Chapter 3

"Linda" James whispered. He must've fallen asleep while watching the last movie because a different movie was on. He whispered because he wanted to know if she was awake and still didn't want her to be awake. If they could stay like that for a couple more seconds...

He got no response.

Linda was still feeling a little bit weird and just a teensy bit shy about the position they were in. How did it even happen?

Her left thigh was locked in between his thighs and she could feel a throbbing sensation in between his thighs. Her head lay on his chest while she crossed her arms around his abdominal region to his back.

His chest felt comfortable and the way he held her made her feel wanted... Which was a sad truth she hated to admit... Did she want to feel wanted? She told herself a lot of times that she didn't need these kinds of stuff. But was she being honest with herself?

But none of these questions mattered because she could barely hear her wild thoughts. Her mind was almost clear leaving enough space for her to focus on the sensuality of his breathing. It was irregular and it weirdly matched hers. She appreciated how his body felt exactly like the sofa; firm but in a soft way.

"Linda" he called again when she seemed like she wanted to move away from him. But she didn't answer.

"Are you awake?" His voice was vibrating through his chest and she loved the sound of it.

"no," she said

He chuckled at the ridiculous response but said nothing more. It seemed as though they had a mutual agreement not to move and just remain in that cuddling position, without saying it out. It was almost as if they could read each other's thoughts.

"uhm" Linda decided to break the silence ... Well, it was her bladder that decided to break the cuddling position. Out of all the foods and drinks brought in the many trays, she could only get herself to take the drinks. And she took a lot of those drinks to make up for the fact that she had no appetite for the food.

"I want to go to the toilet," she said. Somehow she was glad that she had to go to the toilet because she didn't want to stay longer in that position. The longer they spent like that the less "accidental " it would seem to her in the future.

"Okay. Sorry" he said as he loosened his hold on her waist.

'why did I apologize?' he thought to himself. When he woke up earlier and felt her warm cuddle he felt not "alone " He didn't feel like doing any other thing except feeling her rising and falling chest pressed to his side. In a world full of adventures, successes, and failures that was what he needed the most. And he didn't even know that was what he needed. At first, he thought he just missed her and wanted to be in her company. But that too was perfect...

Movie what? What was going on in the movie? He had to go back to the previous movie to continue from where he thought that he stopped.

As Linda went to the toilet which was just at the corner near the entrance the feeling was still vivid in her mind; a feeling of warmth, comfort, and something else that she couldn't just define.

Immediately she closed the door to the toilet everywhere became quiet. She couldn't even hear the movie.

Then it was time for her mind to start analyzing things. Thinking about random things that might eventually lead her to anxiety.

But she wasn't going to let that happen. She whistled and whistled but it still didn't stop her mind from ruminating.

A random guy popped into her mind; someone she had known in the past, and had tried her hardest to be friends with. He was one of the smartest people she knew. She thought their friendship was going to be beautiful. But it didn't even start. She was just being delusional like she always was ... And what if she was being delusional by hanging out with James? They've only hung out a few times... But what if he starts to think that she didn't have the cleanest intentions with him? What were they even doing? Why was she cuddling with him when she decided it was best to let go of everything having to do with friendship since she was the only person who didn't understand the inner workings of it?

But the universe decided that none of that really mattered. She started to hear noises... No... They were screams!!

"Hmm," she went closer to the window. From there it didn't look like she was in the basement. She could see James's car well enough and could also see the fight going on.

She was glad she wasn't near there. If there was something she hated more than her anxiety it'd be confrontations. But this one didn't seem normal. They were really getting at each other. And one of the fighters was ruthless.

"if I fought like this I bet no one would ever look for my trouble," she said out loud in the toilet as she observed the fight.

"Okay. That's disgusting" She could've sworn that for a moment the aggressive one bit the other one on his forearm. The aggressive one looked like a man and had a smallish stature while the other one was huge, almost twice the size of the aggressive man. Yet it looked like the huge man was trying to run from him. It was as if he was losing even though he dealt huge blows to the more aggressive one. That was such an odd fight. The aggressive one always found a way to go to glue himself to the huge guy's body like a leech even after he was yanked away like a piece of paper.

'Parasite' was the perfect word for the scenario.

She started to wonder what led to this. The huge guy must've done something terribly wrong to make the other guy that angry. To the extent that he was now on top of the huge guy with his legs clasped around his torso and biting off huge chunks of flesh from the man's neck.

"What the fuck is that? " Linda screamed in terror as she took steps back as if to hide from the madness. She couldn't believe her eyes. Or was she beginning to hallucinate? Had she gotten to that level of craziness?

She could've sworn that she saw someone's flesh being torn out by another human being. What did she get herself into? Was this cinema some kind of cult? That sacrificed the people that came in during the night. She knew it!!! She could've just gone with that gut feeling!!! That thought at the back of her mind warned her it was crazy to go out at night!! Now she'd turn into one of those kinds of news spreading on social media to serve as a warning against night travels.