The Children of Light - 3. Chapter Three

‘Ugh, this place is boring after the karaoke.’ Svetlana announced to the group. They had made their way through another four rounds of drinks, over the last two hours. Quinn had been sitting as close to Alex as humanly possible without actually sitting on him. A few people agreed with Svetlana’s statement.

‘Well, I’m not quite ready to call it a night just yet.’ Alex said, gently squeezing Quinn’s hand under the table.

‘Neither.’ Mikhail and Quinn said together, smiling at each other.

‘Well, we could go back to my place?’ One of the girls across the table said.

‘You live all the way out west though, don’t you?’ Svetlana questioned.

‘We can go to mine.’ Alex suggested.

‘Da!’ Mikhail agreed heartily. Svetlana beamed, Quinn nodded with a smile, and the rest of the people around the table all agreed.

‘Would you like to ask your friends if they want to come back with us as well?’ Alex asked of Quinn.

‘Okay.’ He said flashing his heart fluttering smile. ‘I’m sure some of them would be keen.’ Quinn slid off of his stool and weaved through the crowd to his friends, as Alex and his friends all readied themselves to leave, finishing drinks, and putting cigarettes in pockets. As the group of friends made their way to the door, Alex stopped just by the exit and waited for Quinn. He quickly spotted him making his way over wearing a long black jacket that fell past his knees, and a smile that lit up the dark room.

‘Alex, this is Mitch, Bruce and Cameron.’ Quinn said introducing his friends to Alex.

‘Hi guys.’ Alex said offering his hand to each of them to shake. ‘Keen to come over for some drinks?’

The guys all nodded and smiled to Alex.

‘Good stuff. I live just a few blocks over.’ Alex said taking Quinn’s hand in his own and leaving the building.

Outside on the street, the three new guys were introduced to the several friends waiting for them and they were all walking down the street in a slightly sprawled out convoy. Quinn and Alex were nearer the back, walking hand in hand and talking animatedly amongst themselves. A friend of Quinn’s was talking with the Russian just ahead of them when they heard a deep voice shout “Faggots” from across the road.

Everyone looked across the road trying to locate the bigot who had shouted at them. Alex spotted him a short way back in the direction they’d just come from, patted Mikhail on the shoulder and pointed him out. Mikhail stooped down and picked up a stone and with the speed and grace of a cheetah, launched the projectile in a smooth arc toward the idiot.

‘AH FUCK!’ They heard as the stone made contact with the dip-shit and he lay sprawled on the ground.

‘Fuck off back to Hicksville you redneck!’ Alex shouted over the laughter of the group.

Without further harassment, the entourage made it back to the building that Alex lived in. After presenting his security key to the electronic reader in the door, his friends all filed into the lobby and made their way to the elevators. Someone had already pushed the call button and they waited a few seconds for a door to open. Svetlana stepped into the elevator and held a hand over the door preventing it from closing as more people crammed in. Alex was still in the lobby when several people had managed to squeeze into the lift. He took out the security card for his apartment and handed it to Svetlana.

‘We’ll take the next one.’ He said stepping back from the closing lift doors. When the doors closed, Alex gave it a second or two and pressed the call button again.

Within moments, a bell rang, announcing another lift was arriving. Alex and Mikhail stepped in, followed quickly by Quinn, who stood beside the Russian, almost in the corner beside the doors, Bruce, who stood beside Alex, and Chris who stood in front of the doors and remained looking at everyone. With Mikhail in the elevator cab, and Alex, who was far from small himself, it felt incredibly cramped. Quinn, whose head barely came to the Russians shoulder, coughed into his hand politely. Mikhail leaned over to look down at Quinn who looked up pitifully to the Russian and smiled.

‘Jesus you’re huge.’ Quinn laughed nervously.

‘Da!’ Mikhail said with pride, smiling profusely.

Bruce cleared his throat anxiously as the elevator bell announced their arrival. The doors opened and everyone spilled out of the lift. Alex led the way down the hallway to his apartment and found his door propped open with a rubbish bin. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, holding the door open with one hand and the rubbish bin in the other. All the lights in his apartment were on with soft music playing somewhere in the lounge, as Bruce, Chris, Mikhail and Quinn filed through the door. Quinn flashed a toothy smile to Alex as he closed the door behind everyone.

‘Drinks are in the fridge, glasses up there.’ He indicated a cupboard to the side of the fridge. He put the rubbish bin back in its rightful place beside the kitchen counter. Mikhail had already poured three glasses of wine and handed one to Quinn, one to Alex and he walked into the lounge with the other.

