Free Minds

Chapter 76.

"Ravvv?" I made sure to poke his sides for effect while mentioned his name for what seemed like the thousandth time.

   Rav, however, still refused to budge, only letting out deep-throated grunts as he swatted my hands away.

   The breath that escaped my chest was an 'I quit' one.

   But Dorian was most likely in the basement right now, thinking Rav was going to come in any minute. I couldn't just leave him hanging. Especially if he was in the same dishevelled state when he left earlier.

   What was up with that anyway?

   Now that my mind was clear (for now, anyway), I couldn't stop thinking about the Dorian. It was hard to get my mind off how he had looked, sounded, felt. If I'm being honest, my morning anger toward him had melted with one glance at those eyes.

   Leaving Dorian on his own was out of the question.

   Whether he was okay with me instead of Rav going down there or not.

   My heart skipped a beat from the pitch black darkness that welcomed me the minute I opened the basement's door. As I looked down, trying to make out the outline of the short flight of steps that led to the floor of the basement, my mind began to race.

   Dorian couldn't have come down here. How could he have been able to find his way within the basement if his sight would've failed him just like mine was right now? Maybe he didn't believe me when I said I'd call Rav and was probably back in his room, hopefully over whatever happened to him and had gone to sleep.

   My hand encircled the door knob again, this time to close the basement door shut.

   I think I was ready to go to bed and even though I didn't want to jinx it, I'm pretty sure that my mind and body were finally in agreement with that idea. Using caution to make sure the creaking door didn't create much more noise than it already was, I pulled the door to its hinges at a snail's pace.

   Just when the door was ready to make its final click, noises that sounded like anything but that click resonated in the hallway.

   I didn't think twice.

   Yanking the door open again, I rushed down the stairs on blind feet, not stopping even when my feet were surprised with the coldness of the ground beneath me. Rushing to a spot on one of the walls, I allowed my fingers to wander about until they met with the only working switch in the room.

   My eyes squinted as they struggled to adjust to the sudden burst of light that filled the room. But it didn't take that long. And when I could finally see, I began searching.

   Sure enough, at the very centre of the room, was Dorian.

   An unforeseen weight engulfed my chest upon glancing at his state. Dorian's head was buried into his knees which were against his chest while his arms were a shield over as much of his body they could cover. This curled up protective ball position he'd assumed was a shivering mess, despite the fact that the basement carried a surprising warmth.

   Arising from him were the same sounds that drew me into the basement.

   Even after seconds passed, Dorian still seemed oblivious to my presence or the turned on light for that matter. He was too busy whispering barely audible words to himself. No matter how hard I strained, I couldn't hear anything above mumbles and mutters. For a minute however, when his voice went a tiny bit higher than normal, I could have sworn I heard something.

   I mean, the words sounded like a language from another planet and revealed literally nothing, but that was something!... I think.

"D-Dorian?" I tried.