Breathless (Soulless, Heartless, Hopeless)

by Cerys du Lys

  Evan slammed the door shut and I tried to stick the key in the lock. One of the others banged his entire body against the door, jarring my hand. The door bounced, shaking, but Evan held it closed for now. Jonny had left us; I didn't know where he went.

  My fingers slipped and I nearly dropped the keys. The second chaser outside joined the first and they both pounded against the door, whamming loud, smacking the heavy glass. The glass doors were strong, though. They shouldn't break with just two of them there.

  With shaky hands, I tried to lock the door again. The doors rattled and shook and the others outside stared at me, ravenous. I was competition to them, someone stopping them from catching Evan. I wanted him for myself, they probably thought, refused to share him. We could come up with a compromise if I just let them in, they probably thought, except I wouldn't do that.

  Slavering on the windows, drool and spittle splashing against the glass, they demanded entry with their pounds and grunts.

  Evan touched the back of my hand. Not much, just a light, gentle touch, but it was enough. I slid the key into the lock and he heaved against the door, keeping it fully shut, then I turned the key and...

  Click.

  The door locked. The others outside stared at me, eyes narrowed, angry. Evan moved a half step away from the door, acting careful just in case. The others renewed their assault and slammed against the door harder now, but with the thick bolt of the lock keeping the door shut tight, they had no chance of getting inside.

  Evan placed the duffel bag off to the side then collapsed into a plush red couch in the nearby open movie theatre lounge.

  "Oh my God," he said. "I think that might've been a terrible idea. Those guys can run. I didn't expect that."

  I rushed to the counter, grabbing my forgotten bag of gummy worms, and offered them to Evan. "Here," I said.

  He grinned and ripped open the bag, then dunked his hand in and shoved a fistful of the soft candy into his mouth. "You want one?" he asked, holding one out to me.

  I laughed. "No thanks." He looked so funny laying there on the couch with a bunch of sour, sticky worms dangling across his lips and chin.

  "If they stay for too long, I can turn on the emergency sprinklers. That should clear them away."

  Evan stared at me, idly chewing on the candy. He stared, listened, stared, then bolted upright. Turning towards the voice of the person who just spoke, he spotted Jonny standing off to the side. Slurping the candy worms into his mouth and chewing fast, he swallowed them down.

  Jonny the movie usher, self-proclaimed zombie, one of us and nothing like Evan. Evan jumped to his feet, stomped over towards Jonathan, and looked him in the eye.

  "Who are you?" Evan asked.

  "Man, you need to calm down," Jonny said. "I know you almost died, but still."

  Evan stared at him, emotionless, unblinking.

  "Um, Evan?" I said. "This is Jonny. He works here. Or he used to? Maybe he still does."

  Jonny nodded. "No one really comes to the movies anymore and I don't get paid, but it's not a bad place."

  "You're one of them," Evan said. "Are you alright?"

  "I guess so?"

  Evan stared at him for a moment longer. He looked over his shoulder at me and I shrugged. Turning back, lips pursed, he waited for a couple seconds longer, then extended his hand. "Well, I'm Evan. Nice to meet you, Jonny."

  Jonny grinned and went to shake Evan's hand, but when the two of them touched, the movie usher gasped. His body became ridged, like a shot of lightning had struck through his core. Evan jumped back, releasing their shaking hands.

  "Whoops, um. Yeah. Sorry there, bud." Evan scratched the side of his head, frowning.

  Jonny stood there, looking drugged. "Whoa."

  "Popcorn is nice," I said. "But Evan is nicer. And he's mine. Don't go getting any ideas, Jonny."

  I swaggered over to Evan, trying to act seductive. I wanted to be pretty, to be alluring, but I knew it might not work. It might not, but if it didn't, Evan showed no signs of thinking that. He smirked and took the last step towards me. His hand scooped me up, holding me by the hip, and he pressed in for a kiss.

  I kissed him, willingly and glad. My lips burned, fierce, glazed with sweetness and hot cinnamon from his touch. And a hint of sugary sour flavor, nice and tart. Evan put his hands behind me, under my rear, and picked me up, plunging me into the kiss. I jumped onto him and wrapped my legs around his waist, giddy.

