《1056!! (ON TEMPORARY HIATUS)》
PROLOGUE!!
A soft yet stern voice cuts the silence on a cold Monday morning.
"Xavier!!! Ben!!! GET UPPP!! ITS 6 am ALREADY!!"
"huh? Mom? *blinks* 6 am? *winks* 6¡ a...m? - *opens eyes* 6 AM? HOLY SHIT, IM GONNA BE LATE!!
A long, slender boy, no older than 18, sits up in bed with messy black hair that falls into his line of sight.
A voice from downstairs bellows, "Language!!"
"Sorry, Dad! Hey X, get up, little man, we''re already late, bud!"
Ben jumps down from the top of their bunk bed. He stumbles around the dark for just a moment before flipping on the lights. Across, the room lying in the bottom bunk is a small boy. He looks like the miniature version of Ben. As Ben shuts the bedroom door, his tone of voice shifts to a serious one.
"Get up X, don''t make me tell you again."
X rolls over in bed to stare Ben in the eyes as if to say,"Do it. I dare ya."
Ben switches his body language to that of a queen, sticking his nose up at the ceiling, straitening his back up and looking down on his younger brother. Ben had also taken up a more regal tone now.
"So, you''re choosing to defy me? Your own older brother."
A smirk flashed across X''s face.
"That''s it!!"
Ben lunges at X.
"AH! DON''T DO THIS! PLEASE!! HEEELLLP MEEEEE!!!!!"
X''s young, innocent voice filled the entire house.
Their parents'' just downstairs in the kitchen, had no choice but to spring into action at the first thought of their precious boy getting injured or even worse.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!" Yelled their father.
"WE''RE COMING, HONEY!!" Assured their mother.
The two sprint up the steps as fast as they can. They arrived at the bedroom door in no time. Their father kicked the door off the hinges, sending the door across the bedroom, smashing into the wall. Their parents never could''ve prepared for what they were about to see. Peering in the room after having some time to realize what they were looking at, it stuns both parents into silence. Ben had flipped X onto his belly, and sat down onto X''s butt, grabbed his left ankle with his left hand, and had his right hand posed and ready to tickle. Ben and X are now staring into the doorless doorway at their parents. Their mother''s name is Emma. She is a short beautiful woman, about 4''5". She has short, brown hair in a bob fashion. She''s wearing a pink nightgown with little white flowers on it. Compared to any other 30-year-old woman, she looks very young. Paul, the father, was an immense man. 6''2", very muscular, short, black hair. He was wearing white socks, black sweats, and a white tank-top.
"I didn''t lock the door, you know." was the only thing Ben mustered.
X began tearing up with a silly grin in his face.
"Thank god you''re here. I couldn''t stop him. I was so scared."
Emma couldn''t help but chuckle.
"Stop goofing off you''re gonna be late for school. Get dressed, and let''s go." Paul demanded.
Paul and Emma began walking away back downstairs. The two brothers laugh together in unison.
"And fix that door tonight!" Paul added.
Back in the kitchen, Emma consoles Paul as he cries his eyes out.
"I was so scared that something could have happened to our boys!"
"It''s okay, honey. Boys will be boys. You know that." She rubs his back in reassurance.
In the bedroom, the boys get dressed.
"Big day for you today, huh big guy?!" Ben asks X
"Yea! Are you going to make it to my soccer game after school today?"
"That''s the plan, little man!"
X gets excited at the thought of his older brother coming to see his first soccer game. He didn''t want to let him down.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"I''m gonna do my best, so make sure yo- Bens'' phone vibrates suddenly cutting X off. It''s a text.
"One sec X." Ben looks at his phone, with a bit of a stern look, like what he was reading was hard for him to read, which is strange because Ben is the top of his senior class. He then puts the phone back in his pocket, grabbed his sweater, and headed for the door.
"Hurry it up, X; we got to go."
A bit disappointed, X grabbed his coat and trudged downstairs. During the car ride to school, X couldn''t help but think Ben has been acting strangely after he got that text.
"You''re quiet today, son." Emma speculated.
"So mom notices too?"X thought.
"Is something the matter?" she persisted.
"I''m fine, Mom, I just have nothing to say," Ben said slowly.
Emma drops Ben off at his school first; then she takes X to his school, then she goes back home. In X''s class, his classmates and teacher notice he''s disassociative. X has continuously lost in thought ever since Ben brushed him off.
"He''s never been cold to me like that before. What did that text say? Am I overthinking this?" A loud ringing cuts off X''s train of thought.The first period of school is over. Walking to the cafeteria to rest between classes, X feels a pat on his back.
"Hey, X! What''s up?" A thin, delicate girl in a black dress with stockings and boots greets X.
"Hey, Diane. Nothing much." X mutters.
