Lotus: Requiem

Chapter Two - Overture

Chapter Two

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Alex and Jake were resting in their beds, peacefully dreaming about whatever young adult men dream about. Alex pressed his head against his pillow, his mouth handing wide open. Jake, sleeping in the bed above, tossed and turned until he hit that back of his hand against the wooden barricade. The pain shot through his nervous system and altered his brain to wake up. He jolted up, hitting his head on the ceiling.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Rubbing his head, he turned to the door. He hung his head down to look at the young man sleeping on the bed below.

“Alex,” he whispered. “Hey, wake up.”

Alex grumbled and buried his head deeper into his pillow. Jake sighed and climbed down to the floor.

“There’s someone at the door,” he said, poking the sleeping boy. “Do you want me to answer it?”

Alex grumbled again and pulled the blanket over his head. The knocking continued. Jake stared at the door, not knowing what he should do. Finally, Alex got up, his eyes still closed, and walked to the door. He scratched his head, then swung the door open, surprising the scared young woman standing in the hallway.

“G–Good morning,” Lily said timidly.

She and Jake looked at Alex. His dark hair was disheveled, as if it were a black nest placed on top of his head. He rubbed his eyes and squinted down at the girl.

“Morning,” he grumbled. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

Lily innocently looked at her wristwatch.

“It’s eight o’clock—”

“WRONG,” Alex roared. “It’s time for normal people who don’t have class to continue sleeping.”

“Well, I have class at nine o’clock, so I wanted to check in on Jake.”

“Jake?”

He looked over his shoulder at the young man standing behind him.

“Oh yeah,” he said to Lily. “Well, I guess you can come in then.”

Lily stepped into the room and smiled sweetly at Jake. She sat down on Alex’s bed and began unpacking her large bag, pulling out cans of juice and boxes of food.

“I actually went downtown to buy breakfast for you guys,” she said. “I might have bought a little too much.”

“Thank you,” Jake replied. “What time did you wake up?”

“I woke up at sixe and I actually just got back now,” she answered.

“Six in the morning?!” Alex shouted, suddenly wide awake. “Lily, you know it’s dangerous to go downtown that early in the morning by yourself!”

“But—”

“Something could’ve happened to you!”

“But—”

“What do you think I would’ve done if you got hurt or went missing?!”

“S–Sorry,” she said, lowering her head. “I… I just wanted to thank you for letting Jake stay with you.”

Alex’s eyes softened as the muscles in his body became less tense. He sat down beside her and hugged her. Jake looked at them and felt something oddly familiar about them.

“Oh, has your memory improved?” Lily asked, gently shoving Alex away.

“Not at all,” Jake said. “I get these weird feelings… like some things are familiar to me, but I still can’t remember.”