Chapter 4 Part 3 - Revised

After his mother went to bed with the bottle of red, Cyrus woke up suddenly by a dull buzz.

    The cell phone on his nightstand was vibrating and he woke covered in a light sheen of sweat and breathing heavy. Rolling onto his side he flipped his Motorola over and checked the number. It was a text message from Justin, his best friend and partner in crime, well his crimes.

All it said was “You’re late.”

    He lay back down to catch his breath, not sure why he was breathing heavy in the first place except for intense dream that was quickly fading and he knew he wouldn't remember. He knew something was going on with him inside of his head and with his mother and his sister but no one would talk about it or talk to him. His mom was acting weird, Kyra was weirder than usual, only Savannah seemed normal and he welcomed that every morning when she came in to wake him up. Her world was so simple and easy, pancakes or no pancakes. He wished with all his heart that he could have that for himself instead of the constant feeling like he should be doing something to help but not knowing what.

    Quietly he got out of bed not knowing how long Skye had been in bed for and prayed his mattress would be a good for him, keeping the squeaks at bay. When he felt sure enough that he had edged off the bed to the point where there was going to be no noise, he reached down and picked up his jeans and t-shirt off the floor. He found them right where he dropped them, shook them out carefully, and proceeded to put them back on with no real effort.

    Justin wanted him to come out into the city with him so he could meet some girl that he had just met, of at the places at the Supermarket. At first Cyrus asked Justin why he wanted a third wheel there, but it was then that Justin told him that there was going to be another girl there and he needed Cyrus to keep her occupied in case she turned out to be some kind of drama queen that wouldn't let him get near her friend. Justin’s frequent flavour of the week girlfriends made Cyrus dizzy. Most of the time the girls would just fawn over Justin with his short blonde hair, typical dreamy blue eyes and his prominent nose that he would nuzzle against them. At first Cyrus told him that he didn’t want to have anything to do with it… Justin did not except that. He was tough to argue with when he wanted something so Cyrus didn’t bother.

He texted Justin back ‘On my way.’

    Putting his phone in his back pocket and with a quick check of himself in the mirror, picked up his jacket off the back of a chair and strode to his bedroom window. Cyrus wasn’t a bad looking guy for his age and he looked a lot like his father. He was tall and lean but solid, by no means a push over. His shaggy dark hair needed a trim but over the past 6 months he didn't care too much about how long his hair would get. His Aunt Leigh always said it was a shame because his hair hid the Sapphire blue of his eyes.

    He couldn’t go through the house because then Angel would get excited and probably knock over a chair thus waking someone up and getting him caught and grounded. There was a trellis outside of his bedroom that he knew would hold his weight since he had snuck out and used it before but as he grew and put on weight he could hear the creaking begin on a few of the rungs. He had to stick with his buddy though and had never gone to the city at night which made this outing especially nerve racking for him. He just hoped it was over soon and his mother didn't find out he was gone.

    Cyrus poked his head out after he opened the window. He reached out, shook the trellis gently to reassure himself that it would stay attached to the wall and at the same time he listened to the sounds of the house to make sure no one had heard him. He heard nothing but the gentle creaks of the house settling. As quietly as he could, he got up on the window still and took hold of the trellis. For a split second as he stood on the first rung he thought it might not work that he had weakened it and would fall from the second story breaking something in a semi dramatic fashion but as he put his weight on it the trellis held so he carefully descended.

    When he reached the ground the dewy grass made no noise; he scanned around the backyard and his eyes reached the sliding glass door that led to the kitchen, all he could see was a white mass with big green eyes, slightly shaking in its position staring back at him.

He smiled.

    Angel knew it was him and although she looked curious that he didn’t come to the door and let her out to play, she sat silently and watched him go with her ears up and her head tilted wagging her tail the whole time. He sprinted across the lawn to the fence that blocked off the alley behind the house and hopped it with ease. He’d always been good at running and jumping so he spent a lot of time in Track and Field at school. He could pace himself easily and could swear he was flying during Long or High jump. His dad had always said that he was a natural. Track was the only thing he still had and once the season started again he would do it all for his dad.

