About

Stories

Misc.

Credits

GAMBLE WITH FATE.COM

The Queen of Hearts

Chapter twelve

He felt a little better after his shower, but Zach was still heavy on his mind. He dressed in jeans and a baggy sweater before making his way downstairs, moving into the kitchen to have his morning coffee. His appetite was slowly returning, and the pain of Jamie’s death, while it was still strong, was slowly dwindling. He knew there was no point in dwelling on his friend’s death-nothing could bring him back. While it still hurt, while he still longed for Jamie to be there, he felt more like he could handle it.

Rob was out already when he got downstairs, but Alysia was standing at the sink, cleaning the dishes. He smiled as Madison sank into his seat with a yawn.

“There was a letter for you today,” the blond said, nodding towards a small pile of letters on the table.

“Oh thanks.”

Madison glanced through the pile, finding at the bottom a black envelope with his name written on the front. There was no address written on it, which indicated that it had been hand delivered.

He opened the top, yawning sleepily, finding a small square of white paper inside. The back was decorated with an elaborate, black pattern that looked like a spiders web.

When he turned it over, he froze, reading the words with a sudden stab of fear in his heart.

I’ll be with you soon, my Queen of Hearts

His heart was pounding as he looked into the envelope. There was one more thing in there and he drew it out with shaking fingers.

It was a playing card, the Queen of Hearts. His name had been scrawled in black ink on the top and there were two smears of red on the card that looked surprisingly like blood.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Alysia had seen the boy turn white and he frowned in concern. Madison just shoved the items back into the envelope and got to his feet hurriedly.

“Nothing,” he lied, shoving the envelope into the pocket of his jeans, “I’m going to go out for a bit, I’ll be back later.”

Alysia nodded slowly, confused about the boy’s reaction. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

“Okay hun. Be safe.”

Madison just nodded then hurried out of the room, heading for the hallway to pull on his shoes before he exited the house.

As he walked to the bus stop, he was deep in thought. The note was the last thing he had expected and it had shocked him to the core. The playing card…it all seemed to fit in with Jamie’s death and it made him wonder-was he the next victim?

That thought was the only one he could think of as he climbed on the bus and he took a seat at the back, pulling his legs up to his chest.

The letter not only meant that the killer knew who he was…but it meant he knew where he lived. Had the guy been watching his house? How long would it be before things began to happen?

He was so deep in thought that he almost missed his stop and he had to ring the bell hurriedly, just catching it in time. When he stepped off the bus, he shoved his hands in his pockets and crossed the street, making his way down the sidewalk towards his destination.

The day was warmer than usual and for once he could go outside without shivering. He watched a young couple walking down the road in front of him, smiles on their faces, arms around each other and it made him sigh.

A few minutes later, he ascended the steps of the police station and pushed the door open. There were two people sitting on the chairs that turned to look at him as he entered, but he ignored them, heading straight to the desk. There was no one there, but he waited, tapping his fingers on the wooden surface impatiently.

Eventually, a cop appeared- a tall, thin man that looked at him with a frown, taking in his appearance with disapproval.

“What do you want?” the man demanded, and Madison raised his eyes to meet the other’s.

“I need to speak to Detective Todd.”

The cop seemed to smirk in response.

“Detective Todd isn’t here. He’s out doing his job.”

Madison sighed, fishing the letter out of his pocket.

“Well can you give this to him? It’s really important.”

“Yeah,” the man took the envelope, placing it on the desk on top of a pile of papers.

“Please…it’s vital that he sees it.”

“Yeah kid, he’ll get it.”

At that moment, another cop entered from the back of the station and Madison immediately recognized him as the man that had arrested him.

The man looked at him for a moment, before a look of recognition crossed his face.

“I know you,” he said, sidling over to where Madison stood. “Arrested you for prostitution. Did someone bring you in again?”

Madison sighed, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

“I’m just here to drop something off for Detective Todd.”

The cop smiled. “From what I hear, you’ve been seeing him quite a lot already.”

The boy frowned. Had Zach told them about him? Told them what a cheap whore he was-how easy it was to get him into bed, even if they didn’t sleep together. He was broken from his thoughts by laughter.

“Don’t worry girlie, he didn’t tell us. Do you think he’d want us to know he was going out with a hooker?”

“We’re not going out,” Madison shot back, angry at their mocking laughter. “Just make sure he gets that letter.”

With that, he turned and strode out of the station, a deep frown set on his face. It seemed Zach was already the subject of ridicule because of him, which made things worse. That was the one thing he’d been trying so hard to avoid.

Madison didn’t know why he wanted Zach to see the letter so much. He was afraid of what it meant and what would happen to him. He wanted someone that could help him to talk it all over with. Or perhaps…he just wanted to see Zach again. Either way, he just wanted to talk to him, before it was too late.

The letter had made him afraid.

Madison couldn’t stop thinking about the letter, about Jamie’s death. He knew he was next, but the worst part was that he didn’t know when it was coming. It could happen that very day…or it could happen in weeks, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he was most likely going to die, and there was little he could do about it.

Zach still hadn’t contacted him and it had been hours since he’d returned from the station. He began to wonder if the cop had even given him the letter, or if it just lay forgotten on the pile of papers on the desk. Madison just wanted to hear the blond’s voice…or see him before he died.

