Unhinged
This is an extract from a book I was writing at the time and never finished. Everyone I showed it to completely loved it and wanted to know what happened next. So, please leave feedback or email me on Charlie_beaumont@me.com any tips or anything that comments you have I’d be grateful. Anyways, storytime!
As a writer of poetry and short stories, I always wondered if this story would ever be told. I base this story on true events and a confession of my own. I like a small population of people are on the scale of psychopathy. This book may not only reach into your soul and pull out the interest is in the human mind, but I will try to teach you, that being a psychopath or having psychopathy is not always a bad thing. This story is a story of mass fugitisum, murder, rape and a mental health system that brought it all together.
Whatever you call it, hypnotism, part of your illness or even apart of us. The game was always the same. You’d run on to a ward to avoid the police and they would ignore you as long as the ward kept you on, or you’d be put under home treatment and they would say ‘hasn’t seen the doctor’. This may all sound bazar to you and extreme but the truth this all really happened. The only thing that got you unhypnotized (and we’ll call it hypnotism or some form of the word not to confuse you) was a visit to your local A&E. Yes, that’s right your local A and E would see you found guilty in a heartbeat if you dared step foot inside those sliding doors. The truth of the matter is that no one agreed with Hypnotism, in fact, it would impede genuinely being able to care for a patient. No one really knows how it started, but the reason was clear, judges and the police just didn’t understand psychosis came in all shapes and sizes. Which I’ll explain what I mean later. So, if I was to hypnotise you, what would happen? Well nothing. The likelihood of you being unhypnotized was low unless you committed a sex crime and even then if you made it down the list far enough you might never be called. If you were called this is where the game would come into it, the game well this hypnotism’s game took place at A and E., One person, usually a sex crime perpetrator would be called to A and E with a pen, not filled with epinephrine, but a chemical that would make whoever was injected by it have a seizure as the other person was taken off to a ward or got game death. The first one to get a bed won their safety. But what this brought about was liers, a game of chance for those that were truly mentally ill and death.
The story starts with an in a house, in High Wycombe called 1–9–3. Where we will say Remi and Alexander both lived. What happened in that house has is still very hard to understand to this day. But Remi who was in room one was raped by Alexander who resided in the same hallway as Remi. The reasons that this happened are still unclear and some even think that another may have done it and not Alexander. If you want to think of this story as starting with a cliff hanger go right ahead, because the truth is, we will never know who raped Remi and whether Alexander did do it or didn’t is still much debated. However, there is no question about it, Remi Belmont was raped in 193 and if you know the story, everyone knows that this wasn’t just any rape, these rapes caused fear and scared the hell out of all that heard them. They could put hopelessness into the heart of many and the question remains if there is a serial rapist at large. But this will come into the story a bit later.
Chapter 1 — Sweetheart you’re doing it
White walls, the darkness from outside swallowing the room. Cigarette smoke from the rest of the student house filled the room laying in its wake a stain of old smoke smell. A man barely 20, very defined face, square hairline, ovalish eyebrows, his hair is curly and with cascading curls down one side of his face, a strong but small nose and green with a hint of brown eyes. His body slim but with slight muscle, his skin fair but with a hint of rose, laying on a bed of buttery yellow sheets. His leg shoots up, as a cold sweat drips down his face, he rolls up into the fetal position. He shivers, his jaw shakes uncontrollably, the feeling of ever being warm again forgotten in the frostbite. Suddenly he lets out a deep breath; his chest pulls upwards towards the bland white ceiling his heart beating rapidly, every beat from his chest pulling him out of the bed into the air until the covers fall onto the floor and no part of his body is touching the bed. His arms, legs and head draped off his body. He lets out another deep breath and falls from the air back into the bed, the covers zip onto his unconscious body.
‘Maybe you don’t believe in a soul’… ‘Maybe you’re a sceptic, maybe you’ve seen things others haven’t… maybe you’ve been touched by death.’
‘Love is a bond stronger than death, pulling the world we live in between the world we don’t.’ The man of barely 20 pulls his eyes out of a book and looks towards the tutor, his head bent to one side in deep thought. The tutor whose face was now sternly fixed on the book that the young man was holding, ‘I understand the passing of your mother has been difficult for you’ the newly twenty-year-old looked up through his eyebrows with his cleft chin pointing down towards his chest and his curls closing in on his square like face, looking numbed but with a cautious look upon his face. ‘Rémi Rousseau’ the tutor uttered in a passionate and collected way ‘what has happened to you maybe horror-able and some people here would drift between the loss and the feeling that you couldn’t have done anything.’ The room fell stagnant with what had been said as if the secrets of the someone’s purse had been opened and they had dropped a brick on the table. The whole class followed the tutor’s compassionate words from her mouth to Rémi reluctant face. The sunlight that gleamed off the moving cars from outside where the road followed the wall of the building. Creating a flashing light inside the room. ‘there’s nothing scarier than someone that doesn’t know what they’re doing. Yet we all have to learn at some point.’
The lesson continued to be the usual lesson that people noted down only in different models and different words. With every degree comes a chance of hope, which either gets dashed at the end of fulfilment. Social norms says they are at the end of every tunnel is a bright summers day… the truth is that there isn’t a bright summers day at the end of every tunnel. Sometimes at the end of the tunnel, there is a thunderstorm and acid rain that destroys your skin and blinds you too. The chance of a bright future is in the hands of those that want to be seen as capable.
