Eyes of Ice

Chapter One

          "Listen," Aaron's father closed his eyes and stood up straight raising a finger up. Aaron just stared at him as he listened but heard nothing but the chimes that hung from the porch of their new home. A few birds were singing from the trees surrounding and there was rustling from the leaves and branches swaying lightly in the gentle breeze. "No car horns. No yelling. No noise," his father finally explained. "Ah, yea...that," Aaron responded unenthusiastically.
               Aaron lived in Manhattan his whole life. It's all he knew. As peaceful as their new home was, it made him uneasy. It felt too unfamiliar. He panicked on the drive upstate when he realized it was missing his usually comforts like McDonalds. On the ride they stopped for coffee at a shop that was family owned and Aaron ran into a music store two doors down just to find something familiar. He thought for sure they'd have artists he'd heard of. But somehow they didn't. The whole place was filled with strange folk music.
           "Can you grab the last two boxes from the trunk for me?" Aaron snapped out of his daze and looked up at his father on the porch, "what?" "I said could you grab the last two boxes?" "Oh yea sure." Aaron piled the last of the boxes one on top of the other and carried them up the porch steps. "DUDE!!!" A voice screeched out from inside the house as a man came barreling out of the house onto the porch. He had red hard and a red beard and mustache. He was wearing raggedy jeans and a faded bright blue graphic tshirt. Aaron's childhood friend Ryan was used as a bargaining chip in order for Aaron's father to convince Aaron to move to the country. "I call loft!!" Ryan said. "Wait there's a loft?!" Aaron said surprised. "Yea and it's perfect!" "Well why the hell do you get it?" "Cuz you owe me. You didn't wanna come out here without your best friend so what did I do? I dropped everything to babysit your ass," Ryan chuckled. Aaron sucked his teeth. He knew he was right.     
                     Aaron pushes passed Ryan and placed the last two boxes on the floor in the soon to be dining room. He grabs the car keys off a hook by the door and clicks once for the trunk to close itself and clicks again the activate the alarm. He threw the keys back on the hook, "show me." Ryan leads the way as they head passed two double doors and up the stairs. On the second floor there was an open room when you first reach the top of the stairs. There was a hallway on the left and a door on the right, and between them was a narrow staircase that led up to a small door that was about three quarters the size of a typical door. "What the hell is that little baby dick door?" Aaron huffed. "THAT is my fuckin room," Ryan state's proudly. "You kidding? It looks like an attic crawl space." "Just go up and look," Ryan said excitedly.
              Aaron climbed the narrow steps and opened the small door. It was huge. It was the size of two large bedrooms and it stretched all the way to other end of the house and had a window at the end. "COCK SUCKER, THERE'S NO WAY!" Aaron shouted as he turned and sneered down at Ryan. Ryan started laughing. "Man, if you helped my dad unload the car like I did because I'm not a lazy shit, I'd have found this first and had a chance to call dibs," Aaron argued as he walked back down the narrow steps. "Hey, don't blame Bert for this. He's a gentleman and a scholar." "I'm not blaming him, I'm blaming you, ass!" Aaron laughed. Ryan laughed as he head downstairs. "I take it this is gunna be my room then," Aaron said as he opened the door under the loft. Ryan was already down the stairs when he called up, "YEP!"