  Behind us, Jonny cleared his throat. "Uh, hey, you two?"

  Evan spun to the side, still holding me, so we could both look at Jonny.

  "So this is who you were waiting for?" Jonny asked.

  I nodded, biting my lower lip. "Mhm."

  "Can we borrow a theatre?" Evan asked. "Sadie and I are on a date. I wanted to bring her to the movies."

  "I mean, you can..." Jonny said, trailing off. "The only thing that works is the popcorn machine, though."

  Evan glanced over the counter to the machine popping popcorn kernels. His eyes widened, apparently not having noticed it actually worked before now.

  "Can we get some popcorn?" Evan asked.

  "I don't want to ruin your date," Jonny said, "but none of the projectors work, alright? You can have some popcorn and you're both welcome to stay here and do whatever, but..."

  "Jonny, right?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Come here a second. I've got something to show you. Maybe you can help me out with it."

  Evan lowered me to the ground and gave me one last peck on the lips before escaping towards his duffel bag. The others outside, caring little about our relaxed safety, continued to pound on the glass doors. I watched them, but I wasn't scared anymore. We were safe; Evan was safe.

  Jonny followed Evan to his bag. For good measure, he grabbed the emergency release for the sprinkler system in the foyer and pulled it, too.

  Harsh, sharp water like acidic knives sprayed onto the two in the foyer. Evan furrowed his brow, watching them scream in pain. He didn't understand because I never told him, but both Jonny and I did. It hurt. It hurt so badly that I'd do anything to escape from the rain. The two in the foyer felt the same. Tripping over each other, grasping at the outer door handle, they flung themselves into the chill evening air.

  Jonny turned off the sprinklers and nodded for Evan to do what he needed to do.

  The two of them hovered over Evan's precious duffel bag. Evan opened it, glancing my way, hiding something from my view. Enlightened, Jonny grinned. The two of them almost shook hands once more, but decided against it this time.

  "I think I can help you out," Jonny said.

  ...

  Jonny ushered us into one of the empty theatre rooms, using a flashlight to show us the way. Evan and I settled on a seat in the middle; not too close or too far away from the screen. We sat at the end near to center aisle. Evan had brought his bag with him and he kept it near him, protective.

  "I'm not sure how this is going to work," I said.

  "It'll work," Evan said. "I promise."

  Jonny left to go fetch some part of Evan's plan. Neither of them would tell me anything about any of this. I worried, though. Was this alright? We'd just been attacked, chased into the theatre by the others, and now...

  Now I was cuddling up to Evan, holding onto his arm and laying my head on his shoulder. Daring, I tilted my face up and kissed beneath his chin. Even more daring, he looked down at me and kissed me full on.

  "Evan," I said, playful. "Do we really need a movie?"

  "What?" he asked, our lips never parting.

  "Did you ever go to the theatre as a teenager, on a date, and then by the end of the movie you realized you hadn't watched any of it?"

  I snuck my hand in his lap, pressing against the crotch of his pants. I couldn't feel the heat of it, not yet, but Evan rewarded my efforts with a twitch and throb from his hidden package.

  "Sadie," he said, teasing me. "What kind of first date is this?"

  "I missed you," I said. "I was so w
orried, Evan. What if you didn't make it? What if they caught you? Please don't do anything like that again."

  Needy, needing him, wanting to touch and feel him and keep him close, my hand massaged at the constant, persistent throb coming from between his thighs now. Evan reached over my shoulder with one arm and pulled me close. His other hand took up a place on my left breast, squeezing and groping my chest over my shirt.

  "You don't have to worry," he said. "I promise."

  "You say that, but..."

  I looped my hands into his pants and undid the button at the top. Unzipping them slowly, slower still, we started to...

  "This is the best I can do," Jonny said, coming into the theatre. "It should work, though."

  Like two kids caught making out in a car, Evan and I split away from each other. Frantic, he zipped up his pants and re-buttoned them and tried to act cool. I couldn't help but laugh.

  "Cute, you two. Real cute. You're lucky there's extenuating circumstances here or I'd boot you two out." Jonny flashed his flashlight at us, pretending to be menacing.

