Moonhaven

Chapter 21: Let. It. Burn.

Warning: Mild depictions of violence/setting a person on fire.

Lev had gone home by nine a.m., and the group was scheduled to come by the Prior house by eleven for their trip to the BuzzHouse. Alex lingered in the kitchen ready to start on the dishes piled in the sink, when the sounds of loud voices nearby stopped him. His head spun around the room until it landed on the open window over the stove. he went over and peered through, where he saw the same older boy that had been talking to Jeremi yesterday, this time donning a brown turtleneck. He wasn't too far from the Prior home as he faced the opposite direction, Alex only able to see his backside while he spoke to someone on his cellphone.

"Yeah yeah, I'm down to one bag left," the older boy said. .... "So crazy Colton will be around tomorrow to deliver the stuff? What happened, bug-eyed Bert was buggin'?" .... "Ha ha! Hey, relax boss, I was just kidding." .... "Oh, what?" .... "You mean that skateboarding punk? Yeah, he paid his dues just yesterday." .... "Don't worry boss, I reminded him of his place." .... "What...teach him a lesson still? Heh, well how much hurt are we talking here?" .... "Haha, alright, got it boss! I'll make it happen." .... "Yeah yeah, I know, sooner rather than later."

The boy shoved his phone into his back pocket before turning around and freezing in his tracks upon the ominous sight creeping up behind him.

The boy flinched back a step. "What the hell you lookin' at, Junior?"

Alex, his smile stoic yet broad, followed forward with a step of his own. "How much?"

"W-what? What'chu talking about?"

Alex took another step forward. "You didn't hear me? I asked how much?"

The boy pushed forward, marching two steps to close the distance between him and Alex, leaving them face-to-face now. "Don't think I'm hearin' you right. You want-"

"Vampire dust," Alex finished. "That's what it's called right? All my friends are trying it. Didn't want to feel left out."

The boy stared Alex down from head to toe, his expression chary. "Snortin' some dust so you won't feel left out, huh? That's a new one. I guess that's what this town does to you. Alright, Junior. One bag is twenty-five dollars. Not a penny less."

"They don't make pennies anymore," Alex joked, his countenance still inscrutable.

"Aren't you a smart-aleck. Do we have a deal or not, Junior?"

"Yeah, of course. What should I call you, by the way?"

"On the streets they call me, Turtleneck." He patted the puffy collar of his turtleneck.

"Interesting..."

"Shut it, Junior! Are we doin' this, or what?"

"Actually, I need to get the money first. I live on the other side of town, so it'll take a while. How about we meet at the town entrance. Say, thirty minutes?"

"First you're the smart-aleck, now you're a master negotiator. You've probably been bathing in that freaky-ass moon too much, like everybody else here. See you in thirty then. Don't be late."

Turtleneck sauntered off down the sidewalk into town, and when he was far away enough Alex dropped his stoic look and bolted back to the house. He had about two hours before the group came over for the outing; hopefully it'd be enough time to for what he was planning to do next.

Turtleneck had arrived at the dirt path leading out of town sometime after a half hour had passed. He dawdled over into the trees, traversing through the damp dirt. The sun had been out all day, and it hadn't rained yesterday, yet the entire ground was wet. He looked all around, but Alex wasn't anywhere in sight.