by Avery Duncan
Suddenly, she wanted to run. To scream. To find her mother and clutch onto her. To cry.
But her mother... If she was going to be happy, Jamie had to do this. She had to be strong. The worst that had happened to her in her life was bad grades, and that had hardly been something to cry over. She wasn’t going to start now.
With a strong resolve, she wiped her cheeks and squared her shoulders, stepping out of the car. The men started to walk along the dirt path, rolling her suitcase behind them. She drew in a deep breath, smelling the musty, fresh scent of the world around them and shuddered.
The extent to her wildlife knowledge was what she had learned in a month of girl scouts before she, and her mother, realized that she was too sensible to be selling cookies and learning how to make cotton dolls. Her feet crunched branches, crinkled leaves, and carried her to her doom.
Jamie stared around her as she got closer to the house. Shadows ran through the forest, dancing in the darkness. They taunted her, called out to her. God, this was probably what her mother had wanted to take her to several years before. Wasn’t it.
The door was opened before they were on the porch. Seconds after it was opened, they were already on their way to the car. Headlights flared, unlike last time, and then they were backing out. Her stomach rolled with acid as she stood there, several feet before the open door.
Because of the light that now poured out of the wooden cabin, she couldn’t make out the features of her new ward. Hair was close to the head, so she assumed it was a man. His large figure filled the doorway, and the hand he held out seemed like it was passing through another dimension and reaching for her.
Drawn, almost as if in a trance, Jamie held out her hand slowly. The second their fingers touched, she yanked her hand back and gasped. It had almost hurt, the tingling sensation that had flown up her arm. Like a static shock, but ten times as powerful.
His hand dropped, and he cleared his throat. “Come in.” He stepped back, holding out his hand as if he would grandly allow her entrance.
At the deep sound of his voice, Jamie almost fell over from dizziness. Her fingertips, in the place that he had touched them, almost burned. He was almost twice her height, and, as she got a better look at his face, almost twice her age. But that wasn’t what stuck with her. It was the black as midnight hair. The pale amethyst eyes. The large, bulky frame and the utter power that radiated from him.
As she walked in wearily, staring at him with wide eyes, she noticed that he was oddly...silent. He held himself with arrogance. He held himself with a quiet strength and reserve, as if he were a king of some sort. The settings around them completely belied that thought, though.
Forcing herself to stay quiet, to not run away screaming her ass off, Jamie looked away from him and stared at the inside of the cabin. Everything was made out of wood. Besides the plaid curtains that reached the floor and swept up dust particles, the lamps were fashioned as the rest of the place was. The room was closed off, three more doors branching off to separate rooms of the house.
She wondered which one she would be sleeping in...if she was even sleeping in the house, that is. Would he set her outside? she thought numbly, turning pained eyes back to him.
Only to find him staring at her with an unreadable expression.
Jamie recoiled.
“You had a long ride. I’ll show you to your room and then you can sleep. Tomorrow, we will talk.” She hadn’t noticed it earlier, but he had a soft accent that she couldn’t place. God, he was so...regal. And huge. Jamie nodded, odly calmed by the sound of his voice.
He didn’t seem like he would hurt her. Actually, that was the exact opposite. The way he had been looking at her was the way she sometimes found her mom...after a bout of crying, though. Jamie couldn’t picture this man crying, though.
“I never got your name,” she said, causing him to freeze. He turned and stared at her as if she had grown two heads. Jamie stared at him straight in the eye, refusing to back down. If she was going to live with this guy, she had to know a name at least.
“They said you were like me,” he murmured. A look entered his sad eyes, almost like...pain. Jamie’s face turned red and her shoulders slumped awkwardly. What was she supposed to say to that? “But I never...”
“I just asked for your name,” Jamie said, hating how... intimate he sounded. As if he knew her. As if he had a right to talk to her like that. She kicked up her chin and hardened herself against him. He might be twice her size. He might be able to crush her into nothing but a pile of bones and cartilage. But that didn’t mean she would let herself he represented as a weak girl who couldn’t take care of herself.
He looked at her with clear eyes, and shut himself down completely. She saw no emotion, no hint of pain, no smile or arrogance. It was like he was a vessel and the soul had left. She backed up a step, taking in a breath and finding only the dull smell of the cabin.
“Your room is through this door.” He gestured towards the door on the far right, and then nodded toward the door in the middle portion of the room. His feet were as light as a cats as he walked to it and pushed the thing open, letting her go in first.
“This is the kitchen. It’s open all day and night, so have whatever you want when you want it. I have someone who takes stock and fills it up when it needs to be.” Her eyes widened when he opened the pantry. She peeked inside and swore she almost died. Within the amazing walls of the pantry, she saw jars of pears and peaches, a bowl oranges and a whole buttload of brownies. Boxes and boxes, just lining the walls.
She shot him a cautious look before crossing her arms over her chest. “I can make brownies whenever I want?”
The man froze, but only for a millisecond. Still, it was enough for her to notice. He turned his back away from her, head down low, and nodded. “Whenever you want...make sure you share, though. I have a sweet tooth.”
