Black-Eyed Seattle

The Newcomer

Chapter 5-

"We're uh- we're not really sure to be honest" Justin says cowardly as he scratches the back of his head. I can sense Chase tense up next to me. I look up just in time to see his jaw tighten. I intertwine my fingers with his, knowing it settles his nerves a bit. Maverick makes his way to the couch and plops down on his back and stares into the ceiling.

"I'm just surprised neither have you noticed that we come over every Wednesday," Justin chuckles. "But the only thing I can really tell you about those people is that their eyes go completely black at 6:00 in the morning and go back to normal at 9:00 at night, and they get violent." Justin says in a monotone voice. "I saw one dude eat a dog once." Maverick says from the couch, talking like it wasn't that big of a deal.

"How long has this been going on for?" Chase asks in a worried voice. "A few years now, neither of us know what it is or why we don't get like that." Maverick yells from across the room. Justin walks over to go sit with him, Chase and I follow. We all take our seats on the long gray couch as Maverick pushes his body into a sitting position. "What time is it now?" Justin asks as Jade hops up onto the sofa. I dig my phone out of my pocket and click the button on the right side. "Just past 9:00." I answer him. 

Chase stands up from his position next to me on the couch and makes his way towards the stairwell. "Well, someone woke me up pretty early this morning," he says, glaring at me. "And I've had a weird few hours. I'm going back to sleep. Don't wake me unless the house is burning down." He finishes as he turns around and heads up the first few steps. "I think I'm gonna do the same, you know where the food is, I have faith you'll be fine down here by yourselves." I say as I make my way up to follow my boyfriend to the comfort of our bed.

I make it up the stairs to see Chase closing the closet door. He looks completely exhausted. His eyes droopy with a sad look in them, his usual smile is formed into a dead-looking grimace. His head is tilted down, like someone is trying to push it into the ground. "That stuff really beat the shit out of you, huh?" I say in a joking, yet still caring voice. He looks up at me, nodding his head.

He walks up to me, closer than he usually does, and just stops and stares into my eyes for a few seconds. He gives me a small, tired looking smile. Tiredness hitting him like a brick, his eyes flutter shut and his head falls to rest on my shoulder. I wrap my arms around his upper waist and pull him closer to my body. He surrounds my shoulders with his large arms and pulls me into an even tighter hug. He takes a long, deep inhale and removes his arms from around me and rests his hands on my neck. He pulls me into a kiss, long and deep. We stay like that for a few minutes, slowly and sloppily kissing. One last inhale and he pulls away from me and takes a few steps back.

He trudges past me and melts onto his side of the bed. It's crazy how realistic of a mask he can put on when around friends. I make my way towards my preferred side and sink into the flexible padding. I turn onto my side to face Chase. I scoot my body closer to his, wanting to comfort him somehow.

I bend my knees to mold myself against him and wrap an arm around the slight curve of his waist. He finds this funny, anyone would if they saw this scene. A muscular built man around 6'4 being spooned by his scrawny 5'8 boyfriend who looks like a child standing next to him.

"You're too small for this," he says through a laugh as he flips to face me. He brings me into a bear hug, pushing my face into his chest. I hear the slight pitter patter against the roof, rain. I lift my head up and look out the window, massive, dark clouds stretch overhead.

The crisp, cold air of the room mixed with the warmth of the body next to me causes my body to grow tired, and before I know it, I'm asleep, and so is he.

                             •   •   •

I wake up to the sound of rain hitting the roof, Jade barking and voices coming from downstairs. The voices seem loud and concerning. I sit up and look over to Chase. There's no point in waking him up, too heavy of a sleeper. Makes me think about how lucky I got this morning, being able to wake him up that easily.

I untangle myself from his grip and head downstairs to see what all the commotion is. As the room comes into view, I see Maverick and Justin standing by the glass door that leads out to the porch. As I get closer, I see a figure standing on the other side of the glass.

"Who is that?" I say, making myself present. "I don't know man, she just showed up and now she wants in." Maverick replies in a shaky voice. He looks incredibly worried, on the verge of tears. Justin is looking at the person, probably deciding what she actually wants to do with us. "She doesn't have black eyes, I think she's like us." Justin blurts out without looking back at us.

"What do you want from us!?" Justin asks the woman in a loud tone so she could hear him through the glass and over the thunder. "I'm here to help!" She yells back at him. Both of the older boys look at me. "Well Jasper, its your house, your decision wether we let her in or not." Justin says as Maverick nods in agreement. "Let her in," I reply to the couple.

Justin unlocks the door and opens it about three inches. "Are you alone?" He asks the stranger. The woman nods her head vigorously and puts her hands up to show she is unarmed as well. Justin slides the glass door back enough for the girl to step in the home.

She is incredibly small, no taller than 5'3, and fairly skinny. She has a very round face accompanied by blue-as-the-sky eyes. Her lavender hair reaches just below her shoulders. I then notice she is soaking wet.

"I'll get you some towels." I say quietly before bolting up the stairs. Realizing it's probably a good idea to wake up chase, I decide to do that as well, seeing as I'm already up here. I make a left and open the bathroom door. I grab a clean towel off the rack and make my way to the bedroom.

I set the towel on my side of the bed and grab Chase's shoulder. When he doesn't wake up, I shake it a little and call his name softly. He picks his head up and looks at my face. It takes him a second to recognize me, his face softening once he knows it's me. "We have a visitor." I blurt out in a calm tone. 

He props his body up on his elbow and a look of confusion and worry spread across his face. He slowly sits up and rubs his face. I walk to the closet and grab him a shirt, throwing it at him. It lands in his lap, and he lazily pulls it over his head. He drags himself out bed and walks over to stand next to me, looking at himself in the mirror, making sure he doesn't look like a mess.

I grab the towel with one hand and intertwine my fingers with Chase's with the other. I drag the large boy down each step carefully. Halfway down, I whisper to him, "you should probably help Justin handle this," him knowing all well that Maverick isn't good in social situations and I have pretty severe anxiety. I look back at Chase to see him nodding in agreement.

We get down to see Maverick trying to keep Jade away from the stranger as Justin and the newly arrived woman are standing by the door, talking. Justin spots us from across the room and waves us over. I grin at the newcomer and hand her the towel politely. She glances down at my opposite hand and grimaces a little before taking the towel. Probably a homophobe, I think to myself as Chase untangles his hand from mine and rests his hand on my waist, pulling me in close.

"This is Raven. She's willing to give us information on the black-eyed people if we help her." Justin says, filling us in. Her eyes widen at the mention of her name and she smiles, making eye contact with Chase. Chase introduces the both of us. "So what do you need help with exactly?" He asks politely. She smiles nervously and alternates her vision from me to Chase, and back again. "It's a long story," she replies.