Lost Game Notes (Novel)

Chapter 13: Respite

 The night was silent and formidable as Alex dashed down the sidewalk. He kept his hooded face downwards, shrouding himself from the probing eyes of drunk strangers shuffling by.

Alex would have paid mind to the sidewalk smoothing into a rundown path, the shaggy houses hugging themselves with barely any space between, the growing silence, but he was too lost in himself to notice.

He didn't care to be quiet. He sniffled all the way to Sky's house, which looked no more different than its neighbor. Alex jumped the fence, traversing through waist-high weeds that scratched his skin through the rips in his jeans.

His feet automatically carried him to the wiry trellis that reached the window sill of Sky's bedroom. He didn't stop to consider the front door. Who knew if Mrs. Anton slept downstairs? What if the stairs creaked? In any case, he had climbed up this way several times and it was safe. He only hoped it was still strong after all this time.

He grabbed a hold of the twisted vines and tugged. They felt secure. He grappled for large vines in the darkness, exerting his strength pulling himself upwards, doing his best to ignore the needles of pain pricking in his side.

By the time he fell through the open window, gasping for breath, he decided it would have been far easier to go through the door.

"Alex?" Sky's voice whispered.

Alex opened his eyes and squinted into the dark. He made out the bob of white hair, moving towards him.

"Are you okay?" Sky sounded concerned, almost panicked. His knees hit the floor with a thud.

Alex struggled to sit up. "Why would I be here if I was okay?"

"Stupid question, sorry," Sky apologized.

Alex wanted to say he shouldn't be. He didn't have to be not okay to pay Sky a visit. But Sky had come to squat beside him and was already questioning him, in a soft voice.

"Does it have to do with Lawrence? Did you get hurt? Was it—"

"Wait, wait a moment. Let me get my breath." Alex leaned his back against the wall, ignoring Sky's searching gaze. He had his breath, alright.

It was that he had overlooked having to answer the questions that were bound to come. Sky must truly be worried. "I don't really want to talk about it," he tried.

Sky grabbed Alex's face and turned it to him, his eyes reflecting the moonlight outside. "Alex, don't even try that on me. You get all snappy when I don't tell you about, well—about..." Sky stammered to a halt, and Alex could almost see the bloom of red on his cheeks.

Sky jerked his hands away and worried the hem of his sweater, ignoring Alex's stare.

An uncomfortable silence settled and none of them spoke for a moment, until Alex demanded, "Well?"

"See? That's what I'm talking about." Sky's voice pitched, and he licked his lips.

"I'd like it if you'd clarify."

"Well, why do you expect me to tell you—well, things, if you don't want to tell me about yours?"

Alex felt his face ease into a scowl. "I'd ask you the same thing."

Sky sighed in frustration, then stood, turning away. "You're welcome to my bed."

Alex didn't move. He was selfish to wonder what Sky was keeping from him.

"I thought we were friends," Alex stated.

Sky looked over his shoulder from where he was sitting on his bed, the moon highlighting the shadow that crossed his face. "We are."

Alex pushed further. "Friends tell each other everything."

"Then why don't you do so?" Sky's voice came out harsher than he probably expected it, but he turned away and yanked the sheets over himself.

Alex stared in disbelief. He slowly got to his feet, crossed the room, and dropped on to the bed beside him. He tugged the pillow from under Sky's head, hugging it to his chest.

Sky began to protest, but then the word stumbled out of Alex's mouth. "I'll tell you."

Sky straightened. "Really?"

Alex nodded, frowning when Sky looked away. He might have made a bargain, and Sky would have to let out why he was acting strange, but he bit his tongue. He wouldn't push any further. He had already lost his mother and Dawn. He couldn't afford to loose Sky, too. Besides that, he wasn't planning to tell Sky everything. Just the part that was weighing on his mind.

He began slowly, staring at the ceiling. "Do you remember when you said no one cared about the scums?"

Sky turned his head to Alex. "I said that?"

Alex nodded. "Well, I've never thought about it much, but now I realize I consider myself as—well, just as worthless, sort of. Lawrence is a lawyer, but maybe he doesn't earn any money or something. We're just making do with what we have at the moment. It isn't much." Alex paused. The next words broke free. "I found a legit bank statement that said Lawrence had withdrawn eight thousand."

