having trouble sleeping. He finds a book from the shelf and tries to get lost in the words and lulled to sleep that way. He has no interest in the pages and he has read the same sentence multiple times.
His vison is blurry, and his head aches, but he's not sleep tired, more so emotionally and mentally. He sets the book aside and thinks of a new tactic.
He nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees the vison of Red Death. He composes himself and curses him. He just lost a few years of life.
"Bells! I'll sow bells onto all of your clothes." Raoul threatens. Red Death says nothing. It tilts its head. They are leaning against the door frame, hands folded in front.
"Erik?"
Philly appears at the door and pokes his head in. Red Death hands moves swiftly and holds onto Philly chin like a lover. Philly narrows his eyes.
"Not that good friends. Raoul, we need a system. Ties on handles. College dorm rules. This is your one." Philly removes the hand from his face and leaves.
Red Death's hand remains in place where Philly moved it. Raoul watches with painful anticipation. After what feels like an eternity, the hand goes back to join the other.
Something is wrong. Raoul's head is screaming. Something has gone terribly wrong and he needs to get out.
Red Death makes their move, and, in an instant, they are on the bed. Raoul doesn't have time to think, his arms and legs are pinned.
"Raoul."
Raoul knows something is wrong because Erik does not call him by his given name. So, either this isn't Erik, or Erik just forgot that he calls him, 'Leto,' which is unlikely.
"Who are you?"
Instead of a verbal response, Raoul receives laughter. Not playful innocent laughter, but madness. Maniacal, a cackle, it is nether sane or jovial. Raoul pushes the man away from him and he dives off of the bed and onto the floor.
Raoul turns to face the bed and crawls backwards.
"Who are you?" Raoul asks again, his voice full of fear. He searches the room with his eyes in vain for something to defend himself with.
"And who are you, the proud lord said, that I must bow so low?" Red Death sings. It props itself on their elbows and turns to face Raoul. It waves.
"Erik?" Raoul is unsure. He is not going to move towards him until he is sure.
A hand reaches out.
"Leto."
The voice is soft, delicate. Raoul moves closer, he is compelled to, and he cannot get his body to stop. The grabs him under the chin, not quite his throat and he is pulled, no thrown, onto the bed. Raoul's pinned down again.
"Why are you doing this?" Raoul manages, his voice is squeaky.
"How was your night? How was your date? How was she?" His masked face is dangerously close to Raoul's ear, his exposed neck.
"She?"
Raoul's heart and insides are flip flopping on a roller coaster from hell.
"Christine. I smell her on you, her sweet perfume." His hot breath tickles Raoul ear, which is impressive since he's wearing a mask, parted lips? The things that occupy your thoughts in tense situations. Raoul would laugh if he were not on the verge of tears of panic.
"We had dinner together like I said." Raoul says quickly. He is trying to get his hands free.
"And?"
"And nothing?"
"Nothing?"
Raoul desperately racks him brain. They talked about music, they made jokes about how poor she is, she kissed his cheek. That flashes in his brain like a marquee. Her kiss on his cheek, the jumbotron freezes the frame.
"She kissed my cheek, but we didn't do anything!" Raoul shouts. Red Death laughs bitterly and moves a hand to Raoul's throat.
"Was it good for you?" Pressure applied, Raoul head is tilted up and he cannot breathe. After a few more seconds, pressure is lifted and Raoul sucks in all the air he can.
"It's not healthy to lie to Erik, or me."
Raoul has no idea how to respond to that. If this is not Erik, then who the hell is it?
"I'm not lying."
"Erik changed for you. Modified their personality and behavior for you, and what do you do in return, Little Leto? You pluck fruit that is not meant for you."
A dance of desperation, Raoul adjusts himself and kisses the mask.
"I don't want anyone else." He breathes heavily.
"You try my patience."
Both hands move to Raoul's throat, but he gives pause. Red Death does not strangle him. He moves back.
"No one else?" Red Death asks, voice low, testing the waters. Raoul nods
"Christine." Red Death asks.
"I said what I had to say about that."
"The ice is thin, and it's cracking underneath our feet, do you think it's safe?" Red Death grabs both side of Raoul's face.
"What do you need of me?"
Red Death thinks about this.
"Re-education. Training."
"Deal, done. If we move past this and be okay again. Anything."
"We accept."
Raoul closes his eyes and does his best not to weep. His lover has a split personality that may be more dangerous than the main alter.
Lovely.