He hadn’t told Rob or Alysia about the letter, he hadn’t wanted to worry them. He knew they wouldn’t even let him leave the house if he’d told them, they’d see him shut up in his room all day and all night. But he had to go out, he had to go to work and earn money-he couldn’t live off them forever.

He was twitchy as he went out for work that night, glancing around him every few seconds, his eyes watching everything. It was another cold night and he pulled his jacket tightly around him, walking down the road towards work at a brisk pace.

Images kept flashing in his mind. He saw himself lying in a pool of blood, a Queen of Hearts playing card clutched in his hand as he breathed his last breaths. Or himself lying on his front, a dark figure bent over him.

Madison felt like he was going crazy.

Rob wasn’t working that night, so he ended up sitting on the wall alone, curling his legs up and glancing around warily. There were three boys standing down the street that kept looking at him, but none of them would approach him to talk.

Madison’s fingers were shaking as he pulled a cigarette out of his bag but he didn’t know if it was because he was cold…or afraid. Either way, he was going to be especially twitchy that night.

Some time later, all the boys had gone off on jobs and Madison sat alone. The wind was heavy, chilling him to the core and whistling round the building loudly. He was afraid, being alone…afraid that just anyone could approach him and do anything to him. He wasn’t strong enough to defend himself, and he knew it.

As he sat smoking another cigarette, a car slowly pulled to a stop at the curb and Madison glanced up. The window rolled down and he got to his feet slowly, approaching the vehicle.

“Get in,” the driver told him and Madison had to stop and think. He didn’t know the man…what if he was the killer?

“Come on, kid, I haven’t got all day, are you getting in or not?”

The boy swallowed his fear, stubbed out his cigarette and crossed round to the other side of the car. As he slipped into the warmth, he glanced at the driver warily, a tall, thin man with mousy brown hair.

The man glanced over to him. “Taking you to a little place I know. How much for the whole night?”

Madison told him in a soft voice, eyes watching him warily. The man nodded and pulled away from the corner, heading up the road towards a hotel. He seemed genuine, but Madison had to think about the man that had killed Jamie-he probably seemed like any other client until he turned violent.

Five minutes later, the brunette turned into a parking lot and when he’d found a space, they got out, heading towards the hotel. It was an extremely expensive, high class hotel and Madison felt out of place standing in the lobby in his short skirt.

“Stay here,” the man told him and Madison nodded, leaning back against one of the huge pillars intersecting the lobby. He didn’t watch to see where the man went, just stared down at the floor.

A few minutes later, he heard footsteps approaching him across the marble floor, but he didn’t look up until he saw feet right in front of him.

It wasn’t the brunette standing in front of him.

“Zach…” the boy breathed as he saw the blond standing before him. The man looked serious, worried.

“Madison.”

Zach suddenly swept the boy into his arms, holding him as tightly as he could.

“I thought I would never see you again…and when I saw the letter that you’d left for me…”

Madison was overcome with relief, with happiness to finally be back in the man’s arms. But then he remembered that he’d come with a client.

“Zach…I…there was a man that brought me here…”

He expected the blond to be angry or shocked, but he just shook his head, a gentle smile on his face.

“He was a friend of mine…I sent him to pick you up. I wasn’t sure if you’d come with me.”

“Why wouldn’t I…?”

Madison’s hand drifted up the man’s front, fingering the lapels of his jacket almost nervously.

“Zach I…” he bit his bottom lip, staring at one of the buttons on Zach’s jacket, unsure of how to phrase what he wanted to say. The blond took his chin gently and tilted his head upwards so their eyes met.

“What do you want to say?” he asked, stroking Madison’s cheek gently, encouraging him to speak his mind.

“I…” Madison began again, the loving look in Zach’s eyes making him feel stronger. “I tried to stay away from you…because I thought it was best. I thought you’d be better off without me…I thought I could live without you…but I can’t.”

The boy could feel the tears springing forth again, blurring his eyes and beginning to roll down his cheeks. Zach simply leaned forward and kissed the tears away gently, his fingers stroking the back of Madison’s neck.

“I…” The boy opened his mouth to speak again, but the words got caught at the back of his throat. He so desperately wanted to say them, but he was afraid of what might happen if he did.

Eventually, he plucked up the courage and slipped his arms up around Zach’s neck.

“I love you.”

The man’s eyes seemed to light up and a smile spread across his face before he wrapped the boy in his embrace tightly.

“You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that…I thought you’d given up on me for good.” Zach pulled Madison even closer, burying his face in the boy’s neck. “I thought you’d given up on us.”

Madison was happy to stand there with the man’s arms around him for a good few minutes, but he eventually became aware of an ache, something in his body that reacted to being so close to the person he was in love with. Eventually, he shifted so he could whisper in the blond’s ear.

“Make love to me, Zach,” he said softly, his breath hot on the man’s neck. “I want to feel you…I want to be with you.”

“Oh God…”

Next Chapter

Back

Home

Copyrights & Credits

GambleWithFate © Lacey Grey and Coco Reed (2006)
Designed by Aethereality.net
Images © Index Stock
Textures © The Blooming Effect and Hybrid Genesis
Brushes © Relished.net and Cirratus.org and Roshiweb.com