The Ones I Love

Stranger things. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: The title just seemed so fitting for this chapter that I had to use it. XD

I don't own the picture above and have only done basic editing.

With all my fatigue gone after the much-needed sleep, I get out of my room and straight away down to the kitchen. I stop in my tracks, however, when I notice Ruki gone while everyone else casually eats their meal. 

"Good morning, everyone." All of them reply with a hearty good morning as I sit down next to Azusa. "So, where is our fifty-shades-loving brother?" I smile at all of them as they look at me in confusion for a second before chuckling at the joke.

"Well, he is in his room, probably reading fifty shades." Kou chuckles as he continues eating his meal when Yui enters the kitchen timidly. I turn around to give her a small smile as she smiles back and sits down in front of me. When I see her looking around at the table in curiosity, I clear my throat to grab her attention and let her know Ruki is in his room. She lightly nods and thanks me as she begins eating her meal. 

Aaanddd, everyone's silent again.

I sigh but remain quiet nonetheless, then once the meal is over, I keep my dishes in the sink and walk out of the kitchen with Yui. Once we are in front of her room, I turn to her fully and tell her about the plans for today evening.

"Yui, I've spoken to Ayato about you wanting to go back and..." I prolong my sentence to see her anticipating reaction. Once satisfied with her expression, I smile and continue. "He's coming to get you tonight!" I whisper to her and she jumps up in excitement, biting her lower lip to hold in her shriek. 

"Oh my god, Anna! You are the best! Thank you so much!" She holds my hands tightly as the muscles in her face tense up, letting me know she is trying hard not to cry from joy. 

"Trust me, I'm not doing anything, all of this is on Ayato so thank him when you meet him. I have to go and think of some way to distract the boys but you can rest and get ready to leave tonight. I'll see you soon!" She nods quickly as I jog away from her. Once in my room, I open my drawers to get my phone when I hear a sound outside through my open window. I stop dead in my tracks and look towards my window in suspicion. With slow steps, I come closer to look out but when I only see pitch black, I sigh lightly and place my hands on the frames of the window, push my legs over the edge and jump down as quietly as possible. As soon as I hear another rustle in a nearby bush, I go to lunge over to the source but when a limping wolf treads out, I stop myself abruptly.

"What happened to you, poor baby?" I whisper as I walk closer to it, crouching down as I place my hands gently under its chin and on its head. I examine the wolf and see a huge cut across its belly and all the way over to one of the legs. "Who would do this?" I begin to panic, not knowing what would be the best decision to try and heal the creature but I don't get enough time when an arrow shoots out of nowhere and through the wolf's chest, knocking it down in one shot. A scream erupts from the back of my throat at the sudden and brutal occurance as I back up from the now dead animal. I scramble up to stand on my legs as I look around frantically for the source of the enemy. 

"You bastard! Come out and show yourself! Why would you do such a thing, you psychopath?!" I yell into nothingness and feel a hand on my shoulder the next moment. I grab the said hand and twist it, rolling the whole body over my shoulder the next moment. 

"Anna, it's me!" I look down, ready to stomp their face when I see it is actually Yuma, which makes me stop my leg in mid-air, mere inches from his face.

"What the hell are you doing here, Yuma-kun?!" I help him get up right after and continue looking around for any movement in the forest as I ask him. "Did you do this to that wolf?" I point at the animal on the ground and he follows my finger to see what had happened, but when his eyes widen in terror, I get my answer instantly.

"No! Anna, I would never do that a-and you know it!" He looks back and forth between me and the wolf but my gaze stays fixated around us. "What are you doing here?" 

"There's someone out there, Y-yuma. I was petting the wolf, a-and this arrow just shot out of nowhere-"

"The more of a reason for us to stay inside. Come on, you don't have to stay here and watch this any longer. I will take care of everything, come on." He holds onto my shoulders as I look at the wolf one last time before letting Yuma take me inside. "I'm sorry you had to experience that." Yuma whispers as he brings me to my room and leaves me alone. I quietly sit on my bed, physically unmoving but emotionally- I was a wreck. 

I have never seen anything like it, who would do such a cruel thing? And... why didn't they harm me?

I look out the window with narrow eyes, finally coming in contact with reality as I realize my heavy breathing. Without another thought, I walk out of the room to clear my head and warn Yui about the danger while I am at it. I knock on her door and wait for her to respond but when she doesn't, I knock again. After a few more seconds, I twist the door knob to see the room empty. Assuming she is in her bathroom, I walk over and knock on her bathroom door, only to be responded with silence. 

I know I shouldn't be worried, but I am worried.

I walk out instantly to find Ruki in the hallway and I smile at him as we walk closer to each other.

"Ruki, say, have you seen Yui anywhere?" All color leaves his face as soon as I ask the question, making me question him for possibly the 100th time. 

"Uh, no, actually. The last time I saw her was when we came back from school." I nod and thank him as I switch my direction and begin walking, a new found determination and goal: to search the whole house for Yui. After about an hour of searching the rooms and re-searching them at least twice, I give up and sit on my bed. My mind blank of any more ideas, I pick my phone up from the bedside table. I look out the window again, just in case, before dialing a number I had been dialing quite a lot lately. He picks up the call in a few seconds, his voice sounding determined, making me feel guilty.

"Hey, what's up? Is it time?" 

"Uh, actually, Ayato... I don't know what to say, I can't find Yui anywhere." There is a moment of silence before Ayato, surprisingly, calmly speaks up.

"What do you mean? She's not in the house?"

"I don't know, I mean, I'm not picky up her scent or anything. I doubt she left but she's somehow not in the house either." I fidget with my fingers and bite my bottom lip as I wait for a response.

"That-that doesn't make any sense." He says, his voice clearly confused.

"I know it doesn't. I am confused myself. Listen, I will try to find her but you can't come here until I've comfirmed everything- I know how frustrating this is and I'm extremely sorry about this. She was here a couple of minutes ago and now I can't even sense her." 

"I... don't know what to say honestly. You know what? Let me come there and help-" He cuts himself off when I hear a distant crash from the other end.

"Ayato? What is going on there?" Before he can answer, Laito's voice reaches my ears from a distance.

"Ayato, we need you, right now! You need to see what happened." I wait for a clarification on the situation but all Ayato says is:

"Hey, I-I'll call you back, I have to go! But I promise you this: I am coming for Yui soon, whether you think she is there or not!" With that said, he cuts off the call before I can answer him and I am left staring at the black screen in confusion.

You really love her, don't you?