Page 69 of A Dead Man's B-Side
When he finished his food and Cassius had still not returned, Alexei looked around in silence, taking in what he already grew familiar with, before moving from the kitchen to the living room and throwing himself against the couch.
Still, Cassius had not yet returned.
Alexei, upon lifting his head, caught the sight of something shiny sticking out from between the cushions, fishing his hand in to pull it out.
His search revealed a silver locket, unattached to a chain, that could only belong to Cassius.
He admired the pretty thing, the intricate carvings and smooth finish. He rather liked it. His nimble fingers pulled at the opening to see what would be revealed inside.
He didn’t make it far when the front door sounded along with Cassius’ voice, “Alexei, did you finish your food?”
The boy in question jumped, dropping the locket onto the floor, its clatter ringing against the hardwood. For a moment, Alexei sat frozen, wondering that if he stood still, Cassius would believe him invisible.
That thought passed for barely a moment before his commonsense rushed back to him and shook him into action.
He stood and kicked the locket under the couch, promising himself that he’d return to find it later. “Yeah. It was great, a ten out of ten.”
Cassius rounded the corner with a look of suspicion as Alexei stood tall or at least tried to appear so. “Really?” He looked dubious and Alexei should have known. “Because this is the first time you’ve complimented my culinary skills. In fact, if I remember correctly, you once called my soup ‘runny snot’.”
Alexei cringed. “It was a figure of speech. But a… complimentary one.”
Cassius approached, huffing out an amused breath before dropping onto the couch, Alexei following him. “And what about the chicken you said was as dry as the Sonoran Desert?”
Alexei pulled his hood over his head, groaning. “That was… okay, I was only messing with you. I wanted to use Sonoran in a sentence.”
Cassius gaped at the boy. “So, you’ve loved my food every time? And you never told me?”
Alexei smiled innocently. “Water under the bridge?”
By that point, Alexei had completely forgotten why he’d been so excited to reach Cassius’ place. He’d completely forgotten about the friend he’d wanted to tell him about.
How different in personality they were, but how similar in name.
Chapter Twelve
Alexandr Miroslav
1982
I woke with a start, sitting up in a fit of sweat as I looked around the empty dorm. The dream seemed to be morphing with reality because, for a long moment, I didn’t know what I was looking at. I didn’t know what I was hoping to see.
The nightmares were getting worse with each passing day. So much so that sometimes, faces morphed over mine in a hell of my mind’s own making.
Well, it was always one in particular, during the darkest hours of my sleep.
A knock on my door jolted me into motion, like the spark that finally brings a dead car battery back to life. I pushed the duvet away and scrambled for the sound, my movements jittery from the adrenaline still in my system.
To my surprise, it was Ajax that stood on the other side of my door.
“What are you doing here?” I ran a hand over my hair, willing the messy strands down as I poked my head out to look down the empty hall.
Ajax shrugged, leaning away, giving me space to peer, before leaning back in when I straightened. “Your friend asked me to wake you on my way in from morning practice.”
Wolf?
“What time is it?”
“Seven forty.”