‘Nice place man.’ Bruce said wandering through the kitchen, running his hand along the marble top of the kitchen island. ‘How much is your rent?’

‘I own this.’ Alex said with a smile. Bruce and Quinn both gasped quietly.

‘Really?’ Bruce enquired. Quinn remained quiet and looked down to the glass of wine in his hand.

‘Yeah.’ Alex said, noticing the cute young man’s sad posture. ‘Want a tour?’ Alex asked reaching out for Quinn. The latter looked at the hand and took it reluctantly.

‘So this is the lounge.’ Alex said, leading Quinn by the hand into the large, open spaced living area. Bruce followed along shortly after getting a beer for himself.

‘Out there is one of the balconies.’ Alex said pointing past the sofa to the open sliding doors. A few people were outside on the balcony; including Quinn’s other friend, Mitch, having a cigarette. ‘Down this way is the guest room, and main bathroom.’ Alex said, still leading Quinn by the hand down a hallway. He turned the bathroom light on, and a soft yellow glow lit the tiled bathroom up. Quinn and Bruce stuck their heads in and saw the large shower cubicle to the left, a toilet to the right and the hand basin immediately in front of them with a large mirror above the basin. Bruce whistled under his breath.

‘The guest room isn’t much at the moment. Mostly a dumping ground.’ Alex said releasing Quinn’s hand and stepping into the modestly sized bedroom. He picked a few items up from the double bed and tossed them onto a small sofa against the opposite wall. The two guests stuck their head around the corner and nodded at the partial mess. Alex turned the lights off in the spare room and bathroom and walked back toward the lounge. He led the two guys down a second corridor and turned on a light in the master bedroom.

‘This is my room.’ Alex said turning to the two following him, with pride. As Quinn stepped into the room, his eyes became round as saucers. The room itself was nearly as big as the lounge was, with a larger than normal king sized bed sitting against the wall, on the side opposite the full length windows looking out to the building across the road. The hardwood floors shone with the reflections of the soft lights above. Bruce stepped around Quinn, who seemed to have forgotten how to walk, and let loose a loud whistle.

‘Damn dude!’ He said with a stunned smile. ‘This shit rocks!’

Alex giggled modestly and smiled at Quinn, who seemed to have forgotten how to move at all. Alex took the few steps to Quinn and held him by the shoulders, trying to look into his eyes.

‘Are you alright?’ He asked of the young man, concerned about his quietness.

‘Yeah. I’m good.’ Quinn finally managed to say, looking up into the pale blue eyes staring at him. He noticed the concern in those impossibly blue eyes.

‘Okay.’ Alex said with a wink. He released Quinn’s shoulders and took his left hand in his right and led him to a door. He opened the door and stepped out, gently pulling Quinn with him, the cold air enveloping them.

‘This is my little hideaway.’ Alex said as Bruce stepped outside. They were standing on the slightly smaller balcony that Alex had stood on about 24 hours ago, stark naked and watching the shadowy figure in the alleyway. Alex glanced down and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Quinn cleared his throat and Alex looked back at him.

‘It’s a bit cold out here. Can we go back inside?’ He asked in a small voice.

‘Of course.’ Alex said, mildly concerned at the downward turn of Quinn’s attitude.

The three of them went back inside as Alex closed the door behind him. Bruce led the way back to the lounge where the remainder of the group were talking loudly and laughing festively. Bruce went out to the other balcony to join the people out there for a cigarette. Alex reached out and gently took Quinn’s hand in his. Quinn stopped momentarily as Alex stood in front of him, looking down to his face. Quinn had closed his eyes and Alex put a finger to his chin and tilted his head back slightly. The taller one looked down to the shorter ones face and smiled as Quinn opened his eyes. The hazel eyes had a sorrow in them that Alex couldn’t quite place. He leaned down slowly, maintaining eye contact, until he was millimeters from Quinn. He tilted his head slightly and his full, luscious lips made soft contact with Quinn’s. Quinn’s eyes fluttered slightly with the contact and both men closed their eyes, surrendering to the soft intimacy of their first kiss. It was gentle, and frankly, quite romantic. No tongues lashing about, no fish lips. Just a sweet, innocent kiss.

Alex opened his eyes and watched as Quinn’s eyes fluttered a bit and opened. The sorrow that Alex had seen before seemed to have vanished. “Good!” He thought to himself.

‘Wow.’ Quinn said, barely louder than a whisper.

‘Indeed.’ Alex said smiling as he smelt the sweetness of Quinn’s breath. The two of them were still centimeters apart, and Quinn’s face split into the most dazzling smile Alex had seen grace his face yet. The effect was stunning and Alex leaned back from Quinn, to see the entire effect.