The air pushing up as he falls through the air his skin as ice with the cold air brushing past his head. Falling from the 5th-floor window his long hair dragging behind his face. A numb expression. Hurtling towards the ground. A gasp has he wakes up in his dorm bedroom. He sits up still numbed by the experience. He looks around and grabs a glass next to his bed. A knock on his door… then comes a voice from the other side. ‘Rémi, we’re having a meeting for the whole house.’ He falls back onto the bed; the glass hits the carpeted floor. He gets up and puts on a dressing gown he walks to the door; he slowly reaches for the handle, a sense of despair hits him. Hearing his next door neighbour open his door he pulls his hand from the door and taps his nail against the handle. Still for a while, while he waits for his neighbour to walk into the corridor he lifts up his hand to his face and runs it across his jaw from the left side of his face to the middle of his chin. As every hair ticks as the nail pass over it. He rubs his index finger and his thumb together and then pulls open the door. There is Bellamy; Bellamy is tall well built with a chiselled face he has dyed grey hair and glasses… Bellamy is a very good looking guy.
‘So Rémi do you know what this is about?’
‘I have a feeling it might be about me and how I’ve been’ Rémi spoke softly.
‘Does everyone know?’
‘No, and if you wouldn’t mind I’d like to keep it that way.’
‘I understand, it’s not every day something bad like that happens’
Bellamy walked towards the living room first followed by Rémi.
The chairs were all laid out in a circle, one for the 12 of them. The voice from the door telling everyone to sit was heard as Rémi entered the room. ‘now…’ said Joe (the voice from the door.) ‘I have a few things to discuss, before anything the trash needs to be taken out every Tuesday and brought back in that night… any offers from anyone to have this job?’ Joe rattled on about jobs and chores for the house for about 20 minutes then ‘so has anyone else got anything they wish to say?’ Samuel stared at Rémi and forcefully pronounced ‘ I do actually mate! So I want it to be known that some people have a problem with how things are going here and someone has taken to moping around doing nothing but lockin’ themselves in their room. I just want to say that it’s not fair to everyone else!’
Rémi barked back ‘me you mean, not someone… you have a problem with me’
‘Well, what are we meant to think of this behaviour’?
Bellamy calmly directing his voice at Sam ‘I don’t think you want to go down that road, I’d just leave this one if I was you.’
Rémi turn to Bellamy ‘No it’s fine, let him say what he wants to. He needs to get it out… as I’m such a horrible person to be around!’
Bellamy gets up and leaves the room muttering ‘ well I don’t want to be a part of this.’
Rémi stares at Sam rubbing his thumbnail across his fingers with a stern look on his face. ‘You know what fuck this, fuck everyone that thinks this how can you talk to me like this! You don’t treat people this way, it’s up to me what I do in my life… don’t tell me how to feel!’ Rémi then gets up and pushes the chair over as he leaves the room.
In the corridor, Rémi saw Bellamy. The corridor is small so they had little room to interact, as the rest of the house the corridor is bland with a little colour, yet the conversation flows as if they are not packed into each other. Rémi rests against the wall while Bellamy leans sideways on the wall and crosses his arms. He has a smirk on his face. ‘Erh that was a fucking mess, I can’t believe they did that.’
‘To be fair they don’t know what is actually going on.’
‘Yeah but no matter what a person is going through, you just don’t do that to a person.’
‘I think if they saw how I saw you they might be a little more accepting of you.’
‘Ohh yeah… and how do you see me?’
‘I see a very complicated person that’s going through so much, and I just think what you need right now is a hug.’
Bellamy opens his arms and Rémi leans into his arms.
‘You know whenever you need a hug, you can just give me a knock.’ Bellamy said as he looked down at Rémi who only came to his shoulder… ‘well I’m going to have to go get changed, I’m going out later and I don’t like what I’m wearing.’ Bellamy pushed open his door and looked back. ‘And I mean anytime.’
Rémi laying in bed looking up he started noticing patens in the bland white ceiling, the swoop that the brush had made on its way. Rémi started to sink into the bed the mattress cover started to look as if it was floating and water started to spill over the side of the bed, as the water flowed out of the bed onto the floor, the water started to pull Rémi into the bed. Rémi let out a deep breath as he woke up pulling himself upwards towards the end of the bed.
Now dress for university walks out the French door that lead to the garden following the building around where the car park is. Rémi walked around the corner to see that his car had been vandalised. The tires had been slashed and someone had taken a bat to the front of the car. He dropped his bag on the floor and pulled open the door to the living room, he stormed up the stairs as he got to the second-floor hallway room six opened their door and Jacob asked ‘what’s wrong?’ Jacob is a small guy with short hair, nothing about him is very striking although he has a kind face, he looks like someone that would be happy with a night in. Rémi paused for a minute ‘do you know anything thing about my car being vandalised?’
‘Your car got vandalised?!’
‘Yeah and I think I know exactly who did it.’
Rémi carried on walking up the next set of stairs. Up the next set of stairs, there are three doors, ten, eleven and twelve. Rémi started slamming his fist against the number 11. ‘I know you’re in there… you trashed my car, you asshole!’ the door opened and Sam stood in front of Rémi.
‘Don’t bang on my door like that!’
‘Don’t go and fuck up my car!’
‘We did what we thought was right, we don’t want you here!’
‘We?!’
‘Yes, we.’
‘You guys are a bunch of fucking cunts! I’m going to make your life a living hell.’
Rémi stormed down the stairs back to his room. As he got to the hallway of his room Bellamy opened his door ‘what’s wrong?’
‘We live with a bunch of fucking wankers!’ Rémi said in furiously.
Bellamy muttered under this voice as he went back into his room ‘go to uni they said, the people you meet will be fun they said. You’ll never have as much fun than when you’re at uni.’
Rémi grabbed his phone from his pocket and started dialling for Anna. Rémi and Anna go way back they’ve been friends for years, and until now Rémi hadn’t called her due to him settling with the house and the coursework, and Rémi wanted it to seem to Anna that he was having a great time, but now he needed someone.
‘Hi, you reached Anna, I’m not here right now so leave a message after the tone. Don’t be shy!’
Beep
‘That’s your voicemail… really.’
From outside the room came shouting ‘I can’t believe you’d do that to his car!’
