Chapter Text
CHAPTER 1
03/14/84 It was two in the morning and the woods were pitch black except for the dim glow of the moon that passed through the leaves of the evergreens, two boys were sitting on a log and the smoke from their cigarette enveloped them like a dance "by the way your hair is awful Greggie" said the boy on the right as he put out his cigarette on the trunk of the tree, the battery-powered flashlight Greg had brought illuminated his dark skin, how many times Greg had seen that skin being offended before his eyes. "Prince, no one asked your opinion, you know?" Greg replied, laughing as he continued to smoke the half cigarette he had left. "Uhh..." he snorted. "Have you heard that rumors are going around about Satanists?" Prince continued, "eh... sure, everyone's talking about it." Greg finished speaking and tossed the cigarette into a puddle of water that had formed that morning due to the rain. "My mom won't stop talking about it, she even told me she's giving me a curfew because she's scared," Prince said, making Greg raise an eyebrow. "My path will be: home, school, and Sunday church! I can't even go to the arcade anymore!" Prince blurted out, counting his house, church, and school on his fingers to empathize with the slightest amount of 'free time' he could get. "Oh, and another thing, my mom says I shouldn't talk to you because you're a Satanist too, or something." Prince rolled his eyes at his own words. "Your mom's going crazy," Greg said, looking at the ground. "And what if she was a Satanist? I don't see the problem! Satanists don't sacrifice anyone! It's cultists who do it! And besides, your mom should know that Christians also sacrificed animals and humans." Greg continued, venting his anger. "Greggie, look with all my heart, but I'm not comfortable knowing that there are people who sacrifice a living being for Satan." He raised his hands in front of his face in surrender, and with those words, Prince was attacked by Greg's eyes.
<~○~>
Months had passed by now. Prince had been sequestered at home by his mother for various reasons, and if he'd been spotted outside, it would have been a miracle. Instead, Greg was escorted by his father wherever he went, so he decided to avoid going out to avoid embarrassing situations with his father. Greg was on the school roof because it was the only way to meet two of his friends who were a few years older than him. He was the youngest of the group and didn't even know how he had ended up there but as long as he was comfortable it didn't matter that much to him "HEY GREGGIEEE!" He heard a sudden female voice, very shrill to be honest and in fact that scream had almost burst his eardrums which were now whistling like when you put a microphone too close to a speaker "Lizzie stop screaming I can hear you" said Greg avoiding the gaze of the two girls who had just arrived "come on Greggie you are such a burden" one of the two girls said sitting next to Greg "don't you know personal space Mel?" said Greg trying to move away from Melissa. Two hours had passed since they had gone up to the roof and another friend had joined them, his name was Jacob and he was the oldest, he had just turned 18 a few months ago, the 4 boys made their way to the exit before everyone else to avoid unwanted looks that they had been receiving every day from the others due to some damned rumors they had been spreading, "Hey, come to my concert in the abandoned hospital" Jacob said with an amused face while Melissa pinched his left elbow "I don't think so" said Lizzie while looking at the clock above the exit door "Greggie and I are definitely coming!" Melissa said, pulling Greg towards her with a drag that almost made him fly. "Yeah yeah..." Greg said, rolling his eyes and trying to get away from Melissa while Jacob laughed. <○> It was 10 pm and Greg had locked himself in the bathroom. He had just finished smoking some drugs that Jacob had brought him that same morning on the roof. He was now reaching for the razor blade that was at the bottom of the bathroom cabinet under the bottle of antidepressants. "Asshole... why..." Greg said to himself as he trembled and sat in the bathtub with the razor blade in his hands and began to press it to the skin of his arms and began to carve Prince's name into his skin, trying in every way not to hit a vein and die in his mother's bathroom. If he had to die, he would have preferred to die in his father's bathroom with his fingerprints. He hated his father so much that he had become his reflection and for this reason his mother couldn't even look at him in the face without feeling disgusted. His parents had separated 3 years ago and the day of their divorce was the best day of Greg's miserable life, his parents were two addicts and Greg had grown up hating any kind of drug but now he found himself in a position where he had no right to complain about his parents realizing that he was not that different, Greg's father had a gigantic list of crimes but none of these were ever reported by Greg or by his mother who had endured the worst beatings from her husband and not only that, sexual abuse was not lacking and was not only reported on the skin of the mother but many times also on Greg which led him to hate sexual intercourse especially if it was between men but he felt the need, he felt adrenaline every time he was with a man, often older than him but as he himself says he does it only for money or for illegal favors that he was afraid to get his hands dirty or sometimes just for pure fun but after each relationship he felt the need to tear off his skin with bites or rub himself in boiling water to get rid of every mark (which makes Actually, which leads him to emerge from the tub with red, scratched skin), or to be torn to pieces by some animal so he can't be found. Greg was now floating in a stream of thoughts; the drug was taking effect, and the blood flowing down his arms made him grin like a maniac. He slowly brought his arm to his mouth and began to clean the blood with his tongue. The pain he felt was nothing compared to the ecstasy he felt from the veins in his feet to his brain, making him stupid. He loved the taste of blood, but he loved his beloved's even more, which had happened countless times, and he loved the metallic smell of blood and the sour taste in his mouth that made his stomach churn but at the same time his eyes roll back in intoxication.
