A Game of Ordeal

Chapter three

"Are you seriously going to let this moron ruin our night?"

With just one sentence, the entire mood seemed to flip 180 degrees. Under the influence of their emotions, it was as if everyone had forgotten why they were there—to have fun, to let loose a little before life grabbed them back again.

It was currently eight in the morning—the sun had just risen over the mountains, and the birds were singing their songs in the sky. The mountain wind had calmed down and was gently brushing the leaves of the trees. The cold from the previous night had been replaced by the soft warmth of the morning and the strong rays of the sun peeking through the windows of the cabin.

A complete mess had erupted in the dining room—dirty dishes and utensils were scattered across the large table, napkins were crumpled, and some were on the floor. Cigarettes, lighters, and dead mobile phones also adorned the table. Bottles of alcohol, some empty, lay next to the chairs. Dried stains of alcohol and dried blood were left on the floor.

The group had a lot of cleaning to do, but they were all sleeping sweetly and soundly. The party had lasted until four-thirty in the morning—loud music, lots of dancing, and plenty of fun. The incident with Mark was forgotten by them, but not by Mark himself.

Everyone had an exceptionally good time, even the two boys—Alexander had drunk quite a large amount of alcohol and had started talking nonsense and joking, entertaining the girls. Robert had also loosened up, but not completely. Burdened by unresolved memories, the boy had drunk much more alcohol than usual—the mix of the horrible feeling caused by last night's scene and the cold vodka had hit him in a place that hadn't been touched for a long time. Alcohol had always made him more attuned to his feelings—several times during the night he had gone outside to control his tears and try to shake it all off, but something wouldn't give him peace.

The alarms on nearly all the phones began to ring insistently—Alexander was so unsure if he would wake up that he had set his alarm to play Custer by Slipknot. His brother Antoine was a big fan of that type of music and had introduced him to a few good songs here and there. The loud metal music, cranked to the max, filled the small room where Alexander, Robert, Michael, and Konstantin were sleeping. The blond-haired youth didn't wake up right away, unlike Konstantin, who was an extremely light sleeper. He jolted upright from the comfortable bed, stunned by the unexpected noise. His eyes were wide open, darting around the cozy room. Spotting the vibrating phone on the nightstand beside Alex, he let out a loud, irritated sigh. Within a few quick seconds, he grabbed his pillow and hurled it forcefully in the direction of the sleeping Alexander. As it hit him in the head, he too shot up from the bed, bewildered and startled.

"Jerk!" Konstantin hissed, keeping his voice low. "Are you out of your mind?"

Alexander rubbed his eyes, visibly confused—they were bloodshot from exhaustion. He could now hear the heavy metal song blaring in the background and reached out to turn it off. He hadn't expected that even this wouldn't wake him up. Michael also woke up but didn't show much reaction—he just continued to lie there, trying to fall back asleep, ignoring the chaos around him.

"What?" the blond-haired boy replied.

"Are you stupid? What is that satanic song?"

"To wake up!"

"To wake up?! Konstantin exclaimed. "Hey, idiot! You scared the life out of me!"

Alexander laughed brightly, rubbing his eyes again—his arms ached slightly, but he skillfully ignored the pain.

"Dude, you sent my soul to Heaven with that song!"

"In a minute, I'll send your soul to Heaven and mine to Hell!" Michael exclaimed, still squeezing his eyes shut but slowly realizing that sleep was out of the question. The dark-skinned youth turned to the other side, looking at Konstantin intently.