‘Anna I have to go, call me.’
Rémi went and sat next to the door so he could listen in to the argument.
It was Bellamy and Sam, and it was heated. ‘Why are you standing up for him he’s a weirdo!’
‘Sorry have you actually sat down and talked without pointing out every little thing about him you don’t like.’
‘Have you actually talked to him, he is just a dick!’
Bellamy suddenly yells ‘His mum died! You are the dick! … I wasn’t meant to tell you so don’t go spreading it around, but you’re being such an asshole, it’s hard not to tell you how much of a dick you look!’
‘How do you know he isn’t making it up for attention?’
‘People don’t make up things like that up unless they’re completely sick in the head.’
‘And what you don’t think he is that sick in the head?’
‘Honestly Sam… after what you’ve done, I think you’re the sickest in the head person in this house.’
Rémi hears Bellamy’s door slam shut and a final remark by Sam. ‘You know I really thought you were cool man, but if you’re taking sides with that freak you must be delusional.’ As Sam walked away, he punches the wall. Rémi sat there for a while against the door. He stared forward into the room with his legs out in front of him. The argument got to him, it was alright when Sam hated him but now it was causing problems for others in the house he felt bad. He sat there for quite some time… then suddenly a knock on the door. ‘Hey, Rémi… can I talk to you.’ Rémi didn’t move or reply. ‘I know you’re in there.’ He put his head back against the door and waited for him to leave. ‘Oook then, well when you’re ready to talk give me a knock.’ He heard the door shut and he slumped down the door thinking about how he was having an impact on the house, the feeling of guilt rushed over him as he crawled back to his bed.
The next morning Rémi stood outside in the car park waiting for the tow truck. As he leant, arms and legs crossed against the fence between the cobbled stones and the unmowed grass, down the stairs came Matthew. Mathew is a tall guy that lives in room 10 he has short black hair and a beard like stubble. He and Rémi got on ok, nothing special they talk now and then but usually small talk but with substance. Matthew came and stood next to Rémi looking in the same direction as he is. ‘I heard about your car.’
‘ohh really? What part the slashed tires or the big dents in my car.’
‘No… the part where you yelled at Sam and accused him of attacking your car with a bat.’
‘Yeah… what a lovely and welcoming thing to do. Welcome back to the house Rémi, here we smashed up your car to say welcome back to the house. Wait how did you know they used a bat?’
‘After you left I overheard them talking about it.’
‘Out of interest who was he with?’
‘Sam? Erm Joe, Mark and Andrew.’
‘Thank you, now I can put names to the people that hate me.’
‘I wouldn’t worry about them, they really don’t know what they are doing.’
‘I feel bad because I’m splitting the house in two.’
In that moment, the tow truck pulled into the house’s car park and a fat balding guy wearing a checked shirt hopped out.
‘I don’t think you are splitting the house, I think that has to be down to the people that did that to your car.’
‘Mathew I’d love to chat more but I have to talk to this guy about my car getting fixed.’
‘I have to go to class, so we can talk later.’
The fat balding man waddled over.
‘So which car is it?’
Rémi pointed towards the Mini. ‘That is the one, what do you need to take it? And do I have to come with you?’
The man chewed on the side of his mouth for a minute and belched out ‘well if you come with me, we will do it there and then. You’ll be back on the road by today. So will you be coming in the back of my truck?’ Rémi nodded and got into the back of the truck. The truck was what you expected, loads of tapes laying on the passenger seat. An old air freshener hung from the centre mirror contending with the smell of rotten fast food packets. The black interior was a change from the bland white of the house. The metal bar that came out of the front seats was stained with old fingerprints.
Rémi pulled into the houses car park driving his Mini. He walks through the living room into the hallway of room one and two. As he pulled out his key to put into the door Bellamy opened the door of room two. ‘Rémi can we talk? I need your help with something.’
‘I would but I’ve just got my car fixed and been to uni and I feel so tired, could we speak another time?’ Bellamy grabs Rémi wrist and pulls him back saying calmly ‘don’t shut me out.’ Bellamy’s slightly moist, firm hands left a tingling feeling upon Rémi’s wrist. ‘you know that’s the last thing that will happen, I promise I’ve just had a long day.’ He then walked into his room and flops on his bed with his legs hanging off. His eyes heavy with the weight of the house’s drama. He stared again at the bland ceiling creating a story out of the brushes flicks and swishes. Before Rémi knew it he was falling from the top of this universities roof, the air pushing up his legs and arms as he clawed at the passing windows. A deep breath and he awaken suddenly upright in his bed. Flustered he checks his phone, it reads 11am. He twists his body and puts his feet on the floor, he crouches over and puts his head in his hands. Taking deep breaths he eventually lifts up his head, staring forward towards the door. The torcher of these nightmares was taking their toll on him. He pushes back the one long side of hair that he has, then placing his index and middle finger to his chin to hold up his head.
Now dressed he grabs his bag that’s draped over the sofa and proceeded towards the door. He opens the door, as he does he hears a thump and then a scuffling sound from room two. The door from room two flings open and Bellamy is standing there in jogging bottoms and a white t-shirt.
‘I hear you-you know.’ He says in a soothly yet concerned tone. Bellamy looked deeply into his eyes. ‘Its nearly every night.’
Rémi spoke while trying to avoid his green eyes. ‘I’m sure it’s not as bad as it sounds.’ He pouts and tilts his head as he pauses for a moment. ‘Its just become the norm now.’
‘I feel you could do with another hug.’ He slowly opens his arms twisting from his forearm. Rémi’s face brightens and he looks down towards the ground. ‘See that’s the look of someone that could do with a hug.’
‘You’re a good guy, you know that.’ He grins as he wrapped his arms around his waist and put his head into his chest.
He smiles and replies ‘I try my best.’
