Until The Very End

CHAPTER 8: Strange Dreams

            That was the most twisted morning Matt had ever have. Bonnie’s heart failure and the breast cancer of Dhan’s mother was unexpected. Despite of that bad morning he had, he was over the moon to help them.

            Rodolfo was in the shower when Mr and Mrs Petterson and Bonnie entered his room to say goodbye. Matt was downstairs, re-looking at the Petterson’s family pictures. He was told by Mrs Petterson once again to go to Rodolfo’s room to change his black shirt that has drops of syrups before. Bonnie hugged him tightly for goodbye, and her parents grinned at him. Mr Petterson couldn’t forget what Matt had said before at the garage. It left him no choice but to accept his help. He needed it. His family needed it. And most importantly, Bonnie needed it.

            Matt walked outside right after Mr Petterson drove out to check how was Dhan doing inside of the car. Surprisingly, he was crying. Not in pain, but in joy. For the first time, he got out of the car before Matt could open the door to talk to him. Dhan swung his arms open and tied it around Matt. He hugged Matt even more tightly than Bonnie did, repeating his only two words.

            “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.”

            He hugged him back saying, “It’s okay. It’s the least thing I can do.”

            “Least thing?” asked Dhan. His watery eyes were fixed to Matt’s. “This is the biggest help I’ve ever received.”

            Dhan had already found out that Matt gave him money for his mother’s hospital bills. His reactions were the same as Mr Petterson’s. He wiped out his tears when Matt asked;

            “Do you want to go inside for a glass of water? My friend is alone inside, and it would be better if we wait for him inside. Oh, and so that you’ll meet him at last.”

            “Don’t worry too much about me. I’m okay here. I’ll get a chance to meet him here, so there will be no need for going in there,” Dhan replied, smiling.

            “Are you sure?”

            “Pretty, sure. Thanks again.”

            “No problem. Well, I’ll go back inside to change my shirt. It slipped in my mind to tell you that my shirt isn’t clean when you came running for a hug. I’m sorry,” Matt explained.

            “It’s okay. I’ll be waiting here,” Dhan got inside of the car.

            Matt nodded at him and went back inside of the house. Before he passed the mirror, he looks at himself at it. He really needs to change his shirt. The syrup that was cleaned by only water had dried up and it was obvious. Because of that, he went upstairs and to Rodolfo’s room. The room was tidy just like his room. Matt can hardly see one trash or dirt or dust everywhere. Rodolfo’s luggage was seated on his bed. The walls that were facing the studying table has posters of famous and skilled basketball players. The hanging shelf was filled with figures of people, trophies, and medals. Others were things he collected from every place he had been with his families, such as the white heart-shaped rock and the glistering seashells on top of the sand that was inside of the clear bottle.

            He turned around and saw another door with two quarter notes sign drawn in black ink. It was locked. He was curious about what his friend was hiding inside of that room. But after a few minutes, he stops overthinking about it. He instantly removed his suit and black shirt. Just in, the door that leads to the bathroom opened, and there Rodolfo was. Only on his boxer briefs. Both of them grew their eyes bigger to see each other.

            “Oh, Rod. I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean t-to…” It was the first time that Rodolfo heard Matt stuttering.

            Standing in front of the bathroom door, he took a glimpse of Matt’s athletic type body and said, “No, no. It’s okay, I know. Mom told me you need a shirt to change on.”

            “Oh, right. She also told me twice to come up here.” Matt added. He took a quick look at Rodolfo’s body when Rodolfo turns around to close the door. Like his’s, Rodolfo’s body is an athletic type, but only the chest and abs were much bigger.

            Rodolfo awkwardly faced Matt again, and peek at his body once more. “Well, uhmm, there are plenty of clean clothes in that cabinet. You could choose whatever you want. I’m sure anything will perfectly fit at you since we have the same body size and type.”

            Rodolfo pointed at the cabinet beside the locked door that had a two quarter notes sign. He tried his best to avoid gazing at Matt’s body but he couldn’t. Matt opened the cabinet without any other words to reply.  One by one, he checked the clothes looking for the perfect shirt that will suit his navy blue suit. Not a lot of moment of silence, Rodolfo asked.

            “Been going to the gym? Your body is perfect as it is.”

            “Yeah, thanks,” responded Matt, bringing out a white shirt from the cabinet to see what it looks like under the sunlight.

            Matt returned the shirt back inside and went on finding another one. He was confused that Rodolfo did not ask nor say anything after he answered his question. So, he spoke.

