Out on the horizon looming over the downtown area of Phoenix, the sun began to bleed orange out from the open wound in the sky's forehead. The notorious deep blue that enveloped the humans below oxygen and gases was that phantasmagorical antecedent. Now, this hue of orange that descended upon the atmosphere was either a warm bowl of orange juice or a singular flame. And there were less clouds in the sky, carrying the wounded soldiers around Normandy.
Whatever the reason for this phantasmagoria, it still looked beautiful in Luca's eyes as David drove down a long road to the apartment complex he resided in. Kaylon was probably listening to some sort of cruel thesis with one earbud while talking to David. And David was, of course, driving to the parking lot near the block.
And, of course, Luca. Normally, she'd be looking out at the window as usual. But there seemed to be something stuck in her mind that turned her mind away from the sight. After thinking over again, she was looking at David most of the time. Her face seemed to evoke that blank expression, but her eyes evoked concern and worry. Probably for him, but she couldn't think.
"So have you heard back?" Kaylon asked.
David was pulling right into the parking lot when he started to process this. "Um, not really. I haven't been in contact with me for about three years. Last I heard, he still wanted to call."
"Anyone else?"
"I've heard from Alli. She's doing fine but she's been busy as well."
Kaylon nodded and looked forward. The car was pulling into an empty parking space when he suddenly had another thought and tapped David on the shoulder. When the car was parked, David looked at him.
"What about Lewis?" Kaylon asked.
David put on the parking brake, shifted the car to park and unbuckled. He then rotated the keys to the off position before pulling out. He looked back straight into Kaylon's eyes, visibly stressed.
"What about him?" David asked. Maybe rhetorically, but how could Kaylon tell? He had no idea, as far as he knew.
Kaylon didn't say a word as David exited the car, forcefully slamming it behind him. Kaylon then exited the vehicle as well as Luca, closing their doors a second apart from each other. David then went to the back of the trunk and opened it. Luca got her luggage first without any help from David, then Kaylon.
He could only stare with flummoxed eyes as he closed the trunk and hollered back at Kaylon.
"Hey, Kaylon." He said.
Kaylon looked back at him. "Hmm?"
"Can you help me get some of these groceries?"
A nod before the small anxious strut over to the right side of the SUV. Kaylon took about three grocery bags in each hand, plus the milk gallon before walking away towards the flight of stairs off in the distance.
Luca was just standing there, awkwardly - posture slouched and straight. She looked back at David and it did not take long for him to glare back at her.
"Could you also help here, please?" He asked her, attempting to be polite. Instead, it came out a bit pugnacious, to a subdued personality.
"Ok."
Awkwardly, she walked up near him and grabbed some of the groceries from the front, plus three from the backseat. As soon as she couldn't carry anymore, she swiftly sped-walk towards the stairs. Physically, she wanted to collapse but for all the wrong reasons. David got the rest, locked the SUV and met up with the rest at the feet of the stairs
The lobby was quiet when they entered, wasting no time to go to the nearest elevator. Huddled around, they pushed the button on the side dashboard to go up and waited. Some seconds rolled away. A bell then dinged as the doors slid open sluggishly with the trio rushing in towards the sides. When they pressed the button to David's floor, he was already waiting impatiently to get upstairs. The groceries in both hands began to stretch out his muscles and roughen up the skin on his hands. The doors closed, then – after about a half-minute– opened.
The floor that David resided in was also quiet. Some occasional noises popped up here and there. David stood in front of his apartment door before setting down the keys and rubbing his hands together in pain. He fetched out the car keys from his back pocket and lodged the key in the deadbolt, in expectation of the entire door opening ajar. He stood to the side of the door as Kaylon and Luca passed by him with their luggage and groceries trailing behind him.
"Thank you," Kaylon said.
"Welcome." David replied.
Luca said nothing.
David laid down the groceries in the kitchen prior to bolting the door and throwing the keys onto the kitchen counter, next to a miniature stash of prescriptions and vitamins. There was a couch and a television in the living room, a small kitchen and table, bathrooms, two bathrooms and a laundry room. A little more than a regular one-bedroom apartment.
David then stepped in front of them and waved his arms in the air, as if he was about to present something majestic to their brains, but he then dropped them down.
"Set down the groceries there." David blurted out, pointing to where
He then walked over to a hallway with many doors, with Kaylon following him blindly. Reluctantly, Luca joined with the rest of them.
He walked moderately further down the hallway, opening the door to the second bedroom. There was a queen-sized bed, a desk with a monitor and computer, a nightstand and a dresser.It was rather tidy and well-maintained, with only the bed as the outlier in terms of maintenance.
"You can sleep in my bedroom, Kaylon." David said.
He left Kaylon to the space he was granted, moving past Luca to a door on the right. He opened it to reveal a similarly tidy and maintained bedroom, the first bedroom.
"And you can sleep in here."
