I’m woken up by Misty standing directly on my chest, the full weight of her little body exerting so much pressure that it feels like it could leave a bruise. She meows, butting her head into my chin with force, bringing me fully to consciousness.
When she sees me reach up to pet her, she leaps off my chest with an impressive amount of power for such a small creature, and I let out a little ‘oomph’ from the effort.
“What was that for?” I grumble, rubbing at my eyes.
She’s standing alert on the edge of the bed, her tail flicking back and forth while she stares across the room toward the bathroom door. She glances back at me expectantly, and it’s very peculiar—almost like she’s trying to tell me something. That’s when I notice a sliver of light pouring out underneath the bathroom door. I know I didn’t leave any lights on. Then I hear the sound of water running.
“Luke?” I call out hopefully, but there’s no response.
Misty stays on the bed as I cross the room. I knock on the bathroom door, calling out again, but I can’t hear anything beyond the sound of the shower. The door isn’t locked, but I open it slowly, not wanting to startle him.
My heart jolts with confusion at the scene before me.
The room is filled with steam, fogging up the mirror and the glass shower doors, heat pouring out at me like a sauna. After the air clears, I see Luke’s silhouette on the shower floor. He’s sitting with his knees to his chest, his head down, but he’s still fully clothed.
“Luke!” I cry, rushing inside.
He doesn’t answer me, not even looking up.
I open the shower door and reach in to turn off the faucet, getting soaked in the process. The water’s scalding hot on my skin, but Luke seems completely unfazed by the temperature. I step into the shower and crouch down in front of him, and that’s when I see the state he’s in. My heart drops to my stomach.
His face has been beaten to a pulp. He’s bruised and bleeding from his nose and a gash at his hairline, and there are scratch marks under his chin. His neck is red and bruised with the unmistakable imprints of a man’s hands wrapped around his throat, squeezing tight enough to kill. Someone strangled him.Hard.
I’m going to kill Frank.
My heart starts racing uncontrollably, my body oscillating between unfathomable anger and abject terror as I try to grapple with what I’m seeing. Luke won’t look at me, his eyes glazed and unfocused. I can’t tell if he even registers that I’m here or that the water is turned off. He seems dazed and out of it, staring vacantly like a statue.
“Luke,” I call out again, gently lifting his head.
With my physical touch, he recoils violently, shoving me back. I lose my balance, slipping backward on the wet tiles.Thankfully, I manage to catch myself before I crack my skull against the wall, but I can’t help but gape at Luke in awe.
I watch as he slowly comes to life like he’s waking from a coma, completely disoriented. His eyes go wide with genuine terror, and he starts breathing erratically, his chest heaving as he whips his head back and forth with confusion, like he doesn’t know where he is.
“Luke, it’s okay,” I say quickly, grabbing his attention. “You’re at my house. You’re safe. It’s okay.”
Luke looks at me then—reallylooks at me for the first time—and takes a staggering breath. “Ethan?” he whispers, almost like he’s not sure if this is real.
I nod, giving a timid smile. “Yeah, Luke. It’s me. I’m here.”
“H—how’d I g—get here?” he asks, looking down at himself and around at the shower walls with a furrowed brow. His voice is scratchy, clearly causing him physical pain to speak. He puts his hand to his throat, grimacing as he tries to swallow, and is met with more discomfort.
“You don’t remember coming here?” I frown, moving closer to him. But Luke flinches backward as I reach out to touch him, and I hesitate, pulling my hand back. “Luke….”
He seems to realize what he’s just done, then he suddenly breaks down. It’s almost like it’s a delayed reaction to the trauma—as if he’s been frozen in shock since it happened, and now he has no control over the release.
“I’m s—sorry,” he sobs. “I’m sorry, Ethan. I d—didn’t mean it.”
“It’s okay. You’re okay.”
He shakes his head emphatically. “I’m not. Everything’s f—fucked. I’m so fucking s—stupid.”
“What happened? Did Frank do this to you?”
“He w—wouldn’t st—stop. I couldn’t st—stop him.”
“Where is he?” I demand, my voice low. But Luke doesn’t seem to hear me.
“Andshe…” he says before stopping midsentence, gasping for breath at the words.
