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Chapter 1.
“Are you sure we got everything?” Mark raised an eyebrow, looking at Cesar. He’s asked this question dozens of times, but he liked the confirmation. He couldn’t shake the feeling that they were missing something. He carried two plastic bags in one hand, both full of groceries.
Cesar stared back at him, annoyance in his expression. “I’ve checked the list 7 times, Mark. No, we’re not missing anything.”
“But are you sure? Absolutely?”
“Yes. I’m absolutely, 100% sure. Now stop. asking.”
Mark smiled slightly, focusing his attention back at the beaten sidewalk he was walking on. On one hand he trusted Cesar, but the feeling he was forgetting something was strong. He stayed silent, only listening to Cesar’s eventual hums and the way his feet crunched in the light powdering of snow.
Cesar stopped in his tracks. “Do you hear that?” Mark stopped in response, blinking.
“No?”
“That’s not just me. Hold on.” His friend grabbed his arm, pulling him forward. He didn’t expect it but didn’t fight it. After a while Cesar stopped, staying eerily silent.
“- leave. Not just Mandela, but Wisconsin as a whole.”
“We’ve had this talk everyday now, Jonah.”
Mark furrowed his brow. Who was out here in such cold weather? The two, whoever they were, didn’t sound a day past 19. He looked at Cesar, who had his eyes closed in thought. He must be thinking the same thing he was.
“I know, I know. I’m sorry.”
Cesar grabbed Mark, pulling him closer to the source of whatever was going on.
“It’s fine. It's not like we have anything else to talk about.”
They reached the source of the sound- it was a shady alleyway tucked between some buildings-. Mark waltzed into it like he owned the place, but then realized how bad of an idea that was. He stopped, turning to face the two. They noticed Mark when he did this, the taller one shooting up and backing into the corner. The shorter one, a blond with a black hoodie, got up, staring at Mark with an expression he couldn’t read.
The short one was the first to say anything. “who are you.” He squinted, slowly putting his hands in his pockets.
“Who are you? I’ve never seen you around here before.” He leaned forwards, raising an eyebrow. Mandela was a small place- it was odd to see someone new.
The two instinctively looked at each other, the taller one's expression turning to one of concern. They stared at each other for a second before looking back at Mark.
“I’m Adam. This is Jonah. Why do you need to know?” The blond crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow in suspicion of Mark.
“… you’re two homeless kids in need of shelter,” Mark explained. Jonah’s face lit up in surprise, proving him right.
Adam scowled, raising his voice as he replied, “No we don’t! We’re fine.” He looked at Jonah, trying to either avoid eye contact or get the kid to help him. “Just fine.”
“I mean, I wouldn’t mi-“
“not. helping.”
He heard a chuckle behind him and turned, realizing it was just Cesar. He hadn’t noticed his friends arrival. He went up to the boys, grabbing Adam by his hoodie collar and pulling him so that he was only inches from his face.. The boy practically went limp at this, and Jonah’s eyes widened in fear.
“You’re freezing and probably haven’t eaten properly in weeks,” His eyes flitted up to Jonah. “And your friend here probably hasn’t either.” He let the boy go, watching as he scrambled to his feet. He looked petrified, but Mark could also see admiration in his expression. “Am I correct?”
“Uhm- yeah. You’re right.”
“And you must need some sort of shelter to get back on your feet, right?”
“yeah.”
“So why don’t you let me and my friend help you out?”
“T-That would- that would be great, sir”
He extended his hand. “You don’t have to be all fancy. My name is Cesar, and that’s Mark.” He turned his head to the brunette, smiling smugly. Mark shivered.
“We have a guest room if you can share it. If not-“
“We can!” Jonah chirped, interrupting Mark. He didn’t mind it, finding it more cute than anything. Adam put his hands in his hoodie pockets, tapping his foot on the ground as if his fear was forgotten and was replaced with impatience.
Mark blinked in surprise when Adam replied, “What do you have to gain from this?” He opened his mouth to respond but realized he didn’t have a response to that. He looked at Cesar.
“There’s something called being charitable, y’know. Not like you two have ever experienced it.” Mark chuckled at the response, watching Adam almost burst into flame. He opened his mouth to respond, but Jonah put his hand on his shoulder, mumbling something to the blond that calmed him down.
“We’re not two vulnerable, dying animals you can save to make yourself feel better.” He saw his surprise reflected in Jonah’s face as he drew his hand back, sniffling and wiping his nose with his sleeve.
“We’re trying to help you because we’d be worried about your safety if we left. You’re two inexperienced teens about to freeze to death. If I have to, I will drag you out of here with just my bare hands.”
