Chapter 13! Yeai! We are almost there! :D
Link didn't come to school next day.
Link didn't come to school as well the day after.
Link didn't come to school after three days.
Link didn't come to school the entire week.
Link didn't call me Friday in order to continue the project.
Link didn't call me Friday night in order to see if we will continue doing the project next day.
Link didn't call me on Saturday. My date with Aerith went smoothly. I had a nice time but...I might have had a better time if Link had looked for me. When our date ended, Aerith...She kissed me. I floated for a while. After that kiss, more came. And they were even more passionate. To my mind Link's warning came, but those soft-petal lips silenced my thoughts and made me forget. My Aerith couldn't be that type of girl. She kissed the way she did because she desired me more than anyone and cause I desired her more than anything. She kissed me so expertly because her being was created for me as I was made for her. Not because she had experience kissing people. No. Never. I was the first to taste those lips; the first those pale, smooth hands touched and teased playfully. Yes. I was the first for her. Yet, Link's defeated and betrayed face made me stop. I pushed her away, thanked her for the date and kissed her quickly, chaste and soft, but a kiss nonetheless. I promised her another date for next week. Her green eyes looked disappointed and a tiny bit angry for our interrumption. I hoped her disturbed appearance was because she would surely miss me and not because I had just stopped her from having a fun night. I kissed her one last time and parted ways with her, leaving her house's entrance and heading home. Link's words echoed inside of my head and my own heart hoped and tried to ignore them.
Link didn't call on Sunday. I could only hope our project would be finished before the deadline.
Link didn't come to school on Monday.
Link didn't come on Tuesday.
The teacher got worried when Wednesday arrived and still there were no signs of Link.
The teacher got worried when Link failed to appear on Thursday and nobody answered the phone at his house.
The teacher got even more worried when Friday arrived and nobody knew a thing of Link.
I offered to visit him. My classmates looked at me weirdly, but I couldn't care less. The teacher looked relieved.
And so did I.
So, Friday came and I found myself before the school's secretary, who gave me Link's direction without hesitation. And that very same day I found myself in the most God forsaken neighborhood. Filthy streets, empty establishments, broken liquor bottles and objects I didn't even wish to find out what they were laid in the asphalt and made up this grotesque scene. Every once in a while I would spot another human being that made my hairs rise and the grasp on my schoolbag tighten; for their overall appearance screamed loudly: DANGER. The person could either be a thief, murderer, psychopath, drug dealer, rapist...who knows? But I wasn't eager to find out. The longer I examined the place the more I realized that, without a doubt, it was the dumpster of the city. A world of shattered windows, stains of only God knows what, of screams, curses and insults, decaying buildings, the occasional black market store...in other words Hell on Earth. The entire place was gray and black and red; oppressing, dangerous, the killing intent everywhere you turned. What was Link doing on a place like this? Living in a place like this?
My eyes landed on the building and I shivered. It looked as terrible or worse than the rest of the area. Stains on the walls, filth and fungus growing in the corners, dirty and sombre coloring rags hung from a few windows as curtains. I swore I heard a lover's quarrel somewhere, followed by crying and the sound of punches and kicks. I gulped and taking a breath to even my drumming heart I ventured myself towards the building. I had to find out whether Link was all right or not. By the looks of this place...I doubted it. My chest constricted in the most painful manner. And then came the pain...the most excruciating pain that robbed the air from me as I imagined Link's unmoving body on his bed, blood flowing freely and on abundance that splashed on the biggest puddle I had ever seen. Dripping from a wound on his chest caused by some sick bastard that wished to steal his savings, the reddish water flowed and flowed. If this place was anything to go by, that must be something common. I feared for Link and his well being. I really feared for him.
Shivering I opened the front door and found myself before an ill looking hotel lobby. The wall painting was peeling off and dirty, humidity and fungus were everywhere I turned to. The furniture's filling was coming out and had rat bites. The odor of the place was a combination of humidity, sweat, alcohol and smoke. I tried to inhale the least amount of air possible as I made my way towards the counter in the far end.
"Excuse me." I called. A sweaty, slightly bald and unshaved man with a yellowish shirt looked at me. His tired and baggy eyes swept me all over. It got me on edge and I tried to look back unwaveringly. His appearance disgusted me; for, he was really unkept and the way his eyes stared at me made that feeling of uneasiness stronger. Finally, his eyes moved to his canteen, probably filled with whiskey for the strong stench it gave away. I managed a small smile in order to diffuse my poor nerves that were as alert as a prey to its predator. "I am looking for Link Hanlon, sir." With boredom he turned to me resting his elbow on the counter, his bloodshot and tired eyes still on his beverage.
"Fourth floor, number 15." He said slurring and took a gulp of his whiskey. Cleaning his mustache he kept on. "Elevator's broken since...burp...since...fuck it...its broken...and that...that son of a bitch stills owes me two months of rent...urgh...One more and his ass would get cold out there...yeah? You tell him that!" He banged the wooden surface and I flinched, my eyes and mind looking for a place to escape in case things got ugly. I was strong. Yes. I was. But not enough to take on a drunken, grown man. "Well fuck off! I got things to do." And saying so he went back to his drinking and I made my way hurriedly up the stairs, the old and overused wood creaking below my feet.
"Number 15...its here." I panted. I had taken the four floors in a nonstop run. Regaining my bearings was bound to take a while. Finally...Finally, I was about to learn what came to be of my partner. Hell. Yes. I was going to make his life a living hell for leaving me hanging like that. Who did he think he was? The project was a team project! I wasn't about to do it by myself, specially when only he knew where whatever we were researching was. Oh! He was going to get it! My heart and breathing regulated. I straighten myself up, rearranged my jacket and knocked on the door. I waited a while for an answer that deep inside I knew was never to come. Yet, I wasn't someone who gave up easily and so I knocked once more. The eternal silence was my only response. My mind conjured up the most dismal and heart-shattering scenarios, the most horrifying and terrible possibilities. They appeared from the sob-wracking towards the ear-splitting screams. I swallowed and tried to calm my poor mind and heart that had been assaulted continually since I first stepped on this haunted neighborhood. I prayed to any deity that existed. I prayed so that I would find Link in one piece and, preferably, alive. I once more knocked, this time louder.
Silence.
"Link?" I whispered, my voice failing me for fear of the inevitable. "Link? You there?" Nothing. "Link?!" I hit the wall. No one answered. "Link?! Link?! LINK?!" With every call, the speed and strength on both my voice and fists increased, until the hits were one solid drumming against the wall and my voice one fluid sound. No! God no! My hand flew towards the doorknob and...I had never felt as relieved as I felt that moment, for the omnipotent ones above the heavens were on my side that day...
It was unlocked.
Begging to anyone who could hear me, I entered. Please Link...be alright.