The Streets

Guy flattened the collar of his suit. The purple fabric looked flawless. He stretched his fingers to relieve the stress from the pressure his rings exerted. Also, when he curled his fingers up again his knuckles cracked. It made him look tough.

He stared blankly as the woman in front of him threw him the wad of cash she'd stashed in her bra.

"That's all of it," she said.

Guy took it and fanned the money in front of his face. The timid-looking man beside him just watched, then began to count up the money as Guy handed it to him.

The woman exchanged some flirtatious expressions with Guy as they waited for the timid man to finish. The man wrote a few things on a clipboard in his lap, then split the pile in two.

"Good work, beautiful," Guy said to the woman. He winked as he gave one of the piles to the woman. The other pile was taken by the timid man and brought into another room.

"This month seems to be a good one, huh?" the timid man asked upon his return.

"Indeed it does, Chris. And you've been doing a wonderful job, too. Why don't you, uh, take a bonus?" Guy briefly raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, well, that's kind of you, sir," Chris nervously stammered, "but I'm spoken for."

Guy sat back in his chair and observed Chris. "You are? Since when?"

"Last Tuesday."

"So it worked out with your friend?" Guy asked. Chris blushed as he nodded his head. "Lucky you. I wish you both the best... as long as it doesn't interfere."

"It won't interfere," Chris eagerly replied. "He doesn't even know about this. This job. My job."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I might. He means a lot to me, you see. It's not like I would scream it loud to people on the streets, no offense."

"Yeah, well, let's keep it that way. Purely for your safety, of course," Guy added. "I mean, the others might not be so kind to you if they know you work for me. They probably know you're the best around."

"I wouldn't say I'm the best really," Chris passively said. "There's not so much work involved anyway."

"Not much work involved? You've managed to hide millions of dollars over the course of three years. How is that not much work?"

"I just mean it's not much compared to all those girls."

"Those girls would mean nothing without all that you've done. Hell, without you, I'd have been caught ages ago." Guy cracked his knuckles purely out of boredom. In all honesty, he didn't mind that Chris never believed him. It was good to have a level-headed person around, someone who wouldn't try to pull anything.

"I think that was the last girl for the night," Guy said. "You can go home now."

"Thank you, sir. Have a lovely evening," Chris replied with a bow.

"You too."

Chris left the rundown building as quickly as he could. He had to, otherwise he could risk being mugged or shot or something. These parts of town were really dangerous, but he had to do what he had to do. This was the only job option he had available, despite all of his college education.

He always walked, even though his apartment was quite a number of blocks away. If he were to drive a car- something he didn't even own, anyway- then there was a high chance of it not lasting more than a few hours in those conditions. He liked to walk, though.

Chris was very pleased to be hit with the smell of dinner as he walked into his apartment. After a long day of work, food was just what he needed. Well, one of the things he needed.

"Hey. You're just in time," Jonny smiled at him from the doorway of the kitchen.

They sat down and ate the delicious meal Jonny had prepared- fettuccine and radishes, an odd yet tasty combination- and briefly touched upon the happenings of their day.

Once the food had been consumed entirely, they decided it was time to lay down. With the lights off, Chris could barely see anything in the room, but the small light protruding through the window from the streets lightly illuminated Jonny's figure.

"You don't think we're moving too fast, do you?" Chris asked. "Only, it's barely been a week."

"But, Chris, we've known each other for nine years. I don't think any of this could have happened soon enough."

Chris smiled and sighed happily. "So true... But I still feel like- ...You don't know where I work, do you?"

"Would it make you feel better to tell me?" Jonny asked.

"I work downtown."

Even in the dim light Chris could see the look of concern on Jonny's face. "Isn't that a bit sketchy around there?"

"Yeah."

"Who do you work for?"

"Uh... Berryman."

"Berryman..." The name sounded familiar to Jonny. He couldn't quite place where he'd heard it from... unless... "Is he that... you know?"

