✓ The Games We Play ⇔ Mileven {2nd - "Wake Up, Mike" Trilogy}

Eighty

Y'all are gonna hate me for the ending lolol

Mike.

Getting woken up with a pillow to the face isn't too pleasant. That's all I'm gonna say.

"Wake up, losers!" Max yelled, walking around and hitting everyone. I sat up slowly, looking at the other guys as they groaned in resistance. "We have stuff to do and it's almost noon! Why are you all still asleep?" she scolded, looking around the room. The guys and I all shared a glance as she looked at the table. "Dungeons and Dragons, huh?"

"It was new, we had to look through the book and the set," I defended, and she rolled her eyes.

"Get up, I'll go get the girls." She shook her head, going back upstairs. We slowly got up, then went upstairs. They were all dressed, making us groan. We got dressed just as slowly, all still exhausted. But, no matter how much we wanted to just collapse in bed, we didn't. We went back downstairs and met them by the door.

"Look who's slow now," El mumbled to me, making me laugh. We walked outside, for some reason I didn't think to find out.

"What are we doing?" Dustin whined, blinking slowly. Max lead the way to the top of the driveway, where mine and Max's bikes were located. She stopped, turning to face us with a big smile.

"Bike riding lessons!" she cheered, everyone looking very confused. She smiled, looking at El. "I got a skateboard. This bike is yours, and I want to teach you how to ride it. We'll all help." Max smiled wide, motioning at everyone. El looked astonished, but super excited. Therefore, we all began to teach her to ride.

It took most of the day, and we skipped lunch to do it. She wasn't catching on, which is understandable, and she kept almost falling. I caught her most times, considering she wouldn't take her feet off the ground unless I was at her side. She looked terrified, but slowly eased into it. By the time it was almost dinner time, she was actually getting the hang of it. She could ride a little bit, even though it was wobbly and only a few feet. She still did it, though, and she looked so happy. Her eyes sparkled, and she gave me a tight hug.

Throughout dinner, everyone stayed. We all had an amazing time, laughing and enjoying the food. Even my parents had a good time, listening to my friends and I converse. My mom gave me a big smile, and I returned it. A silent agreement that I'd be fine from here on out. No more incidents, no more episodes. This is the end, and it's all because of my friends. They make me happy, and keep me afloat.

"Mike," El spoke up, breaking me out of my thoughts. I looked at her, and she leaned towards me. "We have to stay again. You have to convince Mom," she whispered to me, her face serious. I looked at her with confused features for a second, then slowly nodded. And believe it or not, I managed to do it. Then everyone called their parents, and they convinced them, as well. Everyone is staying over again, and I'm assuming not just to hang out.

We all went downstairs, sitting in a circle. El looked antsy, and like she was about to speak.

"Max, things can't be over," she spoke firmly, making everyone look at her. "This is too easy, something is still wrong," she insisted, everyone looking at her in confusion.

"Too easy? El, we killed people to get here. We broke out of a cell, we killed my family. I died getting us here, how is that easy?" Max asked back in a soft tone, truly curious as to what El means. She'd be annoyed with anyone else that said that.

"No, not that, I meant...now. Everything is too easy. We live normally? Something has to be wrong," El insisted, almost being cut off by Erin.

"Yeah. Yeah, something is wrong." She nodded, sitting forward in her seat, wresting her elbows on her knees. "Adrianna. We were talking about Billy that one night, and she said it's not over. Lucas asked, actually, and she said 'Not even close,'" she explained, and everyone that was there nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I remember that. She said that it's not over, and it's because of Billy," I confirmed, and Max spoke up loudly.

"Ok, listen, she's not wrong. I know Billy has stuff planned, that's just Billy. But he's only one guy, you know? How much can he do on his own? I think we're fine," she confirmed, making everyone agree in a mumble. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, looking over to where El was sat. Her and Will were talking quietly to each other, making me furrow my eyebrows. Will noticed me, sitting back.

"Are you sure?" he asked slowly, looking genuinely concerned.

"Nearly positive. Why?" Max replied, joining his concerned expression. El looked at him, encouraging him on.

"Uh, I...I've been throwing up slugs," he said plainly, making everyone look at him with wide eyes. He nodded, pursing his lips. "I've been throwing up slugs. I threw up a few of them two Decembers ago, right after I got back. They started up again after the girls were taken, and they got worse. Every time I cough one up, I...see that place. It's only for a few seconds, but lately I've been seeing shadows moving whenever I see that place. Sometimes human, sometimes not," he explained, then looked up at everyone. "I've thrown up twelve slugs since the girls were taken. You can't tell me that doesn't mean anything."

The room was silent, everyone shocked. Max sat up straighter, her face blank.

"These slugs look odd? Clear, with a black tint, and then a green line down it's back? Yellowish white specks on both sides?" she asked, and he nodded slowly. She turned to Erin, who had wide eyes. "Care to tell us something, Red?" she spoke accusingly, and Erin glanced down at her red nail polish, then back up.

"I saw those. In a vision. They weren't small, though, they were...growing, and morphing together. Conjoining to make something bigger," she whispered, then took a deep breath. "I didn't get to see what, though, the vision stopped," she ended, looking around at all of us.

"So, what are they? What do they do?" I asked, my tone very anxious.

"I'm not sure." Max spoke flatly, then looked up into my eyes. "But I have a feeling we're gonna find out."