Obscurity
Pairing: Ennis/Jack
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17 (Warning: violence !)
Summary: AU_AU. With this story I wanted to dive in the dark side of Brokeback Mountain. I wanted to experiment with fear, uncertainty and doubt. Ennis and Jack meet each other in the modern time.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to my German beta tanzmaeusi, who encouraged me to write this story. I also want to thank judy-blue-cat who helped me to understand the US-postal service and who also helped me to find the most suitable name for the city where this story takes place.
But tizi17 is the one you should thank the most if you like this story because she is the one who translates it. She is incredible and let me say she captures my writing perfectly. It's a great joy to work with her and I'm very proud I have met her in this fandom. My special thank is dedicated to poppyhoney_67. She's our second native speaker besides Judy who is willing to help us catching the remaining errors. Thank you all!
Feedback: Please !! It keeps all of us motivated...
* * *
Prologue
It was night.
The cold winter wind howled mercilessly through abandoned street canyons, rattling at the grilles of barred shops, and on its invisible wings it carried the icy smell of first snow into town.
Playfully a newly arising gale swirled pieces of paper in spirals through the air before losing the mood for it, sending the muck back onto the grey dirty street on which resounded the footsteps of a man on his way home.
His gait was unsteady. The echo of his soles clattered on the hard concrete as he walked along the deserted street, his figure sporadically illuminated by the yellowish flickering light of the street lanterns which the wind had invited to dance.
The next hauling draft bore it's claws and rubbed them at the overheated skin of the lonesome walker. He started shivering, clung his thin worn out jacket closer to his upper body and quickened his steps as he caught the roaring sound of an engine behind him.
He turned around aghast, his body cranked in defense against eventual aggressors, but the street was godforsaken. Goose pimples ran down his spine. Nearly running now he continued his way and felt his neck hair rise. There was somebody behind him. Quickly he passed the cone of light of the next lantern and crouched in a dark corner of a house. Carefully he squinted out of his hiding, observing the empty street before him. There was nobody to see.
Again the roaring of an engine.
"Shit", the man whispered and a frosty claw groped his heart. Cold sweat was pouring from him and in a frenzy he reached in his pocket for his mobile. With trembling fingers he pushed on the key pad but the craved dim light of the display didn't show. The battery was empty.
"Goddamn shit."
Quickly he tucked away the now useless device in his pocket. In need of something to hold he clutched to the cool plastic so as if it could provide him shelter from what was waiting on the street for him.
He faltered - unsure of what to do next. He nibbled at his thumb nail clueless.
A bead of moist sweat dropped on his burning forehead. Snow was coming.
Quietly and silent the black night sky shook the first flakes over the town. White and without a sin they fell to the ground, sprinkling the man's brown jacket as single freckles before giving in to the warmth of the frightened body - leaving nothing put a tiny wet spot.
With the set in of the snowfall the wind withdrew and a cotton like silence subsided over the town, swallowing all sounds and embracing the surroundings in innocent white.
A thick flake got caught up in the man's long black lashes, dangling on the fine hair before falling on his hot cheek, melting there and running down his harmonious features as a thick drop.
Again the roaring of the engine - this time from real close.
"Fuck", the man whispered, and a white cloud formed in front of his mouth as his hot breath mingled with the icy night air.
His heart hurried, and in a dash of blind haste and uprising panic he gave up his cover, rushed onto the sidewalk, more slithering than running he took meter per meter off that long dark street.
Swirling snowflakes blurred his sight, blood pulsing through his veins and whooshing in his ears.
Sweat ran between his shoulder blades down his spine and his breath hissed in the soundless night. Panting he wrested step by step from himself, forcing his heavy legs to continue - stumbling forwards direction home.
But the battle between man and machine was always an uneven one.
And as the dazzling headlights right behind him lightened his way, he knew that he stood no chance. The invisible enemy had given up his disguise, challenging him to fight.
He turned around. Blazing light surrounded him and mistreated his iris with such a sudden intensity that he put a shielding arm over his eyes, groaning.
"Hey asshole!", a sneering voice resounded from inside the car and the man on the street lowered his arm. Bare of any defense he saw arriving what he could not prevent.
Three men got out of the car, armed with baseball bats with snowflakes drawing funny little patterns on the wood. Cold steel on two men's hands glittered in the spotlight. Brass knuckles. The man swallowed and cold bare fear smoldered up in his eyes.
