Behind |First book in The Risen Saga|

Chapter Seven|Ava - Where The Street Begins

I walked out of the store, a small grocery bag filled with first aid contents hanging on my arm. The wind had picked up, to the point that my hair was all but whipping me. It felt like everyone was staring at me and it took everything to suppress glancing behind me.

There was no way they knew anything that was going on, I was just being paranoid. They didn't know I wasn't human. They didn't know I was going to use these bandages to cover a lycanthrope bite. They didn't know yet my mind convinced me that they were judging me, thinking I was some freak.

But this was how I always was, right? I'd always been like this but I just hadn't awakened it. Did that change anything, though?

Goosebumps littered my arms as I hurried home, eager to get back to Tyson and worried he was in pain. I was worried he was in a kind of pain I couldn't just patch up with bandages.

I shook my head in disappointment. It was unbelievable how Tyson's parents reacted but that's exactly what happened. They knew something about the supernatural that they'd been keeping from Tyson all his life. And by their words, it seemed that they knew how dangerous it was. So why would they leave him alone in it? As parents, why abandon him, despite how dangerous it was?

The thought of it made my stomach queasy and I was happy to see my house in the distance.

For now, I'd just patch up Tyson's wounds and wait. If I pushed him to talk about it, he'd only shut me out even more. So I'd wait until he was ready to talk. Even if he never wanted to talk about it, I just wanted him to know I was there.

As I drew nearer, I slowed, making out an unfamiliar silhouette. A tall man, not much older than me, leaning against my door.

I narrowed my eyes. Had he knocked? If he had, why was he waiting at the door? Tyson would have answered.

When I turned to go towards the house, he smiled, waving at me as if he knew me. His dark brown hair shadowed his green eyes in an almost unsettling way. Or maybe it wasn't the shadow.

"Hey, I'm Seth, I'm here looking for someone I heard you'd come in contact with," he said and I rose an eyebrow. The way he spoke was almost forced as if he was tense and struggling to sound casual.

"And who's that?" I asked. He'd heard I'd come into contact with someone. How was that even possible? I hadn't told anybody about anything that had been happening and certainly not who I was with.

"Emma Livingston," he said, his smile almost blinding.

My face fell slack, my eyes widening. How the hell did he know Emma? Before I could say anything, the shrill noise of my ringtone cut me off and I quickly answered without checking the caller, taking a step back from the man—Seth.

"Hello?" I asked, my voice shaky.

"Hey, its me."

I let out a sigh. "Emma? You have a phone?"

"Yeah, I got it from a friend. But listen, I'm on my way to secure the deal for the whole natural enemy thing. I just wanted to check in. How are things looking?" she asked, her voice seeming distant.

"Uh, everything's fine," I said, glancing up at Seth before turning around. "But, there's someone here looking for you."

"What? Who? Are they there now?" Emma asked, her voice alert and sharp.

"Yeah, he's right—" I paused as I turned around. He was gone. I looked around the driveway and yard. He was nowhere in sight. "He's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean?" she asked.

"He was here a second ago but he's gone now. He just—disappeared."

"Okay, listen to me, Ava. Who was he? What did he look like? Did he tell you a name? Anything, Ava," she demanded. Her words were sharp and cold but if I listen close enough, they seemed breathed with hope. 

I shook my head, glancing behind me as I hurried into the house. "He said he was looking for you. His name was Seth."

I heard her take a sharp breath before she sighed. "Stay at your house, I'll figure it out."

"But, Emma, this—" I broke off as the line went dead. I stared disbelieving at the phone for a moment before scoffing and shoving it into my pocket, locking the door behind me. As I turned around, the silence spiked my nerves. "Tyson?" I called, placing the grocery bag on the counter. No answer. I swallowed down my fear and walked down the hallway. "Tyson, I'm back!"

Still no answer.

Think rationally here. He could just be sleeping. Yeah, that's probably it. Just sleeping.

A warm hand rested on my shoulder and I jumped back, spinning around to find Tyson standing, a small bag of chips in his hand, his eyebrows scrunched up. "Hey, sorry, didn't mean to scare you that bad," he said, chuckling.

I shoved his shoulder, laughing. "That bad?" He just shrugged, suppressing a smile.

"Oh, by the way, someone stopped by, looking for Emma. He said his name was—"

"Seth," I said. Tyson rose an eyebrow questioningly. "Yeah, we've met. Emma's gonna deal with it."

He nodded hesitantly before pointing to the bag on the counter. "That for me?"

"Yep," I said, picking it up and walking to the living room, motioning for him to follow. We sat on the couch and he stretched his arm out, looking away as I began to peel off the ragged bandage.

"Emma seems to be adjusting well. Hasn't she been dead for centuries? You'd think it'd take longer to get used to how the world is now," he said as I cleaned the bite, the punctures becoming clearer. Looking at them—at how bad they really were—my chest hurt, a dull ache the seemed to be slowing my air. It was my fault this happened to him. Even if he didn't want to say it out loud, I'm sure he blamed me. "Ava?"

"Uh, yeah, Emma's something else. She adjusts quickly, for sure," I said, beginning to wrap the wound.

He fell silent, his gaze weighing on me for a moment before he sighed. "How bout we make a bed on the floor and watch Disney movies until we figure out what to do next?" he asked, smiling. I looked up at him, smiling back as I finished the wrap.

"Sounds good," I agreed.

So we packed all my bedding into the living room, pulling the coffee table to the side to give us more room. We piled blankets and pillows on the floor before settling in, flicking the tv on to search for a movie. Tyson yawned, tears springing in the corners of his eyes as he looked through the different selections.

His hair was unruly, one of his hands tangled in it as he leaned on the couch. His tongue poked at his cheek as he focused on the screen. His eyes were glossy and sleepy, with dull grey rings underneath them. I couldn't really blame him though, knowing he hadn't gotten very much sleep. But I guess he'd always had that problem.

"Am I really that hot?" he asked, smirking as he turned to me. I rolled my eyes, turning to look at the tv as he snickered.

It was the middle of the day—a day we'd normally be spending at school—and we were laying on the floor in the living room, watching The Lion King, like we were kids. Because I guess we were. Weren't we?