#pariahcard

              A crack of a yawn and his spine stretches in its place, light footsteps padding down the stairs bare until he was out of his house and on the porch. The whole street only stirring to life as the sun crept over the house across from them. A sigh of relief escapes him at the sight of the empty garage – his father hadn’t come home yet. Lips curving just at the edge almost into a smile as he simply sat himself down on the porch and adds another day to the notches under his skin. He was still breathing. He was still alive. It was as good of a day for him as any. Head turns and suddenly he wasn’t the only one basking in the sunlight, his smile more prominent now despite the implication. Maybe going insane wasn’t so bad if he didn’t have to suffer it alone.

                 Heavy steps drag as though chained to iron and fingers twitch under overexertion. Every fiber of his being thrums in stress. If not for the euphoriants, Andrew would’ve looked dead. Instead, he wears a bright grin and walks down the stairwells all while humming an awfully misplaced tune.

                 “AARON,” he crouches next to his twin and snaps his fingers thrice next to the sleeping’s ear, then rubbing off dried blood on his robes. “Wakey wakey.”

                               They’ve got three more days left until THE day in question and while Nicky has already come up with FOUR themes for a surprise party, Neil still didn’t know what the twins wanted to do.

He’s been sitting at the desk and watching Andrew for the past ten minutes now, just watching him and trying to make sense out of him. Maybe if he’d stare long enough he’d figure out how to read Andrew’s mind.

                           “What do you want to do on your birthday?”

                    “Don’t you think they should at least be kind enough to wipe the dried blood off the wall? I get it, this place is supposed to look scary and gross and shit but, seriously?” He’s sitting on Andrew’s former ‘room mate’s’ bed, gesturing at the scratch marks on the wall.

The sky is blue, almost offensively so. Andrew never knew how to appreciate nice things, be it a beautiful view or a kind gesture. He feels an itch in his palm, and he imagines slicing the sky open with his knives. Maybe he will find some answers underneath that canvas.

His cigarette is burning to an end, so he drops it over the edge and picks out another. He bites down at the filter, holding it between his teeth but doesn’t light it up. Instead, he pulls out his phone and texts.

[text to: a. minyard] meet me on the roof

He has played the Honesty Game with Neil Josten for so long, yet he never played one with his own twin. Betsy would want in, of course, but this is a matter between the two of them.