Rémi takes out his phone while still staying in the embrace. ‘ohh god I need to get to uni.’ He pulls out of the hug and secures his bag on his shoulder. He flips his hair back and smirks.
‘You know you still owe me that talk.’
‘I’m back at 7 we’ll talk then if that’s good with you?’ Rémi then rushes towards the other end of the hallway towards the living room.
‘I’ll actually won’t be here I’m… and he’s gone.’
As Rémi walks in from university, the first thing he thinks of is Bellamy. He goes and knocks on rooms twos door but there is no reply. Rémi looks around for a second and then ventures towards the living room. He goes up the stairs and knocks on number 10 for Mathew. Mathew pulls open the door and looks around the door with only his head. A prolonged ‘yes’ comes from Mathew.
Confused by the awkward manoeuvre of Mathew, but Rémi continues as normal.
‘Hi Matt, do you know where everyone else is?’
‘They all went to the pub, I think the one in town.’
‘ooohh ok then’ Rémi turned to walk back down the stairs.
‘Jamie is in though, number seven. Try talking to him, he’s going later he’ll know more than I do.’
‘I’ve not really talked to him, what’s he like?’
‘Really manly’ Mathew chuckled as he closed the door.
Rémi walked down the two flights of stairs, through the living room and then up the two flights of stairs to number seven. He knocks on the door and within a few minutes, the door came open. Jamie is a pale, slender guy with whitish grey long hair. He looks as though he has never seen a gym in his life. The smell of weed came bellowing out of the room. Jamie looks Rémi up and down and then pronounces ‘oh you’re one of those.’
‘erm, yes, yes I am’ he pushed his bottom lip into his top lip and then raised his eyebrows.
‘So what do you want faggot?’ he crossed his skinny white arms as if it was to intimidate Rémi.
‘That isn’t necessary, to be rude… all I want to know is what pub everyone is at?’
Jamie snarled back at him. ‘I do not want you to come out with us! You diseased freak!’ as soon as he had finished his sentence he slammed his door. Rémi shocked by the interaction with Jamie went back to his room. While laying on his bed he started thinking about what Jamie had said, and it made him furious. His face crumpled into the middle of its self. Then he got up and started pacing back and forth all the time muttering at how he would get his own back on Jamie. Suddenly something clicked and Rémi took his laptop from the sofa. He opens it and started tapping away, a smirk grows on his face. Within minutes he is done, he shuts his laptop and falls backwards on the bed.
The next morning a knock on the door. Rémi opens the door and on the floor in front of him was a brown box with no postage stamp which means it was hand delivered. The box is about 15 inches wide, written on the other side of the box in handwriting is ‘I hope you know what you’re doing, and good luck.’ Rémi took the box into his room and stashed it under the sink. He shuts the door and then another knock comes on the door. He stares at the door for a minute then gets up and walks towards the door. Another knock comes on the door, and Sam’s voice from the other side says ‘Rémi its Sam, I would like to talk to you.’ Rémi freezes for a second; he slowly reaches for the door handle. He purses for a moment and then says back ‘I’ll open the door but if your mean to me I’ll shut it back in your face, ok?’ he waits for a for a reply and within seconds hears Bellamy’s voice. ‘They won’t I promise you.’ Rémi took a deep breath and opened the door. To his surprise Sam, Joe, Mark and Andrew were standing in front of him with Bellamy arms crossed behind them. Sam looks back at Bellamy and gestures him to speak. Sam looking down says ‘We’re sorry for what we did to your car.’
‘Will you pay for the damage?’
Sam looks back at Bellamy again. ‘I don’t know why you’re looking at me.’ Sam turn back around to face Rémi. ‘Ok, but if we have to so does Jamie.’
‘So Jamie was in on this too was he?’ he rolls his eye and looks towards the wall.
‘It was his idea’
Bellamy raised his hand and added ‘He isn’t here because I had nothing to blackmail him with’ he lowers his hand.
Rémi taps on the door with his nail ‘fine I will work something out. Thank you for your forced apologies.’
Bellamy pushes past the three of them ‘ok you can go now, I need to speak to Rémi.’ He pushes open the door that Rémi is holding and sits on the bed. Rémi turns to face him leans backwards to close the door. ‘And how may I ask did you get them to do that?’ he gleams as he says it.
‘I have Sam’s dad’s number, got it last night when he was drunk, short story is, don’t leave your phone on the table when you go to the bathroom.’ They both looked at each other and smiled. Rémi looked down and then at Bellamy. ‘I wish I could be like that.’ He walks over, sits down on the bed next to Bellamy. ‘What was it that you wanted to talk about?’
He looks down and then around the room nervously. He pushes himself backwards to lean with his back against the wall and Rémi copies. He turns to his left to look into Rémi’s eyes and says ‘I have been having these feelings. Feelings that I cannot get my head around.’ Rémi pushes his lips to the side with a kind of pout. ‘really? And could I ask what are these feelings for?’
He looks forward and then back into his eyes. ‘Its not a what it’s a who.’
‘So who would this person be?’
‘Well I’m in their room and they are making it kind of hard for me so do this, but I don’t think they feel the same.’
Rémi smiles and drops his head slowly down. Whispering under his breath, ‘they might do.’
Bellamy gets up from the bed, ‘anyway I think I should go, just wanted you to know how I felt.’ He walks towards the door to the corridor. As he opens the door there on the other side with their eyes against it are Sam, Joe, Mark and Andrew.
Mark looks at Rémi and then says to Bellamy ‘Mate you’ve got to be joking, he’s strange not interesting.’ Joe with a face of realisation says ‘that’s why you keep sticking up for him, you like like him!’ he pushes past the 4 shocked people and puts his key in his door. Rémi gets off the bed and quickly walks towards the hallway, he pulls the door to room two shut. ‘I like you too!’ he grabs him, hugs him, then as shoots into his own room and shuts the door. Rémi leans against the door with his hands on the door. A smile sweeps across his face and he falls down the door with his knees on his shoulder. ‘Well, I didn’t see myself doing that.’