    As soon as he landed in a crouch in that alley it was instantly lit up by Justin’s headlights a few lengths up. Justin raised a hand and motioned for Cy to hurry up and get in the car. Cyrus stood up and shook his head in slight frustration, screw the slight frustration thing it was more than that, way more than that. Not looking forward to what was ahead of him; he got in the car, shut the door and rested his elbow in the door frame, his fingers touching the roof. His tone low, he turned his head towards Justin as he spoke.

    “I’m not going to like this, am I?” more of a statement than as a question.

Justin chuckled and replied devilishly as he accelerated towards the main street, “Do you ever?”

Taping his fingers on the roof Cyrus shook his head slowly, “No I never do.”

Justin laughed at that and swerved a little bit before he entered the main street and took a sharp right through the small town of Lamport on route to the Highway from there it was a straight shot to the city.

Chapter 4 Part 2 - Revised

   Skye didn’t know Kyra was upstairs crying. Usually the first thing she would have done would be to go check the kids, find out how their day was and tell them about hers. Today though…what would she say? If she had gone upstairs and seen her daughter in the state she was in she would have taken Kyra in her arms and told her everything would be alright. Tonight…was different, she had no idea if it was going to be alright and she was exhausted even though the day didn’t seem overly eventful except for her queasiness at the Flea Market and the creepy old woman, which actually made her feel like she hadn’t slept in days.

   With her back against the front door she felt her body begging to rest. Sleep was calling her but she couldn’t go to bed just yet. Holding the box tucked under her arm she mustered up the last of her rapidly depleting energy, pushed herself forward and shuffled to the kitchen. The light over the stove casted a dim light that slightly illuminated the hall. It would flicker every now and then making an eerie hum that she heard all the time but never seemed to notice until right now, and that just made it louder in the empty room.

    As she shuffled forward Skye felt something hard hit the side of her foot and realized she had kicked one of Angels hard rubber balls down the remaining length of the hall into the kitchen. Not a moment later the stocky dog came tearing around the corner from the living room to chase it. Her nails ticking on the hardwood she began sliding around the corner, her hind legs slipped out from underneath her making her loose her balance and she slid butt first into the wall. Angel didn’t stop for a second as she scrambled to her feet and kept on running almost knocking Skye’s left leg out from under her.

   Skye caught her balance by shooting her hand out to the wall and let out a soft sigh, it’s not like it’s the first time Angel has almost given her an injury. Most of the time if she’s in the kitchen especially cooking angel will lay right behind her and if she’s not paying attention and steps backwards everything goes flying and Skye is toppling ass over tea kettle to the floor and the dog doesn’t move. Continuing her way to the kitchen she set the box on the center island counter top that Deacon had designed before he died.

   The granite floors contrasted well with the stark white island and the hunter green walls. He had insisted on a dark kitchen stating that he hated the way everyone else would go for pale colours or whites and yellows. He said that because the kitchen faced south there was no need for a light kitchen with the sun streaming into it all day, so Skye let him have his way and it turned out very well. She felt the sting of memory threatening her and struggled to push it down. Too much has happened without him and her heart hurt every time she thought about him because the pain was still so raw.

    “Why am I so tired?” she said to herself in hopes that it would distract her from thinking about Deacon. “Maybe some tea before bed will help.”  She muttered. She turned towards the kettle on the opposite counter beside the fridge and Angel was sitting in the doorway with her ball in her mouth, tail swishing from side to side and small strands of drool starting to dangle from it as she stood watching her human. Skye smiled slightly “Bed, Angel.”  Angel cocked her head sideways, dropped the ball,  stood up and left the room Skye could hear her chains jingling as she found her bed and fell silent.

   Skye sighed and turned her attention back to the kettle and with had a sudden feeling of detachment, like she was hovering outside her body it was as if she was drifting until abruptly… it stopped. She wavered with her finger over the button to turn on the kettle and right then she changed her mind about the tea. “Screw it, where’s the wine.”

   The cabinet beside the refrigerator with the wine glasses in it was exactly what she wanted more than anything else right now. She made her way towards it picking up the box off the counter in a swift movement and moved it to the top of the cabinet.  She took out a glass and a bottle of Pinot Noir something cheap she found at a Beer and Wine store nearby and headed upstairs to bed. As soon as she got to the stairs Kona was waiting for her at the top, his thick tail swishing from side to side in anticipation of trying to get up onto the bed as soon as she was asleep. He did it all the time and knowing that made her feel better.

   In the kitchen, on the top shelf of the cabinet…the box vibrated gently…