"Uh huh." Chris bit his lip, hoping that Jonny would take the news at least relatively civilly. He didn't have to like it. Chris wouldn't have liked it.

After Jonny had taken a few minutes to think, he shrugged a little and turned to Chris. "I work at Wegmans."

-

“Oh no.” The room had been silent for nearly ten minutes. Jonny was almost asleep, but not anymore.

“What is it?”

“You don’t think I’m a prostitute, do you?” Chris was lying on his back, but he turned his head to face Jonny. “I’m not a prostitute.”

“Hey… as long as you’re safe-“

“I’m an accountant. I promise. I have a degree and everything.”

“Good,” Jonny breathed with relief.

“It’s just that there weren’t many jobs around when I was looking, and Berryman- well, he pays very generously,” Chris explained. “Even if he kinda scares me sometimes.”

“All right,” Jonny calmly replied. He moved closer to Chris, and Chris smiled as he was brought into Jonny’s arms.

“Dude, this guy’s got you beat- uh, no pun intended.”

“What pun?”

“Berryman, his name’s- never mind. Listen, his girls are takin’ over all your business, dude, you gotta fight back.”

Why should he be listening to this pipsqueak? This kid didn’t look a day over nineteen, with his awfully slicked-back black hair and terrible acne. He hadn’t even been aware of this kid working for him until now.

“All right. Where are his girls at? Maybe we, uh, we go for a drive. See what happens.”

The kid’s eyes lit up and he looked shiftily about the place. “Yeah, yeah, a drive. Yeah, a drive.”

“Go tell Horatio to get the car ready.”

The kid nodded and ran off. What a bothersome day. As if he didn’t already know that Berryman was taking his clientele. Well, that Berryman would soon learn a thing or two if he had anything to do with it.

“Car’s ready, boss.”

“Thank you, Horatio.”

The car was pulled around the front of the building. As the three walked outside, the kid ahead of the older men, a gunshot went off in the background. It was nothing unusual.

“You first, boss.”

“How kind of you, Horatio.” Horatio was really asking to be dropped. Did he know who he was speaking to? He didn't need permission to enter his own car ahead of everyone else.

“Dude, this is gonna be so awesome! Fraking awesome!”

Definitely not a day over nineteen. The kid had been maybe working three months max.

“Listen, kid, we're just going for a drive. No one said anything's going to happen.”

“Naw, but just riding in this car is bomb enough for me! I've never been in a such a sick ride.”

It almost seemed like he was trying too hard. The kid probably was. Everyone tried too hard in his presence.

They all wanted to impress him. They wanted his approval for some God forsaken reason. Like he was someone to look up to. Hell, he'd messed up his life, he knew it. He wasn't proud of his accomplishments, as eager as the others were to praise him. He'd even soiled his name, which he regretted keeping in the first place. Some would hear about him, say: “I knew him. I knew that man. He was such a kind boy, wasn't he? Not much of a trouble maker like those other ones. But look at him now. Look at what he's become. What has become of” - He looked at his reflection in the tinted window of the back seat - “little William Champion?”

Well, he was no longer little. He no longer had that hair that everyone adored. In order to maintain his rough exterior, he'd shaved it all off. He could grow it back in a matter of months if he wanted to, but he didn't.

The streets were nearly empty. He expected them to be. Any girls out that night were probably already gettin' busy. It was pretty late at night, maybe two or so.

He hadn't exactly kept his name. People liked to call him The Champ. It was close enough for him to feel a twinge of guilt every time he heard it; the last thing he'd told his mother, as he was sitting at her bedside while she slowly died, was that he would do his best to make her proud. He promised her that she would be able to look down and smile at her son.

She was probably grimacing.

And he never knew his father, so his opinion didn't matter.

“Where to boss?”

Will never broke his gaze from the window. The kid thought he was admiring the scenery, but he was really staring into his own dark brown eyes, trying to figure out why he lived the way he did. “Just around, Horatio.”

