Page 108 of Refraction

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Tucker threwpaint at one canvas, letting his grumpy out on it, letting the shapes speak to him while the music throbbed and wailed all around.Goddamn it. Goddamn everything.

Goddamn….

Oh.

He stopped, looking at the shapes he’d made. Oh. Oh, that curve was nice. He grabbed his palette knife and drew around it, the yellow piercing the red. Oh.

Oh.

He laughed and kicked his shoes off, a tiny little face appearing in the curve. Light pollution.

Before he knew it, the faces were everywhere—staring and watching and laughing, hungry and horny and unbelievably joyous.Hello, little friends! So nice to meet you. You look like you might bite.

One of the wide-eyed ones tilted its head at him as if Tucker had planted a seed, and slowly, very slowly, it grew fangs. Great bright white monstrosities that began dripping with thick black blood. He shook his head, took a deep breath, then another.

The music got faster as the next demon crept around the edge of the lightbulb, claws scratching the glass.

That one was quickly followed by another, moving fluidly from the bottom of the canvas up and over the base of the bulb. This one narrowed its eyes at him and began tapping on the fragile glass with a filthy pointed fingernail.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Stop it. Stop it. No.It had been okay. He’d been okay.

Tucker wanted out, but he knew… he knew if he ran now…. What if that let them loose?

What if they got to Calvin?

“They can’t get out. They’re not real.”

Tap.

Tap.

The glass shattered, splintering outward into a thousand tiny, dangerous shards.

He screamed, the sound tearing from him. “You’re not real! Leave me alone! You’re not—”

“Tiger?”

Oh God.

Stop it. You fucking stop it right now. You’ll scare him. You’ll make him think you’re unstable. Hide your motherfucking crazy, Tuck. Please. “W-working.”

“You okay? I thought I heard a… whoa. Demons are back. Ooh. He’s creepy.” Calvin got a little too close to that one with the nails.

“Be careful!” He looked at Calvin, pulled him away. “It bites.”

Calvin laughed and kissed the side of his neck, shouting over the music. “I’m not scared of your demons. I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t hurt yourself. You didn’t yell something?” Calvin leaned around him and shut off the radio, the sudden silence jarring as all get-out.

“I…. Yeah. Yeah, I….”

Calvin’s hand settled him, down to the bone, and he took a deep breath.

“Tucker? What’s the matter? Look at me.”

“Please. I’m… let’s go somewhere else.”

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