Two weeks went by before anyone took down the yellow police tape they had spun up around our tree house. Until that night, only we had known about it's wear abouts.
James and I stood before it in the blinding light of the sun wearing our shades.
His blue shorts were about two inches above the knee and perfectly matched the Florida shirt he had gotten from his aunt. She was the one who was taking him to that school out there. With his sneakers and the baby blues hidden behind those black UV blockers he really was the color of sad. A deep dark abyss of blue.
Logan was missing.
The Garcia's hadn't even spoken to us, let alone let James get any kind of memorabilia for his late lover.
As for me... I just felt... numb. I wasn't affected by any of this. It worried me how little I cared. It worried me how distant I was. How distant I am today.
The inside of our hide away was an absolute wreck. The detectives hadn't left a stone unturned. All I could do was stare as James moved across the mess they had left that neither of us planned on cleaning up. My interest peaked when he knelt down behind the couch pressing his hands against the false board to pop it free. I met him down there and rested my chin on my knee as he pulled out the box.
The box was a small wooded chest we had hidden there when we were thirteen. That was the worst year of our lives. Up until now... but puberty sucks for everyone.
He twisted the lock and the lid swung open. Each of us had placed one item inside the box with a solemn promise we would never open it until one of three things happened.
One, we survived the apocalypse.
Two, we added a fifth member to our group.
Three, we lost a member.
In this case... we had lost two. I could tell he didn't care about Logan anymore. I, however, was still deeply concerned with why he wasn't here. Something told me he wasn't the one who killed Carlos. Something told me it was something out of all of our control.
James pulled out a set of sweat bands. One for each wrist and a head band. All purple. That was Carlos' color. We all had one. James was blue, Carlos was purple, Logan was green, and I was yellow. To me it was more of a cream or a brownish white but the yellow fit the theme.
Each of us had a dream. Each of us had a goal. Each one of us would change the world.
James was the face, he would change the way the world looked at itself.
Carlos was the body, he would change the way the world moved.
Logan was the brain, he would change the way the world thought.
I was the soul, I would change the way the world felt.
"Boys! Are you up there..." As with every rainbow, there's always more than four colors. Black. Lucy Stone was a stone cold rock star, the ears. She would change the way the world listened.
I stood up to leave James with his thoughts to smile down at the girls from the window. "Hey."
"Hey yourself..." Silver. Jo Taylor was an actress with the worlds best poker face, the skin. She would change the way the world presented itself.
"You coming down any time soon?" Red. Camille Roberts was the wicked witch of the west side, the blood. She would change the way the world loved.
My concern fell onto her the moment she said that. Camille was Logan's person. Even when they weren't together they were together. A due people fawned over. I admired her... she and I were pretty close considering how connected I was to Logan. He was like a brother to me, even more so than James or Carlos. I love them all but Logan and i had this interconnection I can't really explain.
I looked back to see James nodding as he slipped one of the green bands onto his wrist before rising to his feet still clutching the box. The two of us left the tree house.
"Tell me..." Lucy spoke first. "You abandoning us pretty boy?"
He looked up slipping his shades off to tuck them in his shirt with a sigh. "Never..." Brushing through the girls he started walking into the trees.
We followed.
I froze when we got to the oak. Jo was always paying attention to me so she noticed when my face had changed. "You okay?"
I snapped a look in her direction that caused her to take a step back.
"You look like you've seen a ghost." Camille climbed the tree choosing to sit in the exact spot I had met the creature.
"Maybe so... existence is weird." I said as James knelt down on the ground with the box.
"I want to do something special..." He whispered.
The girls shared a look. A weird smile spread across their face.
Reaching into her purse Jo pulled out a little boat. She looked at me. "I went by your house first to see if you were there." She gave me this sheepish half grin when she handed it to me. "Your sister gave me this... she said something about a dream and mentioned your special box."
I'm afraid of my sister. I don't know why but she's always filling the scene even when she isn't around. I like to think Katie is a computer chip, something that belongs no where near mankind. A tech geek. She's going to change the way the world evolves.
"She mentioned that you guys all have something special in the box so we..." She reached into her bag again to pull out a small digital camera. One she had since she was about eight years old. We actually met with the flash going off in my eyes as she took my picture.
Lucy reached around behind her neck and unhooked her chain. Obsidian was a stone of strength. Something she needed if she was going to survive the next few weeks.
Camille stuck her hand in her swamp girl boots to pull out a thin white candle that dripped red wax when burned.
With my warbler feather quill, Logan's framed monarch, and Jame's lucky comb, maybe Carlos wouldn't feel so lonely.
James put everything in the box and set the box inside the boat. Making sure to pull out the glass encased butterfly to fling it against the oak shattering it to bits before pushing the boat into the water to float down the lake. A bitter taste filled my mouth as the vision of bones being ripped from Logan's open chest filled my mind.
Camille must have felt or saw something to because she looked at me like the world was in the process of ending. Maybe... just maybe... it was.