EMBER IN DARKNESS Chapter 4 (Trouble)

“Huh?” I was surprised to find a pillow under my head and a blanket above me. The TV’s already switched off but not the fireplace.
“River?”
He’s asleep.
Slowly, I grabbed a small pillow and placed it on the armrest-just under his head, carefully lifted his feet and shared the blanket with him, then, continued to sleep.
The following morning, Dr. Burke woke me up.
“I heard that you’re scared of butterflies. Don’t worry, no garden meals from now on.” He smiled.
“Thanks, it’s okay.” Above him, the humongous painting was bathed in a golden light. “Nice ceiling.”
“I’ll tell you more about it next time…” He patted my head and proceeded to the main door.
I’m not a dog.
River was behind me the whole time. He looked at Dr. Burke and narrowed his eyes which turned black later.
“See? You’re at it again!” I remarked, a little impressed at the phenomena. “You’re wearing mood contacts aren’t you? You know, like mood rings?”
As always, he was again, fascinated in ignoring me. I looked at the very nicely-molded statuette of a blowfish puffed up at the center of the table.
I wonder… would it be stuck to his head, or will the spikes leave a horrible scar on his scalp?
“I wish you have some pets around here so you could soften a little.” Butterflies don’t apply.
On second thought, if they would have a pet here, River might just…torture the poor thing.
He noticed that I was staring at him and looked my way.
When our eyes met, I wanted to look away. Instead, I slowly shook my head at him and sighed.
Outside, a group of guards rushing towards the front gate caught my attention.
Could there be something wrong, like a thief making his way inside?
An idea rattled my head: what if Spade is here again?
If the guards spot him-an uninvited guest and trespasser, they might shoot him!
“My brother might be there.” Before I could stand up, River stood in front of me.
“Hey, move over.”
He didn’t even blink.
“Look, that person at the gate might be my brother! If he gets hurt, I swear I’ll-“ a half-dressed guy suddenly showed up behind him, splattered with the blood of those guards who came after him earlier.
“River…” I pointed over his shoulder.
The bloody guy stopped in his tracks, a few feet away from me and River, whose eyes I believe are back to black.
“Lily Rione…” he grunted, breathing heavily.
“Yeah?” a torn pair of pants and a bare chest and feet, all stained in blood-BLOOD!
He glared at River, like he’s going to kill him.
“Uhm…who…?” I gulped, uncertain of what to ask…
“My name is Fathom.”
Fathom nodded at me and growled at River, showing his pointed teeth; after which, he pounced away and disappeared behind the bushes.
“What was that?...” I remained in my chair, still digesting shock.
“River?” even by tapping his back, he doesn’t seem to care, still in the position he was in five minutes ago…I’ve jumped out of my chair and he still didn’t notice.
“Oh, my God. Your eyes…” Everything, even the whites of his eyes showed pure darkness, a little red around his lids.
I waved my hand in front of his face but he’s still in a stance.
“You know what? I have no plans of doing this, but you’re leaving me with no choice.” Upon closing my eyes, my hand made its way to his cheek for a resonant SLAP.
“Whoa!” his hand caught my palm before it could even hit his cheek.
He was glaring at me, like Fathom was doing to him earlier.
“You’re scaring me…”
River continued digging into my eyes until I felt too scared to look at him, but still continued to do so.
The sound of my racing heartbeat reached my ears.
I’m not just scared, I’m mortified. “River…”
His eyes returned to a bright blue, mouth dropped open when he realized that he had my hand.
“Don’t ever do that again.” I turned away and ran outside, to look for the guards.
“Call an ambulance!!!” I yelled, seeing a pile of bodies torn to shreds.
“Sweetie, we can no longer help them…whoever did this new what he was aiming at.” Dr. Burke sat beside me, handing me a cup of warm chocolate with marshmallows. It’s almost nine in the evening and I still haven’t eaten anything with the disturbing picture engraved in my mind.
The ambulance crew took all the bodies hours ago to do an autopsy and there were a lot of questions asked...I was able to answer none. Even the media and neighbors crowded outside, obviously wanting more than what I know or what I’ve seen.
“Those guards had families too.” I felt a lump in my throat, thinking of the fact that some of those dead guys have children waiting for them at home.
“I …understand. Not to worry, the police are already reviewing the videos recorded by our security cameras. We have one at every corner of the house, so-“ he paused as an officer in black uniform approached him.
“Mr. Burke, we can’t make anything out of the videos. The criminal moved too fast, we could only see a black shadow darting around.”
“How about you son, did you recognize who he is or what he is?” Another officer with a bald head questioned River, who appears to be in another state of blank thinking.