            “Although we will use a private jet as transportation from here to Italy, we still need to carry a passport. You have a passport right?”

            “Yes, I have. Got one last year,” answered Rodolfo, putting up his pants. “What’s the name of the gym you goes to for a workout? We could go together.”

            Stunned ‘cause he did not expect that question, he said, “Sounds fun, but I have actually a personal gym at home. It’s the only place where I workout.”

            “Oh, right.”

            “But if you want a companion at the gym, you are always welcome at my house. You could stay there as long as you want, plus it’s free,” replied Matt. He turned around for a while to look at Rodolfo, who was staring at him, topless.

            Rodolfo bowed down and grabbed his long brown sleeve that was on the bed beside his luggage.  While putting it on, he said, “Thanks, buddy. A lot.”

            Finally, Matt found a shirt from the cabinet – a plain black v-neck shirt. He immediately wore it and took his suit.  He was very happy with that shirt.

            “Wise choice. I love it. That shirt has fresh memories,” beamed Rodolfo, fixing his hair in front of the mirror.

            “Like what?” questioned Matt.

            “That was the shirt I was wearing when I kicked Zander and his friend's asses before. Also, that was the same shirt I was wearing when I first saw you at the university. It’s my favourite, actually,” replied Rodolfo, looking from that shirt to Matt.

            “Do you want me to change it?”

            “No, no. I’m glad you have chosen it.”

            “Uhmm, okay. Well, I’ll wait you downstairs.”

            Rodolfo nodded as his response.

Looking again at the pictures that were in the living room, especially the picture that they were on the vacation, he remembered something but couldn’t figure out what. He sat on the couch where Bonnie was seated earlier with him. This time he remembered Bonnie. Everything about Bonnie. He stood up and marched to the kitchen for a glass of water. When he came back, Rodolfo was on his way downstairs, carrying his luggage.

            “Ready for a trip?” asked Matt, trying to look normal.

            “Very excited,” said Rodolfo. “But I am worried about mom and dad. And also to Bonnie.”

            “They’ll be fine. Whatever you are thinking right now is probably not what they are thinking right now. Trust me. Just enjoy this trip.” Matt responded, giving Rodolfo a smile.

            Rodolfo led the way to the main door, still carrying his luggage. From the door outside, he saw a fancy sports car parked at the front fence. It was different from the Lamborghini that Matt unintended to bring to the university. He also saw the man from inside of the car, whose head was facing them. Rodolfo cannot clearly see his face because of the windshield of the car. While still looking at Dhan, he only realized that Matt had already walked past him. Matt continued walking without looking at Matt as he locked their house door.

            Few seconds, Rodolfo followed Matt. That was when Dhan came out of the car. Both of them finally saw each other faces clearer than crystal water. They were standing straight, staring at each other. However, Matt was in between the two.

            “Rodolfo, this is Dhan, my personal driver. Dhan, this is my friend, Rodolfo,” Matt introduced the two to each other as pleasing as he could, smiling.

            “Pleased to meet you,” Dhan stretched his right arm, indicating a handshake.

            Rodolfo took it, replying, “Me too.”

            Without anything else, Matt opened the door of his car, “Get in.”

            Dhan and Rodolfo looked at each other, thinking of who should take the seat beside the driver’s seat. Beside Matt.

            “Shouldn’t I be the one who will drive?” asked Dhan to Matt awkwardly.

            Matt looked at them both for a moment, grabbed his black suitcase, got out and moved to the rear seat of the car. When none of the two, moved their muscles to set themselves in the car, he talked.

            “Oh, come on guys. Quit being so shy. Dhan, you drive, and Rod, give me your things and take the seat beside Dhan. I’ll put them beside me.”

            They followed what Matt had said. Dhan opened the car door on the driver seat, and Rodolfo gave his luggage to Matt, then went to the other side of the car. Before Rodolfo could sit on the seat, Dhan took his bag, leaving a “sorry” to Rodolfo. When they were all settled inside, Dhan turned his head around to Matt for a go signal. Rodolfo watched him.

            Matt nodded to Dhan, and Dhan began driving. None of them spoke for a minute. Matt was looking outside of the car window, Rodolfo was head-straight, eyes on the road, and so was Dhan while driving. About five minutes later, Matt spoke while his eyes fixed outside. He sounded tired.

            “Get to know each other. Have a nice conversation. I’ll listen to music so that I won’t bother you two.”

            Then he took his headphones from his suitcase. He turned the volume to the maximum limit so that he won’t hear any voices from Dhan and Rodolfo. Few more minutes, his sight blurred out, and his hearing sensation became softer and tinier until he completely heard nothing.

