The Seasons

Chapter 14

He cleared his throat and relaxed his shoulders, looking down. He should have worn better clothes, but it was too late. He ensured Cairo stayed behind him as he knocked on the broken door with the paint chipping off in certain corners.

His sensitive ears caught the heavy footsteps and the chain rattling before the door was thrown open. Mr Kavinsky was a mean older man. He was short with a very heavy stomach and always smelt of cigars. He was in a dirty tank top and shorts. He stared up at Wing through his bushy eyebrows.

His eyes narrowed. “Where have you been?! You owe me six months' worth of rent.”

Wing froze; he had planned this out, and when the time to speak arrived, he froze. God, he hated confrontation. No, more like he hated the fact he was yelling at him.

A hand on his lower back snapped him out of his thoughts, and he lurched away from the touch, staring at Cairo with wide eyes. Right, he reminded himself. It was Cairo who had touched him. Cairo ignored the reaction, letting his hand fall to the side as he smiled. “Wing, get your spare key and go pick your things up. I’ll deal with your landlord.”

Wing wanted to ask Cairo if he would kill him, but he said nothing, trying to keep his breathing calm, as he stared just above his landlord’s eyes. The man eyed Wing and his odd dressing choice. The landlord opened his mouth to say something, but when Cairo cleared his throat, he shut it. Mr Kavinsky grabbed the spare key beside the door and roughly pushed it into Wing’s hands.

The younger man smiled at them both before practically bolting to the side of the apartments and climbing the third-floor stairs. He found his door, 3C. He put the key into the lock, and he couldn’t avoid how his hands trembled. Could vampires' hands even tremble?

He focused on what appeared to be the blood rushing to his head as the loud buzzing seemed, and he tried to calm down. Human him would have taken deep breaths, but how was he supposed to calm down when he didn’t need to breathe anymore? He still inhaled, hoping the expansion of his lungs would trick his mind into believing he was living and that this was helping him.

Wing wasn’t sure how long he had stood frozen at his door, staring at the chipping paint with a trembling hand on the brass doorknob. Cairo appeared, placing his hand on the man’s shoulder, and he jumped.

“What are you doing? Go on.”

Wing nodded. “I know. I know. I am; I’m just trying to brace myself.”

Cairo said nothing as he patiently waited for Wing to unlock the door. Wing did manage to open the door two minutes later, and he walked in, the stale air assaulting his nose. He scrunched his nose in distaste as he walked over to the curtains and windows, opening them both. With the sun shining in, he could see the mess left when he fought back. The broken lamp, his textbook thrown onto the floor, the shattered picture frame, the glass pieces still left where the frame had fallen.

Cairo frowned as he looked around. “They took you from your home?”

Wing nodded, wringing his hands in front of him. “Ah, yeah.”

He leaned down, picking up his discarded textbook, the notebook in which he had taken notes. He eyed his valuables. His MacBook and iPad remained where he had left them, on his bed. He found it odd that they had taken him and only him when the most expensive things in this room were there. But he didn’t question it.

He got onto his knees to look under his bed for his duffle bag; he grabbed it and shook off the extra dust. Wing began walking around his small place, picking up his ipad and laptop and their charges before he stuffed them both in his MacBook sleeve and pushed them to the bottom of his bag. He also grabbed his textbooks and notebooks. Wing had his duffel bag full in under five minutes. He wanted to leave as fast as he could. “I’m done. Let’s go.”

Cairo was staring at something in a daze. Wing rolled his eyes as he nudged the older man, who snapped out of his trance.

“Sorry. What were you saying?”

“I said, I’m done. Let’s go.”

The older man nodded and followed Wing out of the room. Wing relaxed as he stared at the blue sky the second he was out. He was glad he wouldn’t burn under sunlight; he didn’t know what he would have done if he could not witness a sunrise or sunset again. The pretty sky was what got him through his younger years.

The two got into the car and left the place. When they arrived in the apartment complex’s parking lot, Cairo stared at his steering wheel. “Are you not coming in?”

“No. Give me a second. I’ll be in soon. Also, Wing, did you speak to Grey, Jem, Micah or Slaine about helping?”

Wing rubbed the back of his neck. “I haven’t seen Slaine since that night in The Seasons, I did speak to Jem yesterday, and he was drunk and said Grey was in the corner having a meltdown, but he was too drunk to help him, and then he started crying because he couldn't help him. He also mentioned Micah and Alexander. Micah and Alexander we’re arguing about your request.”

Cairo exhaled as he stared at the steering wheel. “I can’t believe it was those same morons who broke the curse. Thanks, Wing. I’ll see you soon.”

Wing nodded and left the car, entering the large lobby. God, he could not believe he was living here now. It was so much better than his run-down apartment. Sure, he had been cautious around Cairo the first couple of days, and with the things his best friend told him, they didn’t paint the older man in a nice picture. But he realised Cairo was a pretty decent man; he had helped calm Wing down from at least five panic attacks, he had made sure Wing had taken breaks, and he went as far as going to the countryside one night, where the light pollution wasn’t as apparent so they could both stargaze.

On the sixth floor, Wing got off and headed to his door, but his eyes landed on Thorne’s door across the hall. So he nodded to himself. He went inside independently and dropped his things off before storming over to his best friends and knocking on the door.

He waited almost a minute, and when Thorne didn’t come out, he started banging on the black door instead. “I know you’re in there. Open up!”

A few seconds later, a very dishevelled Thorne appeared. His dark hair was a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot. He was in a stained black t-shirt and shorts. And his eyes narrowed on Wng. “Wing, you know I have that essay.”

Wing rolled his eyes and pushed past Thorne, walking into the apartment. The wood and sage apartment was messy, and the air was stale. “I know you don’t need to breathe, but open a window. And take a shower.”

“I don’t sweat.”

“You look like s**t. Take a shower. And after, we’re going to The Seasons.”

“Oh, good. I’m going to get some Bloody Marys.”

“Alcholol at this time?”

“Oh, no. I mean, yes. But these bloody marys are like caffeine for vampires. It’s a godsend. Why are we going there?”

“You need a change of scenery, and I want to see if they’re hiring.”

Thorne’s eyes practically popped out of his head. “You want to work there?”

“Yes. I need money, and Neo and the rest own it, so I don’t see why not. You can bring your things and work there. But go shower, seriously.”

Thorne eyed his bedroom but then sighed, nodding. “Okay, fine. Fine. But don’t go in my room, I have all my work out, and I’ll kill you if you mess with anything.”

Wing was tempted to see what exactly Thorne was working on to leave him in such a messy state. Still, he decided against it as he didn’t want to interrupt whatever chaotic organisation would be occurring in that room, so he sat on the couch and waited.

~*~