Chased by Life and Death

Chapter 8

Ian

I walk down the dark street and wrench on the left. I tug my hoody down to my face to cover it while my other hand is in my jeans pocket.

As I walk, I see the man I am looking for and come to a stop in front of him.

"Did you, have it?" I ask him and he peers down on me. He is one foot taller than me and he is muscular.

"Yes, I have it but you have to pay twice because I almost got caught coming here." and he smirks.

"Okay," I pull from my pocket the money and hand it to him.

He calculates them and he puts the small package under his leather jacket.

"Are you sure kiddo you want this? You are looking quite young." I snap the package from his hand and turn to walk away.

"It's none of your business. It wasn't a great effect on me." but he grips my arm and I turn to face him and freeze from fear. He has pulled down his hood, the little lights from the street are making his face more intimating and he smiles so you can see all of his teeth.

"I think it has." and I scream.

I open my sleepy eyes and sit up on my bed. Sweat drops from my forehead and I'm breathing hard. I look over Luke and I feel relieved that he is still sleeping. I cover my face with my hands and try to breathe but nothing happens. I slip off the bed and out of the room. The guys are sleeping so I guess it's not time yet to go running. I walk to the kitchen and sit down on a chair at the table.

I try to breathe but nothing happens. I am having these nightmares for five years and I still can't sleep well at night.

My childhood wasn't the best as other kids. Well, you see my mother died from cancer when I was ten years old and my brother was eleven. We were close to her and we always adore her. But then she was often at the hospital and later when things got worse, she couldn't get out of the house.

Then she died. My brother after that tried to be brave but in the end, he end up being a spoiled brat. As for me well...I started drugs when I was thirteen years old. It all started when a kid from the park gave me and said that it tastes good and it wasn't harmful.

I shouldn't have tasted it because when my lips touched the powder, I liked it and then ate more and became addicted. My father didn't know about it because he was working with the school where he was principal and my brother didn't know it either.

Two years later I realized that I had to stop it because it was affecting me very badly and I couldn't take it anymore. Also, I didn't want to die because my mother's last wish before she left us was "Live your life"

After some effort, I stopped them and tried to build my new life. Eventually, when I got to high school, I became the cool guy and flirty one due to my summer glow-up. And I could say that I was loving it, my new life. But now that I think about it, I was trying to run from myself and my broken past.

"Ian?"

A soft voice interrupts me from my thoughts and I turn my head to see Monica on the door with her pajamas still on. She takes a look at my face, which I think is pale, and she rushes to my side. She puts one hand on my shoulder and with the other, she cups my cheek.

Now that she is closer to me, I examine her more. She is wearing an anime pajama set, no slippers only on her socks and her messy bed hair falls to her waist.

"Ian, I want you to look at me and take some breaths, okay?" and I somehow nod my head.

"Alright, inhale from your nose and then exhale from your mouth, okay? One..." and I inhale some air and exhale it.