            It was pitch-black when he opened his eyes, but he heard someone talking. It was a male voice. The words were words he never heard before. He thought it was a different language. The first blinked he did makes him see everything around him. He gasped when he realized that he was not in his car anymore. Even more, his hands and feet were tied up tightly. He was sitting on the bench, sweats were pouring all over his body. He was kidn*pped. Two men were standing behind the chair, where he sat, and one on his front, holding a baseball bat. Their faces were covered by a black balaclava. The room was tiny. No windows, except for the little hole where the little fan was placed.

            The man with the baseball bat shouted the moment he saw Matt lifted his head, “SO, DIE IN A MOST PAINFUL DEATH OR YOU TELL US THE PASSWORD?”

            “I’ll… take… you… to… hell… with… me…,” he breathed, ogling to the stranger man.

            “TAKE HIS FRIEND!” the same man bellowed from the two other men.

            Before the two strangers reach the door, there were gunshots heard outside that made them pause. The gunshots were continuos and were coming nearer. Suddenly, it stopped, then the door burst open. One bullet per shot on the head killed the three men.  It was a quick three shots. The armed man came to Matt and untied him, with five strong words.

            “Let’s get you out here.”

            But Matt didn’t trust the man. He thought that the man was another kidnapper, and helped him to be his kidn*pped. So when the man finished untying him and went straight to the door, Matt attacked him. He got the gun from the man so fast and aimed it at him. The man raised his both hands automatically.

            “Who are you? And what is this place?” asked Matt angrily.

            “Relax man, it’s just me. Rodolfo, your friend,” Rodolfo removed the balaclava he was wearing, panting and looking at Matt nervously. “Let’s go. There’s no time!”

            They hurriedly run away from that small room, and everything went black again. He can’t see nor hear anything, but he can feel the pain in his body and the strong hand that was holding his hand very hard. Then again, with a single blink, everything went back to normal. But at this time, he was lying on the soft bed. He immediately sits up ‘cause he still remember himself being kidn*pped by some strangers who spoke a different language. He looked right, and, all of the sudden, Rodolfo hugged him just like how he holds Matt’s hand so tight.

            “You fainted while we were escaping!” exclaimed Rodolfo nervously.

            Matt let him go and asked, “How did you bring me back to this hotel room?”

            “I carried you. I was – “

            “Why would you help me at the time like that?!” Matt cut him off, raising his voice.

            “I was afraid that they might hurt you. Or worst, kill you,” he answered, sounding worried.

            “Still, you shouldn’t have done that! You have the chance to escape, you should have called the police, instead of running all the way down there to save me!” Matt replied angrily.

            “I couldn’t leave you behind! Don’t you understand it?!”

            “Why not? In a situation like this, you should’ve set aside your feelings and emotions!” Matt replied, standing up and marching away from the bed.

            “They have guns. Most of them have guns against you. And you stand nothing that is why I came to help you,” Rodolfo said with a soft voice, following Matt’s steps. He hated arguing with Matt.

            “Exactly!” Matt shouted at last. “They have guns! It’s too risky for you to help me at that time. You could have died. You could’ve killed yourself from your… your stupidness!”

            “I’d rather die trying to help the most important person in my life than live in misery. And I’m not afraid of their guns. My determination in saving you has strengthened me because I can’t lose you. I couldn’t leave you behind!” Rodolfo also shouted back.

            Matt walked on the right side of the bed and sat. And again, Rodolfo followed and sat beside him. “Why not, Rod? Why not? I still don’t understand your excuses. There must have something you don’t want to tell me that explains your actions.”

            “I thought you would have seen it after we escape. You are cold as ice, hard as stone. But I understand it. I already knew this is the answer that awaits me,” responded Rodolfo, bowing down his head.

            “What? This whole thing, what was it all about? Tell me,” Matt asked for clarifications.

            Just then, Rodolfo couldn’t hide and control himself anymore, he moved his face closer to Matt and locked his lips with Matt’s. He put his left hands on Matt’s left shoulder, and the right one on Matt’s back and continued to kiss him. He didn’t saw nor feel Matt’s reaction so he kissed strongly this time, wrapping his arms around Matt’s body.

            Unexpectedly, Matt kissed him back the same way Rodolfo kissed him. He holds Rodolfo’s face with his hands, then runs his hands through Rodolfo’s hair. Rodolfo pressed his body against Matt’s body while talking to himself in mind. Their eyes were closed, feeling each other’s heat.

