Riley's Box

Part 56

"No time!" Jason said, his voice hoarse. 

He stood up again and turned to me, forming a kind smile on his face, even while the world crumbled around us. 

My heart warmed at his smile and I quickly reached for his hand, so he could help me up. 

My dad then walked out into the hall and caught me holding hands with Jason. His eyebrow shot up. "Uh..." he trailed off. 

"No time!" I repeated the words that Jason had said earlier. "Armageddon is happening." 

"Is this because of the Sin-" my father cut off, when he realised that my mother was looking at him with narrowed eyes. 

"Is this because of what?" she asked. Sooner than she could demand answers to her question, she turned to observe Jason and I holding hands. "Someone care to explain what's going on here?" 

"Jason was just warming up my hands! It's so cold outside. The storm cancelled school! That's why we're here- surprise!" I exclaimed. 

Jason looked at me with an expression that read I like you so much, but you do talk a lot. 

I did talk a lot. It was one of my finest qualities. 

"I'll be honest," my dad spoke again, turning our collected attention to him. "This," he said, inclining his head towards mine and Jason's interlocked hands, "Is the least of my concerns right now. Realistically, this storm could stop in a couple of hours, but if it doesn't, then we're going to need to defend the house from it. Close all the blinds. Barricade the windows. Move pillows around to make the place as soft as possible, just in case the house is struck." 

My mother's eyes reflected both her affection and her admiration for my father, and she quickly started to move around the house to do as he had said. 

When she was out of earshot, my father turned back to me again. His previous serious expression had faded. He looked a little lost as to what to do, too. 

"Riles?" he asked me. 

"Dad, I- I don't know what's going on," I admitted, my voice cracking a little. "But I'm going to work it out," I said, after a couple of moments, feeling more strength and certainty behind my words. "We're going to send the shadow spirits back." 

At that moment, my mother emerged from the stair case with an irritated expression upon her face. 

"Riley Ruby- do you care to explain who this is?" she asked. Her hand had gripped Otius' t-shirt. He didn't seem to care, though, he was busily playing on my portable. 

I snatched it from him. 

"Hey!" he said. 

I nodded in the direction of my, now very annoyed-looking, mother. 

Otius' eyes widened to the size of saucers in his realisation that he had been discovered. 

"Oh," he said. 

"This is my friend Otius," I blurted. "He needed somewhere to stay during the storm because his family is out of town and he didn't want to be alone." 

It was a decent lie, and my mother's frown slowly faded. 

She seemed to buy it! 

One point for Riley. 

"Alright," she said. "It's probably a wise thing for him to stay here, too. The more people we have together, the better a chance we have against this storm, though...it does appear to be easing up." 

My mother glanced out of the window then to find that the weather was beginning to be a little less chaotic. 

While her back was turned, I rushed over to Otius to whisper in his ear. 

"Did the others make it back to the box?" I asked him. 

He responded with a nod. 

"Some of them are still out there, though, looking for the shadow spirits," he explained. 

I really hoped that they would be okay. 

~*~**~*~

A couple of hours later, when the storm had eventually settled a little more, Jason and I crept out of the house with Otius. 

Time felt as though it was flying by, but it definitely wasn't because I was having fun. While the prospect of saving the world was a thrilling one at first, I also had to come to terms with the fact that it was a terrifying one. 

The sun had become visible between the clouds, which was probably a good thing. It meant that the storm was easing up. There were blue patches of sky, but for the most part the canvas over our heads had been infiltrated by silver and black clouds, like giant bruises above us. 

It would be getting late soon, and I really did want to find the shadow spirit before evening. Once evening came around, it would be more difficult than ever to find one, considering they seemed to blend into the darkness. 

The air around me was cool and it was a combination of that and my fear that caused the hairs on my arms to stand on end. 

A mild rain still beat down onto the tarmac road, creating puddles upon it. 

This was the weirdest spring on record, weather-wise. The scientists and meteorologists and whoever else were going to have a field day with this one. 

When my eyes glanced up towards the sky again, I found that the birds were completely absent from it, as though in hiding. 

Some of the smaller animals- such as mice, scurried away across the road and into the drains. 

On the sidewalk opposite us, a man walked his dog, as though completely oblivious to everything that was going on around him. 

There was something strange about that dog, but I couldn't quite place it. 

After a beat of time, I realised. It was the same dog from the forest before. 

It was nothing surprising, there had to be at least a million dogs in North America. 

I turned my attention back to Jason. 

"We need to save New York...and you know, the rest of the world too," I said. 

"Let's go and punch a shadow spirit in the face," he said. 

He then held his hand up for me. 

"We'll high-five later," I said. 

"Yeah," he agreed, with a gentle chuckle.