Aaron sat for a while in the awkward atmosphere that filled the space in and around the boy he now knew to be Rayyan. He shifted his weight slightly on the mildew infested sofa and took in his surroundings. The room was dark and lonely, the covered up broken windows were like a barrier to him. They never let any happiness come into the room, let alone come into the lives of those who lived here. The walls are covered in discoloured wall paper and are water damaged from the leaky water pipes in the wall. The ceiling was white once it seems. The white pallor has been replaced by a dirty yellow-green and there patches of black mould from wall to wall. There was a defunct fireplace on the back wall. Its stone edging, which was once beautiful he guessed, was now cracked, chipped and dusty from years of neglect and disuse. The fire pit was empty. There was no firewood to invite someone to light it and breathe comfort into the unwelcoming front room. Next to the fireplace was a well kept antique wooden box. Aaron had heard of these boxes before, it was Darinian custom to keep it for the Final Words for the loved ones of those whom had passed on.
He looked at the boy sitting next to him. Rayyan seemed like a nice boy, if only incredibly stupid.
“What do you want with her?” he said accusingly, not looking Aaron in the eyes, which annoyed him slightly.
“What do you mean?” he said back fighting back the distaste he already had for this boy. Did he know who and more importantly what she was?
“With Jeanie, see here’s the funny thing about her... usually people avoid her because she makes them uneasy. She puts people on edge.”
“Then why are you friends with her?” Aaron narrowed his eyes, what was this boy getting at he wondered silently.
“I had no choice at first. We were thrust together at work because of our ages. I didn’t like her at first I was just being polite. I could feel in my gut that something wasn’t quite right with her but I ignored it. It was the same with Anika, our other friend. The feeling you get around her disappears over time though and you forget about it, but when she gets angry you feel that feeling intensify tenfold and you wonder what’s happening. If I had only just met her like you, I wouldn’t have saved her from Jude. But you did... so again I ask you what do you want with her?" the boy looked at Aaron with a stare that judged everything that Aaron was, and he didn’t like it one bit. Aaron clenched his fists together and bit his tongue. He was new here, and in a town such as this he knew staying low was the best thing to do so as not to raise suspicion.
“I saw someone that needed helping, I acted. Simple.” Aaron said through clenched teeth.
The boy smirked and his eyes glinted light green. Aaron smiled a dangerous smile at the boy that he hoped that Rayyan would get the message that he was sending, ‘back off or I’ll hurt you’. It seemed that they boys smile drained from his face and was replaced by a scowl. Aaron chuckled slightly inside, he got the message.
There was a noise, the creaking of floor boards interwoven with the sound of humming. Aaron’s heart lifted slightly although his expression remained indifferent. He glanced in the boy’s direction and saw that he was nothing more than an open book. The boys face was painted with a love sick grin and his eyes sparkled even in this low lighting.
As Jean came into view both of them stood up. They looked at one another and then back at the stair way where jean was rubbing down her front to get rid of some of the fluff that had stuck to her clean top. She looked up and her gazed settled on the boys.
“What?” What indeed, Aaron thought. He looked at the tempting siren that was stood before him and shuddered. His pulse quickened and he felt short of breath as he watched her chest rising and falling slowly and he took what he saw in so as to burn this image of her in his mind.
Her hair was wet and had been tied up by a leather band. There were some teasing strands that had fallen free from the embrace of the strip of tanned hide and were clinging to her flushed face and neck. Her once dirty and salt plastered skin had been scrubbed clean and now revealed creamy alabaster skin that had a rosy glow. Her eyes were so expressive he thought. The deep blue that he was drawn to the first time he had seen on her where staring at him with such intensity it suffocated him slightly.
She averted her gaze from his and turned the same shade of red that she had turned when they had met on the journey up here. He thought it was such an adorable trait.
“Shall we start dinner then?” she said quietly. But then an almighty crash was heard from outside and Aaron braced himself for the worst.
