Through the Haze - Part Twenty-Two

When life gives you apples, make apple juice. Make the best out of what you've got. --Sarah Feller, Book of Endings
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Gabriel knew Lou was getting worried about him; for the last few days, he'd been keeping him in sight, not letting him wander too far. He couldn't help it; he didn't want his friend to wind up dead. He knew it was a possibility, no matter how much he hated it. Lou could really die. He knew Lou was suspicious as to why he was acting in such a manner, but he wasn't really in any mood to discuss the dream, the nightmare. He didn't ever want to think about it again, but it was constantly there, in the back of his mind, refusing to allow him to forget it and move on.

Right now, he was sitting on one of the two beds of a room in a small hotel in the small town of Kuermiol. Lou was washing his face in the bathroom. Footsteps echoed down the hall outside the door, and Gabriel tensed each time he heard them. Was someone coming? Was the chill back? He was just being paranoid, he knew, but he couldn't help it.

"Hey, Gabe?" Lou called through the bathroom door. Gabriel looked toward it and sighed.

"Yeah?" he called back. "What is it?" he got to his feet and stalked closer to the door. Lou opened it and walked out, nearly ramming into him.

"Jeez, Gabe, warn me before you do that," Lou breathed, clutching at his chest. "Nearly gave me a heart attack."

Gabriel smirked. "You're too stubborn to get one. What is it that you want?"

"Nothing, it's just, this hotel has a pool, and it's been a while since we've been able to relax. I was wonderin' if you wanna go for a swim."

Gabriel frowned.

"It might do you some good to relax. There's even a bar somewhere down there, I read about it in the brochure there," he said, pointing to something on the bedside table that stood between the two beds. Gabriel picked it up and eyed it carefully. "We don't have to, though."

Gabriel looked at Lou closely. Lou seemed to really want to go, and he couldn't blame him. He was right; it had been a while since they'd been able to relax, maybe this was what they needed. He nodded. "Sure, why not?"

Lou broke into a wide grin. "Cool."

And within ten minutes, they were opening the door to the room with the pool, Gabriel in his black shorts, and Lou in his red ones. Lou ran forward and dove in, even though there were signs everywhere that said not to dive, that the water was too shallow. Lou pulled up quickly and resurfaced, rubbing the water out of his eyes.

"C'mon in, Gabe," he said to his friend. "The water's great." he started to do some backstrokes.

Gabriel smirked and slowly slid in off of the outer edge. It was an indoor and in-ground pool; the room was heated, and the water felt great, just as Lou had said. Lou stopped doing backstrokes and looked at him.

"At least get your hair wet," he complained.

Gabriel smirked.

Lou sighed and suddenly lunged at him. With a yelp, he was shoved under, Lou holding his head down. He jumped up and glared at his friend, spluttering water. "Why....?"

Lou laughed and splashed at him. "I told you to get your hair wet. What d'ya expect?"

Gabriel grumbled something inaudible under his breath. "You're dead meat!" he exclaimed, darted toward his friend. Lou yelped and began swimming away. Out of the two of them, Lou was the stronger swimming, and as they went out into the nine foot water, Gabriel began to slow down. He'd never liked deep water, not since that time when he was five-years-old and his father 'accidentally' dropped him in the lake. He shivered at the memory, remembering the cold water dart up his nose and cloud his senses, the darkness of the water as he sank deeper, unsure of what to do to get back to the surface.

Lou frowned as he stopped moving, swimming in place. "What's wrong, Gabe?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Nothing. You're still dead meat!" he lunged forward. Lou yelped again and tried to move away, but Gabriel grabbed his ankle and forced him down, moving forward to make sure he didn't pop back up. Lou easily swam away from him, under the water as he swam down further.

Gabriel watched him from the top of the water as he swam around near the bottom. He felt uneasy, being in this deep of water, and swam toward the edge, where he held onto one of the ladders.

Lou suddenly stopped moving and stayed in the same place. Gabriel watched him with a small frown. The water made his view of his friend hazy and interrupted, but from what he could see, his friend wasn't moving. Air bubbles floated to the top of the water from where Lou stayed near the bottom.

"...Lou?" Gabriel whispered, knowing that his friend couldn't hear him. He swallowed hard, unsure of what Lou was doing. What if he was playing a trick on him? What if he was really in trouble? Gabriel waited another minute, then swam forward until he was above Lou, and held his breath as he began swimming down.

Lou still wasn't moving.

'Hold on, I'm coming,' he thought to himself. He finally reached Lou as the bottom, and grabbed his arm. Lou turned his head to look at him. His eyes were wide and fearful. He pointed to the bottom, where there was something stamped. It seemed to be in a different language, but it looked rather disturbing. Lou, being able to hold his breath longer that Gabriel, had been trying to read it.

Gabriel shook his head and began pulling Lou up, letting him know that he didn't really need to know what it said. Lou complied and began swimming ahead of Gabriel.

