Riyad hesitated before following the siblings into the house. The moment he stepped inside, he instantly wheeled toward the table to the left. There was no one sitting there.
The house was filled with an air of emptiness.
His shoulders slumped. He was losing control of what was happening around him again. He felt like a ball that was being thrown around by catching hands. Somewhere along the way, he hoped to hit the net and roll away from it all.
"Where is the guy you've mentioned?"
"Relax, Jasper," said Carter. "They will be here in a minute."
Is this a trap?
"Carter!" yelled Yayli as her brother closed the door behind them. "Patch up his wound."
Maybe not.
"Yes, ma'am." Carter nodded, aggressively. "I heard cow dung can make wounds heal quicker."
Riyad winched. "I'd rather prefer bleeding to death."
Carter ran up the stairs. Riyad decided that standing in front of the door with wiggling toes would not make the time go by any quicker. He pulled a chair from the table and thumped down on it.
"Can I have a glass of water?" Even I can't escape the simulation...
"Sure," Yayli walked over to the kitchen on the left, which was connected to the dining room with no separation. "I'm guessing you fought whoever chased you off, huh? Must've been exhausting... Ya want some food, too?"
Riyad's stomach grumbled.
"I'll take that as a yes." She added: "We are starving, too actually."
He peered to see what Yayli was doing and was shocked to see her bent over a stove that was made of clay. She carefully lit it, only to have the room fill up with clouds of smoke. Riyad's eyes burned red. Through a fit of cough, Yayli managed to take some wood out until the stove was lit bright enough for her to put a clay pot on it. Once the smoke cleared, he realized just how empty the kitchen felt. There were only a couple of racks on the wall with pots, glasses, and utensils. On the floor, there was a straw mat with freshly picked green vegetables laid out.
Riyad's eyes dropped to a knife next to a cauliflower and his heart instantly squeezed itself. His fingernails scraped the table as a star of light flickered down the edge of the blade. He dug into his mind to find a topic to distract himself.
"Where are you guys' parents?"
"They are out fishing," she was quick with her reply.
His fingers eased. Hmm, some things have changed, it seems like...The guy who is going to come over...their parents, the ship...If this is a simulation, then it's probably breaking or maybe... Riyad didn't want to fill his head with other theories. The net... he thought instead.
A set of footsteps startled Riyad. They belonged to Carter, as he came down with a piece of cloth that looked like he ripped it from a shirt. He reached over to him and without a word, tugged Riyad's arm out and began examining it.
"That man must really love his chickens, huh? Nothing I can't fix, though."
It took only about a couple of minutes for Carter to rinse his wound and expertly, wrap it up. Riyad had a feeling that it wasn't the first time he had done something like this. It was almost as if Carter was a little too familiar with the technique. The mystery of the siblings deepened. It came to him that all the puzzle pieces were already hovering above him. All he needed to do was put them together.
Soon after, Yayli put down clay bowls in front of him and poured out some carrot soup for them to eat. Food! Riyad couldn't recall the last time he had been in the vicinity of cooked food. He stared at it with a drooling mouth and couldn't help but smile. Carrots were not his favorite, but at this point, he could even eat hay. He took in a deep breath, making sure to not let the aroma dissipate. He couldn't believe his own reaction to food and it sank in that his ordinary life was way past him now.
He looked up to catch the siblings glaring at him with scrunched noses.
"I know Yayli's cooking is good, but I didn't know that it's make-someone-cry good!"
She smacked Carter on the head. "What were you saying about my fried cauliflowers yesterday?"
He rubbed his head while scooting away from his sister.
"Thank you for the food, guys." Riyad chuckled. "Really..."
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Riyad felt not a single drop of shame as he scratched the bowl clean and reached over to the pot to pour some more in his bowl. As he began gobbling down on the food again, he caught Yayli's eyes. The spoon hovered over her smiling lips.
God, I feel like an idiot. He couldn't tell if the food was delicious or his feelings toward Yayli were masking the real taste. Regardless, it made him curious about her. At sixteen or whatever her age was, she already knew how to cook. Meanwhile, if Riyad's parents would leave him for a late night out with no food in the fridge, he would rather starve.