‘My word. You are beautiful!’ Alex said huskily, wrapping an arm around Quinn’s shoulder.

‘You’re rather handsome yourself.’ Quinn replied with a blush.

Breaking eye contact for the first time since entering the room, Alex looked around. No-one seemed to have noticed them.

‘Cigarette?’ Alex asked, as he looked back to Quinn, who was still smiling.

‘Absolutely!’ Quinn answered. Alex turned from Quinn, as the latter reached out and hooked his fingers into the back pocket of Alex’s jeans and followed him to the table. Alex picked up his cigarette packet, and with Quinn still following, walked out onto the balcony with the others.

*

‘Dudes, it’s getting late. I’m gonna head home.’ One of Quinn’s friends said, standing up from his seat and stretching his arms over his head, lifting his shirt up slightly, exposing the soft white flesh of his flat stomach. Quinn smiled to him.

‘You coming?’ He asked, looking at Quinn.

‘Um… well, I was… you know…?’ Quinn stuttered awkwardly, glancing from his friend to the patch of carpet in front of him. From his cross legged position on the floor, he glanced momentarily at Alex who was leaning against the arm rest of the sofa opposite himself.

‘Perhaps you’d like to stay here?’ Alex asked, looking over to Quinn.

Quinn looked around the room briefly, assessing what everyone else was doing or thinking. Mikhail was draped over the end of the chaise, snoring lightly. Quinn’s other friends, Cameron and Mitch, were sitting at the table playing a noisy card game with Svetlana, Gretchen and Chris. The remaining people were outside at the table, presumably smoking.

He looked back to Alex, smiling back at him, and looked to his friend.

‘I’m gonna stay.’ Quinn said with a slight smile to Bruce.

‘You’ll be safe?’ Bruce asked with a concerned look on his face. Quinn thought he heard Svetlana snort in derision.

‘Of course.’ Quinn replied seriously.

‘Got your phone?’ Bruce enquired, patting his own pockets to check he still had his.

‘It’s on the counter.’ Alex answered for Quinn, still not having looked away from Quinn.

‘I’ll be fine Bruce.’ Quinn said finally, as he stood up. He walked over to Bruce and gave him a quick hug. ‘I’ll see you out.’

Bruce and Quinn made their way to the kitchen slowly. As they passed the tables, Cameron said, ‘Wait for me. I’ll walk home with you.’

‘Ugh, I may as well come too.’ Mitch said standing up quickly. ‘I suck at this game.’ He said tossing his cards to the table.

‘A rematch next time?’ Svetlana said in a loud, drunken voice.

‘For sure.’ The two friends said.

‘‘Lana, perhaps you’d better head home too?’ Alex called from the sofa.

‘Perhaps I should!’ She cheered, sliding down her chair an inch. ‘Boris, take me home!’ She called out.

Mikhail, who was moments ago sleeping noisily, lurched up on his forearms unsteadily. He drunkenly looked over to Svetlana, the source of the noise that stirred him, looked back to the sofa he was lying on then stood up on his feet in the blink of an eye, slapped a hand to his mouth and grimaced.

‘Bathroom!’ Alex shouted pointing to the hallway that lead to the bathroom and spare bedroom. With the speed of a cheetah and the grace of a stampeding rhinoceros, the giant Russian barreled his way down the hallway, slammed the bathroom door behind himself and everyone heard the massive man heave his stomach contents out.

‘And on that note,’ Alex said getting to his feet, ‘I do believe its closing time.’ He clapped his hands twice, getting everyone’s attention and pointed to the door.

‘Good night everyone!’ Alex called out to the room.

A chorus of farewells and such filled the lounge as everyone made their way to the door.

‘Do your friends have far to go?’ Alex whispered into Quinn’s ear as the latter stood beside him.

‘About a half hour walk I guess.’ Quinn answered.

‘Bruce, wait a minute.’ Alex said calling Bruce back into the kitchen. ‘Wait here.’ Alex dashed down to his bedroom, took a $50 bill from the top drawer of his night stand and ran back to the living area. He jogged to Bruce and held out his hand to shake Bruce’s.

‘What’s this?’ Bruce asked shaking Alex’s hand and feeling the folded note pressed into his hand. He opened it with a slight shock.

‘A taxi for you guys to get home.’ Alex said smiling. Quinn looked at Alex with mild surprise.

‘Nah, dude. Nah. We’re all good walking.’ Bruce said trying to hand the money to Alex. Alex raised his hands as if surrendering.

