Growing pains - a metaphor to describe the problems we face in our everyday lives
Evan skidded to a halt next to the narrow alleyway with only the street lights illuminating its passageway. He quickly caught his breath from his impromptu run, and turned into the alleyway. Nogla urgently shouted at him to run for that alley because he spotted suspicious activity down it on his hacked security cameras. Evan was only scouring the streets for Delirious, not really focused on the destination, until Nogla gave him those instructions.
Evan quickly felt his mask to ensure that it was secured properly, and felt where the dagger in his inner jacket pocket was. Just incase he needed to use it. It was likely. Vanoss took slow, cautious steps down the winding path, being careful to avoid stepping on loud rubble. Soon enough, Vanoss found himself next to a door on the left side of the alley, the only way he could see the door was from the flickering, dim light above it.
Vanoss swivelled around to make sure no one would sneak up behind him, he was so far from the comfort of the main road.
"I don't see anything Nogla," Vanoss whispered only loud enough for his earpiece to pick it up.
"I'm sure this was it, let me double check-" Nogla suggested. He audibly clambered away from his cameras to check a different monitor. Now Evan was truly alone. Then he heard a crunch. Footsteps from ahead, it sounded like two pairs. Vanoss' head whipped up so fast he almost got whiplash. His heart started pounding in his chest, adrenaline preparing itself for fighting.
"Vanoss, it's so...lovely to see you," a sickeningly soothing voice cooed. It didn't sound familiar to Evan, but the voice is one he wouldn't forget. The rich timbre of his voice could lull him to sleep in the right setting, but he was too alert to fall for that.
Two men stepped into the light. One was gangly with a layer of sinewy muscle coating his bare arms. A mop of blond hair sat flat on his head, squished down by the purple mask covering his icy blue eyes. He slowly cracked each of his long, bony fingers, not breaking eye contact with Vanoss. Although he towered over Evan, Evan was more muscular than the willowy man, and Vanoss believed that if he sat on his rib cage he might crush him.
The other man was tougher and more robust, bulging muscles lining his body that would make bodybuilders fawn. He sported a pair of bunny ears on top of his brown hair. His eyes were covered with a band with the greek letter Omega in the centre. Light brown stubble spread down his jawline and chin, spilling onto his neck.
"Do I know you?" Vanoss asked. He meant for it to sound genuine, and not like a mockery, but it still came out in Evan's sarcastic tone. The man in purple cracked his long neck to the right before glaring at Vanoss. His partner slapped a hand to his chest, holding him back.
"I'm Ohmwrecker and this is my accomplice, McQuaid," the robust man replied. Ohm took a step forward, leaning into Evan's personal space.
"And what are you doing down here at this time of night?" Vanoss asked, trying to make his voice sound more threatening.
"Why don't we show you?" Ohm asked. He shot out his hand and pulled down on his shoulder. Before Evan could even comprehend what was happening, Ohm sank his fist into the tender flesh of Vanoss' stomach. Evan puffed out of breath, winded by the punch, and he was immediately off guard.
While Evan was doubled over clutching his stomach, McQuaid forced Evan's hands behind his back and held them there in a death grip. No matter how hard Evan pulled and tugged and tried to get away, he wouldn't budge. All he achieved were red marks and hand shaped bruises.
Ohm forced another punch into Evan's gut, it sunk straight into his right kidney. Blinding pain flashed up Evan's torso, and he couldn't move away or even bend over when two more punches were thrown into his chest. McQuaid kicked the backs of his knees, making them buckle and send Evan flying to the ground. Ohm kicked him over so he was flat on his back, McQuaid finally let go of his hands. Before Evan had the chance to get up and fight back, the toe of Ohm's boot was under his chin. His foot was vertical with his throat, the pressure of it was cutting off Evan's airflow, and he was choking for breath. Ohm took his foot off slightly to keep Evan conscious.
"If I shift all my weight to that foot, your neck would simply snap," Ohm clicked his fingers, "just like a twig." Vanoss didn't replied, he just stared up at him. Ohm slammed his foot down into Evan's gut again. He felt a bit of bile come up, but he forced it back down. He was winded again.
"McQuaid, take his mask off. It's time to finally see who Los Santos' beloved Vanoss truly is," Ohm ordered, eyes trained on Vanoss' writhing figure.
McQuaid bent down and pulled his mask from his head, the earpiece built into the mask was gone too. If Nogla were to return, they couldn't communicate. Evan's chocolate eyes burned into Ohm's, a hatred fuelled fire burning deep within them. Ohm smirked devilishly.
"Asian? I wasn't expecting that," Ohm pondered.
"I'm Canadian, you fuck!" Evan spat onto the tongue of his boot.
"I also wasn't expecting such vile words to fall out from such a pretty face." Ohm toed Evan's face to the side, inspecting his jawline. Evan felt a wave to anger flush his face. He tried to get up again but Ohm's foot stayed firmly still.