"What''s the matter with you? You''ve been acting gloomy since this morning!" whined Diane. X turns his head to look at her. Her pouty face makes X chuckle. When X chuckles, Diane''s face lights up. Diane has stunning sky blue eyes and wavy brown hair down to her shoulders. X couldn''t help but notice how cute she is. Since they have been friends since they were little, X never looked at her that way, but now that they are older, it''s easy to see Diane is a cute girl. X blushes and quickly turns away. However, he feels as though he can tell Diane anything.
"It''s my brother. He''s acting weird today."
"Ben? Isn''t he graduating this weekend?" Diane asked.
"Yea, why?" X questioned.
"Well, graduating from high school is a big deal! He has to think of his future now. Soon he''ll be on his own in the world. That''s a scary thought if you ask me." Diane explained
"Yea, maybe you''re right. I''m thinking into this way too much." X tries to assure himself.
"Diane''s right I''m paranoid, I can''t begin to feel how Ben is feeling about graduating."The two sit down at a table in the cafeteria and eat their breakfast. The rest of the school day is a blur. When the final bell rings, X runs over to the bus stop hoping his older brother is back to his usual self.
"Where is he? He''s gonna miss the bus at this rate." Xbegan to worry. Ben wasn''t going to make it. X had no choice but to board the bus without his older brother. He chose a seat at the back by himself. The whole bus ride home X was worried about his older brother.
Is he okay? Is he in trouble? What if he just ditched? No, he has never ditched a day of school in his life. Today sucked.
When X got home from school, he saw both his parents'' cars in the driveway, which is suspicious because they should both be at work at this time. X enters the house to find Ben is already home. X lets out a sigh of relief. Ben was sitting on the sofa in the living room facing the t.v. Suddenly spins around to see who just opened the door.
"Hey! sorry, I wasn''t there to meet you at the bus today bud, I got suspended." Ben had a silly look on his face and gave him a little shoulder shrug.
"What? Seriously? What did you do?!" X curiously exclaimed.
"Don''t idolize him, Xavier, your older brother, wasted mine, and your father''s time with his childish behavior!" Emma proclaimed from the kitchen.
Ben glares at his mother. X can''t help but notice that it''s uncharacteristic of him to do that.
"Go on, Ben, tell him what you did." Emma dared. Ben looks to X.
"Okay. X, I wrote a note to the teacher that I had a bomb in a backpack." Ben said coldly. X can''t bring himself to say anything. He''s never disagreed with his brother so strongly on something before. Ben burst out into laughter.
"BWHAHAHAHAHA!!! LOOK AT YOUR FACE!" Ben yelled out. His demeanor then suddenly phases over to cool and calm. "You''re such a kid X. Lighten up, it''s not like I had a bomb, it was just a joke, no big deal." Ben shrugs.
"NO BIG DEAL!? WHAT''S THE MATTER WITH YOU?!!" X screams out. Ben is astonished, as is Emma. They''ve never heard X yell like that. X storms upstairs into their room and lay on the bottom bunk.
"Despite my not having done much today, I''m still super tired. I even skipped my soccer game today without realizing it. I''m going to get an earful from everyone tomorrow. I''m so embarrassed, I can''t believe I yelled like that, but I also can''t believe the way Ben is acting. He''s been weird all day. Oh well, ill sleep it off. Everything will be okay in the morning. It''ll be like waking up from a nightmare.
"Honey, honey, wake up." Emma was shaking X awake.
"Mom? What time is it? I didn''t hear my alarm?"
"It''s 2 am hun, it''s your brother," Emma spoke anxiously, and that worried X.
"What? What''s the matter?" Come to think of it X never noticed Ben come in the room for bed.
"He''s gone. He took my car and left. We have no idea where he is. Your father is out looking for him now." Emma started to cry. X tried his best to console his mother.
" Don''t worry, mom he''s just burning some steam. I''m sure he''s fine." Emma kept crying all night. X fell back asleep, consoling his mother.
In the morning, X sits up in bed and checks his phone to look at the time. 2:15 pm. X looks up to the top bunk but is disappointed at the sight of the bare bed sheets. He gets dressed and goes down to the living room. Upon entry into the living room, X is taken aback by all the strangers in his house. Based on their navy blue uniforms, these people are police officers. They all look at X as he came into view from upstairs.
"Honey, let''s talk in the kitchen." Emma leads X into the kitchen away from the men in the living room.
"What''s going on out there, mom?" X Demands
"It''s Ben; your father couldn''t find him, so we called the police. They found our car in the middle of a field. X, Ben has been declared missing..." Emma''s voice faded in X''s head. Nothing mattered to X anymore. It was as if all the color in the world had forsaken him. He was numb.
"My brother is missing, and there''s not a thing I can do."
CHAPTER 1: TREACHERY!!
