A field of red flowers | Salvis

Lilac

Sal sat in his fathers old, worn down 1975 Cutlass. The sides were warn, there was crumbs in almost every crack or crevice of the fabric. His father was driving, while Sal was on his Gear Boy, occasionally looking out the window.

His dad hadn't told him where exactly they were going, more of 'we're moving' and, 'pack your shit, sal'. Although, Sal knew it was no where near New Jersey. If only he would have payed attention in Geography Class.

"Dad, can't you tell me where we're goin'?" Sal frowned, getting impatient.

"Sal, you've asked me this almost 5 times. My answer is no different," Henry looked behind him for a second.

"Its hot, boring, and did I mention, boring!" Sal whined. He hated long car rides, especially if he didn't know where he was going. He also got car-sick pretty easily.

"Sal, we're literally almost there," Henry sighed, tired of Sals constant impatience.

Sal bounced up in his seat and looked out the back window, excited. "When we move in.. wait! Are we moving in a house, or an apartment?! I bet I could paint my walls, and, an-"

"Sal, SHUT UP," Henry stepped on the break and looked behind him. "I'm trying to drive, and this isn't helping," He frowned.

"I uh, sorry, dad," Sal looked down, his pigtails looked like they were drooping in sadness. He ran his fingers through his pigtails, something he did when he felt bad.

After a bit of silence, the only sound of the occasional button press, and breathing, a town came into view. "Nockfell, Illinois.." Sal mumbled, reading an old stone sign. "Is this where we're staying?" Henry nodded.

Sal jumped in his seat, excited. "Woo-hoo!" He yelled. Henry chuckled, watching Sal through the rear-view mirror. "Are we staying near this?" The blue-haired boy would ask everytime they passed something interesting. After a bit, they passed a school. "Dad! Is this where I'm going to school at?!" He could not stop jumping, it was something he did when excited. "Yes, Sal, you're going to Nockfell High," Henry sighed, smiling though. Sal giggled and tried to calm down, although it was pretty hard to, considering how excited he was.

They stopped at a tall, worn looking building. "Welcome to the Addison Apartments, Sal," Henry beamed wide, turning around in the worn leather seat. "It looks.. old," Sal said, scrunching his nose up. "I sure hope it smells good," He made a light joke, although he really did hope it wasn't smelly.

"Sal, grab your bags," Henry instructed as Sal got out of the car. Sal followed, grabbing his blue suitcase. It had as much as he could take, as Henry didn't want too many reminders of Diane, Sal's mother. Clothes, posters, books, and medicine were all packed in there.

"Dad, do I walk in?" Sal asked, earning a nod from his dad.

With that, Sal took his first step into a beginning and an ending.

Sal gasped as he walked in, his eyes lighting up. "It looks old.. but cool!" He smiled widely at his dad. "How many rooms are there?" He asked, spinning around to face the end of the hallway. "You know, Sal, I'm not sure! But we're in 402, if you want to head up and get our hands free of everything,". Sal practically ran towards the elevator, violently pushing the button. He bounced, like he always did. The elevator opened, and a man walked out, his hair red as a beet. "Oh-, hello," He said, looking at Henry. His eyes were blood-shot, making him look high. Maybe he was high. "You're new, right?" He asked, rubbing his eyes. Henry nodded. "Welcome to.. Addison Apartments," He said the last bit quiet, and stumbled out. Sal and Henry exchanged confused glances. Shaking his head, Henry walked into one of the elevators. Sal followed. "Floor 4," Henry said under his breath, clicking the button with the number '4' to the left of it. The elevator made a loud ding as it went up from the first floor to the fourth. What was surprising, was the fact that a small tune played when the elevator hit the correct floor. The doors opened and Sal bounced out, running to the left, pointing out room 402. "Dad! It's our room!" He said, and stepped out of the way so his dad could unlock the door.

Once the door was unlocked, Henry pushed the door, showing a room with a yellow couch, a brown dinner table, and 2 rooms, doors open. "Oh. My. God," Sal said, a heavy breath after each word. Then he loudly dropped his suitcase and ran around the room, Henry laughing heavily, like he usually did. "Sal- calm down," He got out through laughs.

"BUT DAD!! It's so cool!" The boy stopped running, and jokingly pouted at his father. "Sal, I know, but you're going to upset neighbors, and we don't want that, right?" Henry said, putting his arm behind his neck. Sal sighed and nodded, grabbing his suitcase. "Let's go!" He said, and ran to the two bedrooms.

After they had unpacked a bit, and chose their rooms, they had chilled out on the worn couch. "Dad, I should go meet the neighbors!" Sal brought up a good idea. "If you want, buddy," Henry said, rubbing Sal's head. Sal got up and walked to the door. "Love you dad!" He said, walking out of the apartment.

Walking right from his apartment, was room 401, which had a flower wreath on the door. Knocking on the door, he said, "Hello?". No response. He sighed. "Maybe they're just busy,". Next he walked past the elevator, and to the room with a police officer outside of it. "Hello, sir! What are you doing here?" He asked, smiling under his mask. "Police stuff, kid," The man grumbled, furrowing his eyebrows. "You should leave, kid,". Sal crossed his arms. "What? What happened in the room? You should at least tell me,".

"It's classified information, now scram, I don't get payed to babysit. Go back to your mommy and daddy,".

"I wish," Sal mumbled.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing,".

The police officer rolled his eyes and turned away from Sal, his side leaning on the wall.

Sal shrugged the weird interaction off and walked to the elevator, where he pressed the button to go down. After a few seconds, the elevator doors opened, and he clicked the first level's button. He could go up from there, he thought.
The doors closed, and he waited for the elevator to to down, tapping his foot to the elevators music.

As the doors opened, Sal gasped, shocked of what was in front of him.