Hiding in the shadows

Chapter 10

Elijah and I walked for about 10 minutes before coming to the back yards of some houses. There were neatly aligned rows of old wooden picket fences along the sides, but there was no back fence closing off any yards to any of the houses. The green grass rolled as far as I could see, down to the small creek. It was such a beautiful sight. A sudden thought came to mind.

 "Do you have my glasses?" I asked Elijah.

"Yeah, but I will get my mother to clean them before I give them back to you. They were kind of in the mud by the rock, so they're a bit dirty."

"Are you sure your family won't mind me coming around? I can go back to my house, I can just tell my parents I fell out of a tree, they know how much I love climbing."

"Yeah, no. That doesn't explain why you're wet. You're coming back to mine and you can borrow my sisters clothes."

"Is she older than you? Your sister?" I asked, trying to change the embarrassing topic.

"Nah, she's 15, but you're around the same height and body shape."

"Do you have any other siblings?" I asked, suddenly curious about his family.

"Yeah, I have an older brother who is 24, and another little sister who is 4. What about you?"

"Yeah, I have an 18 year old brother, he's nearly 19 though."

"What's his name?"

"Deegan, what about your brother and sisters?"

"Hang on, I'll introduce you in just a minute." He said with a smile coming onto his face.

I hadn't even realised that we had started walking through a backyard, presumably his. Elijah opened a side gate before I had time to take in what I could see. There was a beautiful wooden deck and the grass was neatly cut. There were a few toys, which I assumed was his youngest sisters, and an in-ground pool with a few plants around it.  

"Wow." I breathed.

We came around to the front door and he opened it, taking off his shoes while doing so. I followed suit and quietly slipped into his house behind him. It wasn't a huge house, but it was homey and comfortable and I could feel the love and affection that the family shared as soon as I took my first step through the door.

"Was everything okay El?" Someone called.

He led me through a short hall to a kitchen where a lady was baking something that smelt absolutely amazing.

"Mom, this is..." He trailed off and I realised that he had forgotten my name.

"Ari, Nice to meet you, sorry about turning up unexpected." I said apologetically.

"Don't be silly Ari, it's so lovely to meet you. My name is Silvia, come through hunny and we will get you cleaned up."

Silvia led me through the house to a small bedroom. She knocked on the door before opening it.

"Hey Jess, do you have some old clothes I could please borrow?" Silvia asked a girl who was laying on her bed reading. She had brown hair that went down to her hips.

"Yeah, sure, what for?" Jess asked.

"El found a girl who fell in the creek, you two seem to be around the same size."

"Sure," she said, peering through the doorway to see me, "I'm Jess." She said to me.

"Ari," I said back to her, "Thank you so much for this."

"Not a problem," she said with a small smile, "It's not the first time." Jess handed me a grey T-shirt and some jeans, along with a few other things. I thanked her again before Silvia led me to their bathroom.

"Here you are love. Just come and find one of us when you're done, you can grab a towel off the rack."

With that she shut the door and I set the clothes down and had a shower. Once I was dressed, I was about to go and find Elijah, but my phone rang before I could.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Ari, where are you?" It was my mothers voice that was on the other end.

"I'm out with Kiro, I won't be too much longer, maybe an hour or so, is that okay?" I asked.

"Sure thing love. stay safe won't you?"

"Yes mom, I love you, bye."

"Love you too, bye bye."

I hung up and put my phone in my back pocket. I had no idea where to go so I just walked down the hall. The first door I came across was open and I walked in. There was a small chair and a bookshelf in the corner and shelves across all the other walls. On the shelves were more trophies than I had ever seen in my whole life combined.

"What are you doing in here?" I sharply turned around, terrified that I had been snooping around in a room I shouldn't have been. Elijah glared at me.

"I, uh-"

"Get out right now." He ordered.

I scurried out of the room, completely embarrassed and so terrified. How had someone who had just saved my life and introduced me to his mother become so...scary?

"Come on." He told me coldly.

He led back through to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was just trying to find the way back to your kitchen and I got a bit lost." I apologised, feeling absolutely horrible.

"Honestly. Save it." He snapped.

The front door opened and a little girl walked in, she was dressed in a pink leotard and and a pink tutu with tights and ballet shoes, her hair pulled back tightly into a bun, though a few strands and come loose. A man followed her in.

"LIJHY LIJHY GUESS WHAT!!!" The little girl ran straight to Elijah, in response his face turned warm and he scooped her up into his arms.

"What Rosie?" He asked, tapping her on the nose which made her screw up her face and giggle.

"I learnt how to do a turn without falling over!"

"Wow! No way! I don't believe you." He said, mucking around.

"I can! I can! Look, I'll show you!" She said, wriggling to get out of his arms. In the process of twisting and turning her body she saw me, standing off to the side. She immediately stopped moving. "Lijhy?" She asked innocently.

"Yes Rosalina?"

"Do you have a girlfriend now?"

Elijah realised she was talking about me. "No." He said, not adding anything to his answer.

"Can your girlfriend and I go play dollies?"

"No, you and Ari can't, she has to go home."

I saw that that was my queue to leave.

"Thank you for everything tonight Elijah," I walked over to Silvia and who I assumed was her husband, who had his arm casually around her waist, both were laughing at the little girls innocence and lack of punctuation in her excitement to see her older brother.

"Thank you for the clothes, and letting me have a shower, I really appreciate it. Is there any way I can repay you?" I asked.

"No hunny, it was my pleasure." She said with a smile.

"Are you sure? I'm honestly happy to do anything, I'm really grateful for your hospitality."

"It's fine love, will you be okay walking home?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I headed out of the door with another quick thank you. I slipped my wet shoes on and looked through my back for my torch. Remembering it fell in the creek with me I opened the door to Elijah's house again.

"Excuse me Silvia, do you have a torch I could please borrow?" I asked, going to push my glasses up on my nose a bit more, out of habit, before stabbing myself in the eye with my finger. "And my glasses too please." I asked sheepishly.