"I'M FINE!" Bert yelled back. I was speeding down the ladder to get to him faster while the kids and Chloe opted for a safer route. "YOU JUST FELL THIRTY FLOORS HOW ARE YOU FINE?" I yelled at him while climbing down. "I FELL IN A DAMN DUMPSTER! I HAVE LITERAL SHIT AND ROTTEN FOOD ALL OVER ME!" He yelled back. "ALSO MY BODY IS IN IMMENSE PAIN AND I'M PRETTY SURE I'M TREMBLING LIKE A LEAF!" He managed to groan out loudly.
After about ten minutes I reached ground and ran up to the dumpster and I know it was a terrible act but I laughed. He had broken eggs, fruit peels and dog shit on him to which plastic was stuck. "Hey! Don't laugh at me! I could've died!" "But you didn't," I pointed out. "Isn't that what this whole trip is about though?" He questioned. "True, now give me your hand, I'll help you out," I said while ignoring the stench.
"Oh ew ew ew ew gross," He complained. A pigeon decided to make things better and drop a load on him. I heard three people laugh so I turned around and saw three idiots rolling on the sidewalk while laughing and wheezing. "Y-You fell into a dumpster?" Hunter managed to wheeze out. "Clearly, now get me out of here," Bert rolled his eyes. "But you look so good here, Duff," Chloe smirked at him.
"Duff? That's your last name?" I asked him while pulling him out. God he was stinking. "Yeah, what's yours?" "Anora," I muttered. I never really liked my name or my last name. "Unusual, but I like it," Bert said. "Okay firstly, you stink. Go take a shower and then we'll move," Hunter said and pushed his brother ahead before wiping his hand on his sister's t-shirt. "You're disgusting," Emily frowned and pushed her twin ahead. Hunter just stuck his tongue out in response.
We made it up to the room, while I distracted the receptionist. I saw a pair of headphones nearby and that's when I realised that she probably had hear headphones on, which is why she didn't hear the gunshots. And since apart from the motel (where no one else was staying) there were only two other buildings that were both under construction, no once could have known of what happened. Dan really thought this whole thing through, huh.
Once I made it up I saw Anna sitting on the bed, Chloe glaring at her, the twins playing on their phones and I heard the shower run in the background. "What happened?" I asked them while locking the door. "Well apparently Elsa over here decided to change sides," Chloe spat out. "I swear I didn't know this gunfight or whatever it was was going to happen! If I knew her brother-" She eyed m, "-was going to betray us I wouldn't have helped him!" She defended herself.
"I don't care about whether or not you knew the truth. Because of you and those shitholes I almost lost my brother," She came closer and looked her dead in the eye. "I swear I'm being honest," She pleaded. "Don't care. All those fucking years I warned you, didn't I? I warned you and you didn't listen. And here we are. How do I know you're still not on my brother's side?" I asked. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the twins eagerly listening in. "Because I can tell you where he is," Anna said.
"Where is he?" "I don't know exactly," "YOU JUST SAID YOU KNOW!" Hunter and Em screamed. "Alright, alright. I don't know the exact location but he told me that you'll be able to figure it out with his clues," "So he wants me to meet him?" "I don't know that. Here's what I do know. It's a poem. Wait, lemme take it out-" she took out a blood stained piece of paper, "- it says;
Disaster comes here
The name should strike fear
30 up, 30 down
Here all smiles turn to frowns,"
"How bored was your brother to come up with that?" Em asked me. I shushed her while trying to rack my brain for something, anything. Right about then Bert came out, no longer stinking as his wet hair dripped water on his t shirt.
"What did I miss?" He asked. "She's on our side now. Allegedly," Chloe spat out. "We'll see about that," He said and sat next to Anna. He whispered something in her ear and I saw how her face lost all colour immediately. She looked at me for a second before turning away.
"Hey lemme see the poem," Bert snatched the piece of paper out of Anna's hand and read the words. "Maybe this is a place from your childhood?" Hunter tried. "I know it is. I'm trying to remember what he means by 'thirty up thirty down'," I said.
Places related to the number thirty...nothing. Absolutely nothing came up. "Was your brother into killing little animals?" Em asked. "What? No! Why?" I asked her in shock. "Maybe it could have something to do with the number 'thirty'?" "Nope," I replied
Where is the one place where 'all smiles turned to frowns'? Our parents were terrible people but it couldn't be our household. Dan messaged me to tell me that it had been sold and demolished.
"A graveyard? People usually aren't very happy there?" Anna suggested. "You're right! It's a graveyard! But which one? It can't be any random one," I said. "I got it. Our grandma was the one nice thing we had as a child. I know where she was buried," I exclaimed. "Where?" Chloe asked.
"Our house was basically a freaking manor. We had a graveyard close to it that was...owned by us," and realisation dawned on me.
"We're going to end up trespassing because the land is sold to someone?" Bert asked. "Yeah. Because we haven't broken enough laws already," I sighed.
Guess trespassing would go on my list of laws I've broken as well.
YOU ARE READING
Nyx Anora
Teen Fiction"What are we doing? Really. What-what is this?" "I'm sorry, I don't know," "Exactly. We don't know. I don't know you, you don't know me. What is this then?" "...I-" "You don't know."
