Summer
Post by Aiden Erichson on Mar 11, 2013 6:11:24 GMT -5
The bell above the door of the Phoenix Shop had remained silent for nearly half the day and Aiden heaved a quiet sigh before flipping the sign on the door from 'Open' to 'Closed' before looking among the flickering flamed goods and simmering potions. Something in the color of the flames was so comforting and close to home that it set his nerves on ease. Quietly, he made his way into the back store room and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it upon one of the ever burning lamps in the back, needed to illuminate his personal workspace. As dorky as he thought his enchanted musical candles were, they were selling. The jewellry was selling, the potions were selling, business was going well, but yet, there was still an emptiness growing inside of him.
Merlin, he missed Caleb so much that his insides felt like glass shattering. He hadn't heard from the man in over ten years, and knew in his heart that he would never see him again. Yet, no amount of alcohol he found himself drinking could ever overpower the scalding love he held for him. No cigarette on earth could force the taste of his kisses out of his mouth. Worse yet, no sleep could ever bring him blissful dreams of being encompassed in his arms, only to wake up with a steadily breaking heart at being alone once again.
Lost in his thoughts, he had not heard the jingle from the door. Slowly breathing smoke rings into the air, he suddenly heard the voice that sent his blood from fire to ice.
"Another year, has it been, Phoenix?"
Aiden turned quickly, coming nearly nose to nose with him. Peter Kendall. The same Death Eater that had been torturing him for years.
"Peter. You look like shit." He hissed darkly, green eyes glaring icy daggers into the soulless pits of the Death Eater that only smirked at him in response.
"It's time you brought down that wall for me, Aiden."
Aiden flicked the still lit cigarette at the man with a sneer. "I'd rather...as I've said every year since you've started this bullshit...fucking die than let all your little cronies out of Azkaban. Dumbass. You really think I'm that fucking low?"
Peter laughed and drew his wand out. "My favorite part." Aiden's eyes hardened in that instant and something inside him began to heat to an extreme burn. Flames suddenly flew from the front of the store and surged through the petite man's frame, granting him an almost etherial appearance for a brief moment as he locked eyes on the Death Eater.
"Chaos Inflamarae!" He barked swiftly. The flames coursed through his veins and charged through his wand, sending a charged flame blast to increase the level of fire within his shop. If anything, he hoped to at least scare the bastard out so he could just get back to work. The flames took on the shape of a darkened dragon, raging with centuries of anger and hatred, centered on the Death Eater.
For a moment, Peter froze and admired the Phoenix's work. The boy was a savant, really. The flames were works of pure art and destruction. And he needed them.
"Crucio!"
Fuck!!
The spell hit Aiden square in the chest and the flames instantly died without the link to him any longer. The small man remained standing, despite feeling like his veins were being sawed in half by rusty blades. He gave a low, gutteral growl, managing to flip a strong middle finger at Peter before he cast the curse again.
"CRUCIO!"
Aiden gave out a resounding shreik of pain, but sealed off his mind from the brunt of the attack. He hid within his memories. He hid with Caleb.
"Bring. Down. The. Wall!"
"No!"
"CRUCIO!"
Another shriek of pain and his body bled freely, but in his mind, he was clinging to Caleb, just after he'd told him that he loved him for the very first time. He was being covered in soft, sweet kisses, being loved like he'd never been before and had never been after.
Somewhere between the pain of the curse...and the pain of losing such a love...Aiden's eyes filled with tears behind his glasses and his screaming began again, garbled with sobs that shook his entire body.
He would endure hours of such torture before Peter lost his fun and spat on the floor in front of his sobbing frame and promised something about next time. Aiden didn't hear a word of it. His body felt like it was going to fall apart with the slightest muscle twitch, but his mind was clinging to his memories so tightly that he'd begun to question why he did such.
It had been 10 years. He wasn't coming back, was he?
That thought felt like a spear in his heart.
He slowly curled into himself as his blood ran freely across the floor of the shop. For the briefest moment...he almost considered allowing himself to simply bleed out here. Life...wasn't worth it. Not without him.
