Killings Of Midnight |✔️|

Chapter 4 (Edited)

Ryder.

Damaria was cautious to not let Ryder see through her. If she wanted things to go perfectly, she needed to stop being so afraid of taking care of him. But in the back of her mind, she knew she had a right too. She had never been given such a responsibility, this was all new to her. Though everyone she met, she explained the fact that Ryder was a grown boy and able to take care of himself. She still worried, because Lance would have a fit if anything happened to Ryder. At least had not gotten their father's carelessness, Damaria was glad for that.

So when she walked into the hotel and was informed by Max that he never came. Damaria's collected attitude gradually deflated. A strange feeling of worry over came her. Something she hadn't experienced in a very long time and she was hoping she'd never have to go through again. She walked down a few blocks to see if he was somewhere else, but the boy was nowhere in sight.

When she arrived back to the museum, she decided to call Ryder. Her panicked mind had not thought of that until now. But as she entered her office she noticed Ryder lying on the small couch in the other office. She sighed in relief and continued her work. He was asleep, a jacket carelessly thrown over his shoulders and his arm hanging off the side of the couch.

His snoring kept the office from the ugly silence it usually was perished from. Damaria got settled in her chair, the sky outside was dark and the amount of work on her desk was heavy. Damaria was tired and it was only eight o'clock. This was a regular day for her, but for some reason she was glad for the company even though it was sleeping.

A few hours passed, of Ryder tossing and turning before he woke up. Groggily rubbing his eyes and yawning he looked around. He had drooled on the side of his mouth and his hair was messy from sleeping. Damaria shook her head. Once a guy always a guy. In that moment Ryder looked so much like Lance that Damaria did a double take just to make sure it was still Ryder.

"Finally awake?" She question without looking up from her work.

Ryder jumped; startled by the sound of her voice. "Yeah, yeah I guess. How long have I been out?" He stretched.

"Well I would not know because when I went to look for you, I could not and then I came back and you were here."

"Oh yeah, I needed to take a walk so I just wandered around the city for a while." Ryder slumped against the couch and shrugged.

"You did not text me! I was worried. You know your father would throw a fit."

"Well he needs to trust me more." Ryder rolled his eyes.

Damaria sighed. "He does, it is just...never mind."

***

Ryder watched her skeptically but let it go. Damaria's face looked much older all of a sudden and seemed much more stressed. He didn't want to push his aunt for answers because he knew she would end up giving them to him. But he wanted to know what made her change her mind about continuing her sentence.

"Anyways, we are going home in about an hour. And Max sent some food for you. It is sitting in the staff room fridge." She went back to working after pointing towards the door.

Ryder nodded and then made his way out of the office. On his way to the staff room he noticed the same guy from the burger place heading in the same direction. Ryder tried to catch up with him but the man made a sharp turn and was gone. Ryder didn't have time to ponder his sudden disappearance because his stomached grumbled for food. But his mind was having its own debate, in the end he went after food instead of the sketchy man.

As he entered the staff room, Ryder noticed Catrine in the corner, her brown hair was tied in a ponytail and she was haunched over a book while drinking some coffee. The tall glass gleamed against the moonlight coming through the window.