As a creature of habit, conditioned by the time spent living in a dorm, Aiden twisted the knob in the same motion as he pulled the door closed behind in in order to enter the room quietly. For as big as he knew Alexandre’s house to be, it was a wonder why he chose to live alone which is why, once he saw all the cosmedics on the counter, Aiden was fairly convinced someone else was living here too.
There was no way someone had this many lotions or creams and scented candles, hell he put Jenna to shame. At least the fragrance didn’t clash or make the room smell like a Bath and Body works storefront; those places gave him migraines when he walked by.
It was the face looking back at him in the mirror that caused the tall blackish-navy blue haired boy to pause. “Holy hell…”
Aside from his mussed hair from sleeping for however many hours, his skin was littered with discoloration from kissing concrete. Sure there were slight abrasions on his palms and elbows but the one injury he was most concerned about had yet to be seen. It wasn’t that he thought Alex would have done a poor job patching him up, if anything he was pretty confident the blonde knew how to handle situations like the one he had found himself in the previous night; he’d have to know at least basic first aid living on his own. What he was worried about, however, was his reaction to seeing it and how the injury alone would validify what happened with the monster; something, even now, he was still convinced was a hallucination or a nightmare.
The blanket he had been holding onto dropped to the floor, encircling his feet in a puddle of fabric. Loathe to do so, Aiden lifted his right arm and twisted his body just enough so he carefully peel back the tape holding the gauze in place. s**t…
One gash from his side reached towards his spine with two other parallel welts with peeled skin above it; much like a cat scratch that barely broke the skin. The injury wasn’t bad enough for him to worry about spilling his guts out his back side, but a visit to the ER would probably do him some good; if anything to make sure it didn’t get infected since neosporin could only do so much.
Aiden carefully pulled the makeshift bandage completely off then tossed the bloodied thing into the garbage can. Probably not the smartest thing to do but there really was nobody there to stop him; if anything he would just ask Alex to put a new one on once he got out of the shower and got some clothes on.
The shower knobs weren’t as complicated as he’d assumed it to be, if anything his mother's was worse. Two knobs each controlling a single temperature yet the little piece of plastic that denoted which was which had fallen off years ago and had never been replaced. Alex’s, however, was far simpler, one lever style knob that pulled outward and either tilted left or right.
Once inside the tub the warm water droplets worked their magic to relieve the tension in his aching muscles. Back facing away from the stream, Aiden placed his palm against the tiled wall and let the white noise fill his ears. Images that had been replaying in his mind while he slept came to the forefront and for the first time since waking up he could finally piece through what happened with a more clear mind.
The monster acted how its nature dictated; a predator among a sea of men. But where did it come from? he wondered. Exactly how long had it been waiting for someone to walk by before striking? Was he the intended target or just unlucky to be the next victim? Answers he knew would never be given now that the creature had been turned to nothing more than dust on the open street; not that he actually expected an animalistic thing like that to sit down, have a chat with him, and explain its life story.
Recounting each step taken, a wave of dizziness overcame him when memories happened upon that large icicle. Yet another thing he couldn’t explain as it too had recently disappeared. “What the hell was that?” he wondered aloud. Swaying sideways, Aiden’s shoulder came in contact with the cold tile wall and for the next several moments he stayed in the position with his eyes closed till he felt sure enough that he wasn’t about to collapse in the tub.
“Tche, none of this makes sense.” Out of frustration and habit, his free hand lifted to comb calloused fingers through his wet hair.
The rest of the shower Aiden refused to think any more on the matter. What happened, happened; and even though he wanted answers he had a gut feeling that Alex would think him clinically insane if he shared the details of what he remembered.
Using the bar soap in lieu of the Tea Tree shampoo, he washed the sweat and dirt off his body the best he could before stepping out of the shower. Something he had learned a few years prior, that mint smelling hair care product stung like a b***h if you got it in her eyes let alone a cat scratch; he really had no desire to know how it would feel if it got on the scrapes he was currently supporting.
After turning off the water and groping the wall beside the shower, Aiden dried himself off thoroughly careful to dab around certain areas to avoid getting blood on the cotton towels which felt like they belonged in a luxury hotel instead of someone’s home. No matter, he wrapped it around his waist just the same before cracking the door open to call out for Alex only to spot his gym bag laying at his feet. “Oh thank God Jenna found it!”
Relieved, he picked the bag up and pulled it inside the bathroom and dug through the contents for his spare set of clothes. Black Adidas workout pants with three stripes down the side and a black underarmor shirt, which he chose not to put on quite yet till he could get Alex’s help patching up the wound on his back.
Inky strands of dark colored hair clung to his face and after one last glance at the mirror he left the steamy room in search of the ashen blond.
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