Between Worlds

Chapter 4

Shadow pushed attention away from himself as he crawled out from the closet, squinting his eyes against the late afternoon sunlight streaming in through the windows. At home, they had thick, black curtains covering all of the windows. Shadow had grown used to not having to tolerate any amount of sunlight.

The bathroom was better. He left the light off while he went to the toilet and brushed his teeth.

When Shadow left the bathroom, he found Finch sitting at the kitchen table, looking at something on his phone. He was faced towards Shadow and definitely would have seen him if not for Shadow's gentle mental encouragement to keep his attention focussed in on the screen in front of him.

Adin had stuck the list of house rules to the fridge with a magnet that looked like a little ice cream cone last night, so Shadow went to read it now.

No parties.

No guests without prior permission from Adin and Finch. Appointments with plumbers, electricians, etc. to be made by Adin.

No TV shows with audible live audiences (sports, game shows, etc.) in communal spaces.

Do not ask about anyone's life before coming to this world without permission.

Groceries are ordered Friday mornings. Add anything you want to the shopping list before then.

Bins go out on Tuesday.

Shadow glanced back at Finch, who was still staring down at his phone, and then slipped out through the back door.

#

Finch turned in his chair to talk to Adin where he sat at his desk in the corner of the large, open plan room that managed to be a kitchen, study, and living room all in one. "Mal just texted me. Turns out there were two dogs. He got a minor bite, but they managed to bag both the dogs."

"Did he send you a picture, or was 'minor' his own description?" Adin asked. "He'll try to walk off any injury if it means he doesn't have to go to the hospital."

"Don't I know it. We have some antibiotics he can take. Which, you know, normally bad to self-prescribe, but I think we can be pretty fucking sure that if he rocked up to a hospital with a bite from a mystery monster, they'd give him some antibiotics."

Adin idly rubbed the velvet on one of his antlers. "I suppose. I just wish he'd be a little less reckless. He's only human."

"He'll be fine. These days he has Tyla both backing him up and fussing over him if he gets an ouchie. He won't let him get away with dying from wound infection."

"That's very true."

Finch turned to look at the linen closet door where it sat next to the bathroom. "Should we wake Shadow up? Or at least check on him? He's been sleeping for a long time..."

"I'm not sure how long he's slept. As I said, he tried sleeping under my desk for a while and only moved to the closet later. But yes, I think it's been long enough that a check in is warranted."

Finch approached the linen closet, opened the door, and... Shadow wasn't in there. The futon mat was crammed in there, but Shadow was gone. "Okay, cool."

Adin ducked down as though to check that he wasn't just really deep under the shelf. "He was still there just before you got up. Malyn opened the door for a second and he was there."

"And I've been here pretty much the whole time since, and I didn't see him leave."

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves and start worrying. His belongings are still here, so I don't think he's left. He's probably just hiding somewhere else."