Just a Dare

Chapter Seven

I clicked the right joystick on my controller with an experienced flick of my thumb, and the person in front of my guy fell over, blood splashing out of the fatal abdominal wound I inflicted with my knife. One hundred points flashed across the flat-screen television, and I smirked when it was followed up by a badge. "Overkill." A pre-programmed voice said.

"Dammit!" One of the guys swore loudly over my headset. "You'll pay for that one, Williams."

My smirk grew as I went up and knifed another player. One hundred more points were added to my score, and I took off to find some cover so that I could regroup and track down more people from the enemy team. "Yeah, we'll see about that."

"Trey, can you come here, please?" My mom's pervasive voice interrupted my intense game playing.

I grunted in annoyance. "Hang on, guys," I muttered into the microphone on my headset, "my mom's calling me."

"Tell her we love her too," Jon snickered. The other guys chortled at his comment as I muted the headset, rolling my eyes and chuckling at his antics. I made sure that my avatar was safely tucked away behind some debris (I couldn't really pause the game during an Xbox Live gaming session on Call of Duty: Black Ops-anyone with any technological sense as far as gaming went knew that) for better coverage from the other team.

"Coming, Mom!" I shouted back, taking off the headset and setting it on the couch cushion. I made my way to the living room and saw my mom sitting on the couch, her face pinched up into an expression of worry. My eyes flicked over to where Jade was, her little sleeping form stretched out across one of the couch cushions, a pillow underneath her head. Her chocolate curls surrounded her head like a halo, and her cheeks were colored with twin bright red circles.

"Jade's sick again, Trey," mom said finally, and I looked back over at her. Her blue eyes gazed hopelessly up at me, and she anxiously wrung her hands together.

I wasn't surprised.

Jade was always coming down with something. One day she'd have the flu, and the next she'd have bronchitis. She had always been sickly, ever since she was a tiny infant-it was like she lived in a never-ending cycle of sickness.

I sighed heavily all the same and sat down beside my mom. "Okay, what do you need me to do, then?" I asked. I was accustomed to my mom's apprehension when it came to Jade getting sick; it was normal for her to send me off to get medicine or chicken noodle soup for my little sister.

"I just..." My mom buried her face in her hands, her blonde hair falling out of the rubber band that held it up in a ponytail. I reached over and rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe her discomfort. "I don't know what to do anymore," She moaned helplessly. "Jade's so young to have to live like this, and I..."

"Mom," I said sternly, "you can't blame yourself for her poor immune system."

She drew in a deep breath and sat up. I dropped my hands and just looked at her, taking in the aging face of my mother. I hadn't noticed before just how quickly she had aged-too quickly, since she was just reaching the last few years of her thirties, but I couldn't say that it was shocking to me. She had developed wrinkles around her mouth and the beginnings of crow's feet at the edges of her eyes. The crown of her head had begun to turn white, no doubt from stress. I felt like a useless child just sitting there, seeing my own mother swimming in despair right beside me, and knowing that there was nothing I could do to help her, not really.

She sighed and turned away from me, closing her eyes. "I know," she murmured, "I know, Trey. Thank you." She stood up and trudged slowly toward the hallway.

I frowned at the almost arthritic way she moved. "Mom?"

Even as she turned and looked at me, her eyes void of happiness, eyelids drooping with exhaustion, she seemed to move with a slowness that belonged to someone who had far surpassed her in years. "Yes, dear?"

She was withering away before my eyes.

I hesitated before speaking, debating whether or not to push her to talk about what was bothering her-even though I knew deep down what it was-before deciding that it was best not to mention it. "I'll watch her." As an afterthought, I hastily added, "Jade, I mean."

Her eyes softened. "Oh," was all she said.

I closed my eyes. I couldn't look at her like that anymore. "Go get some sleep, Mom." I told her quietly.

I waited until I heard her footsteps die away and her bedroom door close before opening my eyes again. I looked over at Jade and my frown deepened as my eyes took in her innocent round face. As I gazed at her, my eyes glazed over and memories of that little boy came flooding back to me.

They were so much alike, he and Jade; both just the same, going about the world with a childish naïveté, truly blind to what was actually occurring around them. They bumbled around in the simplicity that childhood made life out to be, gullible in believing in their trusting desires. They wanted so much more, more than what life could give them, and truth be told, I believed that they deserved that pure slice of happiness.

But, like I said, they were too gullible, too naïve to see what the world really was: a dark place. A place built not of sweet dreams, but of tough love and greed and bitterness. My sister hadn't come to that age where she could see that, not yet, but the little boy's time had already come and gone.

It was too late to save him; his mind had already grown too jaded, too distrustful and cynical. He had hardened, both inside and out, and had become nothing but a contemptuous, sneering monster.

I hung my head in disgust, turning away from Jade. She didn't need to become like that boy.

She didn't need to become like me.

And so I figured that maybe, maybe, if I kept my distance from her, I could try to preserve her sweet innocence for as long as possible.

But she also reminded me so much of someone else, someone who also found themselves getting sick every time they turned around, and it scared me to develop any sort of deep brother-sister bond in the event that she ended up like they did.

Either way, if I got too close to her, the results would be disastrous, both for her and for myself, and I already had enough on my plate. I wouldn't be able to handle that, whatever the outcome ultimately was.

*

*

*

Author's Note: I realize that this chapter is a bit shorter than the others so far, but just wait. The next chapter is when things start snowballing out of control.

Thank you for being so awesome and supportive, guys! I appreciate it more than I could possibly express.

~Caitlyn