Kids In the Dark

The Boss

Shannon's P.O.V.
"Do you never sleep?" She says from the fire escape, grinning.

I turn around from where I was working at my desk and smile. "A little warning would've been appreciated Rose. Remember what happened the last time you snuck in without me realizing?"

She shrugs and reaches towards me. I walk over to the window and pull her into a bear hug. When I let go, she kisses me on the cheek and places her hand on my face. I laugh and ruffle her hair. She backs up and looks at me.

"What?" I ask, "Is it my hair?"

I take my dirty blonde hair out of it's ponytail, checking the faded blue tips for any damage. Rose just giggles and points to my shirt. It's an old black tank top with a stitched in skull.

"Oh. You're happy that I'm finally wearing it?" I say.

"Yeah! It looks really cute on you, plus those jeans are rockin'."

I laugh and put my head in my hands.

"So what did you want, other then to ridicule me about my fashion sense?"

She frowns a little and comes closer to me. "Can I not see my girlfriend without needing something?" She says, fluttering her doe eyes.

I sigh, "Of course. Let's get some breakfast then, shall we?"

I open the door and check the hall. Seeing that no one else is up at 4 in the morning, I gently grab Rose's hand and lead her downstairs. She happily glides along, peering out the windows as we walk by. Getting to the bottom of the stairs I let go of her and grab two glasses, filling one with Coke and the other with ginger ale. She takes the ginger ale and taps her glass against mine. I chuckle at her cute gesture and take a sip of my drink. Placing the cup on the counter, she yawns.

"But seriously though, how do you stay up so late?" She asks, "I mean, it's gotta be exhausting babysitting your group AND doing the paperwork for the business."

I give her a pointed look and say "It's not babysitting. They can do perfectly fine on their own. It's just that I'm worried about them. I don't know what they'll get into."

Rose sighs and stretches her arms out, accidentally knocking her glass off the counter. I make a grab for it but it seems my lack of sleep is affecting my reflexes because I miss completely. It crashes into the tile floor, spilling the soda everywhere. Rose curses in French, then quickly grabs a towel and starts cleaning up the mess. I get the dustpan and broom from the closet and sweep up the glass. I'm about to dump it into the trashcan when we both hear a thump come from upstairs.

"Huh? What was that?" She asks, staring at the stairwell.

I think I see a shadow move on the wall, but I respond "I'm sure it was nothing, don't worry babe."

Throwing the glass away, I lean on the counter and rub my eyes. Rose comes up behind me and hugs me around the waist. I turn around and pat her head. She giggles. Suddenly, there's a loud noise from the stairwell. It sounds like a laugh of some sort. I look at the top of the stairwell, where I thought I saw the shadow before. Squinting, I think I see something scurry away. Slipping Rose's arms off my waist, I slide over to the bottom of the stairs. Rose looks at me puzzled. I put my finger to my lips and point upstairs. She nods and slinks to the other wall. I slowly climb the stairs, my muffled footsteps sounding like the steady beat of a drum. I think I hear a door click, but when I look in the hallway it's complete empty. Getting suspicious, I walk to the center of the hall and look around. There's slight indentations in the carpet that look like footprints.
Leading to the bathroom. I glare at the door, deciding it wasn't worth the trouble to check. Going back downstairs, I notice a small note on the top of the stairs. Rose looks up at me from where she's now sitting on the couch.

"What is that?" She asks.

"I don't know." I reply, "But it looks like it's from Aidan to someone."

"Well what does it say?"

"Um, lemme see...It says '3 dogs, 8 ants, 1 gorilla, 5 woodpeckers, 6 otters, 4 ostriches, 2 deers on the street. 5 am.' What the hell does this mean?"

Rose just shrugs her shoulders and switches on the TV. I shake my head at her, and spend the next hour and a half trying to figure out what it means.

Eventually, while I'm still trying to decode the message and Rose is laughing at The Big Bang Theory, we hear a scuffle outside the front door. I shoot over to the door and peek out the keyhole. Aidan's standing there with his gray hoodie and a weird box in his hand, fumbling with his keys. Quickly, I unlock the door and yank it open. Aidan stares up at me with a tinge of fear in his eyes. He waves at me with the hand that has the keys in it and I gesture him inside. As he walks, he slips his keys into his pocket and grabs the weird box with both hands. I shoot him a questioning glance while he talks with Rose. He doesn't seem to notice it and sprints upstairs. Rose was about to go after him, but I grab her arm and shake my head. She seems disappointed, but stays nevertheless. I start to cook breakfast while she excuses herself to the bathroom.