Shadows

Chapter 2

She browsed through the pages. Empty, completely empty. Not even as much as an ink drop was spilled across the pages. Rhea laughed. It was just an empty notebook. Luke must have bought it a couple of days before his death. So much for intruding his deepest, darkest, secrets. After deciding that it wasn't interesting she threw the notebook on her nightstand.

"Dinner's ready!" Aunt May yelled from down the stairs.

"Coming!" Rhea yelled back.

Dinner was delicious, even though Rhea hadn't eaten much of it. She was kind of tired after today's events. With her laptop on her nightstand she laid sprawled across her bed. All snuggled up in her most comfortable pyjama and a soft blanket Rhea slowly but surely fell into a dreamless sleep.

BANGGG!

Rhea jolted awake. A loud noise woke her up. Still sleepy she checked the time on her alarm clock. She rubbed her sleepy eyes to wake herself up a bit. It was currently 02:00 AM.

"Are you serious?!" She yawned angrily. It was probably the neighbour's cat that snuck in again.

She got out of bed and checked aunt May's room. Still sleeping. That woman could sleep through a tornado. Rhea then headed down stairs to check the ground floor. Still rubbing her eyes to wake herself a bit more up she stumbled clumsily down the stairs.

The first thing she noticed was a giant hole in the front door. She froze, the fear woke her up immediately. All kinds of doom scenarios crossed her mind. The second thing she noticed was a man draped across the kitchen counter. Her mouth was already open, ready to scream. But no sound came out, she was caught in total surprise.

The man stood up. He was clearly injured, dark blood stains all over his black clothes. His index finger touched his lips, indicating that she shouldn't make a sound. He slowly made his way to her. His left hand covered his rib, which was probably the spot where he was injured. His back straightened with every step he took. He stood taller and taller, until he stood right before her. Now that he was up close Rhea could actually make out the man's features. He had black hair and a sharp jawline. His eyes were a very light blue. He would be attractive, was he not standing in Rhea's kitchen at 02:00 AM like a psychopath.

"I usually heal faster, took longer than expected." He said with a cocky grin. His hand was rubbing his neck, as if he checked if everything was still intact. His voice was low.

His gaze scanned up and down Rhea's body. Then he focused his eyes directly into hers.

"Thanks for not screaming. Love the pj's, where's the notebook?" He arrogantly remarked.

Rhea was still in shock at the fact that there was a stranger in her house. The pyjama remark made her blush, she felt like a total idiot standing there in her matching my little pony top and bottom.

"Who are you?" Rhea managed to get past her lips. She didn't really care about his identity, but she figured that if he was a serial killer, she had to keep him busy so she could come up with an escape plan.

The unknown man was walking around the room, checking his surroundings.

"Ughh... If you must know, my name is Kevyn. Kevyn Caldwell." He said. He took an apple from the fruit plate and juggled it between his hands, still walking.

This man has the nerve to break into my house, then be this arrogant?! Rhea thought to herself.

"And what do you want? Kevyn." She spit the sentence out, not having his bullshit.

While he was checking out some art work at the wall, Rhea slowly stepped backwards towards the side table, her eyes still on the man. When her lower back hit the table she reached her arm behind her, searching for something that could protect her. Just in case the man decided to attack her. She found a candle holder. Not the most ideal weapon, but it will have to do.

He took a step back from the artwork and turned towards Rhea. A smirk spread across his lips. He took a slow bite out of the apple, chewed it like he had all the time in the world, then swallowed. Never did he once break eye contact with Rhea.

Obnoxious, Rhea thought.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said, his finger pointing at where she held the candle holder behind her back.

He rolled his eyes.

"Look, I'm not going to kill you, okay?" He sounded like it was obvious. He took another bite from the apple.

And yet, you break into my house at 02:00 AM like any damn serial killer would, she thought to herself.

"So, what are you going to do then?" Rhea asked. She faked some confidence by tilting her chin up. 

"I just want the notebook" He said. "Oh, I almost forgot, you need to come with me too. Pack your bags, not too heavy, we're traveling light. Be ready in 10, don't forget the notebook." He added.

Rhea looked at him in utter confusion. Then she got it. She started laughing. A really loud, obnoxious, laugh. She looked at the man. Her body shook with laughter. This time it was the man's turn to be confused.

"Okay you guys got me! You can come out now!" Rhea laughed, looking around her. She expected to see her friends jumping out of the corners to laugh with her about this practical joke they just played on her.

Kevyn looked around him, his brows furrowed.

"I'm not joking." He said. "This is actually a pretty serious issue, your Guardian just died."

"Ah-ha funny, funs over now, I'm tired, I wanna go back to bed." Rhea said. She was really done with this weird guy that looked like he was dying 10 minutes ago and was now doing perfectly fine.

"You can't, you have to go with me." Kevyn stated.

"Well, I'm not going with you. So if you could just leave my house before I call the cops." Rhea didn't want to play this game any further, he had to leave.

"Are you not going to come with me?" He asked.

"Nope."

"You sure?"

"YES! Now go!" Rhea snapped.

"Okay... Don't say I didn't give you a choice..." He spoke.

"Just g-"

Rhea didn't get to finish her sentence, since she was already passed out on the floor.

"Gosh, I hate it when they make a scene." Kevyn mumbled, putting the spray he just used on Rhea in his leather jacket.