Inside Man [DISC., UTFN]

04: Mr. Sandman

11:54- June 30th, 2021

Words: Approx. 1,119

For Anna, lately, everything had descended into a downward spiral. She'd made a terrible mistake, acting out of anger, and caused an argument with her best friend, Trinity. It hurt her more than she'd prepared herself for. She knew she'd most likely never see her again. Anna hadn't even bothered to call Sean these last few weeks. 

Sitting on her bed, everything seemed colorless and the hollow pain in her stomach reminded Anna constantly of her mistake. She flipped her phone screen-side up, and stared emotionlessly at the notifications. 

iMessage at 10:36  
Sean 
Hey, you up? 

iMessage at 10:42
Sean 
Anna. You need to answer me, you haven't talked to me in forever. 

11 Missed Calls from Sean 

Anna set the phone down. She didn't care. He could worry all he wanted. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing to talk about. Anna stood up and walked to the bathroom, and looked into the mirror. She despised the person staring back at her in the reflection. Sudden anger propelled her fist back, and forward. The mirror shattered, several pieces of the glass falling all over the counter, into the sink, and onto the floor. 

She barely reacted at the strong, muscled arms that dragged her back, out of the bathroom and into the living room. Sean set her on the couch and she began to try and fight him. He kneeled and held onto her arms until exhaustion made Anna stop. 

Anna looked down at her feet. Sean let her go. 

"Why are you here, Sean?" Anna spoke, fixing him with a cold gaze. "Because you haven't talked to me for three fucking weeks." Sean snapped. Anna opened her mouth to throw back a stinging reply, but thought better of it and closed her mouth, jaw muscles twitching. "That's what I thought." Sean snapped again, before standing. Anger sizzled beneath Anna's skin. "You don't need to get all snappy with me." She retorted. Sean, who'd been moving to the direction of the bathroom, turned on her, the anger in his eyes suddenly making them seem lighter. "You're the one who is angry at me for caring! Did you really think I wasn't going to do anything if you didn't answer my texts or calls? Do you think I don't care about you or your safety?" 

Anna ceased talking after the yelling. Sean waited for her to say something, but when she didn't, he walked away and into the bathroom. He tapped the middle of the broken mirror and the pieces flew up and back into their places, and the mirror was back together, as if it hadn't been broken. 

Anna had stood and walked to the back door, staring at the hill beyond her fence. There was silence in the house, but Anna didn't jump when a warm hand was set gently on her shoulder. She looked at the hand, and then into the golden brown eyes of Sean, which were no longer smoldering with anger, but showing concern and something else that Anna couldn't identify...something warm and caring, but it didn't seem platonic. She shook it off and sighed. 

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Sean began. "I just was worried and you are stubborn and mute to it." Anna nodded, looking away from him. "It's okay. I'm sorry for not answering you. I had an argument with a best friend recently after I did something unintentionally and I might not ever be able to see her again." she explained. She looked into Sean's eyes again, and swore they were glowing, but it disappeared as fast as she'd seen it. He took her hand away from her shoulder. "You need to eat." Sean spoke gently. Anna would have objected, as he went to the cupboards and began to take out food to make sandwiches, but she knew better. 

He just cares, like anyone would, he's human like all of us, thought Anna. But as she watched Sean make sandwiches, she began to have a doubt. Or several. He'd done things that certainly didn't seem human, but more celestial. No, she was imagining it. He was normal. He IS normal. 

"Here you go." The gentle, soothing voice broke into her thoughts and Anna looked up from the floor to see a sandwich on a paper towel strip being held out to her. "Thanks." she murmured, taking the sandwich. She noticed it was her favorite; mustard and mayonnaise, lettuce, sharp cheddar cheese, roast beef, and on either side, nine grain bread. That was puzzling. "How did you know...?" she began to ask, looking over at Sean. He looked back at her, smirking slightly. "I have my reasons." he replied, but there was something in his eyes that told her there was more to it. Anna didn't press him; instead she went to the coffee table and sat down on the couch, beginning to eat. Soon, Sean came around the corner with his own sandwich, sitting down next to Anna, bringing along a half full bag of Ruffles sour cream and cheddar cheese chips. "Is it alright?" he asked, referring to the sandwiches. "Yes, it's very good." Anna responded in between a bite. Sean smiled lightly, and began to eat his own sandwich. 

For the better part of ten or fifteen minutes, the only sounds that broke the silence were the crunching of sandwiched atoms splitting apart, chewing, and later on, chips. Sean had to take the bag of chips away from Anna because she wouldn't stop eating them, but Anna threw away the paper towels they used. Sean helped her with the dishes, and they went outside. Anna's phone began to ring, and she pulled it out, the caller ID showing that it was her stepdad. She answered it. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey, kiddo. You need to stay inside." Aaron spoke. Anna's brows furrowed and she shot a confused sidelong glance at Sean. 

"Why?" 

"We're doing a search warrant on the end of the road house. The one with the red Corolla." Aaron explained. Anna's heart dropped, filled with dread. 

"Okay. Hope it goes well. I'll see you later." Anna replied, ending the call as her stepdad told her a 'bye'. She looked at Sean. "You have to leave. Search warrant. On your house." She gasped out. Sean stared at her, not seeming to process the information. Then he stood up, and looked at Anna, wanting to speak. "There's no time!" Anna threw at him; she could hear police sirens now. "Go!" That was all Sean needed to take off running to his house. She watched him go. 

There was nothing else she could do, but wait and hope to God nothing would go wrong.