Chapter 3 - "Can you...tease me...with this?"

Nate stared through the peephole, shuddering from the creaking doorknob as Dante attempted to barge in. He was seen glancing down each side of the corridor, before returning his malicious grey eyes onto the peephole, knocking a few more times by this time, each noise resounded much more demanding. Aunt Judy had sprinted by every window, attempting to find the best one they could jump from, but all of them were way too high that they would either die or be in a vegetable state for the rest of their lives.

Neither of them had said one word ever since they heard the knocks, and all Nate could do was watch as Dante removed his tan jacket and left it to hang onto his shoulder, still wearing the same formal attire from earlier. This time, his sleeves were rolled to his elbow; the only difference was that his dress shirt was buttoned all the way to his neck, visually squeezing him too much which was odd.

"Nate Kennedy." His voice deepened, causing both their flesh to crawl with goosebumps as they could hear the murderous lust in his tone. "Open up this door."

Nate was unsure if he was alone or had other members with him. He wasn't even sure if he had a weapon on him, but based on his demeanour, he was assuming Dante to be armed.

Aunt Judy had enough of the silence, feeling as if her heart would explode from her chest. "What the fuck are going to do?!"

"Shut up," he shouted in a whisper, not looking away from the peephole as he examined Dante place his palms on his hips with a smirk, stepping away from the door for a few seconds before leaning his back against it. "I'm thinking."

Aunt Judy shook her head. "Let's jump, let's just jump. I don't want to die—"

"That jump would kill you anyway," Nate snapped, narrowing his eyes towards her. His thoughts were running with solutions and she was interrupting them—he needed to find a way to dodge the disturbing scenarios he had formulated, which meant a few more minutes in thought.

"If you don't open this door, I will come in on my own." He observed Dante lean his head backwards and raise his chin, revealing all the arteries bulging across his neck. "But I won't be happy."

"Don't open that fucking door Nathan!" Judy screeched, pointing her quivering fingers to the entry. "If you do, we're both dead."

"Is that Judith?" They heard from the other side followed by a few chuckles. "Hi Judy-bear; I just want to talk."

"No you don't!" Aunt Judy screamed, running her trembling fingers through her ginger curls, disrupting the pattern. She stepped closer towards the door. "You're going to kill us!"

"Aww." He pushed out his bottom lip, tilting his head to the side as he lowered his chin, widening his eyes as if he was vulnerable. "How could you have guessed so right?"

Nate felt his blood run cold. There was no way out of this situation; he was either going to come in from the front door or they would let him come in. Either or, they would have to face him sooner or later, which was why Nate placed his fingers on the metallic doorknob. When Dante heard the creak, his smirk fell and his eyes grew in shock when he heard a click; the door had unlocked.

"Nathan, what the fuck are you doing!"

"That's our only option auntie," he sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry; just stand beside me." Even though the fear was causing his legs to feel like jello, barely even able to step backwards and carry his own weight, he knew he at least had to stand his ground for the last few minutes that he was alive. Besides, that may not be the outcome planned for them.

Aunt Judy's eyes filled with tears but she listened, interlacing her fingers with Nate as they both observed the door. The uncertainty was causing their heart to continue pounding, matching ragged breaths as they stood side by side. Aunt Judy closed her eyes, knowing there were certain things she wanted to say before this was all over.

"I'm sorry I snitched on you to your mother about your failed classes or exams. I'm sorry I told her that you had a boyfriend before you admitted of being gay. I'm sorry I yelled at you when you fought my abusive boyfriend. I'm sorry I—"

"Shut up!" Nate couldn't stand the sound of her high-pitch quivering voice. With all the stress that was weighing down on his shoulders, this was not the last noise he wanted to listen to if these were his last moments on earth. "Your voice sounds horrid."

That caused Aunt Judy to gasp, narrowing her eyes as she wiped a few tears that had leaked to her chin. "I'm literally apologizing for all the things I've done wrong."

"All those things were years ago," he waved his hand aggressively, pulling away from their interlaced fingers to face her. "Besides, listen to yourself."

"Are you kidding me?!" She threw her arms to her sides, furrowing her brows as her eyes squinted. "How dare you be mean to me when this is our last moment together, forever?!"

"I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just sayi—let me guess, you're giving me the silent treatment now?" She had scoffed and turned away, her back towards him which made him roll his eyes. "We have an assassin or whatever the fuck he is, outside our door with probably a long butcher knife and you're giving me the silent treatment?"

"Well you should have kept the door locked—!"

They both straightened their spine once they heard the door creak and watched the doorknob slowly turn. Even though Aunt Judy was furious with her nephew, she squeezed her eyes closed and grabbed his hand, holding him tightly which Nate was thankful she had. Both their minds had blanked, unsure what to even think as the door was slowly pushed open.

