Dead But Breathing

Alex didn’t really have any idea where he was going, he hadn’t actually been here in quite some time, and his sense of direction wasn’t helped by the fact that it was winter, so even though it was only about 7pm it was pitch black. The dim streetlights lit the streets slightly, but it wasn’t enough to help Alex enough. He began to realise that it was probably wasn’t a good idea storming out of the house into a town that he wasn’t very familiar with when it was dark. Anything could happen to him, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind, he would be fine, this was England for fucks sake, nothing interesting ever happened here. He could see a cluster of lights ahead of him and decided to head in that direction. Sure enough, he soon reached a small cluster of shops, one was an old coffee place, but it looked warm inside and Alex was freezing, so he pushed the heavy door open and made his was inside. There weren’t many people inside, mainly old men and women sat by themselves but Alex didn’t care, anywhere was better than the childrens home right now. Alex ordered himself a latte before sitting down at a table in the corner of the café. He felt kind of bad for leaving Max by himself, but he didn’t really know what else to do. Alex wasn’t great at comforting people. Alex jumped slightly when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, but he smiled when he noticed the text was from Lisa.

'Hey, miss u like crazy! U gotta ring me soon ok? Love u xx'

Alex smile grew as he read the text. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to Lisa since he had left his foster parents a while ago, and now was probably the best opportunity he was going to get. Sipped his hot latte before pressing the call button and waited for her to answer. It only rang twice before she picked up.

“Alex” She sqealed, and Alex smiled because it felt so good that someone was actually genuinely missing him, no one had ever missed him before.

“Hey Lisa” Alex said, his voice was warm, “How are things?”

“Shit, its so horrible without you Alex, schools so boring now” She sounded sad, and it just made Alex miss her even more, “How are you though?”

“Pretty shit to be honest” Alex sighed and slid lower into his chair as he remembered the evenings events, “Everyone here are bigger pricks than usual, I hate all of them, except one.”

“Don’t let them put you down Alex, you’re better than them! Who’s this other person then?” She asked.

“His name’s Max, he seems pretty cool, he plays guitar and stuff” Alex shrugged, even though Lisa couldn’t see him.

“Awh he sounds cool! Im gunna have to go now Alex, my mums made pizza, but promise me you’ll come and see me soon?” She pleaded. Alex laughed, he really liked Lisa, she was definatley the nicest person he had ever met, ever.

“Tomorrow?” Alex suggested, “I don’t really want to stay at home, I could bring Max?”

“Yeah!” Lisa squealed with excitement, “That would be so great Alex.”

“Good, I’ll get a bus at about 11, see you” Alex smiled into the phone before hanging up. The thought of seeing Lisa put him in an instantly good mood. He finished his latte and left the café, he needed to get back before he got in shit with Mr Reed.

Alex was nearly back at the children’s home when he realised he was being followed. He could see a tall male figure out of the corner of his eye, but every time he turned round, the man was gone. It was creeping him the fuck out, why would someone even be following him anyway. He quickened his pace, he wasn’t too keen on the thought of getting raped He stared at his feet as he walked, too scared to look up incase he saw his stalker. It wasn’t until a few minutes later though that Alex realised that he must have taken a wrong turning, as he was on a street he didn’t recognise. Shit. He felt his heartbeat quicken and his palms became sweaty as he started to panic. He had no clue where he was and he was being followed. He started to run, he had no idea why as he still didn’t know where he was going, but his body seemed to think it was the right thing to do. It was just a few seconds after Alex had started running that he was on the floor. It had felt like had just thrown their whole body weight at Alex, knocking him onto the floor, but when he looked around, still no one was there. Alex was on the verge of tears for what felt like the millionth time today, why was all this shut happening to him, and what the fuck was even going on. When Alex tried to pull himself up, he felt a hand pushing on his shoulder, pushing him back down. He shut his eyes quickly, not wanting to see the person who was most likely about to rape him. A few seconds later, Alex could still feel the hand resting on his shoulder, and he was pretty sure that if this person was going to rape him, he would have probably done it by now. He opened his eyes slowly, looking up at his stalker. He was met by a pair of piercing brown eyes, that were staring at him s hard it felt asif he wis trying to rip him apparent with his gaze. He looked slightly shocked when he noticed that Alex’s eyes were open, and he moved back a little, but left his hand on Alex’s shoulder.

“Alex.” He said, more as a statement than a question. Alex’s eyes grew wide, how the fuck did this man know his name?

“H-how do you know your name?” Alex asked, his voice shaking with nervousness. At least the guy wasn’t raping him, Alex thought.

“I know a lot about you Alex” The man laughed slightly, “Possibly more than you know about yourself”

“Wha-“ Alex tried to question him, he was confused as fuck right now, what did the man mean that he knew more about Alex than Alex knew about himself?

“Look, I don’t really think this is the best place to chat, so you should really come back to my place” The man interrupted.

“I don’t even know who the fuck you are!” Alex shouted, “Why would I go back to your fucking house?”

“Im sorry, Alex, but you don’t really have a choice” And with that, the man swung his arm and punch Alex in the head, knocking him out instantly.