Jamie gave a short nod. “Good. What kind of cereal do you got?”
“Lucky Charms, mostly. There’s some others in there, but I prefer them to other kinds.” Same for her.
The kitchen was themed deco. Stainless steel refrigerator, microwave, freezer, and oven. It was the perfect place for a cook, with pots and pans hanging from over the stove that was set up in the corner. Opposite the pantry, there was a door with a large window, spreading from the bottom of the floor to the top of the ceiling. When she looked at it, fleetingly, she got shivers on the back of her neck.
“There is only one rule that you need to follow right now,” he said from behind her, having moved back to the door they had come from.
“What is that?” she asked, moving away from the pantry.
“You aren’t allowed to leave this house after nine o’clock. It’s safe for you during the day, but at night... I won’t have you leaving without my presence.”
She wasn’t going to argue with that.
He led her from the kitchen, showing her parts of the house and then some. For a while, she stayed silent and simply observed him. Once or twice, she would catch him studying her, taking in her white pleated skirt that reached her knees and her soft pink jacket, to her long black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail.
Finally, he led her to her room. Leaving her to get acquainted to the dark space, Jamie took in her surroundings with a painful gaze. It was in no way like her old room had been. Instead of her light pink walls, she now had a black and teal floral pattern on her walls. While it was pretty, it wasn’t what she was used to.
The bed was pushed against the wall, a soft looking comforter laid out cleanly on the full size mattress. Same as the walls, it had a teal floral pattern. Her other bed had been so much larger.... Jamie sat on it, testing it. Her other bed had also been a lot more softer.
She didn’t notice the man standing in the doorway until he set down the suitcase just inside of her room. He nodded his head at her, saying a quiet “Good night” before turning to leave. Jamie frowned, realizing she had forgotten something.
“He
y!” she said, standing up.
He turned and looked at her with dull eyes. “Yes?”
“I need a name for you, remember?” She tried hard to make herself sound confident, when in fact, her knees were shaking. Why was this so important to her? Why did it feel like this was going to change her life for forever? Jamie fought down the bile rising in her throat and met him head on.
He didn’t give a fight. Instead, he calmly looked at her and said, “Zyn.”
The door closed softly in her face.
Chapter 16
Jamie woke up the next morning with the smell of eggs and bacon wafting into her room. Her window, the only one in the room, was propped open and the soft chirp of birds made her smile.
It dropped the second she realized that she wasn’t in her own room. Birds wouldn’t have been chirping, and food wouldn’t have smelled as good as it did right now. She hadn’t been allowed to eat in her room, and the kitchens were a floor below on her, on the opposite side of the house.
She sat up slowly, throwing the covers off of her body. Her joints were stiff from how cold it had gotten last night, and she could remember waking up several times to grab the covers and pull them over her shivering body. She scrubbed a weary hand over her face and closed her eyes.
There was a knock on the door and then it creaked it’s way opened, revealing Zyn, the guy she was now going to live with till she could either find a way to run away, or when she turned legal.
He was standing there in dark jeans, a huge black hoodie, and his hair, as dark and as thick as her own, sticking up in random places. Another bird chirped into the awkward silence.
“I see that you’re awake,” he said with a forced casualness, wiping his hands on his jean-covered legs.
Jamie stared at him and then said, “Did you open my window?”
He looked awkward for a second, then nodded. “It gets pretty stuffy in the mornings, after all the cold. I figured you wouldn’t be used to it, so I came in here and opened it for you. Plus, I always get a peaceful feeling when I can wake up to what’s outside...”
Zyn trailed off at her dubious look, then turned for the door again. “Eggs, bacon, sausage, orange juice, and a plate of brownies are on the counter if you’re interested. I didn’t eat any, so there’s a lot.”
“What if I’m not hungry?” she asked, noticing how much of a brat she sounded like.
His shoulders tensed for a second, and then he shrugged. His voice was emotionless when he said, “Then dump it.”
And then he left, closing the door behind him. She noticed that there was no other sounds coming from the other side of the door. Either he hadn’t moved and was listening to her like a creep, or he was the quietest man on earth.
She chose to think the latter and got to her feet, not at all surprised when the floors creaked in unison with her back. She shoved her hands into her hair and looked around for the pony tail that she had left in last night. It was on her pillow, and while she pulled her hair back, she went to her suitcase and pulled it open.
Her heart dropped. Figures that her mother wouldn’t pack anything valuable for her. All she had were jeans, sweatpants, and a pair of sandals and tennis shoes with a couple of shirts that looked like they had come from walmart. She searched for her favorite pair of jeans and almost cried when she found them. Under the jeans, folded neatly, was a piece of paper on top of a dark purple hoodie.
She froze.
Her mind warred on if she should pick it up or not, but then she decided against it. It was probably a note from her father, or something her mother had put in there to make her life even worse than it was already getting. She slammed the suitcase closed stood up, feeling like complete shit and as she was living another person’s life.
