17

23. 1st of June

Two more days had passed and we spent every minute of it working on the cure for vampires. Unfortunately, I cannot say I have been successful. I am at a point where I don't know what else to do. Just when I think I've got something, I would test it with the vampire's blood and it would not work.

"Holy shit, Drew!" Rami screamed as the vampire's blood caught on fire. I held it up to the sun after mixing it with another chemical mixture and it burst into flames.

"Damn it." I threw the transparent tube on the ground out of frustration. "I'm tired, Rami. We've done everything we could. Nothing we do is working and we are running out of chemicals. We're going to have to come back to the hospital and get some more." I felt a headache growing as I thought about returning to the hospital.

Lysander is sitting on the swing by a tree, which we made yesterday, and swinging back and forth, watching me while Rami joins me on the ground and smiles. "It's okay. Don't stress over it. The vampire dude never said anything about a due date. Maybe when we're older and know more, and actually have jobs, that's when we'll make the cure. He won't go anywhere. He's not getting any older, so. No worries."

I laid my back down on the grass, moving away from the mixtures of chemicals in front of me. "You're absolutely right. I have all the time in the world. What if I never make the cure though? Like, what if I'm old and I still haven't made the cure. Would Idris kill me?"

"No." Lysander said coldly, his eyes focused on the ground.

Sighing, I put my attention back on the chemical mixtures on glassed containers. I have three mixtures that all failed, in front of me. One is white, one is red, the other is blue. One caught on fire, one did nothing and the other froze the blood. Each mixture is dangerous. Not a good idea to mix these compounds. I should just get rid of them.

I picked up the three mixtures and stood up.

"HOLY MATTER OF GALAXIES!" Rami jumped at the same time I stood, causing him to bump into me. I was caught off guard and almost fell to the ground, but Lysander caught me halfway through the fall.

"Dude, what the fuck." I gritted my teeth at the spilled chemicals. They didn't spill on me, thankfully. That would have burned. The blue chemical all went to the ground. All gone. Some of the white mixture spilled on the grass while over half of it had gone to the container with red chemicals, which now turned pink.

"What the fuck? Dude. Lysander's birthday is fucking up!"

I suddenly forgot about everything. I faced the man who caught my fall and punched him slightly. "Your birthday! What?!"

"Yeah! I just remembered. He told me when we were in the forest, when you were knocked out by a Sleeper. I was thinking about when we made the Sleepers. June first. He didn't tell me what year, but I remembered it mainly because he has the same birthday as Morgan Freeman." The boy with the glasses smiled sheepishly. "Happy birthday, man!"

I punched Lysander again. "I cannot believe you didn't tell me!" He just shrugs his shoulder, picking up the now empty container from the ground. "I feel so betrayed. What other secrets have you been telling Rami? Hmm? Hmm?"

"You don't want to know." Rami smirked at Lysander, who once again shrugged his shoulders. "This calls for a celebration! We need a cake and drinks! How many candles do we need? Five hundred?" Lysander opened his mouth to reply but Rami caught his arm and dragged him away. "Come on! We have to get cake! Drew, change into something nice. We have to party when we get back! Come on, old man!"

Wow.

***

While the boys left to buy some food, I cleaned up the chemical wastes I've created. The pink mixture in one container and two empty ones. June 1st is Lysander's birthday. June 1st. Every year at this day, I make a call to a woman named Alana Rojas. The good sibling. The favorite. The successful lawyer. I would call her and greet her a happy birthday, and we would have a five minute conversation about our lives. We aren't close at all. We weren't the closest siblings, but she's the only family I have left and I need to keep in touch. After the accident, we only have each other and I don't want to ruin that. I need to know if she's okay, even if it's just for five minutes. She is a busy woman, after all. But, due to certain circumstances, that five minute phone call will be delayed this year.