"C-c-c...Cari.... All he need do was whisper, and the Transfiguration mistress came sprinting from across the street as fast as she could. She didn't scream, like the first time she'd ever seen him laying there, gushing blood after Peter's handiwork.
"Aiden! What can I do?" She was already closing up the wounds with some healing magic that she did know, but, he stopped her once the wort were closed enough to slow the trickle of blood.
"No...I can't. I can't do it anymore."
The girl smoothed his blood soaked locks slowly and bit her lower lip as her eyes widened with sorrow. "But...but...he could still be out there somewhere, Aiden. Don't give up on the person that you love! Come on, we can go to Saint Mungo's and the healers will-"
His body erupted in sobs to a point to interrupt her speaking. He cried until he couldn't produce anymore tears. He cried until part of his very soul died. What else could he do? He looked up at the girl and grabbed a hold of her hands gently, smearing his own blood upon her skin. "You're so young...you're so hopeful...but, listen to me, Cari...I'm getting old. I fell in love over a decade ago...and he vanished from my life. I can't purge him from me. I still feel...every place he ever touched...I still remember every word he ever said...but HE'S GONE!!! HE'S NEVER COMING BACK!!!" Tears were streaking through the blood upon his face.
"I'll die without him...just as sure as I'll die at the hands of these Death Eaters..." His throat closed up slowly and he felt Cari's tears falling on his cheeks. She still believed in happy endings and that true love lasted through everything and grew stronger for it. He knew better. He knew better each summer and winter that passed and his heart grew worse for wear. There were no happy endings.
"Love exists. But...not for me. I'd rather die with my memories...at least there I know he loved me, and there I can feel as if I matter to him again. There...there I am complete and not this broken shell of a man. Call the healers...but I can't fight anymore...I just can't..." Cari made the call to Saint Mungo's like she always did, but his time he just shut his eyes so he could just see that smile behind his lids again. He felt that kiss as if he were there, but knew better than to open his eyes in a feeble attempt to find him again.
Caleb was gone.
He was alone.
"Caleb..." He whimpered softly, reaching out in his memory to touch the face he could recite blindfolded. A quiet shudder ran through him as he breathed out the last word his consciousness would permit him to speak. The last word he'd ever told Caleb before he'd gone missing.
"Always."
Merlin, he missed Caleb so much that his insides felt like glass shattering. He hadn't heard from the man in over ten years, and knew in his heart that he would never see him again. Yet, no amount of alcohol he found himself drinking could ever overpower the scalding love he held for him. No cigarette on earth could force the taste of his kisses out of his mouth. Worse yet, no sleep could ever bring him blissful dreams of being encompassed in his arms, only to wake up with a steadily breaking heart at being alone once again.
Lost in his thoughts, he had not heard the jingle from the door. Slowly breathing smoke rings into the air, he suddenly heard the voice that sent his blood from fire to ice.
"Another year, has it been, Phoenix?"
Aiden turned quickly, coming nearly nose to nose with him. Peter Kendall. The same Death Eater that had been torturing him for years.
"Peter. You look like shit." He hissed darkly, green eyes glaring icy daggers into the soulless pits of the Death Eater that only smirked at him in response.
"It's time you brought down that wall for me, Aiden."
Aiden flicked the still lit cigarette at the man with a sneer. "I'd rather...as I've said every year since you've started this bullshit...fucking die than let all your little cronies out of Azkaban. Dumbass. You really think I'm that fucking low?"
Peter laughed and drew his wand out. "My favorite part." Aiden's eyes hardened in that instant and something inside him began to heat to an extreme burn. Flames suddenly flew from the front of the store and surged through the petite man's frame, granting him an almost etherial appearance for a brief moment as he locked eyes on the Death Eater.
"Chaos Inflamarae!" He barked swiftly. The flames coursed through his veins and charged through his wand, sending a charged flame blast to increase the level of fire within his shop. If anything, he hoped to at least scare the bastard out so he could just get back to work. The flames took on the shape of a darkened dragon, raging with centuries of anger and hatred, centered on the Death Eater.