Chapter 2 — My Love For You Gets Stronger
An endless white room, Remi curled up on the floor naked. He scrambles forward in desperation but he cannot find a wall. The ceiling starts falling down upon him. He pushes his legs against the ceiling. In agonising pain the cool stone floor starts to spin, he twists his legs around to keep up with the floor. He takes a deep breath and wakes up in his bed with sweat dripping onto the pillow. He looks at his phone; the text from Bellamy puts a grin on his face. The text reads ‘Good morning beautiful, hope you have a good day and come see me when you get back from class.’ He takes the charger out of the phone and replies ‘I’ll come see you gorgeous after uni, take care.’ He got up and got dressed into his clothes, grabbed his bag that was laying on the sofa and rushed out the door.
Now back from university he opens his door and throws his bag on the sofa in his room, he turns to knock on Bellamy’s door but as he goes to knock, the door opens and standing in front of him is Bellamy. ‘Back from uni?’ the smile on his face light up his eyes. Remi pouts and raises his eyebrow ‘someone’s eager to talk to me.’
‘Could you blame me?’
‘I guess not, I am a hell of a guy’ he laughed and stares into his eyes, then looks down. Bellamy grabs his waist and plants a kiss on his lips. As Bellamy pulls away from Remi’s lips he whispers with his eyes closed ‘I didn’t get to do that last time.’ Remi Jumps on him and wraps his legs around Bellamy’s hips with one hand on the back of his neck and the other pushing through his hair they kiss again. Bellamy wraps his arms around Remi’s waist and walks backwards into his room. Remi pushes his left leg backwards shutting the door. Their intertwined bodies rush around the room, first against the window then against the chest of draws. As their bodies fall against the fire exit Remi puts down his feet but Bellamy pushes him up against it. The metal handle to the fire exit flips down. Remi falls on his back and soon after Bellamy falls after, Bellamy rolls off Remi and they lay side by side on the concrete. Remi clasps his hands to his face and starts laughing.
“What’s so funny?’
He pulls his hands to his chest and turns to Bellamy. While still laughing, he says ‘I think I broke my back.’
Bellamy laughs and says “To be honest I think I broke my arm.” Remi bursts into laughter once again ‘only we could fall out a fire exit.’
They both lay there with their knees and lower legs in the room with the rest of their bodies laying on the concrete. The room door mounted higher than the concrete floor that they are laying on giving their legs a bit more height than their head.
Remi looks up into the night’s sky. ‘Its beautiful isn’t it.’
‘I couldn’t imagine anyone better to spend it with.’ Bellamy slowly reaches out and touches Remi’s right hand.
After laying there for a while Bellamy turns on his side, with his elbow on the concrete and his hand on his face. He smiles smugly.
‘What has you so happy?’
‘I just cannot believe this is actually happening. I just feel so lucky.’
Remi lets out a small laugh. ‘I feel the same way.’
Bellamy turns back onto his back but still facing Remi. ‘Tell me, what is it like at home now?’
Remi ran his left hand through the front of his hair. ‘its strange, you just expect them to be there… and they’re not.’ The smile on Remi’s face withdrew and his lost all emotion. ‘When I lost my mum, I lost my best friend. We used to do so much together and be so close.’ He looked downward towards the room. ‘When I walked in and sat down, she left up my arm for my bracelets and ran her fingers across them.’ Bellamy rolled back on his side and pushed his arm under Remi’s neck, pulling Remi to his chest. Remi rolled into his chest and a tear fell down his face. Bellamy whispered in his ear ‘You’ve always got me.’
Falling from the third floor of the house with his lower back leading the way towards the ground outside his room. As he hits his body flings backwards into the concrete. A deep breath and he awakens. There laying on the concrete outside his room in Bellamy’s arms. As his breath quickens from the shock of the nightmare Bellamy pulls him in closer. He relaxes once again and puts his head back into Bellamy’s chest.
As the light of the new sun over the hedges hits the French doors of Remi’s room and the morning smell welcomes wafts towards them, Bellamy slowly lets go of Remi. The morning due sets a dazzling glow on the house as the sun sets out its day playing shadows in the garden.
As Bellamy and Remi stand up, they brush themselves off, hug and kiss once more before they head back to their separate rooms. Remi goes to the bedside table and checks his phone for the time. As it reads 6 am, he gets into his bed, faces the wall and drifts off.
As he woke from his bed he puts his feet on the floor, he turns his head to the window and then stretches it back to face the door. He picks up his clothes that are scattered on the sofa, pulling his arms through the holes one by one. He picks up a pair of trousers sniffs them, shrugs and begins to put them on. He picks up his phone from the bedside and walks towards the door, on his way picking up his bag that he had thrown on the sofa and walked out the door to the university.
Remi pulls up into the car park of the house next fence that runs alongside the living room. He opens the driver’s door and then reaches over to the passenger seat for his bag. Getting out the car putting his bag over his shoulder and walking through the living room to the hallway to room one and two. Putting the key in the door he flings his bag onto the sofa and swivels round and knocks on door two. No one answers. Remi puts his ear against the door, silent. Turning towards the other end of the hallway he slowly walks towards the living room. He stops hearing what he thinks is a noise, he rushes back to the door, but nothing. He walks back towards the living room again and heads across to the kitchen, seeing that no one is there he turns and heads back across the living room. As he gets to the hallway he hears a loud bang from upstairs. He looks up the stairs, wondering whether or not he should investigate the noise. He heads up the stairs to the first floor. From the floor above came another noise, this time, it was more of a thud than a bang. He runs up the stairs. From number 7 comes Bellamy’s voice.
“Ohh my god what have I done!”
‘Bellamy?!’