“He doesn’t talk, but he was here when Fathom talked to me.” I interrupted baldie, who turned to me when River’s attention proved unattainable.
“What did he tell you?”
“He just asked my name, then, he ran off.”
“And you said his name is Fathom?”
I nodded.
“Do you know him? Are you sure you didn’t play with these cameras, nor did anything to the fifteen dead bodies outside your home?”
“Don’t blame me for something I didn’t do!” I yelled at him. The mug spilled on the bear carpet, staining the pure white fur, but that was the last of my concerns. Giving the bald officer a bad stare, I ran upstairs to my room and waited for them to leave.
The late evening news report was about the inciden. I switched to Nickelodeon when Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick, the Starfish, showed up on screen.
Somebody knocked outside.
“If you’re an officer, there’s nobody here and you can’t come in.” I called out.
River entered with two cans of soda and sat on the floor.
Well, he knows how to knock. He opened the cans and handed me one.
“Thanks, River.” I think he’s also fed up with the pointless interrogation downstairs.
He seemed amused with Spongebob, not taking eyes off the screen.
The tattoo on his nape caught my attention again.
“Felsaar bal dresda-“ I muttered to myself, reading the words as far as my eyes could see.
River suddenly pounced on me from the floor in a blink of an eye.
Speechless at his sudden attack, my eyes looked into his-white as ice, almost clear. His iris had blood spots.
“What are you?”I blurted out. These are not mood contacts.
He looked away and got off me.
“You’ve got to tell me what’s going on.” As I grabbed his wrist, I almost let go at the warmth he was giving off.
“Are you having a fever?” before I could feel for his forehead, River stepped away to the corner of the room and closed his eyes.
When he opened it, they were back to blue.
“You know what, for get it. I can’t force it out of you.” I decreased the TV volume a little and buried myself under the covers. “I’m going to sleep now. Turn it off when you leave. If not, you can sleep beside me, but don’t snore. Goodnight.”
I smiled and shut my eyes.
Questions can be set aside for tomorrow…I hate looking haggard on school days.
A bright ray of sun shone through my eyelids.
The first thing that popped into my head was: what should I wear?
Still a little ditzy, my legs wobbled as I stepped off the bed.
“What the-!” I nearly stepped on River, who was snoozing on the carpet, clutching to his own blanket.
I knelt beside him. He looks adorable and even if I zoom in, he doesn’t seem to notice.
“You are sooo hot.” Taking advantage of his unawareness, I gazed at him for five more minutes. Most guys with pale skin look gross, but he doesn’t. Black hair almost covered his eyes. Did he grow it that long so that he could hide it? Who’d want to hide eyes that look so beautiful, it’s impossible to think they’re real?
I’d love to crawl inside his arms. They’re so inviting.
So, here I am, drooling over him like any other girl would, when a beefcake is accessible.
Too bad I haven’t heard him talk. I’m still under the impression that he’s not mute or deaf.
Hmmm…What would his voice sound like?
“Hey, wise guy. Wake up. We’re off to school.”
Looks like he chose to sleep here-I wonder why he didn’t sleep beside me.
“Suit yourself.” I opened the wardrobe, eyeing the new clothes Dr. Burke got for me. It’s hard to find an outfit that could match my eyes-they’re a deep purple.
Dr. Burke obviously knew my taste. I spotted a cute white top, torn at the edges, trimmed short to show off my flat tummy and a brown mini-skirt that look nice with the grey, high-cut sneakers I’ve had my eye on half of the time.
How I wish I had a tummy ring.
When I checked River, he was no longer on the floor.
“Weirdo.” I proceeded with preparing myself for school.
Downstairs, the clinking of silver reached my ears as I descended, a little unsure if I am taking the right path.
“I was going to the right direction after all.” I proudly proclaimed to the two men who were sitting at the table.
“Good morning.” Dr. Burke greeted. I smiled at him and raised an eyebrow at River.
“I still need a map of this house.”
Dr. Burke chuckled. “I see you’re in a good mood to be butchered by your schoolmates today.”
“Yeah. I really can’t help it if they hate me for being beautiful.” I tossed my hair and chuckled. It was a joke, but Dr. Burke nodded while River continued staring.
“By the way, I love this outfit.” I grabbed a few slices of peaches and strawberries, then smothered them in whipped cream.
“You look pleasant in any outfit.” Dr. Burke remarked.
“Thanks, you’ve got great taste for women’s clothing.” I wonder if he was gay at some time in his life-they’re the only people who could turn a troll into a princess.
Breakfast went nicely despite the gruesome event yesterday-I’m ready to find out who killed my family and made my brother turn against me.