‘Nope. Take it. Get home safely.’ Alex said nodding, more to himself than anyone else and lowering his hands to his side. ‘There’s a taxi stand just outside the building. Should be one or two there.’

‘Dude!’ Mitch said sticking his head around the door. ‘We going?’ He asked.

Bruce looked at the money he was holding, and then glanced to Quinn who smiled reluctantly, and then to Alex who was still smiling.

‘Thanks man.’ Bruce said giving Alex a half hug.

‘No probs.’ Alex said stepping to the door and holding it open.

Bruce gave Quinn a firm hug and said quietly ‘Call me tomorrow, okay?’ Quinn nodded and Bruce left the apartment as Alex closed the door behind him and slid the three locks into place.

Alex turned to Quinn, who was standing in the kitchen, twisting the toe of his shoe into the floor, with an immense amount of concentration.

‘To bed, perhaps?’ Alex asked stepping in front of Quinn. Quinn saw Alex’s shoes and a hand being raised to his chin, which gently forced him to look up into Alex’s face. Quinn gasped quietly as he saw Alex’s blue eyes, in the faint lighting, looked almost white. They stood out so dramatically against Alex’s tanned complexion and dark hair. As Quinn felt himself get lost in the intense gaze of the taller man’s eyes, he watched curiously as Alex’s face got closer to his. Quinn could feel Alex’s warm breath on his face, could smell the fragrant scent of wine on it. Quinn closed his eyes slowly, as the taller man’s lips pressed gently against his own. He let a breath out through his nose as the warm lips against his own pressed a little more, and then began to pull away slowly.

Quinn opened his eyes and the first thing he saw were Alex’s pale blue eyes staring straight into his own. It didn’t matter how much he struggled. He was utterly captured by Alex.

‘Would you like to sleep in the spare room, or with me?’ Alex asked politely.

Quinn could not sense any malice or deception in the question. He swallowed and answered, ‘With you please.’

Alex looked down to Quinn’s hand as he wrapped his own around it and lead him through the kitchen to the living room, turning off lights as he went, then down the hallway to his bedroom. He turned a lamp on beside the bed and guided Quinn to sit down on the side of it.

‘I’ll be back in two minutes. I just have to check on Mickey.’ Alex said stroking Quinn’s cheek with his thumb.

He walked down the other hallway and called out quietly, ‘Mickey.’ There was no answer, so he checked in the bathroom. The light was on, there was a splatter of vomit on the toilet seat, but there was no-one in there. He turned the light off and stepped into the bedroom. Sprawled across the bed was the giant Russian, his body rising and falling with his breathing. Alex giggled to himself and walked to the end of the bed where he wrestled with the giant’s shoes, trying to take them off. When he managed to get his socks and shoes off, Mikhail stirred slightly.

‘Alex?’ Came a hoarse voice from the giant.

‘Right here Mickey. Help me get your clothes off big guy.’ Alex said trying to turn the giant over.

‘I feel awful.’ Mikhail exclaimed as he rolled over and sat up.

‘Imagine how the toilet feels Mickey.’ Alex said grabbing for the bottom of the Russians shirt. He managed to pull it up to Mikhail’s arms.

‘Mickey, lift your bloody arms.’ Alex said suppressing an urge to laugh. The Russian lifted his powerful and heavy arms as Alex managed to whip the shirt over his head and arms. As his arms fell back down, Mikhail fell backward lying down on the bed.

‘Naked or undies Mickey?’ Alex asked unbuttoning his friend’s jeans.

‘Naked.’ Came the slurred reply. Alex fumbled a bit and finally managed to get the button and fly of his friend’s jeans undone, and grabbing the waistband of the jeans and the underwear beneath, he pulled, with every ounce of strength, downward. With little resistance, he managed to get them down past the giant’s thighs. With a little more effort, he managed to get them off the ends of both his legs.

Alex tossed the clothes to the side of the bed and looked at the dead weight of his Russian friend. He watched his friends muscled chest rise and fall with every breath. He couldn’t help but notice the Russian’s plumped up, uncircumcised penis nestled in probably the largest pair of testicles Alex had seen to date. Blushing slightly, Alex collected a light blanket from the closet and tossed it over the giant.

‘Night Mickey.’ Alex said leaning down and kissing his friend tenderly on the forehead.

‘Night Alex.’ Mikhail said after a rather ominous sounding burp.

‘Don’t puke on the bed please.’ Alex said turning the light switch off, pulling the door closed a bit, leaving it ajar, and turning the bathroom light on, before making his way back to the living area. He stopped by the kitchen counter and collected Quinn’s cell phone.