David then looked at Luca and patted her on the shoulder, smiling. She instantly looked at him with a cold expression, still towing the luggage with her right arm. Immediately, the half-friendly mien on his face turned into that of a sour note as he walked past her towards Kaylon and relinquishes his gesture. He was obviously spaced out for a moment at that time and his thoughts were starting to become disorienting.
"Hey," he spoke to Kaylon.
"Hmmm?" Kaylon answered.
"Are you fine with this?
Kaylon shrugged, in an indifferent opinion. "I guess. If you're okay with it.."
"Just don't touch anything on my desk. At all"
"Gotcha."
"Alright, I'm gonna go put away the groceries. Good night."
"Night."
Kaylon then closed the door as David sauntered towards the groceries left bagged in the kitchen.
—
Everything was now quiet than when it was about an hour ago. Silence was sitting in the hallway, then the couch, then the door and then it was somewhere else every time. The only source of light was from the kitchen, and David was tired as hell.
All the refrigerated and frozen delicacies were moved into the decently-sized Frigidaire refrigerator. With only the snacks and assorted products left, David rose up from crouching and opened the pantry door. he grabbed some of the groceries and placed them near some opened boxes, jars and other items and moving some objects out of the way to make more space. One by one, he organized the recently bought products with the items already purchased and used and shut the door loudly and quietly.
Exhausted already, he headed to the laundry room and opened one of the cabinets above the washer. Out of various gear, he choose a white supple pillow and a light blanket in the topmost shelf and copped the two items. David tread watchfully towards the couch and dropped the two items on the couch.
Kaylon, in David's bedroom, was in fact watching anime on the laptop with earbuds. Out of the trio, he was already the loudest as he was talking to himself over certain things and overbearingly reacting quite emotionally.
A knock at the door. Kaylon pulled out an earbud and ogled at the wood before pressing the spacebar on his laptop.
"Yes?" He shouted.
"I need to get some clothes," David stated.
"Hold on."
Sheets were being fondled, footsteps commenced and the click of the doorknob was heard. Opening the door, David could see, in plain sight, Kaylon's laptop before the man himself. He was wearing nothing but underwear and pajama shorts.
"You can come in." Kaylon said.
David crouched over the last drawer on the dresser and opened a compendium of shirts, rolled up along each other. He grabbed a pale blue shirt from that drawer, unfurled it and looked at it. A place on his arm, along with the trip to that short museum on the next floor. The pair of thin shorts and the closing of another door...
"Hey, are you good?" Kaylon asked.
David looked behind him and saw him on the bed. Tired... "Yeah, I'm just about done."
"Not that. I meant are you doing ok?"
"I'm doing fine."
"Did you get worked up again?"
David paused. He looked back at him. "Why did you ask that?"
"Well, you seemed off when we picked up Luca from the airport. I eavesdropped a little bit when you opened the trunk for her. After that, when you got into the car, you were more serious and talked less. When you got back from the store, you seemed to be more serious. Even towards Luca."
"Oh, I see what you mean."
"Is something wron-?"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!"
With that, David exited the room and slammed the door behind him. The next thing that he felt was his head - it was starting to hurt, such a fair degree to the pain. But if discomfort from scalding water was one thing, he was freezing in the other end of the spectrum. Even covering himself with the clothes in the bathroom mirror, slow and fast with a light giving shade to everything. He couldn't even remember what he did. In too deep, did he even wake up at all?
Still clammy and wet, David tromped towards the vitamins and pills on the other end of the kitchen counter, spotting a small pill bottle next to a capsule of supplements. He furiously grabbed it, opened the bottle and struggled to get one pill out of the many that cascaded onto his palm. He achieved one, then put them all back in, sealing it in securely with a tight click from the orange tab on the side.
Medicine in hand, he swiveled open a cabinet to reveal a collection of regular glasses. Clink, went a small, frail and chosen glass in the other hand near the sink. From the faucet, David poured himself water and dropped the pill on the middle of his tongue. Sticky. Lips chapped from everything, lips meeting with surface. The waves crashing onto the back of his throat with the pill surfing down to the depths of Davy Jones' locker, or his stomach for that matter.
Time, with his bare hands, couldn't seem to relieve David of his headache or his pain, which seemed to worsen the more he tried to deal with it any way he could find. He also felt his muscles tensing up within him and his mind racing. The glass was shaking a little bit in David's hand. The teeth were stuck in one place.
Another door opened. Luca, who was a little sluggish mentally, walked towards the kitchen in nothing but an adorable nightshirt and brushed hair. If looks could kill, then her hair would have to be the starting point.
David.
Her face developed the first glimpse of worry as she stopped in front of him. Her undisturbed blue eyes looking at his dead light brown eyes, which appeared as if he could kill anyone with that look. He looked so inhuman. And it was all a fated catalyst, brought from the philistine of a lost soul that didn't know how to mutter even a single word.
A mutter. "David?"
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