Dead EndChapter 4

Jordan’s sleep is restless. He wakes to car alarms and shots in the distance, disoriented as he lays in the bed and blinks blearily up at the ceiling. It always seems like noise from his dreams, but when he wakes up, they’re still there. He sleepily rubs his eyes, draws the covers up to his chin, rolls over and waits to fall back asleep. It doesn’t take long.

According to the alarm clock on the bedside table, he’s awoken again only an half hour later. Frowning, Jordan yawns and mumbler something undecipherable. He turns around, tries to ignore the sound of sirens outside, and waits. 4zirDv

By the time that morning arrives, Jordan has woken up so many times in the night that he’s uncertain if he actually got any real sleep at all. He sits on the bed, staring out the window at the small street it’s facing. It’s eight in the morning and cars are filling up the street on their way to work. Police and ambulance cars shoot by every couple of minutes with the sirens flaring. Jordan draws the covers up above him and sits in the silence of the room.

About fifteen minutes after he woke up, there’s a knock on the door. Jordan clears his throat and calls hoarsely, ”Come in.”

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The door slowly open, light from the hallway drifting in through the crack. It’s Sebastian, of course. He’s shoving the door open with his elbow, catching it with his foot before it slams into the wall. His hands are occupied with carrying a large tray, on which there looks to be a full breakfast meal.

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”I thought you might be hungry,” Sebastian whispers as he walks over. Jordan pulls his covers down a little so they won’t be in the way. qlChjc

”Thank you,” Jordan says, manners overriding his common sense. 

Sebastian smiles gently at him, ”It was no hardship.” He places the wooden tray on the bed in front of Jordan. It’s (slightly burnt) roasted toast and a glass of milk, with a canister of more white milk right next to it. Condensation clings to the surface. There’s even a glass container of jam and a block of butter.

”Do you want to be alone?” Sebastian asks, looking right at him. In the morning light, he looks more awake than yesterday. The circles below his eyes aren’t as noticeable, and his back looks slightly straighter, but he’s still slumping his shoulders. His hair still lies limp on his head. His eyes are still strangely soft and unguarded when gazing at Jordan. 

Jordan lowers his gaze. He doesn’t understand that softness, that gentleness with which Sebastian looks at him. It makes no sense. He doesn’t know him, and he doesn’t think stalkers and kidnappers are supposed to treat their victims like this. It makes something tingle in his stomach, to be treated this way. Like he’s precious.

Belatedly, he realizes that Sebastian asked him a question. Gulping, he says, ”Yeah. Please.”

Sebastian nods and closes his eyes for a second. ”I’ll be downstairs, if you need me,” he says, and leaves the room. He softly closes the door behind him, but there’s no click of a lock. Just silence, as he’s left alone. 

Jordan looks after him, staring at that closed doors, bewildered. He blinks rapidly, but his thoughts aren’t coming. He can’t tell what this is supposed to be. Can’t understand what the stranger is thinking, or why he’s treating him this way. It’s beyond him, all of this.

Running his hands through his short hair, he picks up his glasses from the bedside table and places them on his nose. Adjusting them slightly, he stares once more at the breakfast laid out before him. It’s looks edible; the milk is cold when he presses his hand to the glass. The toast looks fresh, the bread still slightly warm. When he looks into the jam container, it smells like normal. dZgEP0

And he’s hungry. He’s confused, hungry, hasn’t slept well. Sebastian left when he asked him, hasn’t done a single thing to hurt him or said anything (aside from the zombie thing) to threaten him. It might be a trap. Jordan might be an utter idiot. But… another ambulance is driving by on the street with their sirens blasting at top volume. A policy car and imposing fire truck follows quickly behind. 

Something is happening. Some has been happening all night.

Maybe, possibly, Sebastian wasn’t entirely wrong when he said that there would be an attack. Though, Jordan definitely doesn’t believe the zombies thing. It’s not that, but there are still dozens of other possibilities that could cause this.

Palming his eyes, he crosses his legs and pulls down the covers entirely so they only cover his lap. He picks up the glass of milk and sniffs it, then takes a tiny sip when it smells fine. It doesn’t taste any different either. 3WoTp7

”Okay,” he mutters to himself. He quickly spreads the strawberry jam on the toast and takes a small bite. Besides the fact that the bread’s been slightly burned, it’s fine. Normal. 

Nothing unusual.

Jordan eats the whole breakfast in only a handful of minutes. After two large slices of toast, he’s still hungry; he didn’t eat anything last evening before going to bed. Hasn’t eaten since arriving here, in fact. It made him too nervous, his stomach rebelling at the mere thought of eating. But now, after a restless night, it seems like his survival instinct is stronger. 

Well, it wasn’t very strong yesterday, was it? Letting him follow a stranger like that, without even trying to call for help.  EgdNLu

Sighing, he climbs off the bed. He walks over to the tall window and pulls the curtains fully to the sides, gazing out onto the street below. It’s nearing nine in the morning now, but the amount of cars on the road hasn’t decreased at all. Horns shoot off what feels like every other second, the sound successfully startling him each time. 

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