The door to room 7 swings open and Bellamy hugs Remi, holding him very tightly pushing Remi’s head into his chest and holding him there, he says “I don’t want you to see what I’ve done.” Remi wiggles trying to escape his strong grip. He pulls his head under Bellamy’s arm and is set free. He gently pushes Bellamy
‘Ohh my god!’ he then looks at Bellamy, Bellamy is looking at the floor and might as well have had guilt written on his face. Remi looks back into the room there on the floor laying in a small pool of blood is Jamie. Jamie’s has his right arm bent at the elbow above his head and his left arm by his side, one of his legs was just under the desk next to the body and the right one laying just out a big from his body but all most straight as the other one. There is glass all over the floor and one circular piece of glass as if the top of a glass cup. Remi still in some sort of shock pulls Bellamy back into the room and shuts the door.
‘Just stand there for a second, I need to think.’ Remi then paces back and forth in the room. He looks at the walls and puts his hand on his face and slides it down. Bellamy at this point has fallen down the door and is holding his knees saying over and over again “I didn’t mean to, I promise… I don’t want to go to prison.”
Remi puts his head down towards the floor and brings up his index finger and middle finger to his forehead. He takes a deep breath and then goes and sits down in front of the now hysterical Bellamy with his legs crossed. He pulls Bellamy’s hands from his knees and then pulls Bellamy’s legs out in front of him over Remi’s legs so that his feet was now touching Remi’s back. Remi then takes Bellamy’s hands and looks into his eyes. He just starts taking deep breaths slowly inhaling and then slowly exhaling, after a few times Bellamy begins to copy after a while Remi stops and says ‘Now tell me what happened.’
“So I got a text from Jamie, it was something to do with having something to tell me.” He shakes his head back and forth while saying it.
‘If you went to class like everyone else you wouldn’t be in the mess.’ Remi joked.
“Now is really not the time.”
‘Sorry, I just thought I might lighten the mood.’
“We’re sitting in the room with a dead body.”
Remi smiled ‘I don’t think he’s dead, there would be more blood if he was dead.’
“Really?! Thank god” Bellamy pulls his hands from Remi and his face in them.
‘You was telling me what happened’ Remi said nudging-ly.
“Right, so I came up here and he started saying things like before I tell you this I didn’t know.”
‘And what did you say?’
“Well, I just was asked didn’t know what? Because at this point he was starting to freak me out. He then started saying I didn’t know you were sleeping with that fag Remi. So that made me angry and it all gets a bit blurry but I picked up the bong and I hit him on the head.”
‘Ok, so do you know what he was going to tell you?’
“No, I kicked off before that,” Bellamy said embarrassed but still in denial of the situation.
‘Ok… I need you to go to my room and under the sink is a brown box, bring it up.’
Remi hands Bellamy his keys. Bellamy stands up and rushes out the door. Remi then slowly gets up and walks towards the body. He kneels down on the left side of Jamie’s body, and takes two fingers and pushes them into Jamie’s neck.
‘No pulse’ he looks at lifeless body’s face with a confused look on his own.
A knock comes at the door.
‘who is it?’ Remi says as he looks at the door, hoping that it could only be Bellamy.
“its Bellamy” the quiet voice came from the other side of the door “let me in, I have the box.”
Remi gets up and opens the door, Bellamy standing there looking very nervous. “here” as he shoves the box into his hands and then stands with his back against the door in the room. Remi walks over to the body and kneels down once again. He opens the box and while he gets out a needle says ‘so did you sleep with Jamie?’
Bellamy stares at Remi for a second and then says in a low tone “it was the night we all went drinking, I got drunk and wanted to ask him to apologise to you.”
Remi pushes the needle into Jamie’s body and pulls out a sample of blood, then injects the blood into a small white box. ‘I take it you didn’t talk much.’ He said sternly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, and to be honest, I didn’t think you liked me back.”
‘Its ok, it was before anything important.’
Bellamy looked at the white box and then with an inquisitive tone “what are you doing?”
Remi keeping his stare on the white box ‘when I talked to Jamie, he said to me that I was disease, which made me think. If someone called you ill the likeliness is that they are trying to make you feel as shitty as they do.’
“so what’s the box for?”
Remi looked up from the box at Bellamy. ‘Please say you used a condom!’
“I don’t remember, I was too drunk, why wants wrong?!”
Remi paused for a long time, then with a face that would make you think that he just heard the worst news you could ever hear. ‘Because Jamie has HIV.’
Chapter 3 — The Body Removal Service
Bellamy falls against the door and slowly drops down until he hits the floor. His face is in shock, his mouth open staring at the space in front of him. His arms fall in front of him between his legs that are wide open. Remi who is putting multiple syringes into the body of Jamie and putting them into the brown box. He then stands up and sits down in front of Bellamy. He takes his hands and waits for Bellamy to come round from the shock. After a long while Bellamy suddenly speaks “so does this mean I have it too?”
‘We don’t know that yet. You could have used a condom, there are loads of reasons why you might not have it. In fact, there is a small group of people that are resistant to the virus. It’s called the Delta 32 Project.’
Bellamy shakes his head and then says “I don’t think I’m that lucky.”
Remi pouts and pushes his lips to one side of his face with a concerned look.
‘what if I told you that Jamie is dead?’
Bellamy rubs his face with his hand “this day is not going well… I’m going to prison aren’t I?”
Remi smiles ‘not if I have anything to do with it.’
Bellamy seems reassured by what Remi said. He hugs him and Remi pulls out of the embrace and the turns around and leans back between Bellamy’s legs. Bellamy puts his arms around Remi’s waist. “I guess this means we’re over?”
‘And why would it mean that?’
“Well I slept with another guy, and secondly, I might have HIV.”
‘Firstly we don’t know that you have HIV and why would that change the way I feel about you? With the medication nowadays we won’t have to worry about it, and until then we can just be really safe.’