What would it be like to be in a relationship with her? Riyad let his shoulder loose at the thought of her leaving him because he was useless. She would probably fall for one of those chads from the school's football team. A girl like her needed to be with a man and Riyad was far from it. Yet, here he was, sitting opposite of Yayli, eating her food. Does that mean she likes me? He thought with a jolt. Jesus Christ, Riyad. She's just being a normal human being. I can't let myself feel this way until I can find a reason to...
He recalled his high school days and how many kids like him would consider a single glance from a girl as a sign of falling in love.
I'm such a— with a gulp, he realized that the whole time, he was actually staring at her. Yayli continued to look down at her food and back up at him in confusion.
Carter snapped his finger at him and pointed to his bowl. Riyad's face burnt with such ferocity, his eyes became watery and all of a sudden, the soup going down his throat felt like lava.
"S- sorry, I uh, was just wondering," he stammered, "ahem, excuse me, where is the person who was supposed to show up?"
It was now the siblings' turn to act oddly. They choked on their food and began coughing aggressively. Carter chugged his water and took his time to clear his throat.
"They should be here in about a minute," his voice cracked.
"They?"
"Not 'day.' 'They.'"
"That's what I just said."
A thought struck Riyad: what if Vinh was forcing them to lure him into a trap? He quickly thanked the gods that nobody could hear his thoughts, because the disrespect somehow managed to make the already hot soup inedible. How could he think of the siblings as traitors when they risked their lives to try to save him? He gripped the spoon. Here he was, staying with the siblings and deep down being glad that he was in their safe vicinity, instead of getting away from them, so they could be safe this time. Here they were, once again, risking their lives for his safety.
But why...they probably don't understand the danger of this situation. Riyad looked up at the door and thought of running off. They probably wouldn't chase him and he could probably climb a tree and hide inside it until dawn. His eyes veered back to his spoon before he sipped the soup with a slurp. Speaking of Vinh...where is that guy? Is he not here this time? Is he stuck in an alternate version of reality where the siblings are still dead? Maybe, I should still run away, just in case... He took another sip and savored the broth instead.
The rest of the day was spent with the same odd peculiarity of the moments before. Yayli ran off to run some errands while Carter stayed back with Riyad. Questions about the surprise guests would be warded off each time with a set of hiccups and coughs and occasional change of topic. Shortly after, Carter began avoiding conversations with him altogether and turned to stare out the window with his back to Riyad instead, who assumed that that was probably the most fun activity the people there did in their free time.
"Did Yayli go to find the...um, strong person?"
"I need to get some more hay for the horse," Carter muttered to himself.
"Will your parents be home soon?"
"The Milkman should be here tomorrow..."
Dammit, I completely messed up my chance of getting to know them better, Riyad cursed himself for not being deliberate with his words. A single word spoken out of his mouth could entirely change his situation, he asserted.
His eyes stayed on Carter's back until a memory randomly flashed in his mind: the blade of Vinh's digging into his body.
He forced himself to swallow his vomit and the acidity watered his eyes. He felt the perspiration on his neck and the creeping heat on his ears and his cheeks. The feeling of discomfort startled him. He felt fine before. For some inexplicable reason, the memory of the barn was becoming murkier and murkier with time, but it wasn't obscured enough for him to feel any sort of comfort. It was as if the only way he could achieve comfort was by taking off his skin like a set of clothes.
Riyad's head swung to the back door. It was only a few steps away and the crops outside were thick and high enough for him to sneak away from this village. The siblings would be safe and Vinh probably wouldn't find him again. He brought his attention back onto the glass of water in front of him and sipped some water. On the other hand, Yayli could be bringing her parents back before nightfall and they were probably strong enough to keep him safe. Maybe, her parents had weapons that could disintegrate Vinh in a blink of an eye. He sipped his water again.
When the weary sun finally winked away, the back door creaked open. Riyad felt shivers run down his body at the very noise. He was almost afraid to turn around and see who Yayli had brought back with her.
Riyad felt an immeasurable amount of disappointment as the door swung back to reveal only the plain old Yayli with only the company of her trusty pickaxe over her shoulder and a small sack hanging off her hand. Her pickaxe was soiled and her hair was electrified.