She hid her tears and, once she was done getting dressed, made her way to the kitchen. True to his word, there was bacon and eggs, orange juice and delicious-looking brownies on the counter. Jamie made a beeline for the brownies and was just searching for a fork, a plate, and a cup when the door opened.
Zyn stared at her, his eyes taking on a look that she had never seen in any person before. He swallowed and then opened a cupboard, revealing plates and bowls. “The forks are in the drawer on your right,” he said quietly, nodding his head in that direction.
She opened the drawer and saw forks, spoons, knives, and other utensils. Jamie met his eyes and tried to smile. “Thanks.”
The second her lip lifted, his face closed up and she swore the flash of pain that she saw in his eyes was because of her. Confused and almost guilty, she tried to give him a real smile. “Are you going to eat at all?” She made to grab another fork for him, but his voice stopped her.
“I don’t eat. I made this for you.”
Her face screwed up. “Surely you eat. It looks as if you didn’t touch anything. Did you have breakfast earlier?” She looked at the oven and saw that it was only eight o’clock. Who the hell got up so early? she thought, completely dumbfounded. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in days, and now he doesn’t eat?
“Sit down,” she said, pointing at the table.
He looked at her, affronted. “I...what?”
Jamie turned her back on him and grabbed the pan of eggs and set it on the table. He backed away from her like a beaten dog when she came near him, going to the cupboard and grabbing two plates. “I said sit down. At the table. You do know what a table is, right?” she asked, feeling chagrin at what she was doing.
Zyn paused for a second, then made his way to the table with unsure feet. It was obvious that he didn’t want to, but she was grateful that he was at least making an effort.
She set the plates on the table, and then, remembering she didn’t know where the cups were, asked, “Where are the cups?”
“Two cupboards left from the plates...”
Jamie could feel his eyes on her, watching her. It wasn’t like a pedo look, like she had thought at first. No, he was studying her, watching her movements and how she did things. It was disconcerting, but she wasn’t going to ask his reasons for the close study.
“Thanks.” She set about filling their plates with food, and then pouring them both a glass of orange juice. She couldn’t help it when she put more brownies on her plate than on his, though.
When he saw that, she was graced with a deep chuckle that made her feel oddly...at home. She ignored the tightness in her chest and sat down, picking up her fork and then eating.
She realized, the fork halfway to her mouth, that he hadn’t taken a bite. Instead, he sat there with the fork in his hand, pushing the food around and watching her. Jamie set her fork down and gave him a look. “I have two questions for you...”
“You can call me Zyn,” he supplied, lip lifting slightly at her disgruntled look.
“Alright. I have two questions for you, Zyn.”
“Ask away.”
“One. Why are you not eating? And two... well, I told myself I wasn’t going to ask, but it’s starting to get to me. Why are you staring at me so much?”
His face, just as it had already several times before, became emotionless. Right when she thought he was going to get up from the table and leave, he stabbed an egg with the fork and brought it to his mouth. “I’m just not big on eating. And for the other question...”
Zyn seemed to struggle internally. His fingers, wrapped around the fork, tightened. Jamie swallowed, trying to make light of the situation and taking a bite of a brownie.
His voice was oddly careful as he spoke. “I think, when the time comes, I’ll tell you why.”
And that was the end of it. They finished their meals in silence, and before she knew it, he was cleaning up the kitchen and then exiting out of the door, leaving it open behind him. She didn’t take it as a way of saying “come out with me”, instead choosing to think that he just liked his house to have natural air.
Jamie was convinced that her mother would send for her, that her father didn’t mean his hurtful words and would want her back. She
waited a week...another week...a month...three months...and still nothing.
By the third month, though, she knew that she wouldn’t have gone. Zyn and her had gotten much closer. They had a daily routine of going through the forest, collecting things and watching the animals. Slowly, she began to notice changes in herself. Her senses were more aware, her eyes better in the dark than during the day.
She assumed it was because of Zyn and the way he was, and that she was just reflecting him. They held long talks, in which he would learn about her and her life. He knew the name of every friend she had, the name of her parents and the way her father had treated her, and he even knew the name of her stuffed octopus, Sherman.
Still, as much as she knew about him, she realized that she knew close to nothing about him. Jamie still caught him watching her, had once found him in his room with a frame and a piece of paper, just sitting there. Staring at them.
That one time she had barged in on him had been her last. The utter devastation on his face had actually hurt her.
Jamie had had no clue that anyone could hurt as much as he did.
And still, he took care of her. He taught her how to be as silent as he was, showed her some of the coolest things she had ever seen in her life, and had even let her pet a real life bear. She could still remember how terrifying it had been, but she had known Zyn would protect her.
She knew he always would, no matter what.
After the fourth month of waiting for her family to get back to her, she realized that she didn’t want them, nor need them anymore. She had Zyn. He had her. They were their own family, and she didn’t think anyone could come between them.
It was her fifth month staying with him. They had just gotten back from their daily route in the forest and she was worn out, tired, and happy. Zyn was sitting on the couch across from her, legs crossed at the ankles, hands folded on his lap. He was staring straight ahead, staring at the wall.