For a moment, Peter froze and admired the Phoenix's work. The boy was a savant, really. The flames were works of pure art and destruction. And he needed them.
"Crucio!"
Fuck!!
The spell hit Aiden square in the chest and the flames instantly died without the link to him any longer. The small man remained standing, despite feeling like his veins were being sawed in half by rusty blades. He gave a low, gutteral growl, managing to flip a strong middle finger at Peter before he cast the curse again.
"CRUCIO!"
Aiden gave out a resounding shreik of pain, but sealed off his mind from the brunt of the attack. He hid within his memories. He hid with Caleb.
"Bring. Down. The. Wall!"
"No!"
"CRUCIO!"
Another shriek of pain and his body bled freely, but in his mind, he was clinging to Caleb, just after he'd told him that he loved him for the very first time. He was being covered in soft, sweet kisses, being loved like he'd never been before and had never been after.
Somewhere between the pain of the curse...and the pain of losing such a love...Aiden's eyes filled with tears behind his glasses and his screaming began again, garbled with sobs that shook his entire body.
He would endure hours of such torture before Peter lost his fun and spat on the floor in front of his sobbing frame and promised something about next time. Aiden didn't hear a word of it. His body felt like it was going to fall apart with the slightest muscle twitch, but his mind was clinging to his memories so tightly that he'd begun to question why he did such.
It had been 10 years. He wasn't coming back, was he?
That thought felt like a spear in his heart.
He slowly curled into himself as his blood ran freely across the floor of the shop. For the briefest moment...he almost considered allowing himself to simply bleed out here. Life...wasn't worth it. Not without him.
"C-c-c...Cari.... All he need do was whisper, and the Transfiguration mistress came sprinting from across the street as fast as she could. She didn't scream, like the first time she'd ever seen him laying there, gushing blood after Peter's handiwork.
"Aiden! What can I do?" She was already closing up the wounds with some healing magic that she did know, but, he stopped her once the wort were closed enough to slow the trickle of blood.
"No...I can't. I can't do it anymore."
The girl smoothed his blood soaked locks slowly and bit her lower lip as her eyes widened with sorrow. "But...but...he could still be out there somewhere, Aiden. Don't give up on the person that you love! Come on, we can go to Saint Mungo's and the healers will-"
His body erupted in sobs to a point to interrupt her speaking. He cried until he couldn't produce anymore tears. He cried until part of his very soul died. What else could he do? He looked up at the girl and grabbed a hold of her hands gently, smearing his own blood upon her skin. "You're so young...you're so hopeful...but, listen to me, Cari...I'm getting old. I fell in love over a decade ago...and he vanished from my life. I can't purge him from me. I still feel...every place he ever touched...I still remember every word he ever said...but HE'S GONE!!! HE'S NEVER COMING BACK!!!" Tears were streaking through the blood upon his face.
"I'll die without him...just as sure as I'll die at the hands of these Death Eaters..." His throat closed up slowly and he felt Cari's tears falling on his cheeks. She still believed in happy endings and that true love lasted through everything and grew stronger for it. He knew better. He knew better each summer and winter that passed and his heart grew worse for wear. There were no happy endings.
"Love exists. But...not for me. I'd rather die with my memories...at least there I know he loved me, and there I can feel as if I matter to him again. There...there I am complete and not this broken shell of a man. Call the healers...but I can't fight anymore...I just can't..." Cari made the call to Saint Mungo's like she always did, but his time he just shut his eyes so he could just see that smile behind his lids again. He felt that kiss as if he were there, but knew better than to open his eyes in a feeble attempt to find him again.
Caleb was gone.
He was alone.
"Caleb..." He whimpered softly, reaching out in his memory to touch the face he could recite blindfolded. A quiet shudder ran through him as he breathed out the last word his consciousness would permit him to speak. The last word he'd ever told Caleb before he'd gone missing.
"Always."
