Awakening

Chapter 1:

Creek…

Cree-ek…..

CREE-EK!

Balian growled and threw his covers across the room in frustration. That creaking from the attic was going to drive him crazy! Every night, every freaking night, that damn creaking woke him up. He hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in weeks, not since they’d moved into that stupid house. Balian still couldn’t figure out what had possessed his parents to buy it. Their old house had been perfectly fine. In fact, it had been better then fine. It had been perfect, especially compared to this hovel they lived in now. His parents had called it a “fixer upper” when they told him about it. Cheh. “Fixer upper?” It was more like a “tear downer.”

It was an old Queen Anne Victorian with two and a half stories, a tower on the left front and a wrap-around porch. It had been built sometime in the 1890’s and from the looks of it hadn’t had proper maintenance since. If a good wind hit the place it groaned like it was going to collapse and the roof leaked everywhere. The greatest problem with the whole place, at least in his opinion, was the attic stars. The problem being, of course, that they weren’t there but there was a gaping hole in the second floor ceiling where they used to be. Balian couldn’t charge up into the attic and beat the furry hide off of the animal making all the noise at night without access to the attic and his parents refused to buy a ladder. He growled and covered his head with his pillow as another loud creak echoed down from the attic. The second they fixed those stairs he was going hunting. There wouldn’t even be an amoeba left alive when he was done!

The late nights wouldn’t be so bad if his parents didn’t wake him up at the crack of dawn every day and demand he paint, or clean, or do some other equally unappealing task. It was summer vacation. He should be sleeping in, staying out late, and having fun. Instead he was going to spend another night waiting for the creaking to stop so he could sleep and then wake up and clean. Would the joys never cease?

Balian dragged himself out of bed to retrieve his covers and then shuffled back to the futon lying on the floor. The furniture was another problem too. His parents thought the furniture would just get in the way while they were fixing it up so there was none. He grumbled irritably as he flopped down blankets and all. The floor groaned loudly as he landed making his heart race in fear of the floor caving in. Just because his room was in the best condition out of all the rooms didn’t mean the floor couldn’t give way at any moment.

Several hours of tossing and turning later Balian finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

He’d never wanted to run away more than he did in that moment. Were they crazy?! He couldn’t believe it. They wanted him to… to… he didn’t even want to think about it. He shuddered. There was no way he was going to do that. It wasn’t going to happen. He’d sooner let a gang of lepers ass rape him. The look on his parents’ told him he had no choice in the matter.

He looked pleadingly at his mother, the weaker of the two and begged. “Please don’t make me do this! I’ll do anything else you want!”
She sighed and rolled her green eyes at him. “Oh for the love of god! All you have to do is clean out the shed.”

He cranked up the puppy dog eyes and continued to look at her pleadingly. “But there are spiders in there! And dead animals! And not dead animals!” his voice rose in volume with each statement bordering on hysteria by the time he was done.
His father glared at him and his mother when she looked like she was wavering. “You’re doing it and that’s final! I left the cleaning supplies outside the shed. Now get going!” He folded his arms and continued to glare at him.

Balian’s grey eyes attempted to glare his father down but it wasn’t long before he averted his eyes admitting defeat. “Fine! But you’ll never hear the end of this! Fifty years from now when you’re old and wrinkled lying on your death bed I’ll remind you!” He continued to yell belligerent threats at his father as he trudged out the door and around the house to the shed in the back.

He glared at its deceptive exterior. It stood a little over six foot tall and sported a fresh coat of white paint. From the outside it looked like a typical shed but he knew it wasn’t. He knew what horrors the inside held. A large bucket sat to the right of the door along with several rags and a large spray bottle full of cleaner. He rolled his eyes. Jesus couldn’t clean that shed with the supplies his parents gave him.

Balian took a large gulp of air and opened the door. A swarm of flies instantly made a bid for freedom. They almost blinded him as they buzzed past. The smell came next, invading his nostrils like am infectious disease. His nose crinkled in distaste. A landfill would smell like heaven by the time he was done. The sun sat behind the shed. This meant the interior was just dark enough to soften the details. He could decide if that was a good thing or not as the floor inside moved suspiciously.

There had better be some gloves in that bucket or there was no way he was going to do it, no matter how much his father glared at him. He quickly searched his supplies. Thank god! There was a pair of yellow elbow length gloves hiding in the rags. He pulled them on and grabbed the bottle of cleaner and a rag. His feet sunk a few inches into the floor with a wet squish. He cringed.

And so the cleaning began. Six hours, three dead cats, eight spider nests, and one rabid possum later he was finished. A light breeze ruffled his short black hair as he lay face down in the grass several feet away from the now sparkling shed. Exhaustion warred with the desire to be clean. Every patch of exposed skin was cover with dirt and the paste made from rotted life. His jeans and t-shirt were covered in the same.

The cool grass under him felt good and he enjoyed it for a few more minutes before pushing himself to his feet. He walked slowly back to the front of the house, his cramped legs protesting all the way. He’d just made it to the front door when he heard a feminine voice call his name. He turned to find the light blue eyes and brown pixie cut hair of his best friend Katya. She was giving him a look of disgust that only increased as he moved toward.

