Chapter 9
-Pax-
I didn't sprint far before slowing to a jog and then stopping. I caught myself on a tree and sat at the base. I took a deep breath in and slowly breathed out. I wanted to turn back, to tell Farley that I would like to go with him. Nobody had offered to go out with me like that, or play any sports with me, other than Alder. He was quickly shut down by his mother and scolded for even thinking of such a thing.
I didn't want to go back home.
I pulled my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I buried my head into my knees and sighed.
Nobody would come check on me unless they were spying on me. If that were the case, I'd be dead by now. I had a conversation with someone on the path, without deterring them. It made it clear we've spoken before. I don't want to imagine what Kian would do to me if he found out I'd kept a secret from him.
There were many rumours about our pack, apparently. The Hischwich pack was small but powerful. I didn't see that within our ranks, but I could see how someone would be intimidated by Kian and Finn. The two of them have a very violent nature. Cedar and Rosary just go along with whatever the others say. Daphne says nothing, and Alder is too young.
That would leave me, a very useless being with little knowledge on anything.
I stood up from the base of the tree and turned left, and then right. The dirt under my feet didn't make much of a noise as I moved. The rest of patrol still had to be done. I'll be as quiet as I can. Hopefully, Farley will be gone by now.
My back was wet with sweat, I was careful with every step. I couldn't hear any person-sized creature moving. Patrol was far longer than it was supposed to be, but that was alright.
When I got back to the house, everyone was in their own rooms. I headed straight for Kian's office.
"Took you a while," Kian's voice came from his desk. I stood in front of him with my hands clasped behind my back. "Anything?"
"Not a thing." I nodded once as I spoke.
Kian stood up and started to walk around the desk. He came uncomfortably close to me and picked up my shirt. "What's that smell?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Soap?" I didn't know what smell he was talking about. I lifted my shirt and sniffed it for myself. The scent of coffee hit my nose, something I didn't drink, and had no reason to smell of. "Coffee." It seemed more honest to tell him.
"Did you bump into anyone?" I shook my head. His interrogative tone didn't make me at all comfortable, especially with how close he was. "Are you sure?"
"There might've been someone out there before me." I shrugged. "We go right to the edge of the forest; someone might have gone for a walk."
His hand thumped against his leg. "Right, and surely you wouldn't have picked them up whilst you were out." I couldn't tell what tone he was using, or what he was implying. "We might need to go on another patrol tomorrow, early in the day. People can't just come in and do as they please."
"There's no sign," I said quickly. My hand twitched to cover my mouth. Instead, I curled my hands into fists behind my back.
The toes of Kian's shoes met my own. I nearly stepped backwards in surprise. The smell of smoke and alcohol filled my nose. I never understood where he got that alcohol from. "How would you know that?"
I blinked a few times and stuttered, "b-because t-there isn't." I wasn't convincing myself. "I would've seen one, we check the gates."
He took a deep breath in and stepped back. "Right," he muttered. "You're going on patrol twice tomorrow." I nodded once. "Go on then."
I shuffled out of the room. That was terrifying, as any interaction in Kian's office was. I went straight to my room and lay on my bed. Tomorrow didn't sound very different to what my day would usually be.
The sun was warm on my skin, the leaves under my feet crunched rhythmically. The birds were singing their never-ending song, and the water was rushing. I could smell sweet flowers and the fresh leaves. A cool breeze caused my hair to dance softly on top of my head, tickling my face.
"Pax!" A voice called from behind me. I turned towards the voice and smiled. A genuine smile, which showed all my teeth. "I've been looking for you." A hand grasped my forearm, the familiarity flooded through me immediately.
"Where've you been looking?" I shook my head. "I've been here the entire time." His hand trailed down my arm and to my hand. He interlocked our fingers.
"I checked the bridge first." He swung our hands back and forward. "Rookie mistake." The sound of footsteps surrounded us. The creatures were small, some were hopping, and others creeped.
"I wouldn't call you a rookie." I nudged him with my shoulder." We've been talking for months now."
"True." he sighed. We had reached the waterfall by now. I could feel the water hitting my legs and face. "Pax?"
I turned my head in his direction, mint and coffee filled my nostrils. "Hm?"
"Pax." The voice started to grow urgent. It became harder to breathe. "Pax, wake up." I turned my head to see where the new voice was coming from. It was the same voice, but different. It was louder, panicked. The voice was distorting and glitching. "Pax!"
The floor was moving under me. My eyes opened but didn't focus on anything of any use. There was light coming in through the window, so early in the morning. "Pacs. wake up."
My eyebrows furrowed; I'd recognise that voice anywhere. "Alder?" I lifted a hand and rubbed my left eye. "What're you doing up here? How'd you get in?"
A giggle came from the small child as he fell onto his bottom. "I found te key." An inch of coolness hit my cheek. I took the key off him, attempting a stern look.
"Your mother's going to be angry," I told him as I slowly moved my legs, so I was sitting on the side of the bed. "I'm the one who'll get the blame."