            “So this is how his lips are. Soft and smooth. I wonder if he kissed someone already. I’d be jealous if he did.”

            After a while, Matt pulled himself back. They both stared at each other with their hands placed restlessly on each other’s shoulder. Both of them breathed deeply. And both looked at each other’s lips that were reddish and wet.

            “This is why I can’t lose you. I love you, Matt.”

            Then everything went black for the third time. This time, he feels his body shaking. And a two male’s voice calling his name repeatedly. They were waking him up.

            “Hey, Matt. Matt. Wake up, we’re here.”

            “Come on, Matt. Are you okay?”

            “Matt, Matt.”

            “Matt, come on, wake up.”

            “Do you think he can take it to Italy?”

            “I don’t know. He’s never been like this before.”

            “Come on, Matt. Wake up.”

            “Matt, you okay?”

            Matt opened his eyes. Two faces appeared in his sight – Dhan and Rodolfo’s faces. He removed the headphone that was on his ears, music was still playing, and he looked outside. They were inside of a closed building structure – the hangar. In front of the car, about 20 feet away, was a private jet. On its right was two men standing – probably the pilots.

            He looked back at Dhan and Rodolfo, smiling. “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was asleep all this time. Let’s go, Rod.”

            Matt got out of the car with his black suitcase. Rodolfo got also out and take his luggage that was beside Matt earlier.

            “Dhan, we’ll go now. See you when we came back,” Matt told Dhan from the window of the car.

            Dhan got out of the car and hugged him again, saying, “Thanks again, Matt. You were a big help. Be safe.”

            “Nothing to worry about. Be safe all the way back. Tell uncle that I’ll be probably out of this city for about five days,” Matt replied, giving Dhan a pat on his shoulders.

            “I will,” Dhan let go of Matt then turned to Rodolfo, grinning, “Be safe. Have a nice trip to you both. It was nice talking with you.”

            Rodolfo gave Dhan a handshake and said, “Thank you. We’ll see you again.”

            Both of them marched to the private jet. And Dhan drove out of the hangar. Matt can still remember his dream. The kidn*pped. The gunshots. The escaping. The argument. The kiss. Everything. He thought it was real, especially when Rodolfo kissed him. He couldn’t believe it, though it was just a dream.

            He looked every minute at Rodolfo, trying to figure out by his actions if he would do such a thing. But Rodolfo was normal. He doesn’t seem what Matt think. “Surely he is not attracted to guys,” Matt thought. He tried to forget the dream, but as long as he saw Rodolfo’s face, it was and stayed fresh in his mind.

            As they reached the two pilots, they stopped. Rodolfo was admiring their epaulettes through look. Both of the pilots had four stripes, meaning they were both captains. Both were also at a young age and, like them, has a good looking face.

            “Good morning, CEO Williams,” the two pilots greeted him.

            “And to you both,” Matt replied to them. “Is everything ready?”

            “Martin and I made sure that this flight is safe and most importantly, of course, private,” one of the pilots answered, removing his shades. His black-coloured eyes matched his beard.

            “Terrence and I are very excited to fly you to Italy again. It’s been a long time since then,” the pilot named Martin added with a curve on his lips. Unlike Terrence, he doesn’t have any shades. His face was perfect as it is – it suits his pilot uniform.

            “Thank you,” thanked Matt. “Oh, right. This is Rodolfo. A college friend. He’s joining us today. Rod, meet Martin and Terrence. Our most hardworking captains.”

            “Hi,” greeted Rodolfo, having a handshake to Martin and Terrence.

            “Very pleased to meet you here.”

            “We love to have you here.”

            Matt led the way to the jet’s entrance door and inside. Rodolfo followed him slowly, looking to every corner of the door for no reason at all. As he saw the inside, his eyes grew bigger than they were. His legs and feet were frozen to the neutral green-grey and green-beige coloured carpet. Unlike any commercial planes or any public aircraft, it has no chairs for a single person. Instead, a medium-dark grey white sofa stood on both sides with four black pillows each. Between the two sofas were a light-blue glass table and a yellow glass vase with red roses on top. At the end of the two sofas was a vertical half border wall that divides the jet rooms into two, the pilot’s section not included. On the back of the wall was a white bed, good for couples and beside it, a wooden table and a little wooden cabinet under it. There was a television inside, which could make anyone on the board have something to watch or play video games. The colours of every things inside the jet were inspired by the colours used on the 1665 famous painting named ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ by Johannes Vermeer.

