From A to Z

D

The boys sprang to different directions. Alex, Dennis, and Louis went to one of the rooms downstairs, while the rest went upstairs and fought over the scarce bed space. Despite hearing the commotion above, Mateo and Zach still went upstairs to try their luck.

Adam, meanwhile, entered the remaining room in the house. He switched on the brown lantern made from abaca textile which gave the small room a dim yellow light. He scanned his eyes around the barely furnished room. Pushed to the left wall was a queen-sized bed; on top of which was a black and white striped mattress, which he guessed came from a military camp. The mattress was folded in half to prevent dust from setting on one side and onto the pillows squeezed in between the folded mattress. Opposite the bed was a small cabinet where Adam found a clean bed sheet, pillowcases, and some extra pillows, as well as a kulambo.

He was about to fix the bed when he heard footsteps going down the stairs. Mateo was holding Zach's hands, assisting him, as they descend the steps. The inclination of the stairs was a bit steep due to the height difference between the two floors. A person afraid of heights would have difficulty in going down such a staircase.

Adam watched the two of them and only spoke when they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"No more space?" he asked despite knowing the answer.

Mateo nodded. "It's a war zone there."

Adam laughed. "Well... we can share this room," he offered and pointed the room he came from.

"But, as the Alpha, you should have your own room," Mateo said, raising one of the rules of their fraternity. Indeed, as a sign of respect to the head of their brotherhood, the Alpha ought to have his own private room where no one has access to except him, and no one can step in the premises of this said room unless allowed by him.

"True, but that rule only applies when we are in the frat house," Adam responded. "Besides, where will the two of you sleep? In the van?"

Mateo and Zach hesitated at first, but they eventually walked into the room with him.

The three of them stared at the single bed in the room, trying to imagine how they would fit themselves on it for the night. Should they sleep with their bodies outstretched horizontally on the bed, sacrificing each other's personal spaces? Or should they sleep vertically, but compromising their comfort? But they can settle that issue later when they were to sleep already. In the meantime, Adam and Mateo fixed the bed, covered it with the floral bed sheet, while Zach covered the pillows with the pillowcases of matching design.

Afterwards, Mateo and Zach excused themselves and stepped out of the room. Adam was starting to think that there might be something with the two of them because they were always by each other's side. But as soon as scenarios started to appear in his wild imagination, he realized, and he comforted himself with this realization, that Zach was acquainted with no one in their group other than Mateo and that Mateo owed Zach for helping them, for saving him, despite the last-minute notification.

Cold air swayed the curtains of the room, but it was not enough to cool Adam's body. The humid weather left him feeling hot and sticky; he needed to take a bath to freshen himself.

When he went out of the room with his towel and toiletries, he heard a squeaking sound coming from outside of the house. It gave him a chilling impression like it was coming from a being other than a human. He took light steps towards the door. Before he can press his ears against the wall, the sound stopped and the silence, which resumed, was unnerving. He was staring at the door, contemplating whether to open it and check where the sound was coming from, when it suddenly flung open by itself.