As he walked down the hallway, he saw Quinn still sitting in the same place, but he’d removed his shoes.

‘Is he okay?’ Quinn asked with concern as Alex stepped through the door and shucked his shoes off to the side.

‘He’s fine.’ Alex said closing the bedroom door behind him. ‘For a big fucker, he is utter crap at holding his liquor.’

Quinn giggled quietly as he watched Alex walking toward him.

‘A cigarette before bed?’ Alex asked reaching out for Quinn. The smaller man reached out and took Alex’s hand in his and stood up.

‘Sounds great.’ Quinn said taking his cigarette packet out of his pocket. Alex put Quinn’s cell phone down on the night stand and took his own out of his pocket, sitting it next to Quinn’s, noticing they were the same model, but different colours.

Alex took Quinn’s hand in his and walked toward the door to the veranda. They stepped outside and Quinn closed the door behind him. Alex had already lit 2 cigarettes and was handing one to Quinn, as he sat on the small bench against the wall. Quinn took the cigarette and sat next to Alex, resting his head on his shoulder.

‘It’s cold out here.’ Quinn said shivering slightly.

‘Here.’ Alex said putting an arm around the smaller ones shoulders.

‘Thanks.’ Quinn said taking a draw on his cigarette.

‘Quinn, can I just say something, really quickly, please?’ Alex said softly.

‘Of course.’ Quinn said sitting up slightly, Alex’s arm coming away from his shoulder. Quinn quickly grabbed for Alex’s hand and rested them on his thigh.

‘Well, firstly, I think you are amazingly beautiful.’ Alex said looking into Quinn’s eyes. Quinn blushed slightly as his breath caught in his throat.

‘And I would very much like to have sex with you.’ Alex continued. ‘But, tonight, please, can we just cuddle?’ Alex finished, trying not to look away from Quinn.

Although mildly disappointed, Quinn saw a flash of something in Alex’s eyes and smiled his knee shaking smile.

‘Of course.’ Quinn said happily. ‘That sounds brilliant.’

‘Oh good.’ Alex said letting out the breath he didn’t realise he had been holding. ‘It’s not that I don’t want to, because I very much want to. But… you know…?’ Alex finished lamely.

‘I understand.’ Quinn said taking a drag on his smoke. He held up his cigarette end to Alex, silently asking where to dispose of it. Alex took a final drag on his and flicked the cigarette butt over the balcony, which was quickly followed by Quinn’s.

Back inside, Quinn returned to the bed and sat in the middle of the bed at the end and watched Alex. Alex locked the door and pulled the blinds down on the windows, picked up a remote and pointed it to an air heater on the wall and turned it on.

‘It gets cold in here with the wooden floors.’ Alex said. He walked to the end of the bed just in front of Quinn and gestured for him to stand up. Quinn stood and Alex wrapped his arms around him and hugged him firmly while quietly smelling his hair. Releasing his embrace, he reached for the bottom of Quinn’s shirt and pulled it up slowly, revealing a very flat and defined stomach. Even in the poor lighting, Alex could count the 8 flat abdominal muscles below the slightly less flat pectoral muscles of the smaller man. Quinn raised his arms as Alex lifted the shirt up and over his head, catching a glimpse of the sparse blond hairs in the very attractive armpits. He couldn’t resist a quick swipe of the tongue through one of the armpits.

Giggling slightly from the tickling tongue, Quinn smiled at Alex as he tossed the shirt to a chair beside the bed. Alex was about to take his own shirt off as Quinn gripped the bottom of his shirt.

‘May I?’ Quinn asked, to which Alex nodded affirmatively. Quinn pulled up gently and exposed Alex’s muscular stomach, his abdominals much more pronounced and a lot more defined. They were smooth as far as Quinn could tell. As the shirt was lifted further, Alex’s pectoral muscles were exposed and Quinn was beside himself with lust. As he lifted the shirt further, Alex lifted his arms, and Quinn ran his tongue over the taller ones left nipple. Alex gasped quietly with pleasure. As the shirt came off, Alex took Quinn in his arms and planted a firm kiss on his lips. Quinn surrendered to Alex’s muscular arms and melted. Alex opened his mouth slightly and ran his tongue along Quinn’s bottom lip. Feeling that, Quinn opened his mouth slightly and brushed his tongue past Alex’s, as it returned to the owners mouth. Breaking the embrace, Alex unbuttoned his jeans and removed them in the blink of an eye. Quinn followed suit, removing his white pants and tossing them on top of Alex’s clothes. Alex moved to the side of the bed in his black boxer briefs and lifted the sheet and duvet back and indicated for Quinn to climb in. Quinn, in his rather tight white boxer briefs, carefully climbed into the bed and immediately felt the heat from an electric blanket. He shuffled to the middle as Alex climbed in behind him and shuffled to Quinn’s side.

