Chapter 63:The boy howling wolf
Dust lets the bottle slip from his hand.
It's still rolling on the ground as he runs up the stairs four at a time to put as much distance between himself and the door as possible.
He doesn't hear the door opening but he still doesn't dare turn around to look at it.
His heart is pounding and his head is spinning. All of this is compounded by a sudden surge of acid from his empty stomach. He doesn't feel well at all anymore.
On the third or second floor Dust isn't sure, he hears a vague noise like a clicking sound.
His head turns reflexively as he continues to climb.
Out of the corner of his eye he sees a shadow slipping into the back of the wing.
He freezes for a second. Maybe he's having some kind of crisis? Because of the mushroom?
Was the shadow wearing some kind of armor?
His breathing becomes more jerky. He runs up the stairs, thinking only of taking refuge in his apartments.
They're not alone? They're really not alone here?!
He should probably warn the others. But he's not sure what he saw? And maybe they'll block his way if he backs out?
Maybe he's hallucinating?
He thinks he's reached his floor.
He turns his head from right to left to see if the passage is clear.
This simple but sudden movement makes him feel sick.
He still feels like he's swaying.
Like he's walking at a 30-degree angle to the ground.
He holds the wall with one hand and counts the number of doors he passes but is not sure of himself at all.
He hears another noise which makes him suddenly raise his head. At the end of the corridor he sees the secret passage open.
Dust doesn't linger, without hesitation he presses the nearest latch and closes the door with a trembling hand gently before anyone or anything on the other side of the aisle can notice him.
His heart pounding he waits with his back pressed against the wood.
The murmur of footsteps is barely audible.
Dust waits for the footsteps to move away to detach himself from the door.
Now that he looks more closely it's not his apartments.
The living room where he set foot is much too tidy compared to his own.
But he doesn't dare go out anymore.
He thinks about blocking the entrance with a piece of furniture but he's not yet sure that the person is far enough out of reach not to hear him move something so heavy.
So he's stuck.
Slowly he moves to the middle of the room and sits down silently on the couch.
His nerves make his legs tremble, he holds his head in his hands.
He grimaces, his fingers sink into his hair and his nails dig into his scalp.
He concentrates on the slightest noise, the slightest suspicious sound.
His own breathing is far too noisy.
He should never have moved away from the others.
His nerves are on edge.
He grins through his teeth, he wants to cry, to moan, to scream.
Here, he feels paralyzing. The alcohol and drugs help his emotions to be heightened.
This place, these people, this fucking situation, everything terrifies him.
One's eyes rolling back, Eyes' back swallowed by the darkness when Dust sees him for the last time, The head that Red cut off in the swamp with so much difficulty, The savage that Dust killed, the blue-skinned woman who is cut into pieces by the crowd a few meters from the lake...
It's a carousel of grotesque and horrifying images that turns in his head as striking as reality.
Dust pulls his hair and closes his eyelids tightly.
As if he could chase away all the ghosts that haunt his mind.
No moment of respite is offered to him because with his eyes closed he hears creaking and cracking in the other room.
His eyes open wide.
Feeling cornered he gets up silently.
Slowly he advances towards the bedroom.
Delicately he places his ear against the wooden panel.
His hand rests on the doorknob.
He is not completely sure but it seems like a bed that makes such a noise.
He opens the door a crack to spy.
He first sees a muscular back with broad shoulders, then it is Red's red hair that catches his attention.
Under the man among the silk sheets a woman with curly golden hair.
They fuck, Cherub and Red...
This new information raises Dust's eyebrows as he remains there spying on them with his mouth open.
Now that he pays more attention Cherub is indeed a beautiful woman.
She tilts her head as she pants as if carried away by pleasure she looks sideways.
Her big blue eyes meet Dust's gaze.
She exclaims quickly pushing Red off of her and crossing her arms over her chest.
Her cheeks flushing just as quickly as the boy's Just as Red gets up hides reflexively.
The embarrassment Dust feels erases his fear for a second or two.
He hear in the other room the rustling of clothes and the whispers of the young woman.
Crouching Dust raises his head when the red-haired man, shirtless, comes out of the room to look at him with a mixed emotion between surprise and frustration.
-What are you doing here?
This question reminds the boy of the most important thing.
His finger resting on his lips he frowns and whispers, eager for danger:
-Make less noise! You were right! We're really not alone here!
Red towers over him he arches an eyebrow. Not lowering the volume in the least:
-What?
Dust Shudders, gets back up:
-There in the hallway! I saw something come out of the secret passage...
The man looks at him more closely, Dust feels uncomfortable he steps back, advances, grimaces.
Behind his interlocutor, the blonde woman who has dressed in the meantime with a simple top hiding her hips comes to observe the situation.
-What exactly did you see Dust?
After asking his question, his companion's eyes insistently rest on the red stain.
Dust stamps his feet in frustration, his hand placing itself on the soiled fabric to hide it:
-Be quieter I tell you! I don't know what I saw! But I saw something!
Red leans over without saying anything for a second he sniffs the air a centimeter from the boy.
Cherubine frowns visibly worried but her pink lips remain sealed.
The man is almost inquisitive when he declares sure of himself:
-You are drunk.
Dust's cheeks flush with embarrassment but also with annoyance.
Here the other one is not going to believe him because he had a drink or two.
He starts to deny it while stammering but Red's fixed gaze pushes him to finally admit the truth.
-Yes, a little wine .... (while he admits he finally realizes or rather admits to himself that the drug can influence him) And a mushroom.
Red's eyebrow arches even higher, he suddenly seems more interested:
-You took... a mushroom? Where did you get it?
Dust fidgets a little more, press his lips before avoiding the piercing blue eyes.
Cherubin suddenly comments for the first time, her voice a little hoarse:
-Look he's sweating a lot....
The boy steps back, quickly running a hand over his forehead, and collecting a few drops of sweat in the process, he now lowers his head.
He feels like a kid caught red-handed by his parents.
But he doesn't forget the initial subject:
-Yes, a guy downstairs in the dining room gave it to me, it comes from one of his other worlds, but I really think there's something else outside! I knocked on the door-(Dust interrupts his tirade of his own accord when Red passes him to go to the door) Wait where are you going?
The man doesn't wait, he opens the door, turns his head to the right and left while answering him without lowering his voice again:
-Well, I'll check what you said. And if the coast is clear, I'll get one of this mushrooms.
He doesn't say more, he closes the door behind him with a nonchalance that shocks Dust.
The individual has always seemed reckless to the boy but here the man renews once again all the conception that the young man had about him.
There remains only the girl and Dust who exchange a long shocked look between them.
Finally Cherubin tells him:
-I'm going to get a pair of pants...