            Aaron shook his head as he looked into his bedroom. It was a quarter the size of the loft. It had two windows on the wall to his right and directly ahead of him were two doors. He walked over and opened the first door on the left. It was a small closet. He closed the door and walked over to the door on the right and opened it. It was a full bathroom with an old fashioned bathtub that had a shower curtain that hung on an oval rod suspended by strings attached to the ceiling. "Well that's pretty cool," Aaron said to himself. He walked out of his bedroom and leaned over the railing and called out, "Well I have my own bathroom! Having fun going up and down two flights of stairs to take a fuckin leak, asshole!" Aaron chuckled waiting for Ryan to respond. No answer. "RY?" Aaron called out louder. Still no response. "Fuck did he go?" Aaron said under his breath as he made his way downstairs.
               He made his way into the kitchen before he could hear Ryan's voice outside in the back. Aaron assumed Ryan was talking to his dad but just as he turned to walk back to the stairs he heard a girls voice. Aaron stopped and listened for a moment. He could hear Ryan using his flirtatious voice. Aaron immediately turned back around and headed for the back door in the kitchen. He opened the door and stepped out and saw Ryan leaning on the banister of the deck in an attempt to look aloof. In front of him stood a petite girl with short black wavy hair. She was pale with freckles and wore a black crop top and high wasted jeans. The kitchen door slammed behind Aaron, and the girl looked over and saw him. Ryan could already tell by the look on her face that she found Aaron attractive. Ryan's head dropped as he huffed, "fuck."

         "Hi," Aaron called out. "Hey," she answered as she took a few steps toward him. "I'm surprised you didn't come out here shirtless, flashing your man pecks," Ryan teased. "Shut up," Aaron said as his eyes only glanced at Ryan for a moment before they jumped back to the girl. "I'm Aaron." "Kitty," she said as she pushed her hair behind her ear. "Kitty? That's a cute name. And you just happen to be all small and..." "Furry?" Kitty laughed. "Actually I was gunna say cute," he chuckled. She smiled and giggled shyly, "thank you." "Yuck, I'm gunna go make a sandwich," Ryan stated as he headed back to go inside. He made sure to punch Aaron's shoulder as he passed him on his way to the door. Aaron grunted and held his shoulder. The kitchen door closed behind him.
              "Poor guy," Aaron said as he swung his arm and winced. "I kinda feel bad...he was peacocking pretty hard before you came out." "He'll get over it," Aaron shrugged. "KITTY!" A voice called out from across the yard. There was a house very similar to Aaron's that was about fifty yards from the property. A girl was making her way toward Kitty and Aaron. "Who's that?" Aaron asked. "That's my cousin, Harley. I live with her and my Aunt and Uncle." "Harley?" "Her dads a biker," she chuckled, "but sometimes I call her Harley Quinn." "That's awesome," Aaron chuckled. "HEY!!" Harley called out. She was now about half of the way. "Come here!" Kitty yelled time her. "It's time to eat! We'll come back!" Harley said. "Oh dang, okay so I guess I'll see you later?" Kitty asked hopeful for an invite. "Oh yea definitely. Come by whenever," Aaron smiled. Kitty started walking backward, "okay...later!" She smiled and fluttered her finger bashfully as she turned and began jogging toward Harley. Aaron watched her go. When she got to Harley he couldn't hear what they were saying but Harley looked back at Aaron to check him out. Aaron chuckled to himself and waved at Harley. She quickly waved back and they both hurried home.

            Aaron turned and headed back into the house with a goofy smirk on his face. "She's cute," Bert said holding his coffee mug and leaning by the window. Aaron was startled and jumped and grabbed his chest. He chuckled, "yea she's cute, sweet too." "What's her name?" Bert asked as he took a sip. "Kitty." "Oh THAT'S Kitty??" Bert said as he jumped to look out the window to see if he can see her again. "Why? What? What do you know about her?" Aaron asked. "Well I was in town earlier kinda just getting to know the locals and I heard that we had neighbors who took their niece in because she's um..." Bert hesitates to finish his sentence. "She's what?" Aaron asked concerned. "Well apparently the man is a psychiatrist and the niece, Kitty...is a bit of a looney." Aaron's eyes opened wide and he thought about how sweet she was. "I mean that's what I heard...it could just be gossip. You know these small towns. People get bored and make up stories to entertain themselves," Bert tried to reassure him. "I'm supposed to see her later," Aaron said as his eyes shifted with his thoughts. "I don't think she's like...violent or anything. Maybe just talk to her and see for yourself."