“Yeah, Horatio, keep up with the times. We gotta check stuff out 'round here, you know?” The kid leaned over to Will and lowered his voice, “Berryman's probably got a lot smarter driver, too. Just sayin'.”

And he probably didn't have a teenaged wannabe following him around.

-

"Sir?" Guy looked up from his desk.

"Yes, Chris?"

"There's someone here to see you." Guy took the matter more seriously now, sitting up straight in his chair. He breathed for a while.

"Send 'em in."

Chris turned and went through the door. A minute later he brought back a young man with slick black hair.

"Hey," he said.

"Who are you?"

The man walked forward and extended his hand to Guy. Guy looked at it with disgust. "Name's Chazz."

"What do you want?" Guy's tone indicated that his patience was wearing thin. Chazz backed away a little, but held his confidence.

"We have a little problem, you and I." Chazz flashed a devious grin and looked over at Chris. "Who's he?"

"I-I'm-"

"That's none of your concern," Guy drawled, and as Chazz turned back to him Chris took the liberty to leave. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Just a friendly chat," Chazz condescendingly replied. "No need to fret, Berryman."

"Listen, either you start gettin' to the point, or-"

Chris waited in the other room. He couldn't make out what the muffled voices were saying, but they were obviously increasing in volume.

Then suddenly there were two quick bangs, a thud, and Chris's heart sank. He held his breath and stood still. A few moments later he watched as Chazz strolled out carelessly.

Once he was gone, Chris went into the room. He tried not to look at the body lying in a pool of blood on the ground, and kept walking until he reached the back room.

He knew what to do. He knew this day would come eventually. He'd been lucky enough that Chazz was so inexperienced.

Chris stuffed the piled of money into the bags stored in the safe. He tried to move quickly so he could get back home before Chazz realized what a stupid mistake he'd made.

He worried for a moment that he'd be following Chazz on his way, but fortunately such was not the case. He realized, though, that he probably looked ridiculously suspicious walking through the streets unarmed and carrying a big black bag.

There was an engine humming beside Chris as he walked. He knew not to acknowledge its presence. Then he heard the sound of the window rolling down.

"Chris, what are you doing?"

Chris stopped and glanced over. As soon as he saw Jonny's look of concern, he ran to the other side of the car and threw himself inside.

"Drive," Chris said.

Jonny, though confused, did as he was told. Half a mile down the road he asked Chris what was going on.

"Lost my job," he vaguely replied.

"Like, you were fired, or...?"

"Like, my boss was shot and killed while I was in the other room. Not so much fired as laid off. But," Chris meekly held up the black bag, "I've got compensation."

"How much?" Jonny asked with a bit of awe.

"Twenty grand, give or take." Chris suddenly became paranoid and shoved the bag under his seat. "And I know where there's plenty more."

"Great," Jonny said, unsure of how else to reply.

Then a thought abruptly came to Chris. "What are you doing driving around here?"

"Coming home from work," Jonny answered. "There's some construction going on, so I had to take a detour through the ghetto-" He quickly glanced sideways at Chris. "Sorry."

"Doesn't offend me," Chris indifferently said with a shrug.

Eventually the car stopped, and they walked up to their apartment. As Jonny shut the door behind him, Chris stumbled into the living room, then rapidly spun on his heels.

"We have to move."

"What? Why?"

"Because they could come after us. After me, and you'd be in danger, too. We can't stay here."

"But..." Jonny was preparing himself to argue, but he quickly realized there was no need. The apartment wasn't exactly high class, his job sucked, and their neighbors were a bunch of psycho jerks.

"But... you want to live, don't you?"

Jonny nodded. "All right, we'll move."

-

“Wow, this place is ridiculously fancy.”

“Well, we have the money for it.” Chris shrugged and stepped further into the ornate hotel lobby. Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, illuminating, among other things, a giant water fountain in the center of the room. Frankly, it looked really overdone.

