64 Hours

12 H0urs

Omg, thank you so much for 170 reads! I can't thank you enough. Every read counts.

~the twelfth hour~

It took a while to explain to Aria why I was eating so many donuts at 5 AM in the morning. 

I just rambled about craving them really badly, and that it was a present that I got yesterday from Reece. Then I got questioned on why I was out late with Reece getting donuts, and that's where things got ugly. 

"We...we were having a guy night," I stammered, coming out with the worst lie. My sister knitted her eyebrows and rolled her eyes dramatically. At the same moment Bella stood at the door of the bedroom, looking hazy with sleep. 

"I call BS on that, Ad," she said, her voice thick with exhaustion. 

"Bella!" Aria scolded, facing her daughter and crossing her arms, mom style. "No swearing in this house. Or in any house. I told you not to use that word again!"

"But mom!" Bella whined, widening her eyes. "That's not even a bad word, it's just the initials. And all the other girls in my class say it, so why can't I? Speaking of which, they all have IPhones. It's so unfair. When can I have my own?" 

As Aria hollered back at Bella, I creeped out of the situation and checked the time as they argued with each other. It was almost 6 AM. Work at the coffee shop started soon. 

Although I trained at the base camp to be in the army for a long time, I got kicked out. The memories still made me shudder. The couch was too harsh in a violent way, and it did the death of me. I accidentally-on-purpose shot back at him automatically before I could think of the words that caught up with my mouth, and I got expelled. It was a shame - I burned so many calories, trained hard day by day with guns, and got to learn the importance of defense and attack. But then I ended up jobless; so the only job position available to me was at Gloria Jean's Coffees. I didn't get the highest income but at least it kept me going before getting a proper job. 

Katherine, Aria's friend from High School, always looked after Bella when my sister and I were at work. Aria would drop Bella to school, and Kath would take her and babysit her at home, mainly because she loved kids and was willing to do anything for my sister. 

Anyways, maybe working would help me keep my mind off Unknown. I knew that the texter told me that 64 hours wasn't even enough, but I couldn't stand keeping my guard on the list for all this time. It was ridiculous. He was basically demanding me into a suicide mission. Kill my boss? Buy an M4? Steal? 

At the cost of Bella's life? 

I shook my head violently. I knew this game. It was all about what I was willing to do to save my sister's daughter. It's all about sacrifice; losing my dignity, my persona, and my friends. It's about sacrifice. 

But there is no winning or losing in this game.

Aria didn't question me again as she took her own Corolla and Aria to school. I took a quick shower, tossed on a plain black shirt and jeans, then drove my Chevrolet over to the Coffee shop. It was twenty minutes away, in a small mall by the beach. 

I parked my car outside and walked into the coffee shop, trying to push my thoughts away. The shop was empty, except for some staff already hanging by the cashier. 

"You're late, Browning," Janice, the manager, scowled at me the minute I walked in. I forced myself to look straight back into her cold eyes. From the moment I got the job here Janice despised me. It's just like hate at the first sight, and I honestly didn't reside my own feelings towards her, which was as dark as hers to me. It cynical, really. I treat people the way they treat me. 

"Sorry," I muttered gruffly, dodging past her short frame and heading towards the counter. 

"One more late and that's about it for you!" She called after me, then headed into the mini kitchen. I came face to face with Reece, my business buddy. Ironically we became friends from the woebegone job, and the friendship started by agreeing over how horrible Janice was. He was Lucas's friend before I met him, so we had a lot in common. 

"Elaine is so worked up by this wedding. She's already choosing her wedding dress and was so desperate for some advice that she asked me how it looked on her. Me. Isn't there this rule about not showing the husband the dress or something? Woman are so confusing," Reece grovelled on as I was just walking towards him. He talked a lot. He also had this habit of talking before I was even 5 meters away from him, but I was used to it. 

Reece had crazy dark, unruly hair. It was curly, but in a charming way to match him dark blue eyes. All the woman collapsed over his dark cocky attitude, and he usually moved from one to one until he found his Elaine, which he was getting married to after tomorrow. 

Holy crap. I forgot about that damn wedding, and I still had that stupid texter on my mind. I didn't even pick out a suit yet and I was one of the grooves men. As Reece continued to talk about the wedding I facepalmed my forehead, not in the mood to face another problem. 

"By the way, where's Lucas? I've been trying to reach him for ages but he's not picking up his phone. I'm gonna visit him just to make sure-" 

"No!" I snapped, out of my trance, my head shooting up and startling Reece. "Don't go to his house!" My voice appeared to be like I was begging, and I could feel everyone's eyes on me at my sudden snarl. 

"Why?" Reece asked, his big blue eyes concerned and confused.

"B-because I saw him. Last night," I added. "I met him and he told me his cell wasn't working. He's visiting his...brother in New York," I told Reece hastily, tensing my muscles and hoping he would believe me.

"Are you sure he would leave at such a short notice?" Reece's voice went unnaturally high. 

"Yeah. Yeah totally. I mean, you know Lucas, being everywhere and all," I sounded defeated when my voice cracked. Then the heaviness dawned on me that he was no longer...there. I couldn't ever see him again. And it was all because of my decision of ignoring Unknown. I can't make that mistake again. 

Reece opened his mouth to argue, but then the door opened and a customer intruded the place. 

"Yes, what would you like to order?" Reece asked in his work voice, peering at the female customer from under his Gloria Jean's hat. That reminded me to put on my work apron and hat, and I followed the order. One iced coffee, no whipped cream. As I put in the mixture, I ripped open the paper of the straw. 

I looked more closely at the inside of the transparent straw. There was a something small and white embedded inside the circular straw. Self consciously, I tipped out the small paper out of the straw, and it fell onto the table. 

It was a paper note. 

What was a note doing inside a straw? 

I unravelled the small note, looked around to see if anyone was watching, then read it. 

Even cold coffee can keep you awake, but it can't freeze time, Adam.