"So?" The chair screeched as Riyad stood up.
Yayli's eyes swung left and right in confusion. "Sooo?"
"Where's the strong person you guys had mentioned earlier?" Riyad had difficulty containing the anger in his voice.
"Oh-h-h-h, right right right!" she looked at her brother as she spoke. "The person is actually very tired, so ya gonna have to wait 'till tomorrow."
Riyad crashed back onto his chair in defeat. His weary eyes laid on her and the memory came flashing back again: the fear in Yayli's eyes, the tremor of her voice. He began fearing that the memory could soon be relived if he were to take a wrong step again.
"Listen to me, the person who's chasing me is really dangerous. If he were to...find us tonight..." Riyad's voice trembled, "it would not end up well for any of us, so I say—"
He was cut off by Carter's laughter. "You have a lot to learn about us, Jasper. Let's just rest for the night and tomorrow, we will figure something out?"
Riyad figured that Carter's words were not a question but an order. "You have a lot to learn about us," he repeated to himself.
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Riyad woke up with a gasp. It drained him of all his energy just to tear himself off his nightmare. He was back in the barn, except this time, his eyes were open as Vinh tore through Yayli's throat with his blade. Yayli's severed head rolled to his feet and she stared at him with tears running down her eyes.
As Riyad rubbed his eyes, he felt the trails of tears on his cheeks. When he was ready to fall asleep, he was relieved to finally be able to rest, yet every hour or so, he woke up with wild eyes and a sweaty forehead. A couple of times, he woke up confused, thinking he was back home, but the hard chair and the rough table brought him back to reality.
The moonlight seeping through the window silvered the dining room. The view outside made it appear as though it was still daytime, but with a cursed, blue sun hanging on the sky. As he sat up on the chair, he realized that he should've taken the siblings' advice and laid on a straw mat like Carter, who was snoring deeply right under the window.
Riyad was amazed by the reassurance he felt hearing Carter's snores. He still tip-toed around the table to check up on him. Carter's chest was moving up and down at a slow rhythm. Yayli had decided to sleep upstairs while ordering her brother to sleep with him below. Riyad wasn't sure what Carter would be able to do if Vinh were to burst through the doors, but he didn't object. He didn't want to think about it and he was too exhausted to give himself reassurance for his thoughts.
Now that Carter was safe, his thoughts turned to Yayli.
"Leave Jasper alone!" Riyad felt a sudden lightness in his stomach. I should check up on her just in case...
Disregarding Yayli's order to not go upstairs, he carefully creaked up to the top floor. He needed to see her body safe and well or he would not be able to fall asleep. Once he reached the top floor, a narrow hall stretched out before him with few doors spread apart. From the window across him, the dim night's light washed ashore with cold stillness and it's gloomy presence fogged the hallway. Riyad squinted his vision clear. He resorted to the hard way of trying on each door until Yayli could be found.
A light fragrance of jasmine broke through Riyad's face as he stepped ahead. He pushed in a thin door to his right and entered it.
The murky shadows engulfed the parts of the room where the moonlight couldn't touch. He could sense the obscure shadow on the left corner of the room belonging to a bed.
"Yayli," he whispered.
Somewhere outside, an insomniac bird chirped, but the room was as silent as the shadows.
Riyad felt the perspiration on his neck again. He slowly tip-toed to the bed and patted it. It was cold and empty. She's probably in the other room.
He turned and found himself lost in the maze of shadow and light. As he tried to find his way back, his toe hit something spherical and it rolled slightly away from him.
Riyad felt his heartbeat near his ears. Could it be...
He crouched and put a shaky hand on what he had hit. It felt cool to the touch.
He was expecting to run his fingers over a nose or lips, but the surface was smooth and artificial. A deep sigh of relief escaped his mouth as his hand greased the surface. The relief didn't stop his curiosity, however. He slowly picked up the object and crouched toward the window.
The moonlight fell on a round astronaut helmet.
At that very moment, the sound of a thumping foot cracked the silence.
Riyad laboriously looked over his shoulder. An obscured shadow stood before him. Despite the dark shadows, the stance and the pickaxe on the shoulder were enough for Riyad to know exactly who the person was.
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