The Tales of Flesh and Blood

Landon, The No-Shit Detective

Needless to say, I didn't go to school right away. Certainly, I walked my happy ass out of the apartments, and while every nerve in me wanted to run while the sun was still struggling over the horizon, I gripped the straps of my backpack and forced myself down a road I had taken three days prior. It was barely past six in the morning, so the school doors would not even be open, which meant that most students (unless they were in athletics) would still be cozied up in bed. Landon was no exception. In fact, he was notorious for missing his entire first period for oversleeping.

Eying his small front yard, I crept to the side of his house until I hit the window where, if my sense of direction was correct, Landon's bedroom would be. People were up - I could hear the excited chatter and yells of small children being prepared for school - so I waited behind the bushes until I heard the front door open and slam for the tenth time, followed by the roar of a rusted old van emerging to life. Only when I was certain that there was no risk of someone barging into Landon's room did I rise from my crouch, weak rays of light peering through the dark clouds above. Damn, it was getting cold.

Much to my shock and never-ceasing suspicion, Landon's window moved with a small shove upwards. I had not expected it to move so easily - I was trying to test to see if it was locked or not - so I nearly stumbled forward with uncaught momentum. Stifling back a curse and half-praying that I wasn't about to stumble in on something I didn't want to see, I hauled myself up on the windowsill, gently moving the blinds aside before stealthily jumping onto the floor. I turned to shut the window and locked it for safe measure, with the thought of someone trailing me in mind. I wasn't too worried about getting caught. Landon's mom was the one who was taking his younger siblings to school, so his dad was unlikely to think anything more than what he already thought of me when I first met him if he came in here.

I just had to hope that if there had been anyone watching, I would have the chance to explain a bit of this to Jaxon before he heard it from someone else. Then I chided myself. I wasn't dating the guy - I wasn't dating anyone, for that matter - so why should I care what he thought? Besides, Jaxon knew there was something going on, something serious, and that Landon was involved . . .

I pressed my palm to my forehead.

"Idiot," I said softly to myself. "Stop thinking about boys and focus."

Thankfully, Landon didn't have a girl with him, but he must have had one with him at one point or another during the night. Not only would that explain the unlocked window, but it would also explain the extreme lack of clothing he had on, sprawled out on his bed like that. I was just content that he was on his belly, but I looked away almost as soon as I saw him, nonetheless. I grabbed a shirt thrown on the floor and halfheartedly threw it on his backside before making way to crouch in front of his face.

"Hey," I said softly, snapping my fingers in front of his eyes. "Asshole. Wake the hell up. We need to talk."

Slowly, Landon's swampy-green eyes flickered open. He had a bit of drool hanging down the corner of his mouth, to which he wiped on his pillow.

"Huh?" He raised his head enough to look at me before moving his arms deeper beneath his pillow. "Oh. It's you."

I scowled, wondering if now would be a good time to back up before he realized who had managed to sneak into his room. He didn't. At least, he wasn't acting in the way I had expected he would.

"What do you want?" he murmured groggily.

"You said you would find out who all was involved," I said promptly. I didn't bother to elaborate much else. I did, however, decide to tell him the recent news. "That guy who gave me the flashdrive? He's gone. Disappeared this morning, but his apartment is a wreck. Blood in some places."