Lost

Chapter 1 - Game of Life

Ace Chambers stood outside his small and very worn down house, the wind whipping at his tight white t-shirt as he brought his cigarette up to his lips to take a drag once again. He spent most mornings like this: smoking and thinking about his life. Wondering what he did to get it to be this fucked up.

The 16-year-old barely slept at all. He got up early to be by himself and just think and he went to bed late after partying to all hours of the night or just due to the insomnia he seems to always get. To Ace, a party or getting laid was just an object to pass the time, something to take him out of reality for a little bit. It was really his best friend who was the adrenaline junky, Ace didn't care for that stuff, but he went along with it anyways.

There are very few things Ace cares for in the world and having relationships with girls and getting his next fix of drugs wasn't that. He wasn't his parents. He would never be a drug addict like his mother or an alcoholic like his father.

Ace didn't particularly like the sting when liquor went down his throat or the high when he had just shot drugs inside of himself. Some part of his brain always told him to stop because he was becoming too much like his parents — but Ace would never let that happen. He had too many things to do.

At the mere age of sixteen Ace had seen things that no child or human-being should ever have to witness, he had dealt with things that still horrify him to this day, and had done things he would never admit to doing. But he'd do it again — he had to. That was the game of life. 

Ace was stuck looking after his mother and the new boyfriends she brought home every week because if he didn't, he knew she would die and his conscience wouldn't allow that — no matter how much he hated her. He was stuck in his fathers abusive custody because he couldn't tell anyone what his home life was really like — if he did, he would leave Jodee all by herself.

Jodee — the soft name rang in Ace's head over and over as a small smile creeped its way onto his lips. He was always happier when thinking about his little sister. 

He might be her hero, but she was his savior.

The girl was a mere five years of age and already had Ace wrapped around her finger — he would do anything for her, she just didn't know it yet. God help him when she does. Every time Ace saw Jodee's big brown eyes looking up at him he was as good as gone.

"Ace?" A small and high-pitched voice asked from behind him.

Ace's eyes went wide, never thinking in a million years Jodee would be up this early. He made quick work of crushing his cigarette and throwing it into the nearest bush before waving his hands around in an attempt to get rid of the smoke that had wafted around him — he didn't want Jodee to see that side of him.

He turned around to see a little girl standing just outside the door. A stuffed animal was clutched in the crook of her right arm and her hands were in tiny fists, rubbing the sleep out her eyes. She peered up at her big brother, her arms naturally lifting themself a little bit so he got the message that she wanted to be picked up. Ace knew right away what she was doing and leaned down to grab her. He set her on his hip, but guided her over to the creaky banister that went around the house to help support her weight from his aching ribs. Jodee — seeing as she was awake at 5am as a five-year-old — immediately leaned her head on her brother's chest, trying to go back to sleep.

"What are you doing awake, hmm?" Ace kissed the top of her head, her messy brown curls going all over the place.

"S'couldn't sleep," The little girl muttered, half of her words muffled by his t-shirt.

"Did you have another nightmare?"

Ace couldn't figure out why, but Jodee was always having nightmares. He knew he should probably go speak to a pediatrician about it or someone because they were almost every night and they were too big for them so just random nightmares. They were fucking nightterrors with how scared she was during and after. But that just wasn't something he could afford right now. Due to time and money.