They lay on their sides, facing each other for a few minutes. Alex looking at Quinn’s beautiful face, Quinn entranced by Alex’s pale blue eyes.

‘You have beautiful eyes.’ Quinn said after a few moments.

‘As do you.’ Alex said batting his eyelids in flirtation. Quinn smiled at this.

Alex sat up and leaned over Quinn carefully, and turned the lamp off. Quinn felt a rather hard slab of meat in the boxer briefs and felt his own loins tighten in response.

‘There we go.’ Alex said lying back down beside Quinn and draping an arm over his chest, his index finger drawing small circles on his shoulder. Quinn looked at Alex’s lips and leaned into him and kissed him softly. Alex was prepared for this and ran his tongue over the smaller man’s lips and into his mouth, where it met Quinn’s tongue and the two wrestled about a bit. Alex sealed his lips to Quinn’s as they tasted and explored each other’s mouths with their tongues. Several seconds became several moments, and those several moments became several minutes.

Alex sighed as their kiss finally came to an end with Quinn sucking on his tongue as it was withdrawn from his mouth. Alex smiled at Quinn.

‘That was amazing.’ Quinn said snuggling into Alex. Alex rolled onto his back, putting an arm around Quinn, as Quinn put an arm over Alex’s chest, resting his hand in the warmth of his armpit, and tenderly kissed Alex on the cheek.

‘Thank you.’ Quinn said.

‘You’re very welcome.’ Alex said pulling Quinn tighter to him.

‘I’m very tired.’ Quinn said stifling a yawn.

‘Shall we get some sleep then?’ Alex said running his hand through Quinn’s hair.

‘Yeah.’ Quinn said yawning again. ‘Good idea.’ Quinn snuggled in a bit more as Alex tightened his embrace without suffocating the smaller man and as the minutes passed, the both of them drifted off to sleep.

*

Alex sat upright in bed with a gasp, his right arm reaching out as if to grab something in the darkness of the room. He was covered in sweat and his breathing was laboured. Quinn had woken up when Alex had lurched upright, throwing the smaller man off of his chest.

‘Alex, are you alright?’ Quinn asked reaching out blindly to Alex, finding his shoulder and squeezing firmly.

‘I umm… yeah… I… think so.’ Alex said lowering his arm and finding Quinn’s thigh.

He squeezed it gently, reaffirming himself that he was awake.

‘Bad dream huh?’ Quinn asked as he laid his head on Alex’s shoulder and ran his hand down the muscled arm, finding the hand and holding it firmly.

‘Yeah. The same dream I had last night. Exactly the same.’ Alex said as his breathing returned to normal.

‘Do you want to tell me about it?’ Quinn asked tenderly.

‘Let me go clean up a bit first.’ Alex said suddenly feeling the sheen of sweat covering his body. He hopped out of bed and went to his en suite. After an initial flickering, the fluorescent bulb shone brightly into Alex’s eyes. He turned the cold water faucet on and splashed water over his face messily. He repeated this a few times and then toweled his face dry. He turned the light off in the bathroom and realised that Quinn had turned the bedside lamp on.

Alex stepped to the side of the bed and looked down at Quinn who was watching Alex with concern.

‘Would you like to have a cigarette with me?’ Alex asked.

‘Sure.’ Quinn said swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Alex leaned over slightly and pulled the duvet around Quinn as he stood up.

‘Bring that. It’s cold outside.’ Alex said grabbing his cigarettes and heading for the door, Quinn following him cocooned in the massive duvet.

‘So I had this dream last night as well.’ Alex said offering a lit cigarette to Quinn as he sat down beside him. Quinn took the cigarette and flicked the duvet around Alex as well, noticing Alex’s erect nipples from the cold. ‘It’s these two boys, twins. They’re in this house, and their mother is being killed in the lounge. Then when they come after the boys, this weird shit happens and one of the guys is thrown against a wall and dies, and then the boys just vanish into thin air. It really creeps me out.’ Alex finished taking a draw on his cigarette and staring off into the distance.

‘Hmm.’ Quinn said trying to think. ‘I heard you mumbling in your sleep, and then you threw me off of you and sat up trying to grab something.’

‘Oh shit.’ Alex said wrapping an arm around Quinn and squeezing him to his side. ‘I didn’t hurt you did I?’

