Lips tightened and Luke let out a slow breath, wetting his bottom lip before slipping one of the pins into the lock. He forced his thoughts to the back of his mind as he concentrated, lithe fingers twisting the second part of the lockpick in as well as he leaned his ear closer to listen for the familiar gratifying click that would let him in. Lukeâs brows furrowed and he paused when he heard something sliding across the ground on the other side but Ezraâs words stole his focus. âGod fucking damn itâ the young hunter swore under his breath, fingers touching the wood of the door. He fought to keep his voice steady. âWhat? Not realâ? Yes I am, Ezra, just let me in. Itâs okay.â Why would Ezra say that? The dark haired boy bit down on his bottom lip and went back to working the lock, searching for the right angle to pull at to unlock it. He must be hallucinating⌠his father or his sister orâŚ. Luke didnât want to think about that anymore, instead focusing on how he could help. The hunters palms were sweaty and he tried to stay patient and careful as best as he could. He had to get in there and help Ezraâ he had to pull him out of it. Luke could do that, couldnât he? No matter what it took he was the only one who could. âJust hold onâ Iâm coming,â he said, more to himself than to Ezra. In the next second Luke finally heard the click and dropped the picks carelessly to the floor before springing to his feet, his heart jumping too. This time the knob easily twisted easily in his hand but when Luke pushedâŚ. the door stayed stuck. âNoâ No, no, Ezraââ The vampire had moved something heavy behind it and Luke couldnât keep the touch of panic from his voice. Feet slipped as he pushed as hard as he could against it but he only managed to get it open a fraction of an inch. Stepping back from the door, Luke ran a hand back through his dark hair again clinging to his determination. Everything was fine. He could get it open. He was going to do this. Suddenly heaving forward with all of his might, Luke threw himself at the door, right shoulder first after calculating the best place to hit. He felt the breath get knocked out of him and hard pain shoot up his arm but Luke stomached it after hissing in exasperation and trying again. âIâm justâ Iâm just trying to fucking help!â Luke cried out, tackling the door again. This time he heard the wood of the bookshelf slipping and the gap opened but still wasnât wide enough for him to fit through. Shrugging off the soreness throbbing at his shoulder and arm, Luke mustered up the rest of his courage, breathing a little hard at the effort. He could feel Ezra right there⌠and he needed him. He focused on that fact. Growling, Luke kicked the door and it jolted inwards. Following that the sound of the whatever was blocking it toppling over to the floor filled his earsbut the young hunter was already pushing into the room, bright eyes scanning for his best friend. âEzraââ he breathed, a brief look of sadness crossing Lukeâs pale features at the sight of the taller boy huddled and terrified and so very upset. Stepping over strewn loose books that had scattered out from the fallen bookshelf, Luke approached carefully, his stomach twisting. âEzra, itâs okay. Iâm here. Iâm⌠real.â The hunter tried to calm himself down and crouched slowly in front of his friend, unsure if he was hallucinating or not. âIâm here.â Â
Ezra tried to calm himself down, but every little sound that came from behind the door put him more and more on edge. He knew Luke was capable of picking locks, so of course the hallucination of him could. That's why he moved the bookshelf in front of the door in the first place.  He'd had to do it once before, except it wasn't just a hallucination he was hiding from. It was a real, living, breathing person--his father. He hoped that this time it worked out better, seeing that his father easily knocked the bookshelf over. Ezra jumped when he heard Luke hit the door the first time, but he was prepared for the second. He watched as the book shelf began to give way, and the progress was unsettling. He'd be in the room any minute, and that fact made him feel uneasy. He tried not to let the fear get the best of him, but before long he was huddling in the corner with his hands over his ears. "It's not real, it's not real," He repeated to himself in a small mumble, trying to block out every other sound in the room. No matter how tightly he clasped his hands over his ears, nothing could block out the loud thud the book shelf made as it fell to the floor. Ezra couldn't stop shaking long enough to look at the door, or more specifically who came through it.  It's not real. He could hear Luke's calm, careful approach and it almost made him want to look at him. He wanted to believe him when he said that he was real, but everything in his gut was telling him otherwise. "N-no, my mind is playing tricks on me. You're not real. You're not real." He shook his head furiously, trying to shake off the hallucination, but that never worked. He pressed himself up against the wall, trying to get further away from him, but there was no escaping his own mind. Even if he ran, he'd never get away from him. The more he looked at the boy crouching in front of him, the more he second guessed himself--maybe he was real. No, no--that's exactly what his mind wanted him to think--he shook away the thought and took a deep breath, studying Luke closely for anything that might give him answers. He looked real, but then again--so did his sister. His mind was scattered into a million different thoughts, and he couldn't focus on any of them. He looked at Luke through blurred vision, blinking away the tear that was building up in his eye to make it clear again. He couldn't get rid of the crippling fear that riddled his body with an uncontrollable tremble, even though he knew he wasn't in any real danger. "You can't...you're not-- real. Please, just--just go."Â
















