"The knight." Ethan stared on, studying the figure who stood before us in the doorway.
"Me?" The young man narrowed his honey-colored eyes. Standing tall with strong-looking shoulders and a lean figure, he shifted his weight and tilted his head. It was easy to see the youth in him. He had to be in his early twenties or so, not much older than Ethan and I.
"The knight with the hair like the sun," Ethan murmured as if allowing his words to sink in.
The young man looked away self-consciously and gave a nervous chuckle. "I'm not a knight." He glanced up, meeting my gaze and I held my breath in anticipation. "I'm Owen, and this is my place."
"Owen?" Ethan said with surprise in his tone. "Your place?" He glanced back to look at me with fear in his eyes.
I gulped and stepped from behind my brotherly shield. "Um, we just found this place a day ago and—"
"Hey, you found my bandana!" Owen's smile instantly brightened the mood. "And you're wearing my clothes." His suspicious stare had the opposite effect. "So, uh, who exactly are you guys?"
The stubborn silence knotted my gut until Ethan answered, "I'm Ethan. This is my sister Allison."
"Your sister?" Owen's gaze quickly traveled my body, and I successfully prevented a shudder. "She's your sister?" He scoffed, attempting to control his laughter by pressing his fingers to his lips. "You're trying to tell me that she is your sister? You really expect me to believe that?"
I glared at the insult and the once-striking grin on his face. "Why is that so hard to believe?"
He laughed, this time allowing it to come out freely. "Well, he's obviously Asian and you must be black or something."
"So?" I folded my arms across my chest.
"And you both look like you've been starving yourselves," he added. "You guys okay?" That wasn't concern on his face, he was teasing us.
Ethan mimicked me and crossed his arms and stiffened his spine. "What do you want from us?"
Owen innocently raised his palms. "Hey, I'm just revisiting my place and found you in it with your girlfriend."
"I'm not his girlfriend!" I was shocked that my voice quivered less out of fear and more from the anger his smirk suddenly triggered. "Do you want us to leave now?"
"You don't have to leave . . ." Owen stared behind us and into the hut. "But I would like to see what you've done to the place." He stepped between us, made his way in, and walked the perimeter of the bed. "I see my bed is being used." He winked at Ethan. Ethan looked to me. I shook my head.
Owen turned and paused at the bookshelf. "You guys read a lot? Do you even know how?"
"I love reading," I snapped. "All the time."
"Good." He nodded as if giving his approval. "Me too, obviously. All of the romance novels are for the ladies."
"Right." I rolled my eyes, annoyed by his demeanor.
He grinned and continued toward the window and the seat in front of it. "It's been years since I been to this place. And you didn't just find my spot a day ago, I can tell. So how long you guys been here?"
I stayed mum, waiting for Ethan to answer. "We've been here awhile now, but we can leave. We don't want any trouble."
"I'm not giving you trouble, am I?" Owen seemed offended by Ethan words. "You guys hiding out or something? I ask because me and my dad built this place away from travel and trails so no one could ruin my need for privacy when I was here. In other words, it's a hell of a spot for hiding."
"We're not hiding." I studied Owen's carefree personality, looking for any hint of the evil murderer I witnessed the other day. But when he locked eyes with me and smiled, a sign became more difficult to uncover.
"Well, how did you find my place?" He fingered the smooth shaven skin on his chin. "It's not like we built it on the side of a road or along a hiking trail or anything."
I nodded, trying to imitate his behavior by loosening up and not being so tense and defensive. "We were hiking off-trail and came upon it."
"Is that right?" He flashed a sly grin. "Are you young wanted criminals or fugitives or something?"
"No!" Ethan's face twisted in disgust. "We haven't done anything wrong or illegal."
Owen's bright eyes widened in amusement. "Are you runaways?"
It was silent.
He nodded and kept that sly grin on his face. "Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." He sat on the corner of the bed causing the springs to creak. "Your secret's safe with me."
No matter how much I tried to get my nerves to settle down they wouldn't cooperate. It was hard to control my emotions when face-to-face with another person after so long. The energy in the room made everything seem so surreal. So many questions swirled in my mind, but one I had to ask. "Why did you come back after so many years?"
"I used to come here all the time, especially during the cold months." When he looked at me, I battled a surge of mixed emotions. "When my parents moved to Virginia a few years ago, I tagged along to be close to my family, but whenever I get the chance--usually during the winter--I come and hangout for a few days. Time away from the city does wonders for your mental health." He chuckled as if it were a joke.
Ethan didn't laugh, he only glanced out the door as if he were determining the distance he had traveled. "All the way from Virginia?"
"That's right." He maintained a pleasant smile. "I usually put together plans for a road trip with my buddies or my girl."
With those words, my eyes instinctively darted towards the frozen lake.
"What would you do here for days?" Ethan asked.
Owen leaned over onto the mattress and rested comfortably on his elbow. "If I was alone I would read, fish, or relax. If I was with my buddies we would go hunting or drink and just hang out. But when I brought my girl here we would ..." he grinned, exposing perfect teeth, "... you know."
Ethan moved closer, interest and enthusiasm brightened his eyes. "What would you guys drink?"
"Beer, what else is there?" He shook his head and laughed as if he was chatting with an old friend.
Although he seemed normal with the ability to be friendly, the ease of his conversation and his nonchalant put-on upset me. Does Ethan see through it too? I made a face. "I hate beer."
"Girls don't like it because it's bitter." He shrugged.
"No, I never drank it." I imagined the empty brown bottles that used to take up most of the free space in our home. "I just hate it when our dad drank it. It stinks."
Owen scoffed and sat forward. "You can let up on the brother-sister nonsense already."
I rolled my eyes and smacked my lips. "We are brother and sister."
"Sure, and I'm a knight." His sarcasm was plain as day.
Ethan flash an angry sneer. "We are."
"Whatever." Owen shook his head as if we were trying to fool him but failed. "What I'm getting is your 'dad' was a drunk or something. Is that why you ran away?"
Out of all the emotion I wrestled with, it was easier to allow my anger to show. "I'm not saying anything else to you."
He cocked his head as if studying me. "Don't I get to know a little about the people who just took over my place? I mean, that's the least you can do is just answer a few questions. I answered yours."
"We're comfortable here." Ethan moved closer to me, a subconscious move that told me he had my back. "We have nowhere else to go."
"That's fine," Owen said. "But why not? What are you running from?"
"If we answer your questions will you let us be?" Ethan tucked his hands in his coat pocket and lifted his chin.
Owen raised his palms and shrugged. "Like I said, I'm not giving you guys any trouble."
"Will you leave and never come back?" I glared.
"Well ... I can't agree to that." He looked from me to Ethan with a gleam in his light brown eyes. "This is my place. I built it with my dad years ago. These are my things, this is my property, and I can't just hand it over so easily."
"Well, what do you want?" Ethan remained at my side, eyes still glued to Owen's.
Owen stayed seated. He looked around the room before pausing on the bandana around my neck. "Well—" He finally looked up, glancing back and forth between Ethan and me. "I would really like to get to know you."
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