Sky's mouth parted. "That's not—But wait—Where did he get...?"

I told him...

Alex's heart skipped a beat, and he slid down the mattress so he could rest his head against the pillow to ease the dizziness. "That's what I thought."

Sky reached down and fished out that disfigured stuffed animal from between the sheets.

Alex allowed the settling silence, lost in his own thoughts. He saw Sky move through the corner of his eye, and suddenly a sting spread through his side and he hissed, recoiling.

Sky looked stunned. "Did—did I do something?"

Alex clutched the material of his hoodie to his side, afraid the bruise had began bleeding. Sky caught the action and reached forward.

"Are you hurt? You are. Let me see."

He wrestled Alex's hands away and tugged the hoodie up. "Gosh, Alex, you're bleeding. Where on earth did you get such a nasty bruise?"

Even in the moonlight Alex could see the discoloring of the bruise, the ring of red where the skin had almost split open when Lawrence kicked him. He felt his thoughts turn sour, so he turned them elsewhere.

"I was sort of hit by a motorbike," he admitted. "Nothing serious."

Sky's eyes widened, but then he dropped his gaze. "Come on, we'll have to fix that before it gets worse." He tugged on Alex's arm.

"What do you know about medicine?" Alex grunted, not content to move.

"Enough to know you're going to get infected if you go on like this," Sky replied.

Hefting a sigh, Alex allowed himself to be escorted through the dark to Sky's bathroom. He already knew the only reason Sky didn't share it with his mother was because there was only the two of them, and two bathrooms.

Sky released Alex to flick on the light, then motioned to the counter. Alex patiently waited there, glancing around the plain bathroom. It was just like he remembered it. The walls were bare, except for the frame less mirror on the wall. A colorful towel hanging over a rung on the wall offered a little vibrancy. The water spotted the edge of the bathtub, and Alex guessed Sky had bathed not too long ago.

Alex watched Sky rummage through the shelves behind the mirror, pulling out various bottles and glancing at the labels. He selected a two bottles and some cotton, then dabbed clear liquid unto the cotton swab, waited for Alex to lift his hoodie, then swiped it against the bruise.

Alex sucked in a breath and bit back a shriek.

"Sorry," Sky whispered. "Alcohol."

Alex shrugged a shoulder. "It's fine."

A smile tugged on Sky's lips and he looked away, gingerly smoothing an amount of white cream on the mottled skin. A cooling sensation, almost too cold, overtook the first.

Sky put the bottled away and washed his hands. "We should go to sleep now. We've got only a few hours before daylight. You should keep your shirt off, though. The bruise needs to air out."

"I don't think so," Alex dismissed.

Sky stared at him, an unreadable expression on his face. "Up to you, I guess," He muttered, then turned and walked out of the bathroom.

Alex stared Sky's retreating back. He could be so confusing at times. Shaking his head, he slid the counter and turned off the lights, then followed Sky to the bed.

Alex brushed the stuffed doll off the bed and found Sky's pillow. He heard Sky sigh.

"I can't sleep without a pillow, you know?"

Alex smirked into the darkness. "So?"

Sky was silent for a while, then he swatted Alex's arm. "You're not funny."

Alex grinned. "Whatever. Thanks for letting me come over."

"Yeah," Sky sniffed. "To steal my pillow."

Alex laughed. "Fine. We can share, I guess. It's big enough."

Sky moved beside him, pressing his face into the crook of Alex's neck and tugging the plush blanket up to his chin. He sighed in content. "Good night, Alex."

"Night," Alex replied, letting his eyes linger on the blank ceiling. He listened to Sky's breathing even out against his neck. Of course, he was kept awake with questions that didn't have answers.

What secrets was Sky keeping? When would Dawn get back? How was he going to face Lawrence tomorrow? Where was the next lost note?

Had he made a mistake telling Sky about the eight thousand?

Sometime later, though Alex couldn't be sure, his eyes closed and he slipped into oblivion. He slept soundly. The image of two, ocean blue irises burned in his mind for the rest of the night.