"Hey you jerk", the brown curled group spokesman started. "You've forgotten somethin'!" The others laughed.
"Really?" the man asked and gave his voice that steady base that was sliding from his heart increasingly.
The brown haired stepped up until he stood close and the man smelled his whiskey sated breath clutching to his nostrils hot and sickening.
"You forgot to excuse yerself, ya perv pig", the man hissed full of hatred, and the menaced saw that his enemy was about his age, maybe one or two years older.
"What for?"
"And you're asking? Stared too long at my buddy's crotch. We've got somethin' against fags in town, especially when they intrude precincts where honest men want to enjoy their well earned after hours", said the leader of the group pointing to his buddies who were watching the dialogue quietly.
"Not looking anywhere at nobody", the man tried to defend himself, but it was too late.
The first punch exploded banging in his guts, he fell to the ground moaning. Like a swarm of bees they came at him. Wood hitting bone, hard steel meeting soft skin popping open under the blow like soft-boiled eggs.
The man squirmed in defense, tried to reduce the contact surface to a minimum, but as always, the comparativeness decided over defeat or victory.
And as the final punch hit his pelvis and he heard the crunch of bursting bones before a dazzling lightening behind his eyes announced the pain taking away his senses, it was over.
The men pulled back panting, clapped each other's hand victoriously, threw the bats back into the car where they waited for their next mission, and sounded the retreat.
Last thing the man sensed consciously was a pair of dark brown, nearly black eyes bent over him.
"He's through", he called out to his comrades-in-arms who seated in the car roaring. "A sly one less in town," he murmured looking with an expression of self-righteous satisfaction at the mistreated bundle of a human beneath him.
"Ey Kenny, move your ass into the car. Streets are freezing and we are, too!" one of the occupants yelled and the addressee winced.
He bestowed a last kick to the figure under him before he got into the waiting car, starting the engine with a roar and disappearing into the white night with screaming wheels.
The man on the ground lay lifeless. Slowly a pool of blood formed under his body - a shyly damping dot of colour that raped all beauty from the virgin snow white on the street.
It took a long time until an ambulance arrived and saved the man the last minute from freezing to death.
+ + +
tbc
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17 (Warning: violence !)
Summary: AU_AU. With this story I wanted to dive in the dark side of Brokeback Mountain. I wanted to experiment with fear, uncertainty and doubt. Ennis and Jack meet each other in the modern time.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to my German beta tanzmaeusi, who encouraged me to write this story. I also want to thank judy-blue-cat who helped me to understand the US-postal service and who also helped me to find the most suitable name for the city where this story takes place.
But tizi17 is the one you should thank the most if you like this story because she is the one who translates it. She is incredible and let me say she captures my writing perfectly. It's a great joy to work with her and I'm very proud I have met her in this fandom. My special thank is dedicated to poppyhoney_67. She's our second native speaker besides Judy who is willing to help us catching the remaining errors. Thank you all!
Feedback: Please !! It keeps all of us motivated...
* * *
Prologue
It was night.
The cold winter wind howled mercilessly through abandoned street canyons, rattling at the grilles of barred shops, and on its invisible wings it carried the icy smell of first snow into town.
Playfully a newly arising gale swirled pieces of paper in spirals through the air before losing the mood for it, sending the muck back onto the grey dirty street on which resounded the footsteps of a man on his way home.
His gait was unsteady. The echo of his soles clattered on the hard concrete as he walked along the deserted street, his figure sporadically illuminated by the yellowish flickering light of the street lanterns which the wind had invited to dance.
The next hauling draft bore it's claws and rubbed them at the overheated skin of the lonesome walker. He started shivering, clung his thin worn out jacket closer to his upper body and quickened his steps as he caught the roaring sound of an engine behind him.
He turned around aghast, his body cranked in defense against eventual aggressors, but the street was godforsaken. Goose pimples ran down his spine. Nearly running now he continued his way and felt his neck hair rise. There was somebody behind him. Quickly he passed the cone of light of the next lantern and crouched in a dark corner of a house. Carefully he squinted out of his hiding, observing the empty street before him. There was nobody to see.
Again the roaring of an engine.
"Shit", the man whispered and a frosty claw groped his heart. Cold sweat was pouring from him and in a frenzy he reached in his pocket for his mobile. With trembling fingers he pushed on the key pad but the craved dim light of the display didn't show. The battery was empty.