The two broke through the surface of the water, Lou coughing and gasping for breath, Gabriel intent on staying afloat, trying to remember where he'd seen those words before. They seemed oddly familiar.

"Are you okay?" Gabriel questioned, watching as his friend moved toward the side, holding onto it as he took in deep breaths.

"...Yeah," he coughed.

"Why'd you stay down there so long?" Gabriel wondered, moving toward him.

Lou shrugged. "Not sure. I saw it, and then....I dunno, I couldn't move. It was like it wouldn't let me. It was weird. So I figured, what the heck? I'll try to read it. When I couldn't understand what it was, I tried to move....it was like it wouldn't let me. Then you were there, and I could move again." he sucked in deep breaths. "It was so strange..."

Gabriel frowned. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew he didn't want to be down here any longer. Or at least not in this deep water. "C'mon," he said, heading back toward the shallow water. "Let's go over here."

To his relief, Lou didn't argue, only followed after him.

The door to the pool room opened and closed. Gabriel and Lou looked to see two girls entering, towels wrapped around their slender bodies. One was a blonde; she had green eyes, and the other was a brunette; she had brown eyes. They giggled as they saw the two of them, and let their towels drop to the floor. They were each wearing a two piece bathing suit, which seemed to be rather tight on them. They slowly slid into the water.

Alarms started going off in Gabriel's head as he felt cold all over. He frowned, looking at the girls. How could they be dangerous? At most, they wanted someone to go to bed with them; they just wanted to flirt, it seemed. Why was he getting alarms? He looked over at Lou.

Lou seemed edgy, too. If Lou was edgy, then there was definitely something to be alarmed about. Lou looked over at him and mouthed, "I don't trust them."

Gabriel nodded and mouthed, "Something's not right."

Lou nodded and froze as the blonde moved toward him. "Why, hello there," she said, smirking. "What might your name be? I'm Tasha, that's Bella." she gestured at the brunette.

"Erm...hi," said Lou, edging away from her.

She followed after him. "Your name?"

"Uh...."

"Come now, surely you have a name." she reached out to touch him.

More alarms went off in Gabriel's head, but before he could say or do anything, she placed her hand on his chest. Gabriel's eyes widened, but nothing happened. Lou just moved back a little more.

"Erm..." stuttered Lou. Gabriel knew he didn't really want to give out his name or anything. "I'm..."

"Yes?" she asked, blinking her eyes at him.

"I'm...Avery," he said. "I'm Avery."

Her lips twisted into a smile. "Avery. That's...a nice name."

"Uh huh..."

Gabriel began moving toward the two, when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He spun around to see the brunette, Bella, looking at him with a smile. "Erm...hi?" he tried.

"Hello," she said sweetly. "Who might you be? I'm Bella."

"Uh...I'm....Gavin. I'm Gavin," he said.

Tasha moved closer to Lou, her hand still on his chest. Lou moved back a little more. Gabriel frowned. She was forcing him back to the nine foot water. Gabriel began moving toward them again, but Bella still had his shoulder.

"Now, now," she chided. "Don't interrupt them."

Gabriel's frown deepened. What did she mean? What was going on? He shook her hand off his shoulder and moved toward Lou and Tasha once more. Bella gripped his shoulder again, squeezing it tightly, making him wince.

"Don't disturb them," she said.

"I'll disturb them if I want to," he snarled, pushing her away. "He's my friend." he moved toward Lou and Tasha again.

Lou was still moving away from her, trying to, politely, push her away. "Tasha, please, I'm not the...touchy feely kinda guy you want," he was explaining.

She batted her eyelashes at him.

Gabriel came up behind her, even thought he hated deep water. "Miss," he started.

She turned to look at him, her eyes fresh with anger. He froze for a moment, feeling the alarms grow louder. "Yes?" she asked sweetly, her eyes giving her away. "What is it, my dear?"

He felt very uneasy. Sharing a look with Lou, he could tell his friend was greatly uncomfortable. "Help me," Lou mouthed, looking trapped. He didn't want to be rude to the girl, but he didn't want to be anywhere near her. Gabriel understood.

"Miss, I think you should go," he said kindly.

She glared at him. "Why, whatever for?"

"Because...you're making us uncomfortable."

Bella suddenly had his shoulder again. "Gabriel, you kidder."

He froze. "That's....not my name," he started.

"You're name is Gabriel," Bella insisted.

"And his is Loukoi, best known as Lou," said Tasha, grabbing Lou's shoulder. Lou flinched, not liking the contact.

"How...?" asked Gabriel.

"Why, Gabriel, we can't say," giggled Bella.

The alarms were going wild.

Lou yelped suddenly. Gabriel spun to face him, only to see that he wasn't there. Neither was Tasha. He looked around frantically, his heart going wild, the alarms louder than ever before.

"Lou!" he shouted, looking around. "Where are you?"

When there wasn't an answer, he glared at Bella.

"Where is he?" he snarled. "What have you done with him?"