Four years ago, Ben King was announced as a missing runaway. One year later, the case went cold, and investigators gave up the search.
Ben was a respectable young man. He had a 4.0 GPA and was even the captain of the varsity football team. You can imagine when the eldest son, the pride and joy of the King family, goes missing, it''s tough for the family. Paul, the father, couldn''t handle the gravity of the despair that was his reality and figured the most straightforward way out was by taking his own life. All that''s left of the King family is Emma and X. After the death of Paul, Emma thought it was best to move to a new town. She wanted to start a clean slate for X when he entered high school and tried to take him away from all the bad memories associated with their hometown.
X is now a senior in high school, but he''s changed since the disappearance of Ben. Every day in the halls of his high school, faceless people come and go like blurs.
"I couldn''t care less about these background people. I don''t need anybody." X''s heart had truly gone cold.
"Hey!! X!! I''ve been looking all over for you." A young man''s voice calls out from behind X.
"Oh, hey, Donny. What''s going on, man?" Donny is one of the very few people whose company X actually enjoys. He is a cliche'' tall skinny African-American kid with a short flat-top afro. He is also very athletic, so much so Donny is an integral part of the football and basketball teams, but he shines the brightest as the star of the baseball team. Also, he doesn''t like to be called "Donny" very much.
"What''d you call me?!" Adonis exclaims. Adonis is a relatively easy going guy. There isn''t a whole lot in the world to make him upset, but whenever someone calls him "Donny," he becomes somewhat distraught.
"If you call me that again, I will end you!" Adonis assured X.
"Okay, okay, relax bud." "Why have you been looking for me?" X asks, trying to change the subject quickly.
"Oh, right! I''ve been running around like a mad man to find you." Adonis'' attitude took another drastic turn.
"Yea, I can tell you already had your morning coffee, now why were you looking for me?" X said in a demeaning tone.
"Some new girl in my homeroom said she knows you, she''s a transfer student," Adonis explains.
"A transfer student?! That knows me!? It can''t be! Can It?" X''s mind raced at the thought of seeing someone special he left behind when he moved towns. X was against the notion of moving, but he knew that his mother clearly needed the change more than he did. Reluctantly he went with no fuss. It broke his heart to leave Diane back then, but now he can barely remember his old friend''s face.
"Uhh, did you hear me just now?" Adonis chimes in, snapping X out of his trance-like state.
X whipped his head back up in response, "huh? no, I didn''t hear a thing you said."
Annoyed, Adonis repeated himself, " I said, '''' Do you really have another friend besides me?"
" Uh, yea, believe it or not. 4 years ago, I had countless friends," X revealed.
"WHAT!? No. I''ve known you for four years, and I''ve been your only friend for all 4 of ''em?" Adonis clarifies.
"Exactly man, I moved here four years ago."
"Come to think of it I don''t know a single thing about you before four years ago." Adonis realized.
"Now you''re gettin'' it bud." X pokes fun.
"Well... What happened to you?" Adonis urges.
"Another time, man, I gotta go to my class soon," X Suggests.
"Fine ill hold you to that after class." Adonis insists
"You got it, Donny!!" X yells out after taking off down the hallway to his class, waving back to adonis with an arrogant smirk.
*tsk*
Meanwhile, in Adonis'' class.
Adonis sat in the far back right side of the class, so He had a seat next to the windows. (Yes, just like in every slice of life anime/manga). A shady-looking character leans over in his chair to speak to Adonis.
"Psst, your friend has been holdin'' out on you, huh?" the guy whispered.
"What are you talking about? Who are you? I''ve never seen you here before." Speculates Adonis.
"C''mon man. I saw you guys talking. He''s not telling you something. Aren''t you guys'' friends?" The stranger pestered.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"DUDE!- MR. Jones! Are you feeling okay, son? " Adonis was cut off by his teacher.
"Yeah, but this guy keeps bugging me, sir!" Adonis explains.
"What are you talking about, Adonis? Nobody sits to the right of you." The teacher questioned. Adonis is rocked as he realizes that he sits in the far back right side of the classroom in a row all to himself. Hoping against hope that he wasn''t crazy, Adonis turns to look to his right. Just an empty row of desks void of any suspicious figures.
"You guys telling me you didn''t see a shady looking guy sitting right here just a second ago?!" Various voices in the class chime in.
" You were talking to your self, dude."
"There wasn''t anybody there."
"That''s right I was watching you act all crazy the whole time."
"NO! What the hell is going on?!" Adonis started to lose it.
"Maybe you should go see the nurse son." the teacher insisted
"Yeah, I guess you''re right, I¡¯ll go to the nurses and rest a bit."
"I''ll let the nurse know that you''re on your way."
