Death Comes With Open Arms

Chapter 7: Little Do We Know

A few minutes after I was sent out and talked to Ektor, Ryker emerged from the building. "Hey, how'd it go?" I ask him. "Great," Ryker says with a smile. I look at his lips and I try to hide a slight look of surprise on my face. I never noticed that Ryker had such sharp teeth. They're very long and sharp, almost like the teeth of a Venus Fly Trap. Ryker makes eye contact with me and I quickly look away. I need to stop zoning out. "Ready to go, Little Saplings?" Ektor asks, breaking the tension. "Oh, yeah. I'm ready," I say. Ryker nods but doesn't say anything. He hasn't said much since talking to that mayor lady. I hope he's okay. Ektor leads us into the town, past the tall building the mayor was in, and to a small cottage. The cottage, despite the rest of the town, is in good shape. It has two bedrooms and one bathroom and seems as if it were prepared for planned guests. I highly doubt anyone sane would willingly visit this dump so it was probably just a coincidence. Ektor gave us a small tour of the cottage before parting ways and leaving me and Ryker. The only issue?... It was insanely awkward. We just sat there on a velvet couch for an hour, listening to the ticking of a clock. I started to get tired of the awkwardness so I decided to say something. "So, Ryker. What did that... Woman... Say to you?" I ask. "Oh, nothing important. She just gave us details of our cottage and how the village is doing," Ryker says. "Ah... How come she knew your name?" I ask. Ryker seems a bit taken aback of the question before clearing his throat and answering. "Well, I used to live in this town—well, the other version—a while ago. That was before I moved to your village. I used to sneak around late at night and managed to find myself here," he says. "I thought you lived in our village your whole life. That's what you said," I say. "Well, I did but didn't," Ryker says. "Mhm," I say, "But...?" "I lived in your village my whole life but my parents have been separated and I would stay here over the summer with my mother," Ryker says. I was starting to think he was hiding something but I think I'm just paranoid being here. Also how awkward it is right now contributes to it. "Oh, sorry they separated," I say. "Nah, it's alright. I've never been a fan of my mom anyways," Ryker says, trying to brush it off. "Couldn't have been easy though," I say. Ryker sighs and says, "No, not really, but you do what you've got to do." I can tell it's a difficult topic for him. No one likes to talk about their pasts—especially not their traumatic pasts. Ryker breaks me out of my train of thought when he lays back and puts his arm around the back of the couch and around me. "Um...," I say, trying to point it out. Ryker looks at me and then at his hand. "Oh, sorry," he says as he moves his arm back. I nod awkwardly before we make eye contact. This is so awkward. I wish Ektor wouldn't have left us alone. Why did he put us in the same cottage, alone? "You know, I'm going to go to my room and, uh... Freshen up. I've been in these same clothes for a few days, you know? Don't want to stink now, do I?" I say awkwardly as I scramble out of the room. I quickly close the door behind me and exhale in relief. I'm so glad I got out of that. I did have a point though. It's been a few days, maybe even a week since my house burned and... Them with it. I swallow hard and shake my head to snap myself out of it. I need to focus. Shower first, sad stuff after? What am I saying? I definitely have some issues I need to work out. Plus, the stuff with Ryker? You have a whole boyfriend, Thyra. You need to get yourself together. I undress myself and put my dirty clothes into what I assume is a washer. I don't understand half of the things here. Everything is so weird and confusing. I lay out a fresh towel and a pair of clothes before getting into the shower. The water is icy cold on my skin and takes forever to heat up. It was practically freezing in there. It was so cold the water could have turned into snow and I'd have my own, personal property in Antarctica brought to me. These people could start an ad for those icy cool gum packs with how icy cool this water is. After a few minutes it finally heated up. I got out of that shower quickly after the water became boiling hot though. I'm done with this... World? dimension? Whatever it is. Probably some random country in Europe. Who knows with this place? Europe is huge. I quickly get dressed into a new pair of clothes I managed to pack before leaving the house then finger comb my hair. I wish they had some hair brushes in here. Maybe even a toothbrush. Maybe they'll have some in the drawers. I open the bathroom drawers. The first one, empty. The second one, empty. The third one, luckily for me, has everything I need. It has a bunch of toothbrushes, hair brushes, perfumes, colognes, everything you could possibly need in a bathroom. So this is what they mean by "the kitchen sink". I wouldn't be surprised if they had a dead body with all of the stuff in here. I grab what I need and after about an hour, I finish freshening us. I leave my room and prepare for the very awkward encounter I'm about to have with Ryker. I enter the living room and find Ryker still sitting on the couch. His hair is wet from showering and he has on a new pair of clothes. Damn, he looks hot like that. No, no, Thyra. You have a boyfriend. This is technically cheating. "You good?" Ryker asks. Shit, I was staring at him. "Uh... Yeah," I say awkwardly. Ryker pats a spot next to him and I sit down. "You, know, Thyra," he says calmly, "I think I know why you've been acting weird lately." "Oh... Uh... Why?" I ask. Have I really been that obvious? I feel so terrible right now. I feel sick to my stomach. "Because of your parents and house," Ryker says, "Just know, you don't have to hide it, I'm here for you." I relax some and smile softly. "Yeah, that's why... I appreciate it a lot, Ryker. You've helped me a lot," I say, "And I really mean it. You're the best friend I could ever ask for." "No problem. That's what friends are for," Ryker says with a smile. "Yeah," I say. Ryker playfully elbows me and laughs. It's been a while since I heard him laugh last. I elbow him back and giggle softly. "It's starting to get late," he says suddenly. With all that's happened, I've completely forgotten I haven't slept in days and it's really late. I nod and lay back on the couch. I feel my eyes begin to feel heavy and I drift off to sleep. The slumber is calm and peaceful. I feel safe with Ryker by my side... That was until he wasn't, because when I opened my eyes again, all that overwhelm my ears are screams.