“How may I help you today, gentlemen?” a bubbly woman asked from behind the counter. Chris cautiously walked up to her and placed his hands on the counter's surface, tapping his fingers absentmindedly.

“I need a room.”

“Do you have a reservation?”

“No.”

“All right, let me check to see what's available.” She smiled and began to type a bunch of letters on the keyboard in front of her. After a minute or so she paused. “You'd like a room with two beds?”

“Just one.”

Her smile faltered just a tiny bit, but it was still noticeable. “All right...” She typed some more, then stuck her hand behind the counter and pulled out a set of keys. “Here you are. Your room is on the second floor.”

“Thank you,” Chris said as he took the keys. Then looked over at Jonny and nodded in the direction of the elevator.

No one else was there when the doors opened, and so Chris and Jonny were alone on the ride up.

“Could you imagine if the elevator suddenly stopped?” Chris mused. “I've always wondered what that would be like.”

“Well, you know, it wouldn't be so bad,” Jonny said in a low voice. He slyly slipped his finger into the front pocket of Chris's jeans and gave it a pull. Chris stumbled over towards him a little bit and laughed.

“Jonny!” Chris playfully pushed Jonny's arm. “Fresh.”

“Ah, come on, like you wouldn't love that.” Jonny brought his lips as close to Chris's neck as he could without actually touching any of his soft skin, then just breathed. Chris shivered a little.

“Oh, Jonny, you're gonna be the death of me,” Chris whispered, closing his eyes and enjoying the feel of Jonny's hot breath until the elevator stopped and they left to find their room. All down the corridor Jonny walked directly behind Chris so that there was barely an inch between their bodies, his hands running up and down Chris's back.

As Chris stopped to unlock their room, Jonny closed the gap between them entirely, hooking his chin over Chris's shoulder and reaching his hands around Chris's sides and down his abdomen. Eventually they came across the top of Chris's pants, and at that moment the door swung open.

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“What is it?” Jonny asked, too lustful to bother taking his eyes off of Chris. If he had, he would have noticed the two separate beds occupying the room. Chris merely pointed to the beds in response. “Figures.”

“Hmm, it's OK,” Chris said, a smile forming on his tired face. “We'll just have to push the beds together and then have lots of sex everywhere. That'll teach 'em.”

Chazz sat down without saying a word. His devious grin widened and his eyes fell upon Will's blank face.

“Are you gonna ask me why I'm here?”

“Why are you here?” Will unenthusiastically inquired.

“I took care of something for you. No worries anymore, eh?” When Will didn't respond, Chazz leaned forward in his chair and softly said, “Berryman. No more.”

“You...?” Chazz returned to his upright position and smiled broadly, nodding with great movement. “Well... congratulations.”

“More like I should be saying that to you! Now you own these streets, man!”

“What did you do with his accountant?” Will asked.

“His accoun...” Chazz's breathing slowed down and his face fell. “Uh...”

“Curly-haired guy.”

Chazz anxiously looked around the room, shaking his one leg and tapping his fingers on the other one. “He, uh... Well, I...” Chazz finally looked to Will, his eyes wrought with fear. “I didn't know that was his accountant.”

“So, you let him go?” Chazz shrugged his shoulders to confirm. Will absorbed the information and nodded as he took a deep breath. “I suppose worse things could have happened. You're sure he's gone? Berryman.”

“Oh, yeah, he was dead before he hit the ground.” Chazz positioned his fingers into gun shape and pretended to shoot a few times. “Hit him right in the heart.”

“Good,” Will said, though he had the sinking feeling that he didn't really mean it. The past few months had been sort of weird for him, and he hadn't been acting like he normally did. He didn't seem to find pleasure in his work anymore.

“I can find that guy you were saying about,” Chazz told him. “The curly-haired dude. I can find him if you want, I'm sure.”