Walking down the hallway on his way to the nurses'' office, Adonis starts to feel nauseous. His salivary glands begin to fill up, and now it''s only a matter of time before he blows chunks ¡ª Adonis races to the nearest men''s room. Kicking open the swing door and sprints to the sink, just barely making it. After Adonis''s gut is emptied, he finally has a chance to get his thoughts collected.
"What''s going on with me? First, that guy nobody else saw, and now I feel like complete shit. Above all else, though, X is keeping something from me, and I need to find out what it is no matter what."
Looking at himself in the mirror, Adonis abruptly gets a text. He pulls his phone out from his pocket and looks to see who it''s from. A look of bewilderment travels across Adonis'' face.
"How the hell does a four-digit number text? 1056?"
"Hey, Adonis, did you like my surprise for you?"
"Who is this?"
"A friend and I won''t keep secrets like X."
"How do you know that?? Did you send that shady guy!? "
"Ah, that must be the hallucinogenic drug I had slipped in your morning coffee." ¡®So that guy was a hallucination?¡® Adonis thought.
"BASTARD, you "had slipped?" so you''re working with someone else? "
"Well, aren''t you astute? "
"Who is it? I''ll find him and beat the answer to who you are out of him."
"LOL, I like you. Who do you think I''m working with? The one person close enough to you that he can put something in your coffee without you noticing. The one keeping secrets about his suspicious past."
"X? No, that''s a ridiculous notion. We''ve been friends for nearly five years."
"That''s true, but what do you really know about your dear old friend?"
"He would never work with you! Especially not to drug me!"
"Ask him."
Adonis sits silently in the bathroom, trying to register the entirety of this situation. However, the lunch bell ringing triggers him into action. Like the start gun at a track meet. He had one thing on his mind. Find Xavier.
*At the same time as Adonis'' drug trip, but in X''s class.*
"Attention class, today we have a new transfer student in our class. Give a warm welcome to our latest student, Diane!" Announced the teacher. X''s heart was about to pump straight out of his chest. He couldn''t tell if he was more anxious or excited to see his old friend. A short girl comes in the room in boyfriend jeans, black boots, a black crop top shirt, and a black and red flannel. She has wavy brown hair that looks softer than velvet sand, like a sea of sand, the Sahara desert. She was a gorgeous hippie girl. Her bewitching blue eye survey the class. Eventually, their gazes meet, and X''s heart skips a beat.
"X!!" Diane yells out. Startled by her sudden outburst, X instinctively straightens up.
"Woah, she already has some kid trained like a dog." A random kid added.
Diane runs to X and throws her arms around him, squeezing him tight. The boys stare in envy, and the girls stare in judgment, but X was just happy to see his friend again.
"What are you doing here, Diane? I can''t believe I''m looking at you right now."
"X before I tell you that, we have something we need to talk about," Diane demands.
"What is it?" X asks
"Ben... and Paul," Diane mutters.
"Yea, I guess you have a right to know, but you have to wait until lunch because one other person also deserves to know." proposes X.
"Okay, Who?" Diane wonders.
"The only friend I''ve had since I moved out here," X explains.
"Do you guys mind pausing your little moment I have a class to teach!" The teacher shouts.
The rest of the class, Adonis and Diane, are unable to concentrate or focus. When the bell rings, Daine immediately pesters X.
"What happened, X? Tell me now!" Diane commanded.
"Hold on, girl, come with me to the cafeteria.
Meanwhile, Adonis is marching toward closer and closer to an unsuspecting X.
"X!! YOU TWO FACED BASTARD!" Adonis Calls out to X.
"What are you talking about, man?! Relax!!" X confusedly yells.
"I got sick last period, and a number texted me telling me YOU slipped me something in my coffee this moring!!" Adonis explains.
"Adonis, I am your friend, I would never slip you, anything man. You know that." X says with the hopes of calming his friend. After a couple of moments, Adonis finally has time to wrangle up his emotions.
"Yea, you''re right. I wasn''t thinking straight because of the drug, probably. A number that short could never text anyway." Adonis explains. But X looks troubled at what Adonis said.
"What''s wrong, bro?" asks Adonis.
"Did you just say you got a text from a short number?" X trembles.
"uhh yeah, what''s the matter with you?" Adonis asks, progressively becoming more worried.
"1056?" X mumbles.
"What?" Adonis asks, straining to hear.
"1056! WAS THE NUMBER 1056!?" X yells, clutching his friends'' shirt.
"Yes, how did you know that?" Adonis asks, genuinely curious.
"1056? I''ve been getting texts from the same number recently." Diane chimes in. X turns to his childhood friend, in complete horror, and disbelief.
"What the hell is going on?! I can''t go through this again."
CHAPTER 2: COORDINATES!!
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CHAPTER 3: CHALLENGE #1-THEFT!!
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