Sarahtopia

Chapter 14: Ryan

Ethan's family is very, very interesting. And that is putting it mildly.

For starters, the first person I met from Ethan's family was Ethan Alexis himself. And calling him normal would equal to calling Donald Trump nice.

I met Ethan in our university. We both seemed to have the same classes and kept running into each other randomly, so we just began hanging out every now and then which blossomed into a close bond between us. This surprised me since I never thought I'd ever befriend someone like that in my life. He has zero facial expressions. When you look at him, you'd think he was wearing a mask. His mouth is just one thin, straight line, and his uncovered eye doesn't betray any emotion he could be feeling. Despite this, Ethan loves teasing people. A lot. And it's really creepy how he does it with a blank face and monotonous voice.

The two of us are extremely close; close enough for Ethan to tell me his past and show me his face completely. Underneath his sheat of jet-black hair is a sight you might think of as cool, but the story behind it is something that will make you never want to see Ethan's full face again. That was also the first time I've seen Ethan show any emotion. A mixture of sadness, bitterness and anger.

Eventhough I knew all that abnormal stuff about Ethan, I never would have expected us to be on the run for two whole months. Then again, I never would have expected him to try and kill me either. That experience is still something that horrifies me. Me and Caleb are- or were extremely close. For him to suddenly want to kill me is something I can never explain. I wonder what happened to him- why he changed.

Oh well, back to the topic. The next person I met in Ethan's family after Ethan himself was his little sister: Lily Alexis. And I can't believe that the two are even related in any way. One, she is actually sane! Two, she can show emotion. Three, she can act maturely. Four, she's kind of short (at least compared to Ethan, who is a giant). Five, she does not enjoy sadistically torturing and teasing people. And thank goodness for that.

Lily was, from what Ethan told me, two years younger than her brother (and me). Her hair colour and skin tone were more or less similar to Ethan's and contrasted greatly and beautifully. But her most defining features were her eyes. If you think my eyes are beautiful, you clearly haven't seen Lily Alexis' eyes. They are the most magnificent shade of forest green and are absolutely enthralling.

I gotta thank her for being here; otherwise, I'm pretty sure my brain would have exploded due to the lack of sanity in this place. I'm also glad that she can keep her brother in check. Ethan obviously adores his dear little sister. Back when we were still in our university, he would describe her in way that would show his evident love for her, minus the emotionless face and voice. Another way I can tell his adoration for Lily is how his lips moved upward by 13° yesterday; small but a big feat for Ethan. And that was also the second time I have seen Ethan show emotion, a big feat for me.

Anyways, I'll tell you what happened after the meeting in the Grand Palace.

*Flashback*

After the Council meeting, Lily dragged us back to their house/mansion from that colossal palace, passing by a bunch of other castles on our way. (Seriously, what is up with this country and enormous buildings?!) And when I say dragged I mean that literally. At least in Ethan's case. I just followed the two siblings. Lily had held Ethan by the ear and dragged him back home since he was reluctant to do so. I could understand why he was. On the other hand, Lily wasn't hearing any of that. She said that Ethan had to see their mother sooner or later and that he couldn't stay away from her forever, especially if he wanted to stay in their house/mansion. So we reached, and Lily rung the bell causing to door to open.

And that's how I met the rest of Ethan's family.

A woman opened it. The minute she saw Ethan, she burst out crying. Ethan was crushed in the bear hug his mother, I assume, gave him. She sobbed onto his shoulder about how worried they had been and how glad she was to see him safe and sound. Ethan just awkardly patted her back. When she pulled away, she was still crying, but with a smile. I also got a good look at her eyes then. They were so like Ethan's left eye yet so different: the exact same shape and caramel-brown colour, but they held an ocean of emotions. Those eyes were the warmest, kindest, gentlest I'd ever seen. They held joy and compassion. However, they were also broken. Like something terrible had happened, and I have a good idea of what it is.

The commotion outside had brought attention to the other inhabitants of the house/mansion. The first to emerge from the open doorway was a girl no older than 13. She looked like the exact replica of her mother, minus the mischievous look on her face. She was holding something in her arms, and it took me a moment to realise that it was alive. The grey ball of fluff hopped down from her arms and next to Lily's leg. The girl caught sight of Ethan and immediately flung herself onto his arms and cried out loud, "EEETHAAAAAANNN!!!!! YOU'RE BACK!!!!"

A bespectacled boy, who shared the same caramel-brown eyes and strawberry-blond hair as the girl albeit older, came out from the house/mansion. He was wearing a track suit and was carrying a basketball under his arm. His face had a scowl etched on it, and the boy's first action was to yell at his sister, "Beth! You're too loud, idiot!" Then, he saw Ethan; his basketball dropped from under his grip. "Ethan?" he whispered, and therefore also joined in with his little sister's wailing.

"Mama, what's going on?"

The sweetest, most angelic voice I'd ever heard came out from inside the house. I turned my head and saw an absolutely adorable little girl peaking out from behind the door. 'This cute girl is related to Ethan?!' were my first thoughts.

The girl spotted the grey rabbit at Lily's feet and went to pick it up. She then turned to face Ethan, who had somehow managed to untangle himself from his younger brother and sister (Beth?)'s grasp. The ravenette bent down to look into the girl's mystic dark blue- or rather- indigo eyes. "Hey, Annabella. Don't tell me you forgot about your big brother Ethan."

The girl shook her strawberry-blond head and gave Ethan a large, toothy grin and flung herself onto him. The rest of the family also glomped onto them and they laughed, and- wait a sec. Is-is Ethan laughing?! Okay, the world is officially coming to an end!

* End Flashback *

So that's what happened.

The Alexis' were still holding onto each other. And I just stood there awkwardly, still trying to get my head around the fact that Ethan Alexis had actually laughed. That was until the boy noticed me standing there. "Hey! Who're you?"

The rest of them also became aware of my presence and unravelled themself from their little reunion. I cleared my throat and said, "Hello. I'm Ryan Grayson, Ethan's friend from university. I came here with him. It's nice to meet you?" I said that last part with uncertainty since we technically didn't meet each other properly yet.

Lily came to my rescue. "Ryan, this is our mother," she pointed at the lady, "Faithe Kerria Alexis. That," she pointed at the bespectacled boy, "is my and Ethan's younger brother, Nathan. The older girl is Elizabeth, and the younger one is Annabella."

Mrs. Alexis smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you, Ryan!" And despite the fact she just met me, she engulfed me in a very affectionate hug. It was probably the most motherly hug I have received for a long time. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes, but I forced them back and let out a muffled yes.

Elizabeth went next. "Hiya, Ryan!"

"Hello," came out Annabella's soft reply. She was hidding behind Ethan and peaking at me through her curtain of messy hair.

"Hi. Nice to meet you," was Nathan's response as he shook my hand.

"So, Ryan, you're going to be staying here with us, right?" asked Mrs. Alexis.

"Uh, sure. That is, if you would allow me."

She smiled. "Of course! Now come on in!"

With that, we all went inside the house/mansion. I was excited. Maybe I'll have a great time here after all.