Page 41 of His Untoward Hate

Jude was startled awake by a long horn blaring through what felt like his dream. He opened his eyes in shock, only to realize that Sky was the one pressing the button on the steering wheel.

“What the fuck are you still waiting here for? Don’t ever think I’ll open the door for you,” Sky roared before stepping out of the car.

He was very grumpy.

Jude watched him walk in front, hands tucked into his pockets, until he stopped at the side and turned back toward the car. Jude quickly moved himself and opened the door as he realized he was waiting for him. The pain and soreness in Jude’s body made it difficult to move, and every ache held him back. Still, he forced himself to step out.

Sky watched him for a moment, struggling with his life before turning away. Jude looked at Sky as he opened the little, dirty white gates installed in a disorganized, overgrown, grassy front yard. He looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings, and it slowly hit him that they had arrived at Sky’s house.

“I w-ant to go home,” Jude said reluctantly in almost a whisper.

Sky turned around behind the open gate in disbelief and with an intimidating aura.

“What the fuck are you thinking? Get the fuck in!” he commanded, voice high and whole.

Sky’s voice deserted him. Jude staggered forward on unsteady legs, his head bowed as he slowly made his way toward him, unable to bring himself to look up. When he reached the gate, Sky closed it behind them and continued walking ahead. Jude followed, becoming increasingly uneasy as a cold breeze brushed against his skin. He thought the boys at the parking lot had not managed to kill him only because Sky would likely finish the job here instead.

Sky unlocked the house using a key hanging from his pants and stepped inside. A strong, masculine scent filled the air as Jude entered the living room. The house looked somewhat old, especially with the yellowish bulb lighting. The interior featured mostly wooden walls painted in soft off-white, accented by sections of exposed brown brick that added warmth and texture. His eyes wandered around the room, and he quickly noticed how messy the house was. Empty beer bottles were scattered across a small table in front of an old Sony television. Cigarette filters and ashes were also strewn across the furniture. In the corner, the fireplace remained untouched, its half-unburned logs and accumulated ashes suggesting it had sat abandoned since the previous winter. Oversized shirts, shorts, and pants were tossed across the sofa. A few pairs of dirty shoes and slippers lay scattered across the floor, some overturned and others resting upside down. His cheeks flushed when he noticed a pair of black boxers, which he assumed belonged to Sky. Jasper was far smaller than his brother, and besides, Jasper was known for being neat and organized. These clothes clearly belonged to Sky. They were large, dirty, crumpled, and mostly worn out. Some even had small holes.

“Do you know where Jasper is?” Jude abruptly covered his mouth with his hands as he realized what he had asked without even thinking about who he was with, realizing that he had voiced his intrusive thoughts.

Sky stopped mid-stairs, his back facing him. Jude ducked his head down and closed his eyes. He mentally slapped himself for his inborn stupidity.

“Who told you to talk to me?” Sky asked, and Jude could hear his steps getting closer down the stairs. “It doesn’t mean I let you come here, have you the permission already to converse with me…”

Jude could hear his shoes growing bigger, and a lump was forming in his throat. His feet began to tremble. As he drew closer, his looming shadow swallowed the space between them. Jude stumbled backward until his legs bumped into the sofa, forcing him to stop. Sky only halted when he was inches away from him. Jude could feel the high intensity of the magnetic force between them. It was burning, intimidating, debilitating, and frightening.

“I let you come to my house because of that useless fucking research, and you will just do it as fast as you can so you can disappear from my sight. Besides that, you keep your fucking mouth shut. You got me?” Sky went closer to Jude, closing the mere gaps between them.

The oxygen he breathed out fanned his face, and he could smell his manly scent mixed with blood and sweat.

Jude nodded anxiously, “I-m sorry.”

“Fuck!” Sky cursed under his breath, and Jude flinched.

Sky took a few steps back and turned his back on him.

“You fucking wait here.”

Without another word, he headed upstairs, leaving Jude standing there, breathless. A shaky breath escaped Jude’s lips as he gripped the back of the sofa, his trembling legs barely able to keep him upright. He felt like his energy and strength, whatever was still left, had vanished in a snap. Their proximity had left him weak, and his tone had ripped his heart.

Jude crawled to sit on the sofa.

It had already been ten minutes, and he prayed and hoped that the rest of the night would end well, not with him being assassinated by Sky Granger.

Despite his pathetic condition, with his awful state and fatigue, with stains of blood on his face, a broken nose, cracked lips, cut eyebrows, swollen eyes, a pungent smell, and dirty clothes, Jude was still able to roam his eyes around.

Jude turned his attention to the framed photographs on the wall. Nearly all of them featured a younger Jasper, smiling beside the countless awards and achievements he had earned throughout his school years. He was very cute, cheerful, and jolly. One photograph, in particular, caught his attention. It showed Jasper at around five years old, happily eating an ice cream cone. Chocolate smudges stained the corners of his mouth, while melted ice cream had dripped onto his white sando. Jude could tell that the innocent young boy was Jasper because he really looked like him, and he could clearly tell by his smile. His eyes were averted to the biggest frame amongst the pictures hanging on the wall. His heart swelled with warmth as he saw Jasper standing before what he assumed were his parents, who were seated in front. Jasper was smiling brightly, and the sight filled him with an unexpected sense of comfort.

Where are their parents now? Jude thought.

The house felt so empty and quiet. Judging by the photograph, it seemed to have been taken only a few years earlier. Jude guessed Jasper had been around thirteen or fourteen years old when it was captured.

Jude’s eyes jerked to the boy taller than Jasper, and the way his eyes pierced Jude, there was no doubt it was Sky. It was like he was just being forced to join in the family picture because his expression said it all—he was frowning, his forehead creased, and his eyebrows almost met. His hands were stuffed in his black, worn-out jeans, and his hair was styled in a messy taper cut. Whether he liked it or not, he had to admit that Sky had been remarkably handsome even in his younger years. Yet Jasper was way, way more attractive than Sky.

Looking back, if only Jude had seen this before, maybe he would have established a much better output of Sky back when he made him his project for the school’s exhibition. Probably, he would have carved a better picture of their parents, too.

The sound of footsteps descending the stairs instantly stole the air from his lungs, making him sit upright. He shifted his eyes to his fidgety hands on his lap, pinching his fingers and digging something from his already trimmed nails.