  "Sorry," Evan and I murmured.

  "Eh, what the hell do I care? You're the two crazies who're going on a date at an abandoned movie theatre at the end of the world. If you want to have some fun, go ahead. Just wait until I'm gone, will you?"

  Evan nodded. I nodded. Jonny pulled a rolling cart up the short steps to our seats. It was the type of cart they kept in the lobby for special treats, like candied apples during Halloween or special samples, pamphlets, or whatever. It stood about as high as the seatbacks of our theatre chairs and rolled on four wheels, but seemed easy enough to handle and light enough that Jonny pulled it up to us without issue. Evan slipped away from me, bringing his bag with him, and he and Jonny set up the cart alongside our seats.

  "Here's a spare flashlight," Jonny said. "The batteries last forever, but don't abuse it, alright? There's a jumbo sized bucket of popcorn on the bottom shelf of the cart, too. If you need water or soda or something, we've got some in the coolers, but they haven't worked for months so the stuff's going to be warm. Nothing I can do there."

  "Thanks," Evan said. "You're a good guy, Jonny. I..." He hesitated. "This is dumb, but I knew it. I always knew this wasn't some kind of zombie thing. I mean, I guess it is, but you and Sadie, you both give me hope. I don't know if I can, but if I ever find a cure or figure something out or..."

  "Hey," Jonny said. "Evan. Look. I appreciate the idea, I really do, but let's not get overly sentimental here, you know? And, really, there's something kind of enticing about being the last movie usher in the world, isn't there? It's not actually exciting, but I like to pretend. I don't mind this whole zombie thing, even if I apparently have a pulse. It's not the best ever, but, you know how it is."

  "Yeah, well, thanks, still. If you ever need anything, just ask, alright?"

  "You got it."

  Jonny trudged out of the theatre, his flashlight swishing back and forth as he walked down the steps, leaving Evan and I alone.

  Evan clicked on the spare flashlight and went to work. Opening his bag, he pulled something out of it and set it up on top of the push cart. I stared at him, confused, pretty sure he was crazy.

  "Is that a laptop?" I asked.

  Evan grinned wide. "Uh huh!"

  "What, how?"

  "Everyone always thought it was dumb," he said, "but I'm kind of an outdoors geek. I love hunting and all of that, but I never wanted to leave my laptop too far behind. Studying, playing games, whatever. I just like having it around just in case, you know? So I bought a solar array and..."

  "A what?"

  "A solar array. Uh... it's like a solar panel, but you can fold it up? Bring it around with you? Put it anywhere. I got one specifically for stuff like my laptop, cell phone, whatever. Keeps them charged pretty good when it's sunny out, and it still works alright if it's cloudy. And now? It's pretty much a godsend."

  "So you have a fully charged laptop is what you're telling me?" I asked. "Because you're a geek?"

  Evan nodded. "Basically. And movies."

  I laughed. "You're so strange."

  "I'm strange?"

  "I don't think I'm strange," I said.

  "Fair enough." Evan turned on the laptop and let it power up, then shuffled around in his bag. "I've got a few DVDs," he said. "I thought maybe you'd like this one, though." He held one up for me, shining the flashlight on it. "I saw the book on your bedside table the other day and thought maybe you'd like it. What do you think? Want to watch this or something else?"

  He held up a DVD with two people caught out in the rain, blue, cloudy skies overhead. The man's white shirt was soaked through and he had his hand around the woman's back, pulling her in. She held his face in her hands and their noses touched. They nearly kissed one another, so close together, passionate and sensual.

  "The Notebook," I whispered. "I love that movie. It's so sad, though. But happy, too."

  Evan smiled and pressed a button on the laptop's DVD drive. The computer whirred and the drive opened. "It's one of my favorites," he said. "Yeah, it's kind of sad at the end, but it's a good story." He opened the movie case, put the DVD into the drive, shut it, and let the computer do the rest.

  ...

  Evan and I watched the movie. We tried to watch the movie, at least. I don't know why but my hand kept inexplicably reaching for his crotch, though. Also, our faces randomly happened to look away from the laptop screen and towards each other, too. I couldn't eat much popcorn, myself, but Evan enjoyed it, and I enjoyed the sweet taste of butter and salt it left on his lips.

