Nightmares

Jared kissed Eric on the mouth with affection and told him goodnight and then started walking home. On his way home from his boyfriend's house; he suddenly got a chill up his spine. It was like his mind was telling him something was wrong. Just before he would have slipped the key into the deadbolt, the feeling hit him again, harder than any emotion he'd ever felt. His stomach rolled, his heart pounded in his chest and sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Oh God,” he whispered with a panicked realization. “Eric!” Without a second thought, he dropped the keys on the small porch and bolted back the way he came.
He begged his legs to carry him faster, pumping them as fast as he possibly could without tripping over himself. Another pain ripped through his chest and seemed to propel him forward. Once in the apartment building, he didn't slow down, he pushed himself up the stairs. “Fuck the elevator.” He snarled to himself, knowing it would take too long. “Hurry up!” He chastised himself.
The door gave in instantly when he slammed his body against it and flew into the room. His worst fears were confirmed by the trashed room. The dishes they had used and washed were broken and thrown across the room. Eric's black jacket was thrown across the room. The gray couch cushions were torn and thrown in every direction. One of the windows hung halfway open. Garbage filled the hallway and the kitchen. Cupboards hung open, displaying their broken contents.
Jared stopped his observation and looked around for the one thing, the only thing that he cared about, the only thing that was missing; Eric. He flew from the kitchen to the bathroom. From the empty but trashed bathroom, he ran to the office. It was empty too. The only room left to search was the bedroom. “Eric?” Jared called out. Seeing that nobody was going to answer, he cautiously made his way to the closed bedroom door, freezing with his hand on the doorknob.
With a deep breath, he turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open. The room was a disaster but this didn't surprise Jared in the least considering the state that the rest of the apartment was in.
The first thing that he noticed was the bright red paint splashed on the wall above the bed. With hate and ferocity was the word; FAGOT in all capital letters. Sitting just below the words, propped up against the wall was Eric. His clothes were soaked through with the color red, almost the same shade as the paint on the wall above him.
The breath was sucked away from Jared's lungs. He bolted forward, nearly losing his footing on a pillow that lay in his path. Approaching Eric's body, he searched for the rise and fall of the young man's chest. He wasn't breathing.
Jared raced to his lover's body and took him in his arms. “Eric,” he pleaded, shaking the body gently. “Eric, please! Please, baby, please don't leave me,” he sobbed, tears streaming down his face. “Please!” He stopped shaking him and took Eric's lifeless hand in his own. Two stab wounds marked Eric's chest, the blood was now seeping into Jared's clothes. After another minute of tears, he noticed the phone that lay on the bed next to Eric's pillow. This would have meant nothing to him if a message for him hadn't been typed out on the screen. .
“Jared,
I'm sorry I didn't call. I ran out of minutes. Ha ha. I love you! Have sweet dreams!” Below the message was a picture of Eric blowing a kiss into the camera. The message had been sent but Jared didn't bother to check his phone. Instead, he looked down at Eric's perfect face and kissed his forehead. He cried deeply when he remembered Eric asking him to stay the night. He had reluctantly declined because of work the next morning.
“I'm so sorry Eric,” he cried out, watching the tears fall from his face onto Eric's. “I'm so sorry.”

Jared sat upright in bed with sweat pouring down his body. In a panic, he searched for the warm body that should have laid next to him. It took a few seconds, each filled with alarm and panic. Just before he got ready to jump up and switch on the light, his hand fell onto another. A waive of sweet relief washed over him and he set himself back onto the bed, and wrapped his arms around Eric's body, pulling him close. Then he tried to sleep, thinking about how grateful he was that Eric had agreed to stay at his house that night. Only dreading what they might find in Eric's apartment the next morning. Let tomorrow handle itself, he thought silently before kissing the sweet smile on Eric's face and then going back to sleep.