Gravity and Lies by CG Volars

Author:CG Volars
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Outland Entertainment
Published: 2021-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

— CHAPTER EIGHTEEN —

Izo

Izo stepped back in horror at the sound of knocking on the bathroom door. With no windows or other exits, there was nowhere to go. He stared at the warm, wooden-looking barricade. It didn’t strike him as terribly thick. He wondered how long it might take a Malforian to knock it down.

“Izo?” said the voice outside. “It’s me, Deneus.”

Izo nearly fell over in relief. He hurried to the door. “Did he leave?”

“Yeah. He left with the Aurelian. He won’t be back again until morning.”

“Was that all it took to get rid of him? Swapping one Avarian for another? Damn,” Izo said, unlatching the door. “Should have done that earlier.”

Stepping inside, Deneus’s expression dropped when he took in the Avarian’s injuries. Izo laughed and turned to the faucet. He still had blood dripping down his neck where the Senator had bitten him. Wiping some of it off, he turned on the water. “I don’t look that bad, do I?”

Deneus’s shoulders fell. “Izo, what the hell happened?”

“¿Qué crees? He wanted to, and I didn’t. The problem was he was sooo much stronger.” Izo laughed bitterly. How many times had he cringingly laughed at all the creepy rape jokes from Earth? He’d never particularly liked the jokes, or the people who made them for that matter, but he’d also never said anything or told them to stop. Now, it was like every joke that he’d ever heard was suddenly coming back with a vengeance.

Izo splashed the water over his neck and ear. The blood scrubbed away quickly, but more blood arrived in its place. In the sink, the water erased it efficiently, all traces disappearing from the room in a conveniently long black hole. It was loathsome to watch somehow. He looked away.

Deneus eyed him in concern. “Are you okay?”

“Of course.” Izo laughed. He shrugged his shoulders high. “I don’t normally tell rape jokes,” he said, remembering another. “But I guess it got forced on me!”

Deneus’s face broke into a grimace. He shifted away.

Izo smiled sarcastically. “What? Am I making you uncomfortable?”

“Stop it,” said Deneus.

Izo covered his mouth, but a sob escaped anyway. He turned his back. He didn’t want Deneus to see this. His entire body clenched with anger and self-hatred. He was suddenly aware how cold the room was—the top of his shirt had gotten wet from the water.

Deneus moved forward to hug him, but Izo shot out a hand to stop his advance and shook his head. Deneus moved back.

Izo wiped his eyes, shook out his arms, and tried to laugh it off. But in the mirror, his eyes were red and glassy.

You crying, bro?

He grunted angrily at the mirror. He shook his head harder. He was fine. He was tough. He was a full-grown person. He needed to stop.

Stop it…

Izo swallowed hard. He wasn’t going to do this. He was fine. He wasn’t a child. He wasn’t going to cry. Children cried. Children were small and helpless and were allowed to cry because there was nothing else they could do.

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