Runners

Chapter One

   "Wesley!" He felt a thrust in his right shoulder and lurched out of bed. "Wake up, idiot. First day of school and all." Price laughed at the rueful expression on his face. Price had a beautiful laugh. His laugh lit up his face and brightened his sea green eyes. Even when he wasn't smiling, his eyes still seemed happy and somehow young, yet he had seen more and experienced more than Wesley was sure he ever would.

   “Ugh. Ok, I'm up. I'm up." he pulled himself off of the bed and smiled astonishingly at his older brother. The blue light from the clock on the bedside table illuminated his brother's face making it look ghastly. The clock read four-thirty in the morning. "You're out of your mind. It's not even seven yet."

   "I'm aware of that, I did learn how to read. But remember the girl I was telling you about."

   "Um, Price, which girl? You go through so many I forget."

   "The attractive one."

   "Oh, yeah now I remember." He rolled his eyes and let the subject drop. Price said the same thing about every girl. Wesley wasn't even sure he would know the girl when he saw her. The whole idea of Price screwing with another girl made him sick to his stomach. He just didn't understand why his brother used girls like a sick kid uses tissues. Maybe he just wasn't old enough to understand yet. Wesley ran a hand through his tousled hair and widened his grin. He could already feel his adrenaline rushing against whatever plans Price had in store for them. That was the only explanation for waking him up this early.

   "So what you got in store?" Wesley asked his brother as Price crossed the room to his closet and yanked out a pair of pants. That let Wesley know that they were going outside.

   "Don't worry about it just run to the garage and grab dad's old boom box. I'll meet you outside." Wesley didn't question his brother, and he never had. Price was a very curious person. Wesley was more of a go with the flow type of guy. That and he knew Price would rip his head off for questioning his authority. Wesley tiptoed past his parents’ bedroom where he could hear dad snoring like a grizzly bear and the soft pound of the television. He went through the kitchen and noticed that mom had forgotten to put away the dishes from supper that Price and he had forgotten to clean prior to that. Their mother was a neat freak, so it interested Wesley that she didn't clean it up. But he figured it was because of the pregnancy. She must not have felt up to it. Wesley quietly put the dishes away for her sake, and continued to the garage.

   Lady, the family beagle who was around twelve years of age, lifted her head and opened her mouth to release a yap. Wesley quickly ran to her side and calmed her down before she could reveal his presence. He scanned the shelves for the stereo, automatically knowing where it would be. It sat on the shelf, dusty and untouched. It was likely very old, and Wesley would be surprised if it worked at all. He picked it up and gently dusted it off, treating it like a young baby. He cradled the stereo and walked out of the garage into the front yard to wait for Price.

   Wesley did not like the nighttime. He wasn't afraid of the dark, but he didn't like the way the dark resembled a blanket, wrapping up its surroundings and uneasily revealing them. As he knew they would, Wesley's eyes darted to the shimmering white of the moon and shifted into focus. His mind sternly urged his eyes to unlock the trance, but his eyes only saw the beauty of the moon. The hair on Wesley's arms and neck rose, and he felt the compelling need to tilt his head back. Just throw back his head, open his mouth, and sing to the moon. He breathed in deeply and swore the blades of grass stretched out toward the moon like tiny fingers as he inhaled. He listened as the wind whirled around him blanketing him in the cool of the night. Sweat trickled down his neck where his skin was itching with fear. Fear of the night as it seemed to close in on him.