"Goddamn shit."
Quickly he tucked away the now useless device in his pocket. In need of something to hold he clutched to the cool plastic so as if it could provide him shelter from what was waiting on the street for him.
He faltered - unsure of what to do next. He nibbled at his thumb nail clueless.
A bead of moist sweat dropped on his burning forehead. Snow was coming.
Quietly and silent the black night sky shook the first flakes over the town. White and without a sin they fell to the ground, sprinkling the man's brown jacket as single freckles before giving in to the warmth of the frightened body - leaving nothing put a tiny wet spot.
With the set in of the snowfall the wind withdrew and a cotton like silence subsided over the town, swallowing all sounds and embracing the surroundings in innocent white.
A thick flake got caught up in the man's long black lashes, dangling on the fine hair before falling on his hot cheek, melting there and running down his harmonious features as a thick drop.
Again the roaring of the engine - this time from real close.
"Fuck", the man whispered, and a white cloud formed in front of his mouth as his hot breath mingled with the icy night air.
His heart hurried, and in a dash of blind haste and uprising panic he gave up his cover, rushed onto the sidewalk, more slithering than running he took meter per meter off that long dark street.
Swirling snowflakes blurred his sight, blood pulsing through his veins and whooshing in his ears.
Sweat ran between his shoulder blades down his spine and his breath hissed in the soundless night. Panting he wrested step by step from himself, forcing his heavy legs to continue - stumbling forwards direction home.
But the battle between man and machine was always an uneven one.
And as the dazzling headlights right behind him lightened his way, he knew that he stood no chance. The invisible enemy had given up his disguise, challenging him to fight.
He turned around. Blazing light surrounded him and mistreated his iris with such a sudden intensity that he put a shielding arm over his eyes, groaning.
"Hey asshole!", a sneering voice resounded from inside the car and the man on the street lowered his arm. Bare of any defense he saw arriving what he could not prevent.
Three men got out of the car, armed with baseball bats with snowflakes drawing funny little patterns on the wood. Cold steel on two men's hands glittered in the spotlight. Brass knuckles. The man swallowed and cold bare fear smoldered up in his eyes.
"Hey you jerk", the brown curled group spokesman started. "You've forgotten somethin'!" The others laughed.
"Really?" the man asked and gave his voice that steady base that was sliding from his heart increasingly.
The brown haired stepped up until he stood close and the man smelled his whiskey sated breath clutching to his nostrils hot and sickening.
"You forgot to excuse yerself, ya perv pig", the man hissed full of hatred, and the menaced saw that his enemy was about his age, maybe one or two years older.
"What for?"
"And you're asking? Stared too long at my buddy's crotch. We've got somethin' against fags in town, especially when they intrude precincts where honest men want to enjoy their well earned after hours", said the leader of the group pointing to his buddies who were watching the dialogue quietly.
"Not looking anywhere at nobody", the man tried to defend himself, but it was too late.
The first punch exploded banging in his guts, he fell to the ground moaning. Like a swarm of bees they came at him. Wood hitting bone, hard steel meeting soft skin popping open under the blow like soft-boiled eggs.
The man squirmed in defense, tried to reduce the contact surface to a minimum, but as always, the comparativeness decided over defeat or victory.
And as the final punch hit his pelvis and he heard the crunch of bursting bones before a dazzling lightening behind his eyes announced the pain taking away his senses, it was over.
The men pulled back panting, clapped each other's hand victoriously, threw the bats back into the car where they waited for their next mission, and sounded the retreat.
Last thing the man sensed consciously was a pair of dark brown, nearly black eyes bent over him.
"He's through", he called out to his comrades-in-arms who seated in the car roaring. "A sly one less in town," he murmured looking with an expression of self-righteous satisfaction at the mistreated bundle of a human beneath him.
"Ey Kenny, move your ass into the car. Streets are freezing and we are, too!" one of the occupants yelled and the addressee winced.
He bestowed a last kick to the figure under him before he got into the waiting car, starting the engine with a roar and disappearing into the white night with screaming wheels.
The man on the ground lay lifeless. Slowly a pool of blood formed under his body - a shyly damping dot of colour that raped all beauty from the virgin snow white on the street.
It took a long time until an ambulance arrived and saved the man the last minute from freezing to death.
+ + +
tbc