March 15, 1984
Greg was awakened by a stabbing pain in his head. He had passed out in the tub, and in fact, he began to hear his mother's footsteps on the stairs, and with what little strength he had, he tried to get out of the tub and bandage his arms. He was standing in front of the sink with his hands on either side of it, barely able to stand because of the headache he was having. He slowly opened the cabinet door and took out the gauze, starting to clean his cuts while clenching his teeth in pain, which made a nasty noise. "Ugh," he snorted as he began to bandage his arms. As soon as he was finished, he began to wash his face and try to wash his neck, which now had black streaks from the sweat and dirt accumulated over the past two weeks
affected by his poor hygiene, but what could he do about it? A little more and he wouldn't even be able to get out of bed, and he was already doing so much. He ran a hand through his hair and ran out of the bathroom, grabbing his clothes and getting out of the house. As he thought about that night in the woods with Prince, Greg couldn't forget Prince's hands around his neck, much less his words, "You disgust me." Those words destroyed the little trust he had in Prince. Greg's eyes were watering as he sniffled to keep from crying. After he got dressed, he left the house and went to an arcade that was quite far from his house. He had decided to skip school and meet Jacob at the arcade. Once he got to the room he headed towards the arcades where Jacob was with three other guys who were part of his band, "Hi Jacob" said Greg as he leaned on the free side of the arcade where Jacob was playing "Hey Greggie, kid what are you doing, skipping school?" Jacob said laughing and teasing him without taking his eyes off the screen "So this is Greg?" Jacob's friend said, "I imagined it differently," another boy said while playing with his girlfriend's hair. Suddenly, Jacob screamed and punched his friend in the shoulder because he had lost at the game. After he calmed down, Jacob turned to Greg and began introducing his friends. "Greg, this is Ryan, he's an asshole, forget about him." Rayan was the first of the boys who spoke. "Instead, this is Carlos and this is his girlfriend Esmeralda. Ryan plays the drums, Carlos the bass, and Esmeralda is just Carlos's girlfriend, and let's just say she acts like a mother to all of us, even though she's the youngest of the four of us." Greg nodded at every piece of information and smiled kindly at the three boys while Jacob started playing again. Greg had an incredible headache and couldn't pay attention to anything the boys were saying to him, and in fact, he got a jerk behind his head who woke him from his thoughts. "Greg, what are you doing? Hmm? What are you thinking about?" Jacob asked him as he put an arm around his shoulder and led him to the entrance of the abandoned building. Greg put a hand behind his neck to massage the spot Jacob's hand had hit, but then he realized he was no longer in the arcade but rather in the abandoned hospital where Jacob's concert was to be held that evening. "Hey bro, help us set up the stuff so we can start setting up other shit here and there to make the evening unforgettable," Ryan said with a friendly look. Greg just couldn't forget that night in the woods with Prince... his hands around his neck and the words that still made his heart bleed. Greg remembered how the wet grass dampened his clothes and how Prince stared at him as if he'd killed someone dear to him. The day continued calmly and he helped the others set up the instruments and carry a small table to put alcohol and soft drinks on. It was 8 pm and people were already starting to arrive. After two hours, everyone had arrived and most of them were already 'floating' due to the alcohol and drugs in their veins. Jacob was there on the 'stage' created by desks and tables and some beds and he was singing while kicking the wires of the instruments so as not to trip, then there was Carlos who while he was playing occasionally made out with his girlfriend while Ryan was kneeling down to vomit, the scene was horrifying but exciting at the same time, suddenly Greg heard Melissa's voice from behind him "Hey Greg come and I'll give you a piercing, a friend of mine brought the needles" said Melissa dragging Greg with her, Greg was made to sit on the floor while a girl unknown to him started asking him where he wanted the piercing, Greg paused but decided to get a simple tongue piercing and so the girl took the needle and told him to close his eyes and stay still, Greg began to regret it and while he closed his eyes he saw Melissa climb onto the 'stage' and go to Jacob who grabbed her by the elbow and stopped singing and with her free hand grabbed his jaw thus opening his mouth and spat at him He came in and immediately slapped her, sending her reeling backward. Melissa then leaned in close to Jacob's face and kissed him, biting his mouth. Greg came home that night with a sore tongue and drugs in his jeans pocket