“And the cheating thing?”
‘Well you killed him, so I don’t think I need to worry, but we weren’t together then anyway so I don’t see it as a problem.’
“I thought you said there wasn’t enough blood for me to have killed him.”
‘well, he’s now dead so… I think I was wrong.’
“Ohh” Bellamy looks away and then down. Remi turns around, pull his face forward to look at him and then plants a kiss on Bellamy’s lips. He whispers ‘I promise, we’ll deal with this and no one will know.’ Remi turns back around and puts Bellamy’s arms around his chest.
“So what are we going to do about Jamie?”
‘Well, I’ve got a plan to cover your side, as for Jamie I was thinking we just bury him outside our rooms?’
“Isn’t that a little unwise having the body so close by?”
‘No one will think it’s us, even if it is found.’
“You’ve clearly never watched a detective show.”
‘Look, I just think it’s a better idea if we have a view of where we bury him, so we know if someone starts snooping around.’
“Ok, fine. How are we going to get him there then?”
‘Well, we’re going to have to carry him downstairs… I think we should wait until everyone has gone out or gone to bed.’
“Right, so we’re just going to sit here until then? What if someone knocks on the door?”
Remi takes out his phone and looks at the time ‘well it’s 9:30 now so we can move him about 1am. If someone knocks on the door, we will just stay quiet.’ He places his phone outside of Bellamy’s legs face up.
“Expecting a call?’
‘Actually I am, she’s on her way over and I need to give her something.’
“Anything I should know about?”
‘It’s nothing you need to worry about.’
Remi turns on his side and puts his head on Bellamy’s chest while Bellamy puts his hands around Remi’s shoulders with his hands on Remi’s arm. They lay there for hours until Bellamy breaks the silence.
“Remi?”
‘Yes?’
“I don’t want to be alone…”
‘I promise you, I will never leave you alone.’
“Remi…?”
Remi shuts his eyes and smiles ‘Bellamy.’
“I think I love you… I know it hasn’t been long that I’ve known you. I just feel this connection with you that I haven’t felt with anyone. You mean so much to me.”
‘I love you too’
“Even though I have HIV and I could infect you?”
‘If you have HIV, I will still love you, and if you infect me which I don’t think you will but if you do, then we will both have it and that’s all.’
Bellamy’s face lights up, and he tries to hide his smile. “So you really don’t care?”
‘Bellamy, I love you. No matter what you have, no matter what you do. If you have HIV then that won’t change you, or the way I see you… it will just be a fact that you have it.’
“I’m scared that I will infect you… or that I will be alone”
Remi turns onto his front so that his head rest on Bellamy’s chest and puts his arms around him. ‘Bellamy, nothing has changed… Honestly, though, if you do have it…’
The clock on Remi’s phone hits 1:00 am, he puts the phone on its face and stands up. ‘its time to move this guy downstairs.’ He puts out his hand to Bellamy and he takes his hand and pulls him up. Remi picks up his phone then grabs the feet while Bellamy grabs the arms. They lift up the body with one try. They start to stagger towards the door then Remi says ‘wait, the door! How are we going to carry him and hold the door open?’ Bellamy looks at the door “wait turn around so I’ve got my back to the door.” They slowly twist around with Bellamy now with his back to the door and Remi facing it. They slowly carry Jamie’s lifeless body to the door. As they get to the door Bellamy slowly puts down the body and walks to the door. He opens it and pokes his head out. “Ok, there is no one around, let’s go.” Remi walks round in a circle with Jamie’s feet in his hands. He wipes his forehead with his hand then drags the body past Bellamy. “Don’t you think we should show Jamie some respect? You know, he is dead.” Remi drops the feet that he is holding and looks at Bellamy. ‘ok first off this guy gave you HIV, secondly, this guy has been nothing but a dick since he got here… so no, I’m good on that part.’ Bellamy looks down at the body. “ooh yeah!” As Remi picks up the feet of the body, Bellamy kicks Jamie’s body in the chest, so hard that Remi drops the feet. Remi with an unimpressed expression on his face ‘Are you done?’
Bellamy smiles, moves his shoulder “yeap.”
Remi bends down and picks up Jamie’s feet and then shuffles backwards through the door. As Remi pulls the body past the door Bellamy lets go of the door and picks up the shoulders. They move slowly towards the stairs. As they get to the stairs they rest the body at the top across the width of the top step. They turn to each other. ‘So how are we going to do this?’ Bellamy looks down the stairs and then at the body. He makes a humming noise and then kicks the body down the stairs. The body makes a load thud as it hits the bottom of the stairs. Remi puts one of his hands on his hips and looks at Bellamy ‘well that was stupid.’ Remi walks runs down the stairs and looks down the hallway. He pulls the body into the small room next to the stairs where the washing machine is. He walks out and closes the door just in time as Joe opens his door. ‘erm everything ok?’
Remi pushes his hair behind his ear. ‘Yeah, just fell down the stairs, but everything is ok.’
‘ohh ok.’ Joe then closes his door.
Remi looks at Bellamy and sarcastically copies ‘Oh ok?!’
Bellamy rushes down the stairs, he looks around, then looks at Remi and then whispers, “Where is Jamie?” Remi opens the washrooms door and then pulls out the body by the feet. Bellamy picks up the body by the arms and steps backwards down the stairs. They slowly walk down the stairs carrying the body. They get to the bottom and hear voices coming from the living room. Sam, Joe, Andrew and Matthew are drinking in the living room. They put the body down and look at each other. Bellamy whispers “I’ll distract them, you get the body into our hallway.” Bellamy then walks out of the door that is connected to the stairs and turns left opening the door to the living room. Remi hears Bellamy’s voice from the living room.
“Guys look a squirrel is having sex with Remi’s car!”