"I wanted to see you though," he whined. I crossed my arms. Why would he want to hang out with me? He hadn't even been in my room before.
"Where'd you find the key?" I reached down and felt for my shirt, which had found its way there when it got a little too warm.
"It fell." I didn't believe him. If it'd been on the floor, someone else would've picked it up or tried to lock me in.
"Sure," I answered. "Do you want breakfast?" I stretched my arms above my head and stood up.
"No," he said defiantly. My shoulders slumped and I raised an eyebrow. "We'll get caught that way." He was starting to move around. He picked things up and put them back down.
"Don't touch things you don't know what they are." I know I was being hypocritical, but I didn't know what he was touching.
"But I haven't been here before." He continued to pick things up. I sat in the middle of the room, where the light was.
"All the more reason for you not to touch what you don't know." I held a handout, waiting for him to place the object in my hand. Soft material met my fingers, the bag nearly slipping through. "They're marbles."
"Mables?"
"Marbles," I corrected. "Here, I'll show you if you sit down." I pointed towards the empty space in front of me with a finger. He plopped himself down and spread his legs out, one of his feet bumping into my leg during the process. I reached into the bag and pulled three out. The biggest one was extremely smooth. I handed it to him. "Be careful now, it's glass."
"Mammy said I shouldn't hold glass," Alder said whilst taking the marble from my hand. I snorted at his clear disagreement with his mother's rules.
"You shouldn't hold some glass things in case you drop them." I passed him the second biggest marble, it was smooth like the first, but smaller. "Glass can go everywhere and cause cuts if you're not careful."
"Am I being cawful?" I couldn't stop a small smile from finding it's way to my lips, even though it was a serious conversation.
"I think you're being careful," I informed him. I couldn't really tell if he was doing anything bad. I trusted him enough to be able to play with marbles. I used to play with them when I was his age. Despite me having found many in the woods, apparently, I had quite a few in my pockets when I got here. I handed him the third one, which had a significantly different texture. It was smaller, but it had lots of grooves in it.
"I like this one," he exclaimed. His foot hit my leg a few more times. "What do you do wif them?"
I tipped the rest of the bag onto the floor. The marbles spilled out, but they didn't go far as our legs acted as a barrier to keep them contained. "You can do whatever you like with them." I didn't know the answer to the question. "You could try and balance them on top of each other or make them push each other."
"Push?" A marble hit the side of my leg; it was a very faint sensation.
I chuckled and nodded. "Yeah." I grabbed two of the marbles and set them down not too far away from each other. Both of them were small smooth marbles. I flicked the one closest to me, causing it to hit the other. I could feel the vibration of the marbles sliding on the floor, the sound of them colliding was my only indication that I had hit them.
"Woah." Alder's hair tickled my cheek. "How'd you do that?" I shuffled to the side so that I was beside him. I got two different marbles, one smooth and one with grooves, and put them into position again. I searched for his hand by finding his left hand and travelling across his back to his right hand. I was fairly sure he preferred his right hand. His small hand was soft and slightly clammy.
I made his hand into the fist before taking out his thumb and index finger. I made an 'o' shape with his thumb and finger and let go. I replicated the position with my own hand and showed him what to do. "Give it a go."
I didn't hear anything collide, but a whine came from the back of his throat. "Try again," I urged. I put another marble in front of him and waited. The marbles made a small clicking sound. "You did it." I reached up and ruffled his hair.
"But it didn't go as far as yours," he argued. I shook my head. The sound of footsteps made me freeze. The child under my hand vanished, my hand holding empty air. Doors started to open and close.
I opened my door before it could open by myself and walked down the few stairs. Daphne sighed and shut the door to Kian's office.
"Checked the kitchen?" I leant against the wall.
Daphne pushed herself against the wall and her breathing quickened. "Pax, you scared me." I waited for her to answer the question. "No, he's not there."
I rubbed my forehead. I should tell her where he is, it wasn't exactly my fault that he creeped into my room. "The back garden?"
She didn't say anything but her footsteps fading told me that she left. My shoulders slumped and I rolled my eyes.
Back in my room, Alder was playing with the marbles, the sound of the glass colliding getting louder each time. "You should go back to your room," I told him. "Keep us both out of trouble."
"I'm having fun though." I wasn't going to risk standing on any marbles until the room was clear. I shook my head and crouched down.
"We can do it again sometime, but your mam's searching for you." His feet hit the hard floor as he slowly walked to the door. "Then we can play with the marbles, and you can look around my room."
"Okay," he gave in. "but you've got to promise that we can play again."
"I promise." I didn't know if I could keep the promise, but I would try.
"Pinkie promise?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and tilted my head.
"Pardon?" Alder giggled and took my right hand, wrapping a small finger around my little finger.
"Pinkie promise."
QUESTION OF THE DAY!
Let's make it fit the chapter, did you play with marbles as a child?
I used to really like mine! I had three larger ones and then loads of smaller ones, I liked to hold them to my eye and look at the pretty designs- or just feel the ones with the strange texture-it felt like they were cracked