Project X

The Way it Began: Blue

CHAPTER THREE

BLUE

    "You kids need a ride?"

    The heat was sweltering, we'd been standing on the side of the road for hours now, trying to catch a ride. I didn't think that thumbs could get so tired. Irwin had gotten a blister so bad practically his entire sock had turned red. We were exhausted, and too freaked out to even attempt another creepy gas station visit. I thought I might be afraid of mushrooms for the rest of my life.

    "Yes, sir." I told him, "Please." The man nodded,

    "Well, hop on in, then." He unlocked the door and we piled into the big, red pickup. It looked all beat up and had a rusty blue shell covering the bed. He was an older guy, he looked about late fifties to mid sixties, graying red hair with a tattered ball cap, and a barely-groomed beard. I hopped in first, and then- after a short scuffle over who got the window seat- Irwin hopped in, and then Kaili. We all kept our duffels on our laps, just in case.

    "Where're a couple a' kids like yourselves headed, anyway?" He asked us. Kaili and I shared a look and decided it was best to just give him the direction we were already headed, rather than do a direction check in front of him. So, I just pointed straight forward and said,

    "West."

    "How far west?"

    "As far west as you'll take us." Kaili told him.

    "Excuse me, young lady." The man said, it seemed like he was possibly trying to be polite, but it didn't come off that way, "I believe I was talkin' to yer boyfriend, here." Oh, he was one of those types. The 'I wanna talk to the man of the house' types.

    "He's not my boyfriend, he's my brother." Kaili corrected him firmly, and somewhat disgusted- Which, I couldn't really blame her for. Like, Kai as my girlfriend? Gross. Even if she wasn't my sister. Or ace. Still gross. She didn't take too kindly to his type. None of us did, but right now probably wasn't the time to get uppity. He apparently wasn't the nicest guy in the world, but we were stuck in a small space with him, and he was apparently our only option other than continuing to walk. And, after days of that, we would take anything we could get. For now, at least.

    "He sure don't look like yer brother. Let me guess, same daddy?" I absolutely did not vibe with how he said that.

    "We're adopted." I told him quickly. "All of us." I added, shooting a glance at Kaili and Irwin so they knew to go along with it. "We're looking for our real parents." He tugged thoughtfully on his beard,

    "Well, sonny, somethin' gives me the feelin' you already know exactly who your parents are."

    "I do. I knew them both. They died when I was seven." I was a little surprised by how easily the lies came, "Car crash. I was adopted when I was eight, Carrie and Iven were already there, but they never knew their parents." Kai and Irwin nodded confirmation. "The woman who adopted us died, so we're trying to find their parents. We, uh, don't wanna go back into the system."

    There was a faraway look in the man's eyes. Like he was searching for something. Or waiting for something. It was weird, I couldn't tell what color they were, and it was bugging me for some reason. At first, I'd thought they were brown, but then they looked blue. Now, I thought they looked green.

    It wasn't until they turned gold that it hit me.

    "Well, sonny, you certainly spin a good yarn." His beard retreated into his face, his bone-structure changed in front of my eyes, he suddenly looked like a different man altogether. A much younger, more familiar man. He turned cold eyes onto me; and, when he spoke, his voice was different. Smug. Boastful. And instantly recognizable. "But, Adam, why don't you tell Daddy the truth."