Remi grabs the arms and quickly drags the body into the hallway that connects the rooms one and two. He pushes open the door to room two and drags in the body.
Bellamy’s room has a circular window and two straight parts either side of it with the wall to the left having Bellamy’s bed against it, which faces the TV that hangs on the wall in front of it. In the window cut out an area that the round window makes there is a desk with loads of tech looking things on it, including a laptop. As you walk in there is a small hallway space and to the left is the bathroom. There are clothes scattered around the room. There is a chest of draws next to the fire exit with a metal bat leaning against it. On the floor there is a pair of dumbbells.
“Remi? Remi? Where are you?” Remi puts his arm out the door and waves. Bellamy walks into the room and they both look down at the body. “So how do we bury him without a shovel?”
Remi quickly looks up at Bellamy ‘awwr, I guess I didn’t think this fully through.’
“Don’t worry, there is a shed at the bottom of the garden.”
‘I’ll go check it out.’ Bellamy walks into his room and picks up the bat. “You might need this if it’s locked.” He hands Remi the bat and Remi takes it as he walks out the fire exit.
Remi puts the bat over his shoulder and starts walking toward the other end of the garden. The cold wind that hits his face pushes his hair back. He gets to the shed and pulls on the lock. He walks around the side and looks through the window, he sees the shovel inside leaning against the other side of the shed. He takes the bat by the other end and uses the handle to break the glass. He pushes his hand in and tries to reach the shovel. After a few minutes of trying he slowly pulls his arm out and walks towards the front of the shed. He jams the handle end of the bat between the small opening of the door and pushes. The door slowly creeks and then breaks open. He grabs the shovel and pushes the door shut. He then runs back to the room.
When Remi enters the room Bellamy is sitting on his bed facing the looking a bit worried. ‘What’s wrong Bell?’
“I don’t know about this Remi… Jamie wasn’t a nice guy, but he still was a guy… maybe I should just go to the police.”
‘Bellamy, without a body they can’t charge you with murder. Do you really want to be known as a murderer?’
“No of course not.”
‘We have come this far; all it is now is burying the body. Do you think you can get through this last little bit?’
“Ok, your right. He’s dead either way.” Bellamy gets up from the bed and takes the shovel from Remi. They then carry the body outside and lay it down on the concrete. Bellamy starts digging next to the body in the glass. ‘If we can dig it so it is under the concrete. I’ll go stand by the door.’
Remi pulls the fire exit door fully open and leans against it with the bat in his hands.
After a few minutes, Remi hears a voice yelling ‘Bellamy’ Remi pulls the bat up towards his chest and grips it firmly. Matthew pushes open the door to Bellamy’s room and looks around. He notices the fire exit door is open and walks towards it.
‘Bellamy?!’ as Matthew gets to the frame of the door Remi swings the bat and hits Matthew in the head. He grabs his face with his right hand and then collapses onto the concrete. Bellamy runs over. “I didn’t know you were like this!”
Remi looks at Bellamy with a bit of shame ‘Good or bad thing?’
He smiles and says, “I liked it” with a wink. Remi takes a little bow. “We should really check that he is ok though.” Remi bends down and puts his hand against Matthews’ neck, ‘nope, this one is alive.’ He joked. He stands up and Bellamy grabs Remi’s hips and kisses him, then while looking into his eyes he says “We are bad people but I don’t think I could do this with anyone else.” He then looks behind Remi at Matthew “So what are we going to do with him?”
Remi bends down and searches Matthew unconscious body’s pockets he pulls out Matthew’s keys and stands up. ‘We take him back to his bedroom and put him to bed with a bottle of vodka next to him’ while jiggling the keys in front of him. Bellamy laughs quietly “This side of you is turning me on. I’ll get back to digging, you keep guard.” Bellamy walks back and picks up the shovel while Remi goes back to leaning against the fire exit.
After a few hours, Bellamy calls over Remi. They both look down at the body and the hole. Remi searches the body for Jamie’s keys. He pops back up and says ‘I felt my box in his room.’ They then pick up the body but each end and drop him into the freshly dug hole. Remi then pulls out his phone from his pocket; he looks down at it and then at Bellamy. ‘So I’m going to go get that box now.’ As he walks to the fire exit that leads back into the house, Bellamy calls to him “and what do I do if someone else walks in on me?”
Remi turns around with his right hand on the doorframe and gives a cheeky smile back. ‘All you’re doing is filling in a pothole.’ He gives a flirty wink in his direction and hops over Matthew into the room. He quickly walks through the house up the two flights of stairs to what used to be Jamie’s room. He looks to the only other door that is joined on the hallway and then pulls out the keys. Pulling out the keys as he does so he thinks he hears a noise from the other room. He sneaks towards the door and puts his ear against in. No sound comes from the other side of the door. Remi whispers to himself. ‘Is there someone in there… and if so did they hear us?’ he walks back to Jamie’s room and puts the key in the door, as he opens the door he gives a glance back to the room opposite but then walks in. He closes the door and stands in the room looking around. ‘He really lived in this mess.’ He picks up the brown box and walks towards the door while looking around the room. He stops for a second and puts the box down. He gets on his hands and knees and picks up all the glass, putting it in the bin. When all the glass is in the bin he stands up and picks up the box. While walking towards the door, he takes a deep breath ‘fingerprints’. He goes back and takes the trash bag out of the bin and ties it up taking the box and the bag with him.
Rushing down the stairs back to Bellamy as he gets out into the garden, he sees that he’s halfway done with the filling of the hole.
‘What have you been doing all this time?’ Remi jests as he puts the box on the floor next to the fire exit then walks over with the bag. ‘Here’ he drops the bag into the hole ‘There goes your weapon.’ He looks at Bellamy and gives him a big wide smile showing his teeth. Bellamy looks back tired from the disaster of a day he has had.
he disaster of a day he has had.