            Rodolfo looked around. He examined every detail of whatever he caught in his eyes. That was his first time and was very honoured to be in a billionaire’s private jet. He walked even more slowly as he went through and explored the inside.

            “Hey, Rod,” Matt called from the bed while Rod was still on the section where the sofas were. “Get ready for the short takeoff. You wouldn’t want to remember having a bad time at your first takeoff.”

            “Right,” replied Rodolfo, not realizing that Martin and Terrence had already secured the door and went to the cockpit.

            Matt had his navy blue suit removed and his black suitcase placed on top of the wooden table when Rodolfo came to the bed-part of the jet. He placed his luggage aside and sat on the bed. He noticed that Matt wasn’t feeling very well since he fell asleep in his sports car, so he asked calmly, “Are you okay?”

            “Tired, actually,” he admitted, avoiding Rodolfo’s eyes because of the dream he had. “Oh, right. Sorry if I had to borrow a shirt from you. That suitcase doesn’t have any,” he said before lying on the bed, closing his eyes.

            “Then, what’s in there?”

            “Money and some personal stuff other than clothes.”

            “Do you want me to give you a glass of water?”

            For one minute, Matt didn’t answer. After, he placed his right arm on the forehead and said in his soft, tired voice instead, “I should rest. Watch a movie or play games there. If you didn’t feel like doing it, do whatever you want.”

            “One question.”

            “What was it?”

            “Why you haven’t told me that…”

            Before Rodolfo finished his question. Matt passed out. He’s still breathing but was unaware of his surroundings. It was again a full pitch-black he saw with his eyes and couldn’t hear anything. One blink and he was inside of an old library, section D. He looked around. The library must have been abandoned for ages. There were spider webs all over the corner of every shelf, and the books are covered in specks of dust. Although it was pretty old, the place was candlelit. Candles were held by old-designed wall scones. The scones were made on wood and had few Latin symbols carved.

            He took his first step. As scary as it is, the floor made a creaky sound. The floorboard has cracks, some of its planks have even holes. It was late when he realized that he was holding a book. A big thick book with covers made of leather. He moved closer to the nearest scone, held the book at jaw level, and blew off the dust. He used his hands to remove the thick dust. What amazed him was that the book was locked. Two small keyholes prevent him to open the book – one on the upper left corner of the book and another on the bottom left.  Like characters carved on the wall scones, the front cover has Latin symbols, which he did not understand. He aggressively examined the book. Finding words he could perceive. When he got on the back cover, there was finally words he understands, but never knew why. Three sentences were written.

            The first sentence was written above the cover. It was the longest of them all;

                       “Any knowledge written in this book is strictly forbidden to any living beings

                                       who have the ability to interpret something by any means.”

            The second sentence was written in the middle;

                                              “Contains most strange yet ineffable knowledge.”

            And the last sentence was written at the lower part of the cover;

                                                                         “See for yourself.”

            Confused and agitated by seeing the book, he placed it on the shelf and started to look around. He followed the section of every shelf. If he was on section D, then it wasn’t far to reach section A. And section A must be the nearest one to the library lobby, at least to his thought. But when he got on section A, there was no library lobby to be sighted. It turns out that it wasn’t a public library. Instead of seeing a lobby, he saw a stair leading to the bottom floor. He took the stairs down. Every step makes a squeak sounds, which annoyed him.

            It surprised him when he saw stacks of library tables and chairs on what seemed to be the only entrance and exit to the library. But perplexity rolled over in his mind when he saw one clean rectangular table with a dozen pile of books and a lighted candle on the chamberstick, standing beside an old standing pendulum. He felt scared out of the moment. He approached the table. Someone was studying an old map. Suddenly, there was a thud. He jumped in horror and looked where it came from.

            “Is he your friend?” a strange male voice asked.

            Matt couldn't see the man’s face. The man was standing in the dark. He took the chamberstick on the table with his trembling hand and moved closer to the man. As he moved forward, the man steps backwards in the dark. Matt continued to walk until a frozen body revealed by the candlelight, lying on the floor. He kneeled to look a little closer. He gasped when he saw Rodolfo. It was Rodolfo’s body. He was dead.

            “What did you do to him?” Matt asked, panicking.

            “Who are you? And how did you get in here?”

            He angrily stood up and run to the man, still holding the chamberstick. When he was about to attack, the man pushed him hard. But Matt didn’t feel it, instead, he heard a loud crash at his back. He turned around to check. He was flabbergasted to see his body along with the chamberstick on the floor.