“What happened to you? You smell like death warmed over.”

Balian grimaced. “That’s because I’m covered in death warmed over.”

She coughed and held a tan hand over her nose and mouth. “What were you doing?”

“Ugh. I had to clean the shed.”

Sympathy mixed with a grimace showed on her face. “Oh god. That’s a foul job for them to give you.”

Balian slumped forward. “I you’re tellin’ me. I just spent several hours in that hell. So what’re you doing here anyway?”

“I came by to see if you wanted to come have lunch at my house. I’m not so sure about that now though.” She gave him a doubtful look.

His face lit up at the mention of her house. “Your house. You mean the one with a proper shower? A shower with warm water?”

She laughed. “Yes, that one. I suppose this means you want to use our shower?”

“Very much so. Do you think it’ll be all right?”

Katya shrugged. “I doubt my mom will mind. You’re too cute for her to get mad. Go grab what you need. I’ll be waiting.”

Balian gave a whoop and charged toward the house. He quickly grabbed some extra clothes and headed back out, making sure to let his mom know where he was going just before the front door closed. Katya stood from her place leaning against the mail box when she saw him and started down the side walk knowing he’d catch up. Moments later he was walking beside her casually with his hands in gritty pockets and a book bag with his clothes slung over one shoulder. It was a short walk to Katya’s house, it being only a few block away.

“I know you don’t like that house but it sure is a lot closer than your old one. Purely a selfish benefit of course.” She shot him a grin over her shoulder as she opened the front door and walked in. Balian followed closely behind, trying to get as little dirt as possible on the floor.

“Hey mom, I’m back! Balian’s with me! He’s going to take a shower before we eat,” Katya shouted in no particular direction.

A responding shout came from the kitchen. “Alright dear! Lunch is on the counter!”

She turned toward Balian. “You know where it is. I’ll be in my room with lunch.”

The blackette headed up the stairs without another word. His shirt was off before he even made it to the bath room and his pants with boxers hit the floor seconds after the door was closed. He grabbed a fresh wash cloth from under the sink and stepped into the tub. He turned the water on and adjusted it to a temperature just shy of scalding before he turned the knob to start the shower.

The water ran black for several minutes and Balian let it as he rested his head on his arms against the wall. The water felt great as it ran over his body. He did start to wash until the water started to cool and then he was quick about it, washed and dressed in matter of minutes. He stuffed his dirty clothes and shoes into the book bag and headed back down stairs to Katya’s room.

When he got there she was lounging on her bed with a plate of sandwiches lying beside her and a soda can balanced on her forehead. His eyes briefly moved over the posters of various athletes on her walls before he joined her on the bed. There was a sandwich in his hand before she even registered his presence.

“So, what are your plans for the rest of the day,” he asked around a mouthful of food.

“I was thinking we could watch a movie then run around outside like a couple of grade schoolers. You know, the usual.”

“Sounds good to me. What’re we gunna watch?”

“I’ve got a new horror movie we could watch.”

Balian shook his head. “Nah. I’m not in the mood for horror.”

Katya turned her head to look at him. “Really? You usually like a good horror movie.”
“I know but I got enough creepy for one day. “

She made a sound of understanding as she got up off the bed. “Because if cleaning the shed. I get ‘cha.”

“Not just that. I kept getting the feeling of being watched. I think it’s because of the attic windows that over look the yard.” The last sandwich disappeared into his mouth followed by a loud burp.

Katya rolled her eyes and shook her brown haired head. “Want to watch something funny then?”

He raised an eye brow at her. “What else would we watch?”

“Well we could watch a romance… or porn.” She said the last part with a grin.

Balian looked disgusted. “I hate romances and I don’t like your type of porn.”

“Oh that’s right. You don’t like girls in your porn.” She turned away from him to look at her small collection of DVDs. “So… How’s the man hunt going? Found a man to pop your cherry yet.”

Grey eyes teared up as he coughed and sputtered. There was no getting used to Katya’s directness. “That’s not any of your business!”

“You say that like I’m some sort of stranger. I’m your best friend. Of course it’s my business. It’s especially my business when it makes you so uncomfortable every time I ask.”

Balian glared at her grin. “You are an evil person.”

“Yes I am. And you love me for it.” She ah-ha-ed and turned around with a DVD in her hand. “Do you want to watch this in here or in the den?”

“Let’s watch it in here. I don’t feel like getting up.”

Blue eyes rolled. “You lazy ass.”

She walked over to the small T.V. stand sitting across from her bed and stuck the silver disk into the DVD player. The FBI warning popped up moments later. Balian bounced as she flung herself on the bed. It was a movie they’d seen before but it hadn’t lost any of its humor. After the movie they headed out side for some good old fashioned rough housing. They got into a few wrestling matches, all of which Balian lost, played a few rounds of tag, and before they knew it the sky was darkening.

Balian said goodnight to Katya and headed home to a dinner of take out and another night of sleeplessness.

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Nothing too exciting happening yet. The action's should pick up pretty fast if I can manage to keep my attention on this story.