She smiled and pointed. Gabriel followed her finger and saw a door on the other side of the room. He frowned; how would they have gotten Lou in there so fast, if that was where he was? He mentally shook himself. That didn't matter now.

He snarled something beneath his breath and got out of the water, heading toward the door. It was locked. He frowned again and pounded at it. "Lou?" he called, loud enough for his voice to carry through the door. "Lou...answer me."

Silence was his only answer.

He looked back at Bella. She was smirking at him. "What have you done with him?" he growled. "Where is he?"

"In there," she said. "I wouldn't lie to you. You'd better hurry," she added thoughtfully.

Gabriel swallowed thickly, dreading what she meant. "What...what do you mean?"

She said nothing and gestured at the door. Gabriel looked back at it, and saw something seeping through the crack between the door and the floor. It was a crimson red.

It was blood.

Gabriel's eyes widened in alarm. "Lou!" he shouted, and began pounding on the door. "Let me in! Lou!" He turned and rammed his shoulder into the door. It didn't give. "Lou! Hold on!" He rammed his shoulder into the door again. 'Please, open...C'mon!' he thought to himself. 'Hold on, Lou, I'm coming. Hold on, brother...' he rammed his shoulder, yet again, into the door.

Bella laughed from the pool. "You won't get there in time," she cackled. "You should have never let him out of your sight, gifted boy."

He snarled something incoherent as he, yet again, slammed his shoulder into the door. There was a yelping sound from behind the door; it was Lou. "Lou, hold on! I'm coming!" he shouted. 'C'mon, break stupid door! Break!' he thought frantically.

He rammed into it one last time, and it finally gave way. He rushed into the room, hurriedly searching around.

"Lou?" he called. "Lou, where are you?" his eyes darted around rapidly. "Lou! C'mon, where are you?"

He began to follow the trail of blood. It made him sick to his stomach to think that this was Lou's blood. The trail of blood let back behind some boxes and tables. Gabriel swallowed hard as he moved toward them.

Rounding the corner of boxes and tables, he saw Lou's inert form sprawled out on the ground. "Lou," he gasped, racing toward his friend. He knelt down next to him, gripping his shoulder tightly. "Lou...God..." he removed his hand from his shoulder and looked at it. It was covered in blood. His lower lip trembled and he had to bite down on it to keep it still.

He gently rolled Lou onto his back. Lou was breathing heavy, labored breaths, a large cut on his chest which was bleeding copiously. He was deathly pale, his mouth partially opened, his eyes tightly closed.

"...Lou," he whispered shakily. "No...no, please...not again...." he clenched his eyes tightly closed, holding his hands over the wound on Lou's chest, pushing down, trying to apply as much pressure as possible. "Lou, can you hear me? Please...say something...anything...."

Lou blinked his eyes open slowly. "G-Gabe...." he whispered weakly.

"You're going to all right, Lou," Gabriel murmured, trying to sound confident and reassuring. "Everything's going to be okay."

"If...you...say so...." Lou mumbled, wincing as he did so.

Gabriel flinched at Lou's choice of words. "You'll be okay....just stay with me, okay?"

"...T-Try..."

"Good, try." he took in a deep, calming breath, struggling to think of what to do. He couldn't leave his friend to go for help, and he didn't dare removed his hands from Lou's wound to carry him to help. What was he going to do? "Help!" he shouted loudly. "Someone, please! We need help!" he hoped someone would hear him, and quickly.

There was a chuckle from the door. Bella emerged from around the corner, laughing. "That won't work," she chided. "Face it, you were too slow. You were too late. Now he's dying." she laughed again at the twisted expression on Gabriel's face.

"Shut up," he snapped. "He's not dying."

"He is," Bella laughed. She looked at him and snapped her fingers, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone. He shook his head; he didn't want to think about it right now, he only wanted to help Lou in some way. But what was he going to do?

"Lou," he whispered. "Stay with me...please, just stay with me, brother. Everything's going to be okay, I promise. Just stay with me a little longer....please, Lou...."

Lou smiled faintly. "Try...b-brother..."

Gabriel blinked back tears. "You'll be okay..." he whispered. "Just stay with me..." he pressed down harder, hoping it would work. "Stay with me....please..." he clenched his eyes tightly closed and focused his energy.

This had to work. If it didn't, then...well...then Lou was a goner. And he wouldn't be able to live with that.

"Please...stay with me...."
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Anthony woke with a groan. He opened his eyes slowly, feeling rather out of it. The first thing he noticed was the pungent smell of the room he was in, and that he was strapped down to a table. He shifted, but it sent raging pain throughout his body.

'Where am I?' he thought to himself. There was tape covering his mouth, so he knew it'd be futile to try and speak. He tried to stay awake a little longer, but he felt himself blacking out.

'What's...wrong with me?' he thought as the pain continued. He gasped aloud, the tape stifling the sound.

And then he was out, slipping into sweet oblivion for the time being.