Silhouettes

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The night surrounding the abandoned house was uncomfortably silent as three silhouettes looked up at the sun-bleached outer wall. The tallest of the group quickly scaled the crumbling brick, wedging his fingers into cracks that had formed over years of negligence. He perched on the top of the wall, his dark eyes flashing back to the two figures left on the ground as he stretched out an open palm.

The smallest of the figures looked over at her companion’s grimace before grabbing the offered hand. She was pulled her up onto the ledge and dangled her bare legs over the far side, looking over her shoulder once at the remaining figure before dropping out of sight with a light thud.

The last figure looked at the hand the first had once again offered and then to the open air where the second had been only a moment before. He grumbled to himself and squeezed his fingers into the shallow cracks. The first figure watched, amused, from the top of the wall as the climbing boy made little progress. And then, halfway up the wall, with arms aching and fingers sore, the dip where his foot rested crumbled. As the world came rushing back up at him, a strong hand caught the hood of his jacket, pulling him painfully upward until he could grab on to the edge of the rough stone.

He hoisted himself up on to the top and steadied himself on the bricks, looking at his rescuer with disdain. The dark eyes of the first shadow flickered skyward in annoyance before joining the girl inside the confines of the property. The final figure slipped over soon after, landing heavily on his feet and running to catch up with the other two, who were already making their way through the overgrown garden to the house’s front porch.

“Dammit, Carine!” His loud whisper carried far across the dead silence of the night. “Why’d I let you talk me into this? We’re only going to get caught, and I can tell you, my parents aren’t going to be happy at all if they know I’ve been skulking around on abandoned lots at who knows what hour with certain..” the brunette nodded his head towards the boy walking a few paces behind his friend, “unsavory characters.”

“Obviously not ‘unsavory’ enough or I’d have let you fall on your ass back there.” The brunette’s face flushed a red that was indiscernible under the cover of night and his tone turned a touch more defensive than he’d have liked.

“I would have been fine if you did.”

“Fine. I’ll keep that in mind next time.” The girl, who had pulled ahead while the others were bickering, came to an abrupt halt and whirled on the boys, nearly causing them both to run into her.

“Let’s get something straight before we do anything else, okay? Finnian,” she gave the brunette boy a heated look, “I need to see what’s in that house. You solve whatever ‘macho’ problems you have with Deven when we’re not in the middle of a creepy garden at night. Got it?” He nodded, but mumbled something under his breath as he pushed his glasses up his nose. “Good.” The girl whirled on her heel and walked towards the house again.

“And Deven,” her voice floated back through the dead air, “try not to be too much of an ass.” The boy with the dark eyes let out a sharp laugh and followed the path Carine had beaten through the underbrush.

“Not my fault he makes it so easy.”

“Hey!”

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