Where the Devil Says Goodnight (Folk Lore #1) - K.A. Merikan Page 0,92

Adam knew the crows would follow them home. After the unusual experiences they’d shared with Emil, he couldn’t lie to himself anymore and claim they were all coincidental. Something about Emil drew in the birds the same way bad luck stuck to him like hot tar.

Because, what were the odds of a friendly farmer turning out to be Emil’s old foe? Discomfort reached its breaking point once they left Sanok behind and turned onto a winding road that would eventually take them to Dybukowo.

“How did you know he had a White Power tattoo?” Adam asked in the end, unable to stand the void between them any longer.

“Because it was the last thing I saw after he kicked me so hard he broke my ribs and I passed out!” Emil snarled but only crossed his arms on his chest more tightly and wouldn’t look Adam’s way.

It made Adam want to turn around and… do what exactly? It wasn’t like he could unleash a karma payday upon Piotr, but the sense of injustice was so great it choked his throat and made him press on the gas that bit more firmly. “When?”

“Doesn’t matter anymore,” Emil said in a bitter tone that suggested it definitely mattered.

“Emil, please…”

Emil shrugged. “I was fifteen. On this grand outing to Sanok for a metal concert. I was drunk with my friend, who I had a crush on. We were teasing each other, boldly holding hands as we walked to the bus station in the middle of the night. We got jumped by a whole bunch of skinheads looking for a target. So heroic of them to attack two kids.”

Adam’s head pulsed with heat, but he tried to keep his gaze on the wet asphalt as the rain grew in intensity, smashing against the windshield with increasing anger. “What happened?”

Emil’s voice was dull as he spoke. “They beat me to a pulp. For long hair, for a spiked choker, for looking ‘faggy’, for no reason at all. I spent a month at the hospital, and my friend suddenly decided he was definitely not bisexual after all. Funny coincidence.” Emil’s nostrils flared when he took a deep inhale. “He actually managed to make a run for it, but I don’t blame him, we were both scared teens. You can’t expect that kind of bravery from people.”

Adam’s teeth clenched, and he squeezed the steering wheel harder. “Can’t believe someone like that, with so little respect for others, has the guts to wave the family man flag.”

“Well, it is what it is. His dad was friends with the mayor, and it turned out he had an alibi for the night it all happened. Nobody was prosecuted in the end.” Emil said with a shrug, looking at the windshield in front of them, but a tear dripped down his cheek. It seemed that even a man so bold and strong had a breaking point.

The inability to say anything that could offer Emil comfort stabbed into Adam’s chest, and he took a rapid turn when he spotted a narrow track leading into the forest. The vehicle sped at a tree, but he hit the brake, stopping only inches from the trunk.

Switching off the engine, Adam unbuckled his seatbelt with the other hand and pulled at Emil’s arm. “Come here, please.”

Emil exhaled and kept his gaze low, but eventually complied with the request. “It’s okay,” he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

“No, it’s not okay,” Adam insisted, moving closer until the handbrake dug into his ribs, but he wouldn’t let go of Emil’s warm body. Emil was a rock, someone who laughed in the face of misfortune and always found a way to see something positive in a life that seemed quite miserable. But he was just a guy. He cried and suffered like anyone else.

Emil struggled for deep breaths, shivering in the embrace, and Adam didn’t have to be a mind-reader to realize he was forcing himself to keep in sobs building up in his chest. It broke Adam’s heart to see him like this, and he cupped Emil’s face, pressing their foreheads together.

“Let’s go to the back?”

Adam wanted him back in his arms as soon as Emil pulled away, but they rolled out of their seats and rushed out of the car, sliding on the back seats before the rain made their hair damp.

He fell into Emil’s arms and pulled him closer, until Emil’s head was tucked under his jaw, and they half-lay in the back seat surrounded by walls of water that blurred