Invited

Thirty - Chevelle

"You come with me, and I'll come with you," Timber said. "Then we can do formal introductions and everything. It'll be fun."

Fun wasn't the word I would use to describe meeting all of his family and friends, let along having him meet mine. I pursed my lips. "I won't be invading?"

"Don't start. You're never going to be invading. Please don't talk like everything is going to change." He rolled his eyes.

But everything was going to change. Didn't he get that? Why did he have to live in denial? Fighting him about it was pointless, so I just shrugged. "If you say so."

"I do. Now come on! I can't wait for everyone to meet you!"

I don't know what he was getting so excited about. He talked me up like I was something special. People should not be in a hurry to meet crabby, cynical me. All the same, I would go with him to pick up his family because he needed as much emotional support as he could get. It might very well be the last time he ever saw his parents, and that was not going to be an easy goodbye.

Paul came to collect us, and after another trip through the teleport-
tation room, I made my one and only trip to Los Angeles, California – or close enough to it. The sun was just starting to set and I took in the serene image of the pink and orange hued horizon hovering over the ocean. Not far off was the LA skyline. I realized then just how large and diverse the Earth truly was. It looked nothing like home, and it took a while for me to register how far away from home I still was even if I was on the same planet. Earth was huge. So many lives were going to be lost. Billions of people. Not just a couple, a hundred, or even a thousand, but billions. Animals, plants, history itself would be destroyed.

I found myself instinctively moving closer to Timber. This realization was going to make me puke if I kept thinking about it. I wanted to enjoy the moment with him, to take the whole scene in and admire the beauty before me. All I saw in my imagination was devastating tsunamis, unquenchable fires, the Earth opening up and swallowing everything whole as a cloud of impenetrable dust flew into the sky. Isn't that how all of the disaster flicks displayed the end of the Earth? Catastrophic events that would obliterate all of creation. For the time being, the world was peaceful. Perhaps the news of Earth's demise hadn't quite sunk in yet. It would. Then all chaos would break loose.

Timber stepped away from me and his gaze searched the meeting point, a small park balcony that provided a lovely scenic view of the area around us. "I guess we're early."

"I was early," a male voice said from off to the side. He blended in with the foliage surrounding a park bench.

A small smile crept onto Timber's lips. "Hey, Nate. Where is everyone? Running late?"

Nate shook his head and swallowed. "I...no...um..."

"What's wrong?" Timber asked, his gaze narrowing.

"When I went to get Talia after the press conference, she...wasn't there." Nathan swallowed. "There was a note for you. I didn't open it." He handed Timber a small white envelope.

Timber took it and ripped the seal open. Inside was a twice-folded piece of notebook paper. I couldn't see what was written on it, but I knew it wasn't anything good just by watching his face. His skin dropped another three shades in color. If he was pale before, he was a full-on ghost now. Actually, I noticed a slight green color begin to surface.

I stepped forward, my entire body shaking, unsure of how he would react to my going to comfort him but I knew it was the right thing to do. "What is it? What does it say?"

"Rumor," he whispered and tossed the note carelessly in my direction. I caught it just as the wind picked up, saving it from getting lost.

"You took my life, I took hers. Eye for an eye. Consider us even."

I frowned so much a headache was starting to form on my brow. "What...does this even mean?"

Timber's fists clenched at his side and his eyes closed. "I'm not sure, but you better believe I'll find out. If that witch hurt her, I'm gonna..." When his eyes opened again, I saw wrath burning inside of them. He wouldn't hesitate in hurting her, possibly killing her, if he deemed her worthy of it. It scared the crap out of me.

"We will address it when we get back," Paul said. "Rumor should not have access to Earth. If she somehow was able to get off of the ship..."

"I...don't know what's going on. While I was at her place, I made sure to grab some stuff that seemed important to her," Nathan said. He held up a duffel bag stuffed full. "Just in case."

"Thanks," Timber whispered. He took the bag from his friend, clutching it to his chest tightly. In it was his personal treasure, another connection to his love who was still lost. Only thing is, we didn't know if she was gone for good.

Nathan kicked at the ground. "I got...more...bad...news..."

"Oh?" Timber raised an eyebrow.

"Oh man, I'm not sure how to say this."

"Just give it to me straight. You know I don't like when people beat around the bush," Timber said icily.

Sucking in a deep breath, Nathan nodded. "Your parents are dead."

"No, they said they'd be here," Timber said firmly. "I said, I'll see you later, and they told me they'd come."

"I got a call from the police. Since they couldn't get a hold of you, they contacted me instead. They..." Nathan choked on his own words as a tear fell from his eyes. "They committed suicide early this morning. A neighbor called for a wellness check when they heard the car running in the garage, but the door was closed. Somehow they found my number and...I got the call after I left the conference."

Timber shook his head. "No, they wouldn't do that."

"They also left a note," he whispered. "I got one too." With a shaking hand, he offered another envelope to Timber. He didn't take it, all he did was stare blankly in front of him.

With some hesitation, I took it from Nathan instead and held onto it for dear life. I lifted my gaze to meet his, but couldn't hold it for long. Nathan had startling green eyes, for one, more importantly was I had a hard time seeing the depth of his sadness. He was just as sad and lost as Timber was.

Paul approached Nathan and put a small black dot on his wrist. "Let's go back."