Butterfly Wings

Tricksters

Day 10 & 11

Today as I woke to greet my nightmares again, I come face to face with a boy standing over me. I go to screech out, but he stops me as he brings his hand to my mouth, he ever so slowly shakes his head no. I nod my head gently against the table as I meet his gaze with confusion and uncertainty. The young boy removes his hand and just stares back at me, he shuffles a bit and sits on a stool I have not seen before as if he had been here a while just watching me. I lay waiting to see what he may do, realizing that I recognized him from the first day. He was next to the old man, he looked scared and upset by the scene. I swallow my saliva heavily, unsure of how to proceed, I want to ask him for help, persuade him to let me go. The boy plays with his hands nervously, glancing from my face to the rest of me, I can only hope he is not like the rest of them.

"What is your name?" I ask quietly.

He freezes in his place, looking from me to the door not sure if he should answer.

"It is okay, I just want someone to talk to, please. My name is Hayley. I was born in Ohio, and I come from a big family. You have a big family too, right?" I pry trying to break him of his hesitation.

He nods gently, looking back and forth from the door to me.

"Evan, my name is Evan, Mitch is my dad, and my mom is Courtney." He answers back with a shyness to his voice.

"It is nice to meet you Evan. May I ask for a sip of water, please?" I say batting my eye lashes.

He slowly walks out of sight and comes back around with a cup of water, a straw sticking in my face as he moves it closer. I lean forward and take a sip making sure to keep my eyes locked on his. I pull back gently as I whisper a thank you, he sits back down sitting the cup next to his feet. He glances back toward the door again; he makes me feel nervous as he keeps doing this.

"You are very pretty." He says looking away quickly.

I can see a slight tint to his cheeks, if we were in a different situation I would maybe be flattered by his compliment but at the current moment desperation hits a lot harder.

"Thank you." I say back, not sure how to respond to him.

He looks back towards the exit again but this time his eyes lock onto something I cannot see, then he nods and looks back to me. I mentally and emotionally freeze, worried about who is behind me he is nodding back to.

"Dude, this is just embarrassing to watch, you are so pathetic, no wonder your parents are not letting you participate yet. You cannot even talk without blushing." A young voice sounds from behind a slight chuckle to his tone.

"I am not." Evan glares back yet his glare melts as he shifts his eyes back to mine.

"Literally, you are so weird, I must literally be the only sane one here." The young man says again this time walking around the table coming to stand next to Evan and leans down to meet my eyes.

He is new, I do not recognize him at all yet he looks familiar. The young man steps forward reaching out to me quickly, his hand shooting toward me uncovered chest that is pressed down on the table. I jerk back quickly my face shifting to fear.

"Stop it Colin, you are scaring her." Evan says gently yet in such a stern voice, he still sounds like a young little kid scared of monsters in the closet.

"Shut it Evan, or should I say shut it bed wetter. The whole point of coming down here was to get some action since she will be here awhile, I say he should be allowed the opportunity everyone else got." Colin stares at me darkly, he may be young in appearance but as I observe him more, he is definitely following in his families' footsteps.