Adam looked to the side as he replied, “we don’t need your help.” His voice sounded uncertain, as if he didn’t even believe himself.
Cesar sighed, resting his arms on the blond’s shoulders. He flinched at the touch before looking at the person in front of him. “Come on kid. We just want to help you.” He watched the blond looking down, staring at his hands. He heard the shuffling of Jonah’s feet as he walked to Mark's side.
After a second of thinking, the kid finally replied, “. . . fine.” Mark sighed in relief.
“Great! Now come on, let’s bring you two home.” Cesar removed his hands, practically dragging the kid back to where Mark and the other one were. “I hope you two don’t mind walking just a bit longer. It should be 5 minutes or so to our house.”
Mark started walking out of the dingy alleyway, listening to the others follow. Cesar soon appeared next to him, holding the plastic bags of groceries he hadn’t realized he forgot. He looked back at the kids for a second, inspecting them. They stayed eerily silent, the shorter one putting his hands in his pocket and looking down. The taller one seemed more attentive, looking at the streets in fear. He returned his gaze back at the road in front of him. That’s how the rest of the walk went.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, the lot finally arrived at their house. Cesar went off to the door while Mark turned around to face Adam and Jonah.
“After I put these groceries away I’ll show you around.”
Jonah began to reply, “I can help you,” but was swiftly interrupted by Mark.
“No you are not. Now come on.” He motioned them to follow him as he entered the house.
He went through the opened door, walking past the main hallway. Adam continued on, but Jonah stopped, presumably taking off his boots and placing them on the shoe rack. He heard the kids footsteps behind him as he placed the bags on the table. Cesar was standing in the kitchen and poked his head out.
“Can you put the groceries away while I show these two around?”
“Sure,” Cesar responded, walking out of the kitchen and into the dining room.
Mark left with the boys, walking into another hallway. There were a myriad of doors in the passageway, leading to a mirror and a basket at the end of it.
The brunette pointed to the closest door. “That’s Cesar’s room.” They both nodded in unison as he turned to the next door. “That’s the main bathroom.” He walked forward, turning to the next room. It was the only door that was open. “That’s my room.”
“Sir, uhm-“
“Call me Mark. But yes, Jonah?”
“Mark, why is your door open?” He stopped in his tracks.
He was dead. He was surely dead. He wailed, tears cascading down his face. He pressed himself harder against the door, covering his ears in any attempt to stop the thing from coming in. It let out a billowing laugh, responding with something he couldn’t make out. He let out a sob.
He shook his head, returning to reality. “No reason in particular.” He turned away, not wanting to see Jonah’s reaction. He walked to the next door- the last door- and nodded to himself. “This is your room.”
Adam stepped forward, wedging himself in front of Mark and the door and opening it. He looked inside. “Wow. It’s quite big.”
Mark shrugged, “Yeah, it is. I think it was originally two rooms but the people living before us changed it to just one.” He stepped back as Jonah joined Adam.
“Woah! It is big.”
He smiled. “I’ll let you two get settled. Let us know if you two need anything, alright?”
“mhm.” Adam went into the room while Jonah lingered.
“You need something, kid?”
“I was just… thinking.” He turned to Adam, pressing his thumb against the palm of his hand. “can i help you with anything?”
Mark blinked in response. “No, there’s nothing you need to do. Just rest, alright? It looks like you two need it.”
“but surely there must be-.” The kid sniffled, wiping his nose.”nevermind. sorry.”
Jonah flinched when Mark gently put his hands on his shoulders. “Listen, kid. You don’t need to do anything, alright? We want to help you, at least until you get on your feet again. We don’t need anything in return. Got it?”
“… got it.” Jonah left his grasp, silently walking into the room and closing the door behind him.
Mark sighed to himself. Well great, now they have two mentally ill teenagers to take care of. He just hoped they could leave soon. He trudged back to the dining room, watching as Cesar closed the fridge door. He turned to Mark.
“Did they get settled nicely?”
Mark shrugged. “Not sure, but they do know where their room is.”
“Well, at least that’s something,” Cesar replied, pulling out a chair with his foot and sitting down. He suddenly squinted, looking up at Mark with suspicion. “You look off. Anything happened?”
“These two are gonna be a handful,” is all he managed to think of. He sat down in front of Cesar, lightly clicking his fingers on the table in front of him.
“I guess so, yeah. But they’ll only stay for a few days.” Mark nodded in agreement, finding some sort of solace in that response. Part of him regretted welcoming the two into his house, but he knew that he’d feel worse if he didn’t. And what’s the worst that could happen?
“Yeah. Just a few days.”
Oh how wrong he was.