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

Chapter Twenty-Four

Robin

The house felt very cold to Robin. Despite the fact the temperature was almost at one hundred outside, the house itself was freezing.

Even though he had the medication Dahlia had prescribed him now, it felt as if they had no impact. What little sleep Robin did get before was suddenly cut in half, and there was always a feeling of dread hanging in the air for him.

He felt exhausted, and so many other negative things. But he never did get the chance to bring these things up to Mike.

One morning following another restless night, Robin had gone out to grab the mail. Among the letters was a small package wrapped to the point where you would need scissors to make a dent in it. Sent from none other than Mindy.

Confused, Robin texted Mindy about the package. In response, she said; it's not for you, it's for Leala. I got a notification on her social media that her birthday was coming up, so I bought her that gift and sent it a few days ago to make sure it got here on time.

Robin felt like an idiot all of a sudden; he remembered that Leala's birthday fell on the last days of summer. And with the way the school system was set up, it was the last weekend before school was back in session. It was somewhat of a joke for them as kids; Leala was technically older by a month of Robin, and one of the last things he did with her before going his separate ways with her was celebrate her birthday.

Mindy texted again; "You did remember, right?"

Robin responded with; "Yes, of course I did."

Then immediately responded with; "I call your bluff."

He sighed. "Sharp as ever apparently..."

Another message appeared on the phone; "Look, just give the gift to Leala before the day is over. Maybe you'll get some free cake out of it."

Robin couldn't help but be both terrified and amazed how Mindy could strong-arm him into this while also being more than ten thousand miles away. He looked down at the box; it was small enough to fit into one palm, and after slightly shaking the gift he could tell it was something small. But he had no idea what Mindy could've possibly picked out.

One way to find out, I suppose. He thought to himself. Anything to get out of the house that continued to make him feel uneasy.

After getting into somewhat neater clothes and a Ghostbusters jacket he had sitting on the back of his desk chair, he walked the familiar route to Leala's home. All the while, keeping an eye out for Demarcus, or any of the Nadir made by the sick hands of Little Lady Midnight.

-

Leala, at least to Robin's limited knowledge, didn't have many friends. She was usually a loner, but still popular with plenty of people. He didn't know if anyone else would go to this party of hers. At least from the outside of the house, it didn't seem like they were throwing much of a party.

Robin hesitated to walk up to the door and stood in the driveway. Leala hadn't even mentioned she was celebrating her birthday, so showing up now could potentially be... weird.

After mentally preparing himself, he walked up to the door and knocked on it. Sebastian immediately ran up to the window and started barking at Robin, though he was noticeably more upset given how furious-sounding his yelps were.

"Sebastian! Stop that!" A man's voice called from inside, followed by footsteps. Not Zeke's voice... probably her dad's. Somehow that made Robin more uneasy.

The door opened, and Robin jolted back to attention as Leala's father stood before Robin. Not an intimidating man by any means, but he was still Leala's father.