The Dark Path (Part 1/2)

The Sound Of Miles

[Archer's POV]

"Which was your favourite part of the movie?" I asked Alexis as we walked out of the cinema after our movie had finished.

She turned to me and said, "I like the part where the hero drove through the streets when he was getting chased by the bad guy's henchmen. I started eating my popcorn really fast at that part."

I chuckled. "You sure ate a lot. You had at least two boxes of popcorn back there."

She blushed and hid her face in her palms. "Hey... They were only small boxes."

I tilted my head at her. "Yeah, sure you there were."

"They were small."

We walked over to Miles who had stopped in front of a game shop and was looking at all the games. I grabbed him by the collar. "Come on, Miles. We don't have the time to look today. I need to send Alexis back home and where is Tyson?"

Miles whined. "They've got the new game we've been waiting for."

"You mean the one with the realistic graphics?"

"Two points for you, my friend."

Miles and I have been waiting for this game for months. I really wanted to check out the game but I decided that it could wait. Alexis said her parents were very strict with their children so making them angry may not be a very wise move.

Alexis tapped me on my shoulder. "Archer, my dad just called. He's expecting home soon. I think I need to be home in less than thirty minutes."

"Yeah, yeah. We're going now. Come on, everybody."

Miles and Tyson drove off in their own cars. The journey to Alexis' house was a long one. I had some trouble finding her house. When she came to the mall, she said her father's driver dropped her off. The driver was busy now, so Alexis had to talk her father into allowing me to send her home. It was a long talk, but he eventually agreed. Still, he wanted to talk with me for a while. All I can say is, I hope I don't meet her father in person. After some time, we reached an area of the neighborhood that had mansions.

"Whoa. You live here?" I said as I looked at the mansions around us.

"Yeah. It's not much really."

"Not much? This place is sick. Where's your house?"

"That one up ahead."

I looked in front and almost wet my pants. Alexis' house was the mother of all mansions. The giant iron gates in front of the mansion had 'DS' on them.

" 'DS' as in Darso Spaxon?"

"Yup."

Alexis opened her purse and fished out a pair of keys with a small remote on it. When she pressed one of the buttons in the remote, the massive gates swung open as if pulled open by invisible servants. I drove my car slowly into the compound. The driveway was about 100 metres. Why does it need to be so long? I stopped my car in front of the main entrance of the mansion.

"I guess you'll have to go now..." I said, finding it weird that I was actually disappointed that someone had to go. I never felt about anyone this way before.

"Yeah. Thanks, Archer. It's been great hanging out with you and the guys."

"Are you okay hanging out with us? I mean, we're guys. We do things guys usually do so I'm sorry if we bore you."

"No, no. I had a great time. Well I've got to now. See you at school next week. Bye" she said as she closed the door and waved at me.

I waved back at her. 'Wow, what a girl,' I thought to myself. Alexis was really fun tonight. She was kind of shy and quiet to talk with me but when opened up to her warmly, she enjoyed speaking to me. I grinned from ear to ear and sighed.

[Miles' POV]

I drove off from the mall in my car thinking of what happened tonight. Archer was practically talking to Alexis the WHOLE time. It was pretty obvious that my friend had a crush on Alexis. I'll admit, Alexis was kind of hot but I was not interested in relationships with the fairer sex for the time being.

Last week, I had to dump, Lucy because she was too bloody clingy. Several months before her, there was Vanessa. She was great until I found out she was sleeping with the rest of my basketball team members. I wouldn't want to remember Erica either. God, she was really pathetic. Crying over every single thing. She took things way too seriously. And then there was Hannah, Ms. Superficial...

That's it I'm done with relationships. Maybe Alexis and I could be friends but nothing more! Who knows what horrors she'll bring. I didn't mind her. The only problem was she had Archer's full attention the whole time. What happened to 'bros before hoes'? I grumbled.

I parked my car in the driveway behind my dad's car and got out. Mom and dad were in the kitchen cooking something. I headed to the where they were to see what was cooking. Upon entering the kitchen, I saw that dad was cooking. My dad's friends call him 'The Rock' because he used to join a martial arts class. When he sparred with other people, he barely felt a thing when they kicked or punched him. Hence the name, 'The Rock', like the wrestler dude. Mom sometimes jokes, "Do you smell what The Rock is cooking?" whenever dad wears his apron.

"Hey, honey. How was your outing with your friends?" my mom asked me.

"It was great, mom. How come you're not eating out? You usually eat out on Fridays."

"Well, your dad apparently wants to surprise me with cooking skills but we all know who the better chef in this house is." she said as she turned her head to my dad.

"You will fall to your knees when I'm done. I've been trying to nail this recipe for weeks and I think I've got it this time." my dad said without diverting his attention from the stove.

"Okay. Well, I'll head upstairs now" I said and turned to head upstairs. I went in my room and changed into shorts and a t-shirt. I felt a need to listen to some music, so I turned the stereo system in my room. The music didn't sound so loud so I turned up the volume. This stuff never works the way I want it, always playing music so softly even with the volume at max.

I went and took a shower and came back into my room to hear Deep Purple playing. Hearing Richie Blackmore soloing made me feel at ease. Then all of a sudden this weird feeling showered over me. I stared at my stereo system and it felt as though my mind emptied. Suddenly, it was so silent. Then, the sound exploded. My stereo system suddenly burst with almost ear-bleeding volume. The glass on bedroom windows cracked into pieces. Holy crap! The noise was so bloody loud! I covered my ears and stared at the system again and the same feeling of empty-mindedness happened again in me. Then, the stereo became silent. No way..., I thought.

"MILES ALEXANDER VANCE!!! YOU COME DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!!!" I heard my mom shout from downstairs. Oh shoot. I am in deep trouble. As I exited my room, I looked around in horror. Everything that could break easily like the glass on the windows was broken. I headed downstairs and prepared myself for some serious ear-bashing. After this, I'm going to call Archer. He's definitely NOT going to believe this,