Pink Walls

Day One [Part III]✓

"Dead bodies are what started all this, adding more to the equation is the last thing I'm going to do."

It had started snowing again, a light flurry that danced every which way in the direction of the wind created the scene that I had longed for just hours ago. But the subject of the snapshot was absent and even if she wasn't, only the aesthetics of such moments could be recreated, not the spirit.

And even that was impossible because I also didn't own a camera.

I watched the snowfall with equal parts skepticism and equal parts longing from the sole window in Daniel's bedroom, while the teenager continued tinkering with pastries in the kitchen-like he claimed to have been doing for the past two days.

The bedroom had not one hint of his personality apart from the messy splashes of red he had made on the otherwise white walls and the sea blue futon we had moved here from another room.

Daniel admitted to not sleeping much in the room. He had only packed into the house three days ago and still slept on the couch downstairs with his pistol clutched to his chest.

I wondered if my presence would help the teen sleep easy, or if it would worsen the whole matter altogether. Despite the fact that Daniel was always smiling at me, I could tell that the kid didn't trust me-which was understandable seeing that there was a target on his head.

"Are you sure you don't want that cookie?" I heard Daniel ask from behind me. "You look hungry."

I considered the offer for a moment, still looking out the window. It was the only one that directly overlooked the part of the street in front of the house.

It was something I had noticed earlier when I had been talking to Ron-the perfect vantage point-and already I had taken note of two people who looked overtly conspicuous.

They were either wearing too much or too little for a chilly winter morning and both had gone past the house four times-separately and in different modes of transport.

"I don't look hungry," I replied and turned my head to look at the teenager for the first time in four hours. I let the blinds snap shut. "You are being overly sensitive."

Just now, I had watched the man had get out of a cab to pause in front of the house and rub feeling back into his gloveless hands before shoving them into his pockets and walking off again.

The woman had walked by the house thirty minutes earlier, carrying a case that was large enough to hold a rifle or a weapon equally dangerous.

I couldn't tell whether they had been so easy to spot because they were decoys, or if they were really after Daniel, and I got headaches thinking about what could be in the man's backpack.

If I was lucky it would just be guns and ammo, and if I wasn't: explosives or something even more deadly.

"When are you going to eat?" Daniel wiped his wet hands on the front of his apron then tucked some of his fringe behind his ear, revealing another piercing by his upper lip. "There's a lot of food."

"I won't eat until I shower-"

"Then go and-"

"And I won't shower until I figure out how to keep you alive for the next three days," I said sternly. It was all that was on my mind, how to do this job effectively without spilling too much blood. If the teen actually trusted me, it would make me job a whole lot easier, so that was obviously my first goal-winning Daniel's trust.

"Can't we just wait it out here?"

"If it was that simple, you wouldn't need me."

Daniel frowned slightly and the diamond stud above his lip twitched, reflecting a speck of light and attracting my gaze for longer than was professional. "Things can't be that bad if you're letting me go out tomorrow."