Kids in the Dark

Chapter 37

Ryder's P.O.V

"Morning sleepyhead." Marc smiled down at me. I rolled away from him with a groan shying away from the light that was now streaming into the tent. "Come on. Get your ass out of bed, it's almost lunchtime." Marc tugged at the covers letting cold air sneak in underneath them. I groaned once again swatting him away with the back of my hand before retreating back inside my sleeping bag. There was a moment of silence before Marc shouted out at the top of his lungs. "THEO!" He bellowed making me jump slightly with surprise. My eyes remained screwed shut but I could clearly hear Theo busting his way into the tent.

"Ryder come on. I've made spaghetti; Real pasta and everything this time." Theo had made his way over and began to violently shake me. I lay there refusing to move, holding in my laughter as Theo began to tickle me. "Right. You leave me no choice." Theo sighed. Soon to follow was the crinkling of what I could only assume was Theo opening one of the many plastic water bottles we'd stored in the coolbox overnight. My brain seemed to be running slow so before I could even process what was about to happen a cold cascade of water fell ontop of me.

I jolted up splattering my body breaking out in goosebumps. I scrambled around for several moments trying to extract myself from the soggy fabric of my sleeping bag.

"Okay, I'm up," I said holding my hands up in surrender before snatching my blankets all up off the floor and running outside.

In no time I had set myself up on the roof of the car. My sleeping bag was slung over the branch of a tree in an attempt to have it dry by nightfall. I lay on my stomach, camera by my side, watching Theo and Marc goofing off in a small row boat. I found myself chuckling as Theo stood up to his full height in the bow of the boat. By doing this he rocked the boat sending ripples out across the Lake's glassy surface.

I snatched up my camera Marc beginning to rock the boat back and forth trying to throw Theo from his perch. My finger was poised on the capture button as Marc shifted his weight from side to side the edges of the boat dipping dangerously close to the water. For a brief moment, it seemed as though Theo had maintained his balance but Marc wasn't giving up. With one last jolt, Marc was able to send Theo sprawling backward waving his arms wildly in a final attempt to prevent his fall. He seemed to fall in slow motion as I watched through the lens of my camera, a soft clicking noise just audible as I captured the decent. I couldn't help myself and soon found a laugh escaping my lips.

Theo landed with an almighty splash, the wave of white water sloshing out in all directions. He emerged moments later hair dripping in his eyes and clothes floating loosely in the water around him. Even from the edge of the water, I could hear him sputtering, breathless from the cold, still, this did not deter him from shouting some rather foul words at Marc. Once this stopped he struck out towards the little boat. Marc guessed his intention and began to row away but his rowing was hindered by the laughter that had overcome him turning his face red. This gave Theo the opportunity he needed and he just managed to hook his fingers over the bow of the boat.

It took me a moment for me to realize I was watching these events unfold through the viewfinder of a camera. With a slight intake of breath, I pulled away and set the camera just to my right. Theo had begun to swim to shore with the boat it tow. I smiled as I realized his game plan; to find his footing and capsize the boat sending Marc into the water. With a slight smile on my face, I once again took up the camera and swung the strap around my neck. I slid from the roof and edged towards the lake just as Theo plowed his way into the shallows.

Marc too seemed to have realized what Theo was up to and was slowly moving to the rear of the boat, furthest from Theo. He got to his feet and dove effortlessly into the water hardly disturbing the surface as he did so. Theo let out a grumble hauling the boat to shore watching the trail of bubbles get further from the lake's edge. I found myself laughing as I too watched Marc swim away, but when he didn't resurface after 2 minutes I began to worry.

"Um, shouldn't he be up by now?" I asked looking over at Theo. He shrugged and continued to drag the boat up. It had almost gone 3 minutes when a lime green head of hair broke the water's surface sending out a mass of ripples. Marc was so far out he appeared the size of a fingernail. I shook my head in a kind of amazement, Marc never ceased to showcase new talents.

"Hey Aquaman," I called out cupping my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice's volume. "Get your ass back over here would you." Marc's arms began to move, propelling him quickly and efficiently through the water. In record time Marc was back on shore hardly in need to catch is breath.

"So you can swim like an olympian and run at a national standard yet you chose the life of crime. Care to explain?" Theo asked with a slight laugh as the two dripping wet boys stripped down to their underwear, hanging their clothes on branches.

"Let's just go with, the life of crime not being a personal choice. My brother kind of dragged me into it." Marc explained as he flapped out a towel and lay back absorbing up some weak October sun.

"You may have a point there." I laughed digging my elbow into Theo's side, just above the Tattoo I'd found last night on his phone.

"Hey, it was as much your choice as it was mine." Theo shot back mimicking Marc's actions in hanging up his clothes.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I rolled my eyes and began to flick through the photos from earlier.

"Ha, look at Marc's face." Theo sniggered looking over my shoulder, pointing out the look of extreme concentration on Marc's face. Marc soon shut him up by mocking the look on Theo's face, doing an exaggerated impression of him flailing his arms. "You may be laughing now Marc-y boy. Just you wait. I'll strike when you least expect it. You'll have to sleep with one eye open from now on, the fear of what I might do forever hanging over you." Theo let out an evil cackle rubbing his hands together like a villain. Marc had no reply other than a shrug and to stick his tongue out much like a four-year-old might. He sat down on his towel and stared out at the lake the weak rays of sun streaming through the trees illuminating his green hair.

It wasn't long after Theo and I sat down beside him that He started talking lunch. "Always thinking with your stomach." I joked.

"I am not eating pasta again. You guys must be sick of it too right." I thought back to the spaghetti and tomato sauce Theo called breakfast.

"I noticed a Panda express among the small cluster of shops just up the road," Theo commented. "I could drive out and pick us some up."

"I say we leave that 'til dinner. We can snack until then." Marc suggested ruffling up his hair with his right hand.

"Sounds like a plan," I said lying back to gaze up at the rolling clouds.

"Hey, Ryder what's your idiot dog doing?" Theo laughed causing me to sit up and look around. Tank was quite happily chasing his tail around in circles, barking and growling at it periodically.

"Tank." I whistled to him and he bounded over to me his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "who's a good boy." I cooed ruffling his big fluffy head in my hands. He ran his rough tongue up my cheek leaving a trail of slime over my cheek. I shook my head, rubbing it away with the back of my hand planting a large kiss on his nose.  

So that was a bit of an odd place to end the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it all the same. Leave a vote, comment and keep reading - Flo