“Yeah, do that.” It was almost just a reflex, Will saying that, and he didn't realize he'd said it until long after to words escaped his lips. It was too late then, but he found himself desperately wishing he could take it back.

-

Will paced around his office for a while. Something had to be done about his life. He almost hated who he was now.

He actually missed being that quiet kid in the corner, the one who did everything just like everyone asked and followed all the rules to a tee. It seemed to keep him out of trouble, which he feared he would be in a relatively short amount of time from now. Chazz was not someone he felt he could actually trust, and he was honestly a little afraid of being overthrown.

He wouldn't have minded handing over his position to someone else, but he knew that it wouldn't happen as simply as that. It had to end in death. It always did.

Will sat down in the chair that had grown accustomed to his body over the years, molding perfectly to his form before he even touched it. He let his hands drop over the armrests, and let his shoulders sag. He sighed tiredly and thought of what to do. Whatever way he chose, he didn't have much time left.

Chazz had left hours ago. Will wasn't sure how long it would take him to hunt down Chris. Probably not very long at all, if he was good enough. But Will wasn't sure of that, either.

All he knew was that he didn't want to do this anymore. And since he knew how it was going to end, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

“OK, I've got it,” Chris said as he reentered the hotel room. Jonny was laying on one half of the combined beds, unclad except for the sheet draped scantily over his body.

“Oh, good.” Jonny sat up, not caring where the sheet went, though it did manage to remain covering him for the most part.

Chris handed Jonny the newspaper he held in his hand, then made his way around to the other side of the bed. Jonny unfolded the paper and searched for the Classified section.

“Jonny, I thought you said you were going to be dressed by the time I got back,” Chris said, sliding under the sheet and pressing himself dangerously close against Jonny. “Not that I'm complaining.”

Jonny shrugged nonchalantly. “I was, but I decided I was too lazy to. I'm glad you enjoy it.”

“Hmm, maybe you'll enjoy it more,” Chris dreamily threatened.

He let his hand slide over Jonny's bare skin until he reached his destination. Then he quickly pulled his hand back as Jonny let out a small gasp.

“But first we need to look for a new place,” Chris said.

Jonny sighed, and Chris giggled a little to himself. Jonny began to read some of the listings on the page. Chris decided that the silence was dreadfully boring. He nuzzled up against Jonny's neck, breathing in his scent as fully as he could. His lips brushed lightly against Jonny's soft skin, and eventually he just rested his head on Jonny's shoulder and stared at the newspaper, not bothering to read anything.

“So, do you think we could find a place around here? The neighborhood seemed pretty nice.”

“Well, what about this place?”

Jonny pointed out a small ad on the bottom of the page. Chris took a few seconds to read it.

“No, no way,” he said.

“Why not? It sounds like a pretty nice place-”

“Did you even read it? 'Nice, quaint three-bedroom home. Peaceful neighborhood, relatively close to town.' It sounds like 'forget about moving somewhere fun and interesting and just come live here.'”

“I didn't realize we were looking for fun and interesting. I thought you just wanted us to leave so we could be safe,” Jonny quietly replied with a tiny bit of bitterness.

Chris sat up and furrowed his eyebrows. “Well, yeah, but, I mean... if we're going to be moving into a house, it's somewhere that we'll stay for a while. Don't you think it should be a place that doesn't make us want to shoot ourselves?”

Jonny looked up into Chris's vivid blue eyes and smiled. “Good point.”

A few hours later, Chris and Jonny had decided on a listing to check out. It was another apartment, not too far from the hotel, and the landlord wasn't asking much for the rent. Of course, that probably meant that the place wasn't all that great, but they were adamant about looking at it anyway.

Jonny was getting dressed as Chris finished taking the shower that Jonny had just previously interrupted. He looked at his wavy reflection in the steamy bathroom mirror, not really caring about grooming himself, but pretending to anyway. He wiped off some of the condensation so that the bit of the bathroom behind him he could see in the mirror was the shower, Chris's form quite visible even through the opaque glass.