‘No, not at all. Just gave me a bit of a fright really.’ Quinn said smiling to himself at the concern that Alex displayed, as well as the wonderful musky scent coming from the slightly damp armpit.

‘Alex?’ Called a voice from the bedroom.

‘Out here Mickey.’ Alex called to the partially opened door.

‘Ciggie?’ Alex asked holding out the packet to the Russian.

‘Da!’ Mikhail said taking the packet and lighting a cigarette for himself.

‘Hey Mikhail?’ Quinn said grinning at the giant.

‘Yes, short stuff?’ The giant said with a grin.

‘You know you’re naked right?’ Quinn said giggling. The Russian looked down at his exposed crotch and laughed.

‘So I am.’ Mikhail laughed as he sat down beside Quinn and covered his private parts with a corner of the duvet.

‘Did we wake you up?’ Alex asked looking at his Russian friend.

‘No, I had this horrible nightmare.’ The giant said with a slight shiver. Quinn looked to Alex with a shocked expression.

‘What happened in it?’ Alex asked eagerly.

‘I was in this house where there were these twins…’ The Russian began.

‘…and the mother was killed and then the twins disappeared?’ Alex continued the narration.

‘Da!’ The Russian exclaimed looking at Alex with concern. ‘How did you know?’

‘I had the same dream.’ Alex said with a worried tone to his voice. ‘I had the same dream last night as well.’

‘This is the only time I’ve had it.’ Mikhail said quietly. As he finished saying that, Alex stood up very quickly and looked down at the road.

‘What are you looking at?’ Quinn asked standing up and stepping beside Alex, looking down.

‘There!’ Alex said pointing to the alleyway between the two buildings opposite them. ‘See them?’

‘See who?’ Quinn asked, as Mikhail stood beside him, looking.

‘I don’t… wait!’ Mikhail said squinting slightly. ‘Yes I see them.’

Alex flicked his cigarette end over the balcony and as it got closer to the ground, it exploded in a small flurry of embers and flames.

‘What the fuck?’ Quinn asked with a trace of fear.

‘They were there last night as well, right after I had that dream.’ Alex said still not taking his eyes off the mystery person.

‘What do you want?’ Mikhail called out to the slightly hidden person. For a moment there was no movement. ‘What do you want?’

Suddenly there was a commotion down on the street. The figure in the alleyway had stepped out into the street light. As the three men on the veranda got a look at the hooded figure, every single street light exploded in a shower of sparks. In shock and fear, the three of them ran through the door back into Alex’s bedroom. Alex ran to the windows and pulled the blinds up quickly, trying to find the person. In the darkness he wasn’t able to see anything but shadows and darkness. And then something happened that made Alex’s blood curdled with fear.

Slowly, a figure began rising in front of him. He saw the shape of the hood covered head rise above the bottom of the window, and kept moving up until it was level with him. It was about three feet from the window, and how it was rising, he had no idea. He took a step back as the two people on either side of him gasped with fear. Alex squinted, trying to see through the darkness and couldn’t see into the hood. As Quinn and Mikhail both reached for one of Alex’s hands, the figure outside rushed to the window and slammed its hand against it, making a loud crashing sound and vibrating the window pane. All three of them jumped back in fear and panic. Alex stepped forward as Quinn and Mikhail’s hands slipped from his grip. He stood in front of the window and squinted, trying to see the persons face. Alex raised his left hand and slowly and deliberately placed his hand, palm to glass, against the window, in exactly the same place as the figures hand was.

The hand was wrenched away from the window as the figure backed away into greater darkness. Alex pressed his head to the window trying to see where it went.

‘Alex, please come back here.’ Mikhail said softly.

‘Hold on.’ Alex said, his breath misting the window. He squinted harder and then saw the figure, very slowly making its way back toward him. Alex could barely make it out in the darkness, but it looked like it had lowered its hood. He thought he could make out hair. He glanced to the black shoes at the end of the blue jeans and saw that the person wasn’t standing on anything. Ever so slowly, the figure came closer to the window, the lamp light making it both harder and easier to make out the person in the glow. And finally, Alex was able to see the face. He could just make out the soft outline of the jaw, the lips, the cheeks, and the soft blood red hair flowing down around the young man’s face. And then Alex saw the eyes.

The eyes of the young man were practically glowing in the darkness. All Alex could see now was the luminescent green of the man’s eyes, and it felt like they were piercing through him. Hatred and disgust were dancing about the bright green eyes as Alex watched on in horror. Behind him he heard someone gasp with shock.

