Hunt of the Night

c h a p t e r e i g h t ( a m b e r )

Previously...

"I think we should move on," John spoke lowly, the confidence not quite in his voice as it was before. I watched John step ahead of us, leading the way in silence.

This was going to be a long night.

Currently...

  8:00 pm on Friday  

While we tread along in the woods, the only thing heard was the sound of our footsteps as we stepped over the leaves, but John shattered the silence when he began to hum. I strained my ears to try to figure out what exactly he was humming, but I didn't recognize it. We walked a little further in silence when Charlie spoke up. "What are you humming?"

John's head turned to glance over his shoulder at her before he answered, "I wrote it."

Charlie began to laugh, "Wait, so let me get this straight. Mr. "I do more drugs than Lindsay Lohan and acts meaner than Regina George" writes music?"

"Yeah..." He scratched the top of his head,stopping to turn to face us, "I'm in a band."

Charlie stopped in her tracks, right behind John, and slapped his shoulder while her mouth was agape.

John rubbed the spot where the strong girl had hit him, and began to whine, "Ow, that hurt!" He didn't give us a chance to reply before he was pushing forward again.

Charlie ignored the boy's discomfort, staring at him in shock before trailing behind John, "What's your band's name called? What type of music do you guys make? What's the song called? What-"

John put a finger over Charlie's mouth to make her quiet down. "My band's name is Cassette. We make alternative rock. The songs called Homemade Courage."

A smile fell onto my lips. I loved that song name and his band's name. It showed that there was more to this boy than met our eyes. We all began walking side by side as Charlie voiced her opinion on the subject. "Really? What even is a cassette? Isn't that one of those ancient thingies that our parents used?"

John and I didn't know what to say. We glanced at each other before looking at her with a mix of disappointment and sadness. John was the first to react as he brought his hands up to rub his temples, "Yes, a cassette is a way people listened to music in the 80s."

Charlie still didn't seem to understand, so she moved on with the subject, "Anyway, you should sing us the song."

"Nope."

"Please!"

"No."

"You made Amber cry, the least you could do is sing her a song to make her feel better."

When those last words left her mouth, I watched John's expression change. He glanced back at me and seemed to be having an internal debate with himself. I looked over towards Charlie to see if she was looking at him with the same expression as me. She looked almost more excited than I was. While I was preoccupied looking at Charlie, I didn't see John move in front and turn around to face us.

It was quiet for a moment, all eyes on John as we waited intently.

John's voice was deep and soft, with a little hint of something floating in it. His eyes were closed and his hands were hidden in his pant's pockets.

"I want to sleep all day,

And stay in bed all night,

I feel like crying for no reason at all