Jonny walked out of the bathroom and went to grab his shoes. He heard the water stop, and within a minute Chris walked out as well, fully dressed. Jonny was always impressed by Chris's ability to speed-dress; he thought it might one day come in handy, though he wasn't sure exactly when.

Chris sat down and joined Jonny in his quest to put shoes on. They were both laced up in a matter of seconds, and Chris quickly pecked Jonny on the cheek before standing up.

Then quite abruptly came a knock on the door.

-

“Wonder who that is,” Chris said of the door, halfheartedly lifting his hand to point to it. He didn't really seem to care as he looked back at Jonny, who stood up next to him, grabbing Chris by the waist and pulling him in for a deep kiss.

Then there was another knock. Chris broke away, sighed, and answered the door.

“Maid service,” a stout woman said as he opened the door. Chris blinked at her a few times.

“OK.” He stepped aside to let the woman in, then nodded to Jonny, suggesting they leave as quickly as possible. “Have fun,” Chris added as he and Jonny left, and he shut the door behind him.

“Nice one,” Jonny deviously laughed as they headed down the hall and towards the elevator. Chris smiled at him, resting his hand on Jonny's back.

The elevator was sadly full of people when they entered it, and so Chris felt that he should try to be as gentlemanly around the others as possible, and not do what he was planning to do to Jonny. He was fine with that, though. There would be plenty of time later.

The lobby was full of people eating breakfast and doing other mundane things like that. Chris double-checked his pocket to make sure he'd brought the newspaper page with him; there was a crinkling sound and a papery feel when he shoved his hand into the fabric, and so he assumed that he had indeed brought it.

Jonny's car was parked relatively close to the hotel entrance, but it was such a lovely day that the two men decided to walk. A lot of people had decided to do that, too, and so the sidewalks were a bit crowded, but that was fine. Chris always hated to be cramped up inside a car, anyway, and he loved the open air, even if it was corrupted with the dirty city pollution.

The apartment they were to be observing was several blocks away from the hotel. As time went on, the sun began to beat down on the earth a bit more heavily, and even though he was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans Chris began to feel beads of sweat forming down his neck and his back.

“Oh, it's so hot out today, Jonny,” Chris seductively said. He sneakily slid his hand into the back pocket of Jonny's pants, a move which Jonny retaliated against by quickly licking Chris's ear.

Chris involuntarily twitched a little, and giggled as Jonny said, “Ew, you taste like sweat.” Chris took his hand back and used it to playfully push Jonny away.

“I'll bet I taste a thousand times better than you.”

“Well, that's just something we're going to have to find out later, isn't it?”

“Aw, but later is so far away.”

Chris quickly glanced over at Jonny, and the way the sun hit Jonny's green eyes, lighting them up with an alluring fire, made him stop. He reached his hand out to grab Jonny's arm, then slipped his other hand behind Jonny's neck and brushed their lips together. He felt a weird pain, though, far from the normal tingling sensation he got whenever he kissed Jonny.

“Did you feel that?” he quietly asked.

He wasn't sure why he was talking in such a low voice, until Jonny responded with, “Chris...” and stared down at Chris's chest. Chris's eyes followed, and he noticed a hole in his chest, blood spilling down the front of his shirt. Then he noticed a matching one in Jonny's chest, but before he could say anything he fell forward and collapsed onto Jonny.

“Jo... Jon...”

Jonny held on tightly as he saw a man running in the background, his slick black hair shining in the sun and distracting almost everyone's attention away from the gun in his hand. A few people were shrieking in the distance, though they were actually closer than Jonny thought, and he too began to feel lightheaded. His legs buckled and he brought Chris down with him to the ground, knowing full well that Chris would never move again.

Soon Jonny didn't even have the strength to sit up, and so he laid himself down, Chris still resting on his shoulder, and entangled his leg around Chris's. Then the two lovers just stayed there, motionless, wrapped up in each other as sirens began to blare and their blood mixed on the sidewalk in a deformed heart shape.

