Finding Finn Reed

XIII

"Atticus, when can we go back?" I asked, sitting down on the couch. We had stayed at the summer house for a couple weeks, I began to think when we could go back to Intemilly. After Atticus told me about his father, things slowly began to change. He was more honest with certain things, and it was easier to communicate with him. "I didn't think we'd be going back for a while," he replied, "How's your strength?" I shrugged my shoulders, and looked at him. "It's fine, I haven't done anything for nearly two weeks now." Atticus was in the kitchen trying to make herbal tea, since he knew it was all I ever drank. "Do you think you can handle more hopping?" he asked as he poured the tea into a pot. "I can't just forget about it, I need to get back on track, don't forget why I'm doing this" I said in a flat tone. Atticus groaned with impatience, and threw the tea pot into the sink. "I can't do this" he shouted as he flung his hands in the air. "Do what?" I asked. "Make this tea, I'm not capable of this crap, if you want tea then you make it because if I make it, it'll be shit tea" he irritatingly replied. I laughed, and went into the kitchen to help make a new pot of tea.

I began to make a new batch of tea, Atticus stood behind me and watched with fascination. Whenever I did something around the house, Atticus was always there watching and never saying anything. I never questioned it, I assumed it was because he wasn't used to people like I was. "You boil the pot for too long, you're going to burn tea if you do that" I said, removing the warm pot from the stove. Atticus chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Whatever, why do you need so much tea in the first place?" he asked sarcastically. I didn't reply, instead I poured the tea into two glass cups, and passed one of the cups towards him. "So you ever gonna answer my question?" I asked again, refereeing to leaving Sceethe. Atticus took his cup, and blew on it. "We can leave whenever you want" he said. I looked outside the kitchen window, and looked at the sunny fields. I appreciated the warmth the sun gave out, and I wasn't looking forward to being greeted by the cold snow again, but I had to get back and continue what I started; saving Finn.

"Let's leave tonight, then" I said, taking my cup and drinking the black tea, ignoring the fact that it was boiling hot. Atticus was surprised by my sudden decision in leaving so soon. He placed his half drunk cup, and stared at me wide eyed and all. "Are you sure?" he asked, staring at me inquisitively. I nodded my head, set my empty cup down and walked back to the couch. "Why do you want to leave so fast?" he asked. I couldn't come up with an answer right away. I didn't know why I wanted to leave so soon, I just knew if I didn't, then I'd never be able to save Finn. "I just think I've rested enough." Atticus stretched his arms over his head, and walked away knowing that the conversation had died out already.

I stayed on the couch for a good hour, thinking. I thought of how I was going to hate the snow, and rain, and how I wasn't sure of what to do once I got back to my apartment. I had forgotten what my apartment looked like. All I remembered were the boxes. Over a hundred boxes, just scattered across the apartment like it was nothing. But it was everything to me. Each box could tell a story from the past, and each box could get you lost in it for hours on end. I didn't know why I had to pack things in boxes, it just felt right. Knowing that everything was perfectly put away, never to be fiddled with again, it gave me a sense of alleviation. I was almost excited to see the boxes lying on the floor again.

I lost track of time, and afternoon soon turned into night. "Since you've been on the couch this whole time, I took the liberty of packing everything, you're welcome" Atticus said from behind the couch. I blinked a couple times, and realized how long I was out for. I apologized to Atticus, telling him I was thinking about what to expect when we got back to my apartment. He said it was okay, and that it was time to leave, or else we'd miss our train.

The ride back to Intemilly was as normal as can be. It nearly took half a day, when we arrived at Intemilly's train station, it was afternoon. The sun was gone, and the winds were strong, and cold. "We could have stayed in Sceethe a little longer and, you know, enjoyed the sun" Atticus groaned. I kept walking in front of him, walking as fast as I could. "We could have, but we didn't," I replied, "We're almost there, so just swallow whatever nasty comments you have." Atticus mumbled something under his breath, but I ignored it and kept walking. I knew exactly where we were. We were only a couple blocks away from my apartment. I could see the park where I first met Finn, my heart began to beat fast with anticipation. "We're almost there" I quickly said. Atticus was trying to catch up, but he was a couple of feet behind me, walking at normal pace. I had already entered the apartment, and Atticus was still walking outside.

I quickly ran up the stairs, and through the hall, making my way through all the doors. Almost there, almost there I kept thinking to myself. Why I felt so excited to be home, I don't know. But the simple fact that I was almost there made my heart beat with apprehension. I could hear Atticus's footsteps, slowly making their way to my door. I ran for what felt like eternity, and when I finally got to my door, I paused right in front of it and slowly reached for the door knob. My arms began to shake as I reached for the door knob. All of my excitement, all of my impatience quickly turned to anxiety and fear. What was I suppose to expect when I opened the door? All of these thoughts that rattled inside of my head, began to make my arms shake even more. But without any further thought, I quickly unlocked the door, and pushed it open.

Atticus began to run fast when he heard me screech. "What's wrong, where are you?" he screamed. I was in the kitchen, holding my face in horror. Atticus stopped running, and began to look around, his face becoming just as horrified as mine. "Who did this?" he asked in anger. When I opened the door, the first thing I noticed, were the boxes. Every single box was torn open, and burned with fire. My walls had been scratched and carved into. All of my windows and mirrors were shattered. Someone had deliberately done this to warn me. "Atticus, what is this?" I asked, horrified. Atticus just stood there, unable to speak at the atrocity that was in my apartment. We slowly came together, and stood back to back as we looked around for clues. Suddenly, after moving so many boxes, we saw in big lettering: YOU WONT CHANGE WHAT'S HAPPENED. Reading the words sent disconcerting chills down my spine. Whoever had done this, knew about my time hopping, and wasn't happy about it.