‘It’s one of the twins!’ Mikhail said in shock. The young man floating on the other side of the window turned his gaze upon Mikhail. The duvet he had been holding about his waist dropped to the floor as he stumbled forward to stand next to Alex, who had not taken his eyes off the floating figure. The floating man raised an eyebrow of curiosity as he looked at Mikhail’s face, almost analysing him. The eyes of the gentleman flickered down to the Russian’s nakedness and almost smirked in amusement.

Feeling somewhat left out and vulnerable, Quinn stepped forward and firmly gripped Alex’s left hand in both of his, as he looked out the window to the person.

‘What do you think he wants?’ Quinn whispered to Alex. The figure turned his gaze upon Quinn and the blond felt a massive weight fall on his shoulders, pressing him down, forcefully. Alex blinked forcefully and looked to Quinn struggling to stand, for no apparent reason. When he heard Quinn gasping for breath, Alex flung himself at the window and slammed his fists against it.

‘STOP IT!’ Alex shouted. ‘STOP IT NOW!’

The young man outside, looked at Alex and swooped right up to the window, mere inches from Alex’s face. The light blue eyes pleaded with the luminescent green eyes, begging him to stop whatever he was doing. Alex heard a gasp and ragged breathing, and closed his eyes in relief.

‘Thank you.’ Alex thought to himself.

‘You’re welcome.’ Came a deep, resonant reply. Alex started as he realised the voice hadn’t come from the figure outside. He hadn’t even moved his mouth.

‘Did you guys hear that?’ Alex asked, without taking his eyes off of the man outside.

‘Yes.’ Came replies from both Quinn and Mikhail.

‘Do you think it was him?’ Alex asked studying the man floating outside of his 16^th level window.

‘It was me.’ Came the same deep and eerie voice. It sounded like multiple voices, all blended together as one voice. Alex, Quinn and Mikhail all shivered with fear.

‘How are you doing that?’ Alex asked peering out the window.

‘You needn’t concern yourself with that, for now.’ The echoing voice answered.

‘Alright then.’ Alex said squaring his shoulders. ‘What do you want with us?’

‘Who said I wanted anything?’ The voice countered with amusement.

‘What?’ Alex asked in confusion. ‘Well, what are you doing then?’

‘Such curiosity for a blind follower of God.’ The voice said with a hollow chuckle of laughter.

‘Wait, what?’ Alex said. ‘Follower of God?’

‘Fool.’ The voice said as Alex watched a truly horrifying grin spread across the young man’s face. ‘Doesn’t even realise.’

‘Realise what?’ Alex demanded. ‘What don’t I realise?’

‘Your father knows the answer to that question.’ The voice came again with the same echoing timbre.

‘My father?’ Alex asked in confusion. ‘What the fuck is that supposed to mean?’

‘Ask him what he did 15 years ago.’ The voice said with a sense of finality. And as the three partially naked men watched through the glass, the young man began descending, lowering himself to the ground. Alex watched in morbid curiosity. The shining green eyes never broke line with his until his head vanished below the floor.

‘What the fuck?’ Quinn asked shakily. Mikhail turned to him and saw the smaller man was shivering. The Russian took the small step to stand beside him and wrapped his arms around the quaking body of Quinn.

‘He’s gone now.’ Alex said turning back to his companions. He saw his giant of a friend trying to comfort his new love interest. Alex stepped forward and picked up the duvet and threw it around the giant and then put a hand on both their shoulders, Quinn still shaking with fear.

‘Let’s climb into bed.’ Alex said smiling as best he could to Quinn. Quinn nodded and reached out to Alex. Alex took Quinn into his arms and squeezed him tightly, as he smiled thanks to Mikhail.

‘I’ll go to bed too.’ The Russian said stepping toward the door.

‘Ah, Mickey. I meant all three of us, in my bed.’ Alex said reaching over and dropping the blinds.

‘What now?’ Mikhail asked with mild fascination.

‘After that bullshit, none of us gonna be sleeping alone!’ Alex said reaching out for the Russian and taking his hand. Still holding Quinn to his body, Alex lead them both to the bed and let Quinn climb in first, watching as he shuffled to the far side, beside the lamp. Alex climbed in next, pulling the Russian giant in behind him. Mikhail tossed the duvet out and over everyone and as the duvet came to rest, Quinn shuffled backward into Alex’s firm and muscular body. Alex wrapped a protective arm around Quinn as Mikhail wrapped an arm around Alex.

‘If I feel that cock pressed against my butt hole, I promise you, I’ll clench my arse cheeks so hard, I’ll rip the fucker off!’ Alex said smirking. He felt Quinn’s body shake with laughter.

‘Whatever. You know you want it.’ The Russian said giggling.