After the fight, Renlin didn’t really know where to go or what to do. Adrenaline rushed through his body, but his mind seemed to go blank. The thoughts racing through his head before and during the altercation were now silenced. A hush fell over him, one he wasn’t used to.
The cold, sterile environment was a stark contrast to the heated chaos he had just left. As he stepped inside, he noticed his best friend, Vinnie, sitting at the small table with a bag of frozen peas pressed to his own face.
Raising an eyebrow at the sight of his friend and wondering if he would make a comment on his own appearance. A wry smile grew onto his lips.
“There are more peas on the right side of the freezer,”
Ignoring the advice, Renlin reached into the freezer and grabbed the steak instead, pressing it to his throbbing face. He made his way to the table and slumped into a chair across from Vinnie, who was nursing his own injuries with the peas.
“Steak. I’m going old school,” Renlin remarked with a smirk, shifting the steak to a higher spot on his face.
Renlin managed a tired grin. “I always did like the classics.”
“Do you want to share first, or should I?”
Renlin shook his head, chuckling. "Can you imagine the gossip if we did get in a fight? 'Renlin and Vinnie, best of buddies, the great Umbra brothers, turn on each other. The world must be ending.”
Renlin sighed, the humor fading from his expression. “Tae So. People were talking about Isaac, and I just lost it. One minute I was clarifying some stuff about his family, and the next, we were throwing punches.”
Renlin leaned back, the steak still pressed against his face. “I know thats that’s no excuse. I should’ve kept my cool. I just… I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like I’m not in control.”
Renlin thought back to the fight, a wave of guilt washing over him. How could he let his hands go to that place? A place that, if he didn’t find control, could cause death. He clenched his jaw, the memory of his hands tightening around Tae So’s neck haunting him. He wasn’t a killer. He wasn’t like his cousin.
The anger that had driven him seemed distant now, replaced by a sickening realization. He had crossed a line, teetered on the edge of becoming something he despised. Tae So’s face, contorted with fear and pain, flashed in his mind, and he felt a pang of regret.
He glanced at Vinnie, who was watching him but he couldn’t read his expression. “I lost control,” Renlin admitted quietly.
Renlin wasn’t really an angry person. Confused, yes, and mostly disoriented. The chaos of his thoughts often left him feeling lost, but anger was a rare visitor. Tonight, though, had been different. He had let something dark and primal take over, something he didn’t fully understand.
He leaned back in his chair, pressing the cold steak to his bruised face. The kitchen was quiet except for the hum of the fridge and Vinnie’s occasional rustling as he shifted the bag of peas. Renlin tried to pinpoint where things had gone wrong, where he had lost his grip on himself.
“Do you ever feel like you’re not really in control?” Renlin asked, breaking the silence. “Like there’s something else pulling the strings?”
The dreams, the strange sense of being guided by an unseen force—it all felt too real to dismiss as mere stress. These weren’t just ordinary nightmares. They felt vivid, almost like memories that didn’t belong to him. Every detail was sharp and clear, the emotions raw and intense.
In these dreams, he found himself in strange places. There were always people in these dreams, their faces obscured or shrouded in shadows, but their presence was unmistakable. They moved with purpose, driven by a mission Renlin couldn’t understand but felt compelled to follow.
One recurring figure stood out—a tall man with piercing eyes that seemed to see right through him. This man never spoke, but his presence filled Renlin with a mix of fear and curiosity. It was as if he held the answers to all of Renlin’s questions, but the closer Renlin got, the further away the man seemed.
The dreams often ended in violence. Not just any violence, but a kind that felt disturbingly familiar. Renlin would wake up with his heart racing, his body covered in a cold sweat, and an overwhelming sense of guilt and dread. He’d find bruises on his arms and legs, scratches that he couldn’t explain. It was as if the battles he fought in his sleep left real marks on his body.
He’d tried to talk to his sister, Inessa, about the dreams once. She listened patiently, her eyes full of concern, but in the end, she didn’t understand. How could she? It sounded insane, even to him. He’d brushed it off, joked about needing to lay off the late-night horror movies, but the truth was, he was scared. Scared of what these dreams meant, scared of what they were doing to him.
As he sat in the kitchen now, nursing his bruised face with a frozen steak, the weight of those dreams pressed heavily on his mind. Maybe they were more than just dreams. Maybe they were trying to tell him something, warn him about something. But what? And why him?
“Your turn, please share,” Renlin said, crossing his legs as he sat in the mostly too small chair and pressing the cold steak against his swollen face. He tried to focus on Vinnie, hoping to push his own troubled thoughts to the back of his mind, at least for a little while.
Despite the chaos and the fights, having Vinnie by his side made everything a little more bearable. Vinnie had been there through thick and thin, always ready with a sarcastic remark or a helping hand.
Thinking about their friendship, Renlin felt a surge of gratitude. Vinnie was more than just a friend; he was like a brother. Renlin knew he didn’t say it enough, but he was genuinely thankful for Vinnie’s constant support and companionship.
Renlin reflected on the day he and Vinnie first met. It was like fate had brought them together, two misfits destined to become an unstoppable duo.
They had started off as unlikely friends, drawn together by their shared sense of humor and love for mischief. But as time went on, their friendship deepened, evolving into something more profound. They became each other’s confidants, always there to lend an ear or offer a shoulder to lean on.
As Renlin glanced over at Vinnie, he couldn’t help but smile. They may have started off as two separate individuals, but now partners in crime, brothers in arms—whatever you wanted to call it, they were in it together, and that was the deal.
Renlin’s heart swelled with a mixture of determination and apprehension as he watched Vinnies lips move. They had been through so much together, facing a certain challengehead-on as a team. The weight of responsibility hung heavy on Renlin’s shoulders as he contemplated how to help his friend.
They had been working on this particular issue for what felt like ages, trying to find a solution that would finally bring them peace. But despite their best efforts, they always seemed to hit a dead end. Renlin feared that this time would be no different—that they would once again find themselves trapped in a cycle of frustration and disappointment.
Renlin couldn’t ignore the rumbling in his stomach any longer, so he rose from his seat and made his way to the freezer. “Keep talking, I’m listening,” he reassured Vinnie as he rummaged through the frosty shelves. With a triumphant grin, he retrieved a tub of cookies and cream ice cream and snagged two large spatulas.
Returning to his spot beside Vinnie, Renlin settled back in, ready to devour his sweet treat while continuing their conversation.
@raviola boyfriend
My first was better sigh
