Lost

Chapter 7 - Night Visitor

Ace Chambers woke to the sound of banging and rustling coming from somewhere in the house. He shot up instantly never being a light sleeper due to the crazy things that happen in his house at night. Between the odd times his father gets home and how many times his sister wakes up in the middle of the night every week Ace has learned to be okay with never sleeping.

He knew right away what this noise was. It wasn't Jodee and it wasn't the neighbors studpid cat getting into another fight again. This was Tobias home late at night, drunk or high as can be, banging down the door as Ace had locked it and the old man forgot his key.

The 16-year-old got out of bed, sighing, before making his way over to his sister's little room. Ace walked into the room to see her peaceful sleeping form.

He stood there for a couple seconds taking in her appearance. She was snuggled into the covers just how he had tucked her in. One of her arms folded into herself and the other one resting above her blankets but turned into a fist to hold the blanket under his chin. Her eyelids were closed, hiding the brown eyes beneath, but displaying her long dark eyelashes. Jodee's chest rose and fell with small and even breaths as her plump lips were parted slightly to let the air release through them.

Her big brother sighed once again of probably having to wake her up when he heard another thump at the door and some yelling — but he couldn't make out the words. He walked over to the bed trying to be as quiet as possible as he leaned down and gathered his sister in his arms. He held onto the stuffed animal that she had near her as he knew she would throw a fit if it wasn't there when she woke up. But Ace made quick work untangling the blanket from her body since it would just prove to be a hassle.

Jodee stirred in his arms and began to whimper from the cold that hit her body.

"Shhh." Ace whispered in her ear, trying to bring her closer so his body heat would warm her up but it didn't do much.

The little girl's face distorted from its previous peaceful state into one of worry and uncomfort as she began to wiggle in her brother's arms. Ace knew that this meant she was clearly waking up.

"It's okay, Joes. It's just me. It's Ace." Ace cued to his little sister, walking through her doorway.

"Acey?" Her voice, thick with sleep, asked as she turned her head so that her little brown eyes looked up into his opposing blue ones.

"Go back to sleep. It's alright." Ace continued to speak to her, trying to get her back to sleep so she wasn't afraid when she heard of the situation.

"What're you doin'?" Jodee wanted to know. "Where're we goin'?" Her words were not being completed fully as her eyes started to droop once again.

"You're just going to stay in Acey's room for a little." Ace tried to avoid the conversation.

"Why?" Jodee's eyes swelled with worry.

It wasn't that the little girl didn't want to sleep with her brother — she absolutely loved to and would take any opportunity possible to do so. But she also knew that her brother never woke her up in the middle of the night to come sleep with him. It was always her waking him up. There was only one time Ace interrupted her sleep...

"Just because." Ace responded simply.

"It is cuz Daddy's back home?" Jodee hit the nail on the head with her question.

Jodee is probably a little smarter than the average 5-year-old (or so Ace likes to think), but she was always very good at knowing what was going on around her — even if she shouldn't at her young age.

Ace sighed yet again, looking into his sister's eyes as he took a breath. "You don't need to worry about that — but yes. Dad is home." Ace hated calling his dad 'dad,' at best he would call him 'father' but unfortunately Jodee insisted on calling him Daddy or Dad and would get confused if Ace referred to him as Tobias.