Promises

Sobbing. It sounds distant, like it's coming through a tunnel. The heart-wrenching cries come closer. It drifts around me in lazy spirals until it finally seems to settle, broken and terrified, in my ears.

"Oh please, oh please wake up. Don't leave me here alone."

I force my eyes open. As I do so, a pain shoots through my head like a gunshot. I shut them again tightly. Then, when I realize whose voice it is, they snap open again.

"Brian?" I ask through a dry, cracked throat.

He chokes out a sob that sounds like it's supposed to be a laugh, but he's just too upset to make it one. "Oh, thank god!"

My eyes come into focus ever so slowly. I can see is a blurred form; all pale skin and shapeless black hair.

"I thought, I thought maybe you were dead, and I was so scared," he whispered. His voice is hoarse.

"No, I'm here. I'm here. I'm gonna get you out, okay?" My vision has finally returned. Brian's tiny, naked body is bruised and cut up. It heaves as he begins to cry again.

"No, we're not. I'm gonna die here," he cries quietly. Tears streak through the blood and grime on his face, then drip apathetically into the pool of blood below his face. Brian's black hair rests in his, looking even darker due to the murky substance.

"Don't you dare say that!" I snap, trying not to sob. "Don't say that, Brian. We're gonna get out of here, okay?"

"No, no, no. We aren't, we aren't." His voice is so pained, so broken. He looks terrified, and he's full-on crying now. This isn't the boy I knew, the one always filled with fire and spunk. I can't fathom what must have happened to him here while I was trapped in a different room.

"Don't ever say that, Brian! Don't..." I trail off, not able to yell at him. I take a moment to gather some breath. "We're gonna make it out, don't you ever think fucking different. We have to get our, 'cause, 'cause..." I break off, take another breath. "Because I fucking love you, Brian. I love you so much. We still have so much to do. We, we... we have to get that apartment together, the one we've been talking about. And, and, our band. We've gotta book shows, and we have to record our album."

"The band..."

"And, and we're gonna get married, and we're gonna be together forever, okay? We've got so much to do. We'll get out of here. We have to get married. I still have to kiss you. We'll get out. We'll get out." I whisper the promise as tears begin streaming down my cheeks.

Brian is smiling in the dingy light. Smiling through a waterfall of tears and painful, body- shaking sobs. I push myself off the dresser that my legs are bound to, as far as I can go. My hands are tied together, but I reach out to him anyway. Brian's movements are slow and deliberate so as to avoid jarring any broken bones, but he grabs my hand with his. Gently, so gently. Like a spring breeze.

"Really?" he grins, with a short laugh. It could easily be confused with a sob. "You really love me?"

"I really love you."

He cries out, partially with joy and partially with despair. "I love you, too. I love you, I love you, I love you. And we're gonna get married."

I try to smile for him and fail. It's a grimace instead. "We're gonna get married, and we'll live happily forever. We're gonna get married. I love you."

"I love you, and I..." He's wheezing for breath. His lungs, oh god, his lungs are probably- "We're gonna get married."

"We'll get out of here. Because we love each other."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The sound of a key in the lock pierces the room. He's back.

Brian starts sobbing uncontrollably, eyes squeezed shut, asking me to make it go away, make it go away please, make it go away.

I whisper sweet nothings to him, trying to make him calm down.

The door opens.

I moan in despair. Brian's cries grow more desperate.

We're going to die here.