The moment their lips met, Nicholas's pulse quickened. It should have felt wrong, desperate, but there was something electric in that fleeting contact, something that sent a jolt through him, filled with fear, confusion, and something dangerously close to curiosity.
Nicholas held his breath, pressing his lips firmly against the young man's and became surprised that he didn't pull away.
Suddenly, he began to hear the sounds of restroom doors being slammed.
Seconds later, his restroom door was slammed open with a loud bang.
"Fuck!" cursed the man who'd kicked it open, his voice rough as Nicholas deepened the kiss, hiding his face beneath his tousled hair.
The man shook his head in disgust. "What a shitty place to get laid."
He closed the door slowly and stalked toward the last restroom. Kicking that door open, he found it empty.
"He's not here," he growled, turning to his companions who were filtering in behind him.
Their leader scowled, hands thrust deep into his pockets. "The train hasn't stopped. He can't have gotten off." He spat as his cold gaze swept the bathroom. "Search every corner of this train. Find him before anyone gets off."
The others nodded grimly and filed out.
The gang leader's gaze fell on the slightly opened door of the fourth restroom. He pushed it open just enough to peer inside only to discover that two individuals were having a passionate moment together.
"Pftt," he scoffed, closing the door as he turned around. "Once I lay my eyes on that bastard, I'll make sure he dies a miserable death." He seethed, his fist curled into a ball.
He stepped out of the restroom area, prompting Nicholas to lean away from the mysterious stranger while letting out a loud exhale.
"Thank you so much for…"
Nicholas was unable to complete his sentence as he began to hear the sound of hurried footsteps approaching the restroom section.
Swiftly, Nicholas cupped the man's cheek and pressed his lips to his again.
This time, the man wrapped his hands around Nicholas's waist, pulling him closer.
Suddenly, the restroom door opened once more.
"The hell!" A female voice snarled as she quickly shut the door with a look of disgust on her face.
She walked over to the last restroom and with a sigh the lady turned around, her gaze falling on her companions who had just stepped into the restroom section.
"Did you find him?" A male voice questioned coldly.
She sighed again, shaking her head. "No. I think he might have jumped off the train."
"Jumping off the train? That's suicidal. Let's do another thorough checkup. We must find him before the next station."
Following the cold words of the man, he turned around and the lady trailed after him.
"Could it be that this man is also in the same trouble as me?" Nicholas thought to himself as he leaned away from the kiss.
He swallowed hard, grabbing his top from behind the man which he swiftly wore. "Are you being chased by those individuals who left here some seconds ago?" Nicholas questioned, scanning the man as a look of concern became plastered on his face.
He noticed the bruises on his body and strongly believed that the man was most likely in danger because that was the only justification he could bring himself to use in explaining why the man put his hands around his waist.
"You have bruises on your body. Do you…"
"Mind your damn business." He snarled, cutting Nicholas off mid-sentence as he dug his dagger beneath his tight black pants.
Without uttering any other words out of his mouth he stepped out and hurriedly left the restroom, heading over to the hallway of the train.
Nicholas sighed. In a way, he was relieved. Besides, the man's coldness meant Nicholas didn't owe him an explanation.
Running his hands through his hair, Nicholas pulled some strand backwards and stepped out of the bathroom.
"Should I go back into hiding?" he questioned himself. "Or should I go home and warn my parents before those men get to them?"
Nicholas had a gut feeling that those men would go after his parents because tracking his parents' house would be as easy as a piece of cake, and Nicholas wasn't about to take that risk.
Sigh!
Nicholas remained hidden until the train made a few more stops. Then he grabbed a purple curtain, wrapping it around his hair like a scarf before proceeding to wrap some of the curtain material around his chest, concealing his features and figure as best as he could.
When Nicholas became fully convinced that he wouldn't be recognised, he stepped down on the last train section.
Pfft! Nicholas breathed out, his shoulders dropping down in exhaustion.
The moon had already risen on the horizon and likewise, different stars which beautified the sky.
Nicholas wrapped his hands across his chest and with hastened steps, he rushed over to his parents' house.
When Nicholas arrived at the front yard of his parents' house, he scanned his surroundings, checking for anyone who might've followed him and he also checked if anyone was perhaps spying on him.
After a few seconds of observation, Nicholas became satisfied. He turned the sitting room doorknob and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
There was no one in the sitting room and it immediately gave him the idea that his parents were most likely in their room.
"Mom? Dad?" Nicholas called, moving cautiously toward their bedroom. "Mom?"
Before Nicholas could reach the door of his parents' bedroom, his father's voice rang out.
"Go… go to your room, Nicholas," he said, his tone trembling with strange, quiet desperation that prompted Nicholas to instantly feel that there was something wrong.
"Could it be that they have already come to threaten my Dad?" he inquired within himself.
It had taken him nearly an hour and a half to get home on foot. If the gang followed his trail, they couldn't have gotten here first.
"Dad, is everything okay?" Nicholas went on to question, slowly pushing the door open.
Gasp!
In an instant, Nicholas became immobile as his gaze fell onto a horrific scene.
His mother lay in a pool of blood.
His father knelt on the floor, hands clasped in a pleading gesture, tears streaming down his face.
And standing before them…
Was the man from the train.
The stranger Nicholas had kissed.
Only this time, he held a gun and not a dagger.
And his gun was pointed at Nicholas's father's head.