Enter the Shadows: Book One of the RTS Series (First Full Draft)

Chapter Eight

Robin

The fight at the gardens played through Robin's mind as he boarded the train to return home. That thing, the Nadir, whatever it was, it was something that he was certain would haunt his memory. But, he wouldn't say the entire ordeal was awful. He was just glad that Leala wasn't hurt. The two had parted ways, once again, with the promise of meeting once more.

After a long ride home, Robin had to walk through his quiet neighborhood to reach his house. At this point, the sun had long since set, melting into a sticky twilight. Right as Robin was about to enter his home when he realized that there was still a green stain on his shirt. Fortunately it was just the shirt under the hoodie that was stained, so all he had to do was zip up the hoodie to conceal it.

Robin unlocked the front door, and as quietly as he could he shut the door behind him and began to walk to the stairs. He could hear Mike within the house, talking to someone on the phone. Right as Robin's feet hit the stairs, Mike called out, "Robin? Is that you?"

He froze, and sighed. "Yeah, it's me."

Mike walked towards the stairs, looking tired. "Hey there, how was your thing with Leala?"

Robin's eyes grew wide. "How did you know?"

"Mindy told me." Mike replied, sounding a bit hurt. "I mean it's fine. You can do your own thing without telling me." Mike was silent for a brief moment before asking, "So, how did it go?"

"It was alright. We just mostly talked."

"What happened to your cheek?"

Robin briefly touched the three scratch marks on his face. "Oh, uh... I was hit in the face with a low hanging tree branch."

"Did the tree violently attack you?" Mike seemed a bit skeptical, but was trying to make light of the situation. "I mean, damn, that's a pretty nasty looking scratch."

Robin laughed, trying not to sound nervous. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going is all."

Mike shrugged. "Well, okay then." He leaned against the wall a bit. "So things went well with Leala?"

"Um, I suppose so."

"Did you two just talk or...?"

Robin felt his face grow warm. "Yeah, we just talked."

Mike went silent, but then smiled. "Anyway, I have dinner waiting for you in the fridge. Cajun rice. Eat it whenever you get hungry. I'm heading up to bed."

Usually Mike would've gone to sleep already, considering the man had to get up at nearly three in the morning to go to work. Did he wait this whole time for Robin to return home?

"Uh, thank you." Robin felt a pang of guilt for making Mike worry so much. He moved aside, and Mike walked up the steps.

Before disappearing around the landing, Mike looked back at Robin. "Also Mindy wanted you to call her." He seemed to pause, struggling with what to say next. "Uh... we'll talk more tomorrow, ok?"

"Got it." Robin smiled, or at least tried to.

Mike nodded, and went up the stairs. It was in that moment that Robin realized how exhausted he was from the fight. Still, he knew Mindy wouldn't rest without getting a call, so sleep would have to come later.

Robin went back upstairs to his room and sent a video call to Mindy. After a few rings, the screen went dark and Mindy appeared. She was sitting in front of a brick wall, close to a window. From what Robin could guess, it was raining over on her side of the world.