What Lies Beneath

Chapter Seven: The Sound of Silence

Wyatt waved goodbye to the taxi driver who was kind enough to give him a lift from the train station to what looked like an abandoned house. All during his trip he had tried to imagine what this place would look like, but never in a million years could he have pictured this. Though the sun was up the house still looked dark and ominous.

When he had gotten out of the taxi his first thought was that he should turn around and go back to the train station, but he didn't have a return ticket or enough money to purchase one. In fact, he barely had enough money to cover his fare. Sadly, he knew that even if he did find a way to get back to the boy's home that there was no guarantee that they would take him back.

To make sure that he was able to go to this home, he didn't bother telling anyone that he was leaving. If he were to return, then he would get shuffled through the system again and who knows where he might end up. No, this was the better option. Besides it probably looked a lot nicer on the inside.

Holding onto his optimism, Wyatt walked up the wooden steps to the foreboding door and then pressed the doorbell. He rocked back and forth on his heels while he waited for someone to open the door and let him in. During his wait he couldn't help but notice that there wasn't a single noise from and animal or anything else coming from the property.

Normally, he was surrounded by the sounds of animals talking at him in his head, but all he had heard since he had arrived at the house was silence. Before he had time to contemplate the silence more, the door swung open.

A frail elderly woman stood in front of him. Her small stature had him craning his neck down to see her, while she had to look up at him.

"Glad you could make it Wyatt." The woman's voice was soft and came out like a melodic song.

"Me too." Wyatt didn't question the fact that she knew his name. He figured that she had probably seen his picture in his file when they sent the request for him to stay there.

"Would you like to come in, we just sat down to breakfast a few moments ago." At the mention of breakfast, Wyatt's stomach growled. He hadn't eaten since the night before.

"Breakfast would be great."

"Wonderful." The woman closed the door behind Wyatt after he entered the house. She then led him to the kitchen where she made him a plate of eggs and some toast. The smell caused his entire mouth to water in anticipation.

When he followed the woman into the dining room, he was quick to notice what looked like an intense stare off between an old lady and a girl that looked about his age. They both looked up at him as he sat down across from the younger girl.

"Hi, I'm Wyatt." He would have reached out to shake the girl's hand, but the table was too wide.

"Karen." Something about the way that she looked at him cause him to pause for a moment. She had green eyes and shoulder length brown hair. She wasn't the prettiest girl that he had ever seen, but she certainly came close.

"You been here long?"

"Got in last night." Wyatt took a bite of his eggs and smiled with satisfaction. While chewing he noticed that there wasn't anyone at the table other than Karen and the two elderly women.

"Are the others going to come join us?"

"There isn't anyone else." He felt the girl's eyes on him as he took stock of the situation.

"More are coming." Both Karen and Wyatt looked over in surprise at the sound of the woman's voice. The lady who had spoken was the woman he had met upon his arrival. Unable to think of a response to what the woman had said, Wyatt decided to eat in silence for the rest of the meal.