  I grabbed for Evan's pants again, making no secret of what I was doing. I managed to release the button at the top before he gently pulled my hand away and stopped me.

  "Sadie," he said, sounding serious but smiling. "We're supposed to be watching the movie."

  "I don't want to watch the movie," I said. "I want to kiss you."

  So warm and close; I loved the feel of Evan touching me. Our lips together, infused with passion, my hand in his crotch, his hand on my breasts, leaning towards one another, moving into each other.

  Evan shook his head, no. I pouted, reluctant, and looked back at the laptop screen. Evan grabbed a handful of popcorn and tossed it on the floor at my feet.

  "What are you doing?" I asked, looking at him funny.

  "Whoops! How did that happen? I must have dropped it. Let me clean that up."

  I didn't think anything of this at first. Evan being Evan, silly and goofy, but apparently that wasn't all Evan had planned for right now. He got to his hands and knees and crawled between my legs, picking up the scattered popcorn and placing it into a pile off to the side.

  Once he finished that, he undid the button on my pants, slid the zipper down before I realized it, then started pulling them down. I helped him, thoughtless, lifting my butt off the seat. He peeled my pants down to my ankles, pulled my shoes off, and brought my pants along with them.

  "Um," I said, staring at him. I sat in the theatre seat in only my shirt and panties, with Evan kneeling between my legs.

  He glanced at the movie. "This is my favorite part."

  I looked, too. I didn't even remember what part we were at. I still didn't remember afterwards because as soon as I looked away, Evan slinked forward, pulled my panties to the side, and buried his mouth in my crotch.

  I arched my back, gasping. He moved so suddenly and swiftly and the hot, humid feel of his lips and breath kissing against my exposed slit was something altogether otherworldly. I clutched at the armrests to my sides, tense, and Evan lapped at my folds.

  "You're cool," he said, stopping for half a second before licking up and down along the outer edge of my labia. "And soft. And sweet. You're beautiful, Sadie."

  "Evan..." I both wanted and didn't want to speak. My legs buckled, feet splaying out, but my knees squeezed at his shoulders.

  He lapped at my folds, enjoying my taste. I was excited before, enjoying our kissing and fondling, but now I w
as wet. My arousal coated Evan's tongue and his lips and he licked at me like I was some sweet candy, some delicious movie theatre treat. I half-remembered we still had the chocolate Turtles in our pockets. Maybe they'd melted a little since we'd left them there for so long. I felt like I was melting a lot right about now.

  I reached out and grabbed Evan's hair with my fingers and pulled him closer to me. He obliged me readily and slipped his tongue up and down my slit, pushing it slightly inside of me. Licking at my inner depths, heating me with his breath and his tongue and his lips and himself. I yanked on his hair without thinking, then I realized what I'd done and stopped.

  "Sorry, sorry!" I said, holding my hands up and away from his head.

  Evan laughed and looked up at me. "Do it again. It's alright. I liked it. You're really excited, aren't you?"

  I nodded fast and put my hands back on his head. Tentative and cautious, I weaved his hair between my fingers, clenching and pulling at it.

  Evan stroked me with his warm, wet tongue, kindling my body and lighting me ablaze. I felt like an old-fashioned furnace, abandoned until the first ice of winter caked the windows with frost but now filled to the brim with wood and being put to good use. My body felt so warm and tight, heat emanating from Evan's mouth to my core and trailing into the rest of my being.

  I bit my lower lip painfully hard, almost to the breaking point, but I didn't care. I was close to another breaking point, too, and that one I cared about.

  Lifting my hips off the chair, I pushed against Evan's mouth. Deftly, he slipped his hands under my ass and pulled me closer to him. I wriggled in the chair, hot and undone, my body clenching and squeezing against him, ready to burst.

  My climax overtook me. I knew somewhat of what to expect, having been with Evan the previous night, but this was different, too. His mouth, his lips, and his warmth covered my sex like a blanket, keeping me cozy and soft, all while my orgasm shattered through me, wanting to toss off the blankets and streak through the night.