"Good thing we didn't harm your face, how disastrous would that have been? McQuaid, check him for ID," Ohm added as an afterthought. McQuaid sunk to his knees and began rummaging through Vanoss' pockets, looking for his wallet or any other type of identification.
"No sign of anything," McQuaid responded, rising once more.
"Doesn't matter, we know what he looks like, and once we find his name and hand him to the media, we'll be rich," Ohm laughed, a sweet sound that was inappropriate for a setting like this.
"Let's go, we have no need for him anymore," McQuaid said. He kicked Evan's mask back over to him. McQuaid noticed the quick flash of an earpiece, and stomped on it, successfully smashing the expensive technology beyond repair. Ohm landed one last kick to Evan's torso before the two ran down the alleyway and disappeared into the darkness.
Evan didn't know how long he lay there for, but he decided to try to get up once the ache started setting in on his bones. His knees stung and every time he breathed in his ribs ached. He picked up his mask, smashed to bits, and shoved the parts into his jacket pocket.
After a solid twenty minutes of Evan trying to hobble back to his car, he finally made it. He drove up and slowly made his way to the base. He pulled into the garage and pulled himself up the stairs, using the railing to balance. He knocked at the door and Nogla answered it with a stricken expression, one that never graced the other man's face often.
"I'm here to let you know that I'm alive. I was mugged, and, and-" Evan handed the bits of broken tech to David, "there was nothing I could do, they had me pinned." David eyed the technology sadly, he spent months developing the features in the mask, and now he would have to delicately build another.
"Who did this?" Nogla whispered.
"Ah- I want you or anyone to find out as much as you can about OhmWrecker and McQuaid. It was those two, and they've seen my face. Who knows what they could do with that?" Evan ordered. David nodded.
"Ok, go home and get heaps of rest. There's not much we have in the way of medicine here." David eyed him sadly.
"Can do, Nogla. Goodnight." Nogla locked the door and sent Evan back to his apartment, where his roommate would be sleeping in a cold bed.
Evan used what little energy he had left trying to fit the finicky keys into the slot. He door opened with a click and he tiptoed inside. He rounded the corner to go to the bathroom and inspect his injuries properly, but a tapping sound distracted him. Evan turned and found himself staring straight into Jonathan's misty eyes.
"Ev...where have you been? Do you know how long I have been sitting here, waiting for you to show up? Have you been...seeing someone?" Jonathan questioned in a heartbroken tone.
Fuck.
He forgot to tell Jon that he had "plans with friends" tonight. Now he thinks he's been out fucking other people.
"Jesus Christ, Jonathan no way. You know I would never stoop that low. Something else...happened. I forgot to call to tell you I was alright," Evan answered, shaking his hands at the accusation.
"Wait, you forgot to tell me you were alright?" Before Evan could defend himself, Jon leaned over and flicked on the light switch. A beam of bright light assaulted his eyes, and made the bruises and marks on his skin pop. Jon's eyes were fixated on the shoe print and bruising around Evan's throat.
"Evan! What happened to you? Who did this?" Jonathan's hands shot up to cradle Evan's face. Evan placed his warm hands over Jon's smaller ones. The sleeve of his shirt fell down, revealing the hand marks around his wrists, angry, red, and raw. Jon choked back a sob.
"I was mugged. One of them held me down by the throat with his shoe, which explains this." Evan pointed to the footprint on his neck.
"No wonder your voice is so croaky," Jon teased, trying to assure himself more than Evan. Evan didn't even notice how strained his voice sounded until Jonathan pointed it out.
"Where else did they hurt you, Ev?" Jon asked, eyes roaming Evan's body for other signs of injury. Evan took a step back and pulled his shirt off, inspecting his torso injuries for the first time. Angry red marks around dark purple blotches bloomed across his abdomen like cursed flowers. Jon gasped, a hand flying over his mouth. If Evan could laugh, he would be making fun of how dramatic Jon was being, but Evan could not move for pain.
"Who did this to you?" He whispered, a snarl distorting his pretty features.
"Two thugs called OhmWrecker and McQuaid." Jon furrowed his eyebrows. Then he looked up, puzzled.
"I can barely see an inch of flesh on your stomach, how come they left your face alone?"
"They told me I was too pretty to butcher up," Evan replied.
"Bastards," Jon mumbled. A blush formed high on his cheekbones.
"They were right though, weren't they? I am exceptionally pretty," Evan grinned despite his pain. Jon laughed.
"Damn right you are, why else would I be with you?" The two laughed for a bit, or at least they tried to. Evan was in too much pain to properly laugh.
"Tomorrow, I'm taking you out to the hospital, I don't care what you say. Then I'm making sure those thugs never hurt you again, no one will," Jon promised, a bold smirk lifting his face. He pressed his lips to Evan's, sealing the promise. In that moment, Evan felt safe, the safest he had been since the Vanoss project started. He knew that he could trust Jon, Jonathan wouldn't fail him.
Longer chapter, hopefully more exciting than the fluffy chapters I have been doing so far. Look out for the building tension!