-

It was one o'clock when Will's eyes began to close, his tired body aching for an afternoon nap. He heard dull footsteps approaching but did nothing to acknowledge them further.

"Done." Will listed his right eyelid with great difficulty. The first thing he saw was a black bag, the next the hand that held it.

"Wonderful," Will apathetically replied. He closed his eyes again, but he knew he wasn't going to be left alone.

"Killed his boyfriend, too." There was no remorse in his tone, more pride than anything else. "And I got their cash. Dude, that Berryman was loaded!" Chazz paused, then started to laugh, refusing to stop or explain until Will looked at him again. "So was my gun."

Will blinked a few times, then sighed. He stood up and waited for a while. What he was waiting for exactly was anyone's guess. He himself didn't even really know. Chazz was still grinning smugly.

"Well, he did have a lot of clients. A lot of girls."

"That's another thing. I was thinkin' we talk to those girls, get 'em to come over to us. What's better than the protection of Champion, eh?"

"Yeah, talk to them..." Will stared at the ground. His mind was nowhere near his body; right now he could only think of Chris and how he didn't have to die. No one ever had to die. "Excuse me," Will said, and he walked in the direction of the bathroom.

"You won't take long, will you? I think we still got things to discuss." Will sharply turned around and shook his head. Chazz assumed he meant he'd be back in a few minutes. Will kept walking.

The bathroom was as clean as it always had been, the floor tiles stained with dirt, the walls with blood. It was how Will had come to power, all those years ago. He once was as ruthless as Chazz, but it had finally taken its toll. His life had caught up with him, and he hated it.

When he was young, seeing the lifeless face of a man as his last breath escaped him meant nothing. The blood trailing behind on the wall as his body sunk to the ground was nothing more than some dark red substance he should probably clean up some time. He never thought about the man's possible family. He never really knew what family was.

He looked down at his hands and wondered if he ever was that quiet boy. Maybe it had all been an act. Maybe he hadn't changed, he's only revealed his true self. Either way, he couldn't handle it. He couldn't live with the guilt.

Will turned the faucet of the large sink, and within a few seconds the water poured out warm. He ran his hands underneath and let the water wash over them. It was almost too hot, and it even burned his skin a little, but he kept his hands where they were regardless. He wanted to feel the pain.

He looked up to the mirror at his reflection, unsurprised by what he saw. The passing of time was clearly showing on his face; he was by no means old, but his forehead was starting to wrinkle and lines were forming around his mouth.

Then suddenly he became angered by the man before him, and a rage burned inside him that he could not seem to smother. He flicked his hands out, water splashing on the glass surface, but it wasn't enough. With his hand clenched in a tight fist he proceeded to smash the mirror into hundreds of tiny shards, some of which stuck in his hand and allowed for his blood to seep out. He almost liked the way it felt.

In fact, it felt so releasing, so freeing that he decided to pull one of the larger broken pieces out of the frame and slide it across his wrist. He let out an endorphin-filled sigh and watched as a tiny red line appeared. As it thickened, he did the same with his other one.

He kept the water on as he backed away, smiling and leaning against the wall. Then he grew tired again, and he sat down and let his eyes close.

In the other room, Chazz decided he was bored. For a few minutes he examined the various things on Will's desk. They weren't much more entertaining than stared into space. He looked over at where Will had disappeared. It had been quite a while since he left...

Chazz got up and slowly walked over to the bathroom. He didn't want to be intrusive, because maybe Will was just taking his time or something, but with nothing else to do he thought he might as well check. He peered inside and his eyes bugged.

Chazz stood in the doorway, too shocked to do anything else. He figured that one day he would probably kill Will, just like he did with the others, but not anytime soon. Even he thought he still had a little left to learn.

But as Chazz pushed open that bathroom door, he saw that his job had already been done for him.