The Broken Ones

Chapter 11

Taylor:

The next morning came too quickly. It was a weird sort of morning, with an off and on sun, the sky filled with grey clouds. The peace after the storm. I would have normally woken up in annoyance to the sound of birds chirping happily—mockingly—outside, but this time was different. It was eerily quiet. The three of us woke up right about the same time and immediately jumped when we saw Tyson standing at the end of our beds with a childish grin spread across his wrinkly face. I silently prayed that this wouldn't continue.

"Tyson," Felix breathed.

"My son," he replied

"No."

"Okay. Who's excited?"

Crickets.

He licked his lips expectantly. "Just me? Alright. Get dressed! We have a long day ahead of us."

Just like that, he was gone. "I don't have the money or time for a heart attack," I said.

Felix made his point with a groan of frustration before returning to his bed. The idea of snuggling back up in bed sounded amazing and ten times better than what Tyson had planned. But it also sounded less effective than what he had planned, if I was being completely honest with myself. I figured the best option, for now, was to do as he said. Only problem: I didn't have any clothes.

"I'm not being seen in this." Kat gestures to the white pajamas she was wearing with open arms. Of course she would say that. Kat always was the one who was best when it came to fashion. Her reluctance towards the rag almost was enough to make me smile. Almost. Instead, I looked around the room in search of some sort of clothing. My eyes landed on three piles not too far from the fireplace.

"I don't even want to know how he got those here," I said before walking over to them. After examination, I came to the conclusion that they were fine. The three of us got dressed in the clothing Tyson left, Kat a little more hesitant. When I walked out from the small closet I dressed in, I found the two of them observing the clothes with interest.

"I don't hate it," Felix shrugged. He wore black pants and a simple white long sleeve shirt rolled up to his elbows under a leather vest with a pair of boots. Draped in his arm was a long, dark green cloak. "I look like a video game character, though."

"True," I agreed. I was startled slightly when he looked up at me and froze. In shock? I couldn't tell. "Something wrong?"

He cleared his throat before speaking. "U-um, no. No. You look . . . good."

"And you look like Link."

I watched him contemplate my words just as Kat walked out of the closet. "Like, Zelda Link? Or something different-"

"How do I look?" Kat interrupted.

We both turned to her. She was wearing almost everything I was, besides my leather vest which she chose to leave off and just wear the white shirt. The dark brown jeans we wore reminded me of something a farmer had to wear. Not to mention the cloaks with the outfits. I truly felt like I was being thrown into the past. Several hundred years, to be exact.

"Can I just wear my other shoes?" Kat questioned.

"Probably not. I was thinking the same thing," Felix said. He walked over to the bed and sat down with a creak. "Tyson probably wanted us to wear these to blend in."

I nodded in agreement. "To be fair, I don't want to be stared at."

"I'm staring at you," Kat said.

I grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it at Kat playfully. Oh, how I wanted to be back in her bedroom, a quiet Saturday evening. Her parents bringing us too many sweets as we sat snuggled up on her bed watching kid's cartoons. But we were in reality now. I guess that was all gone at this point. All three of us jumped once a familiar, booming voice met our ears for the second time today. "Are you ready, kids?"