#cascas

Lucas watched as his vintage alarm clock flashed the seconds, his eyes dark against the backdrop of his single room. He barely blinked. Barely moved. He was waiting for his solace, which couldn’t come just yet. Almost though. Just a few more minutes.

2:01 2:02 2:03

“Checks!” he heard from the hallway and he snuggled under his blanket, looking as much like a corpse as possible as a flashlight lit over his long, lean body in his uncomfortable bed. After a moment, the voice disappeared along with the flashlight.

He knew how many rooms were left to check and knew it would take about 3.5 minutes before he could blow his room without worrying about being caught. Lucas pulled himself out of bed as quiet as a cat and started to pull on his boots.

A zippo was tossed in his jeans pocket along with a pack of smokes. He reached under one of the shelves of his nightstand and untaped the hunting knife which was hidden there, pushing it into his boot. He didn’t need it, but he never left it alone. Not if he could help it.

2:07

Right on time, Lucas opened his door, slowly so it wouldn’t creak and alert anyone that he was afoot. It was a short walk to the end of the hall, a right, and he was in a room that was all but abandoned. The stairs up to the roof were pulled up, which was a pain in the ass but expected.

Lucas made sure the door to the room was closed before he gently manipulated the stairs so he could plod up them, his boots smacking against metal. Once on top of the roof, he pulled the stairs back into position and turned around.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked, just as he drew an unlit cigarette to his mouth. He knew the answer to the question. He knew there was someone new that was running around, causing trouble. He also knew that pretending she wasn’t important enough for him to have heard of was the smartest thing he could possibly do right now.