Dante stepped in first, staring behind them as he admired the apartment, nodding his head in satisfaction.

"I'm Dante Hercules."

He glanced around, eyeing each decorations for a few seconds, halting his steps at the front door. He then shoved his hands in his front dress pants pockets and his eyes settled on Aunt Judy first.

"Oh no," Aunt Judy's voice cracked, "he'll kill me first."

"Raphael," Dante ignored her, glancing towards the open entry before pointing to her. "Remove his aunt for me."

Instantly, they watched the blond man from earlier enter the apartment. Nate hadn't seen him, he must have been out-of-view, but he walked towards Aunt Judy and forcefully grabbed her wrist as she begged for them to free her. Nate attempted to stop them from grabbing her, but the blond man was much too strong, pushing him slightly but it caused Nate to be flung backwards.

"Let her go!" Nate screamed at the top of his lungs, sprinting forward again only to see an arm intercept his pathway to the door where Raphael had left with his aunt. His fright was not enough to inhibit the rage that burst through each vessel in his body, evoked by having nothing to lose anyway, and he pointed a finger towards Dante, closing the distance between them.

His teeth gritted, now only a foot away from Dante who tilted his head to the side, lifting his chin to assert his dominance. But Nate had enough of this alpha demeanour; he had to stand for what was right. "You better not fucking hurt her."

There was a strange expression in Dante's eyes as he lifted his eyebrows. Nate couldn't read it though; it was trapped behind the murderous bloodlust that couldn't be more obvious in his gaze.

"You should worry about your own life." Nate noticed that Dante was starting to pant quietly, his lips distanced very slightly since his breathing had accelerated even though he had been standing; there was no reason for him to be out-of-breath.

Nate squeezed his teeth together, revealing a nasty glare towards him as he stepped forward, a bit closer to his face. "You should worry about your own life too. I promise you, if you do kill me, I'll come back and haunt the fuck out of you so you can end your own life!"

He heard Dante inhale sharply, biting his bottom lip as if he was resisting an urge, which scared Nate for a second until he realized he had gotten this far, there was no point in calming down now. "If you want to kill me then just do it now! I don't need to stare at your ugly face any longer."

Dante's heart skipped a beat, his shoulders broadening as he looked down at Nate, tilting his head to the side. Their peering gazes lingered for a moment, but Dante disconnected it by turning away to close the door.

And locked it.

Nate squeezed his palms into fists. It had been about five minutes already and he was still alive—maybe Dante was not as demonic Aunt Judy had thought.

"I've been waiting for someone like you."

This time, Dante's voice was breathless and he threw the jacket onto the ground. Then, he reached for his ankle and slightly lifted the hem of his dress pants, revealing a knife he kept in case he needed to use it. Which at the moment, he did.

The moment Nate's eyes met the shining metallic sharp end of the knife, its length already worrying, he could no longer breathe. He felt as if his throat had closed on itself, unable to inhale anymore air and suffocating on its own. As for Dante, his fingers tightly gripped the knife and his panting grew much faster, sweat even forming at the corner of his forehead.

Dante began stepping forward, each of his muscles flexing as he stomped closer to Nate who kept stepping backwards to maintain a secure distance. As much as Nate was afraid of this knife, he told himself not to beg for mercy; this was what it meant to be true to oneself until the very end. His eyes diverted away from the knife as he continued to rush backwards, but eventually, there were no more backwards as his back planted against the wall. He had nowhere to hide, nowhere to go.

It wasn't as if Dante had even stopped; he continued to walk forward with such condescending and smug air that Nate knew this was where his story was to end. At first, the images crossing his mind was of reckless Aunt Judy screaming whenever she even had the chance. But then, it shifted to his parents who had spontaneously decided to move overseas without him. He thought about the high school friends he left behind ever since his move to Mecan, wondering if he ever mattered to them. He wasn't even thinking about the knife, hell he even forgot there was a knife pointed at him.

His eyes had closed, unable to stare at the impact when the knife was to plunge into his stomach. However, the pain never came. Confused, he slowly peaked, a quick glance because maybe he had predicted wrong and the impact would be any second. But after his first look, he couldn't help but take a second, and then his eyes were stuck gaped open.

Dante was on his knees, extended his palm with the knife and couldn't stop panting as if he was a tired dog. He even had unbuttoned the top of his dress shirt and revealed what he had been hiding; there was a black collar around his neck with a chain tied, which he held up as well. When he lifted his head, Nate realized the slight tint of pink on Dante's cheeks, as if he was slightly embarrassed and nervous, a child finally able to do what he pleased the most.

After a few seconds of them staring at one another, Dante finally spoke. But his voice had changed; it was breathless and soft, echoing with a sweetness that Nate could have never imagined existed within him.

With the knife left on his palm for Nate to grab, he cooed sheepishly, "Can you...tease me...with this?"