Chapter 9 #2
“Well, if you ever want to, I’m here, and I will listen without judgment, if you want.” He makes a small grunt as we continue on our trek. Occasionally, Ryker will move forward and peek up at me, asking if I’m doing okay. The way he constantly checks on me warms my heart.
“Ryker?” I ask as I think about how little I know about him.
“Yea, Red?” he asks with a smile.
“You don’t seem eager to get back to your job or life, how come?” I see his smile drop as he turns to watch where he’s walking.
I don’t think he’s going to answer when he finally speaks, “I don’t have much of a home, really. There’s nothing waiting for me back there.”
“No friends or family?”
He shakes his head. “No, my parents don’t talk to me. We… had a falling out when I was younger and they basically disowned me. I consider myself parentless now. And as you already know, I have no siblings.”
“And friends? You’re so kind and charming, you must have lots of friends.” I tell him honestly.
“It’s hard to make friends when you’re a…” his eyes move to mine nervously, “A loneling.” He should know that doesn’t bother me by now.
“Well, don’t worry Ry,” I say, reaching my hand out over Brax’s shoulder for Ryker to take. “You’ve got me now, and you can’t get rid of me so easily.”
“I hope not,” he whispers before squeezing my hand and releasing it.
I can tell I’ve brought the mood down by asking about their personal lives. Maybe it’s only fair I share a bit of my own?
“I lied to you guys.”
“What?” They both halt in the tracks, turning their heads to me in surprise.
“I said I didn’t have any siblings. Well, technically I don’t anymore, but I had a brother once… he was my twin.” I whisper the last words at the memory of Charlie.
Slowly, we start walking again and I think they are waiting for me to tell them more.
“We were pretty close growing up. Sure, he had his friends, and I had Ria, but we still enjoyed doing things together. He was sort of like my other half, you know?” I find my fingers playing with the fur on the top of Brax’s chest, somehow that’s easier than risking eye contact as I tell them the story.
“When we were sixteen, he wanted to go to a concert in the city, but mom and dad said no. He told me to sneak out with him, but I didn’t like the band so I said no, so he went with a couple friends.
I guess he made some bad decisions that night and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Some guys tried to rob him and his friends, but his friends took off and left him there.
Charlie ended up getting stabbed. The knife punctured two organs, and the paramedics couldn’t get there fast enough.
He died that day, in some dirty alley, all alone. ”
I don’t realize we’ve stopped walking or that I’m crying until strong arms wrap around me as I’m pulled into someone’s strong chest. Braxton.
“Oh, Baby, I’m so sorry you lost him like that.
That must have been terrible for you, to lose someone so close.
” He presses his lips to my head before Ryker’s fingers stroke through my hair, making me turn my gaze to him.
“You miss him?” he says it like a question, but we both know the answer as I nod, wiping my teary face with my hands.
“The weird thing is, now I wonder if he was even my twin. If my soul was supposed to be here. The Penny that is now in the human world has a twin she’ll never meet. It’s just so… confusing.”
We’re all silent for a moment before Braxton finally breaks the silence. “I killed my mother.”
I look up at him with wide eyes. “Uhh… Care to elaborate?” I don’t for one second believe that he murdered his mother, I’m sure it’s just something he’s blaming himself for.
“She died giving birth to me. My fathers’ always blamed me. Said if my head wasn’t so big, she’d still be alive.”
“Brax, you know that’s horseshit, right? A baby can’t be blamed for being born. It’s not your fault that she died.”
He looks at me and I can see him grinding his teeth. He doesn’t believe me, he blames himself.
“Brax, I’m serious. It’s not your fault. Tell me what happened with your fathers?”
“They barely tolerated me. Barely paid attention. The second I was old enough, I got a job in town so I could start saving money and as soon as I was sixteen and knew I could get hired full time, I left home. I moved around for a while, not really sure what I wanted to do. Nine years ago, I was working in this really tiny village as a blacksmith. One day, a woman came in looking for something to be made for one of her husbands. I asked her about him to get a good idea of what I can make that would be unique and personal for him, but her men arrived and accused me of trying to seduce her. We didn’t even get closer than five feet from one another.
But they didn’t care, within the hour, they had everybody in the village on their side.
So I just packed up and left. I decided I’d rather live in solitude than deal with people like that. ”
“Brax…” I hedge, knowing that alone wouldn’t have sent him off to live on a mountain in solitude. “There’s more to it than that, isn’t there? What else did they say to you?”
He looks into my eyes before lifting his hand to caress my cheek. “How do you already know me so well, Baby?” I see the side of his lips quirk up before his expression drops again. “Because of my size and the way I look, they implied that no woman would ever want a savage loneling like me.”
“Now I know they’re liars.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m a woman, aren’t I?”
He stares into my face, confused for a moment before I can see him understanding what I mean. “You… want me?”
“Brax, I thought I made that kind of obvious,” I say, nervously biting my lip. Because, as nervous as he might be about being rejected, I felt the same way.
“No, I need to hear it.”
“I—” I’m cut off as the ground shakes below us and a loud humming sounds throughout the air.
Brax quickly turns to look back the way we came and I see his eyes widen as he jumps up with me in his arms and starts running down the mountain, “Ryker, run! It’s an avalanche!
” he bellows. As I cling to his chest, I glance over his shoulder, glad to see Ryker only a step behind us.
My glee immediately turns to dread as my eyes move behind him to the large avalanche of snow bounding down the mountain, straight towards us.
I don’t remember seeing anything ahead of us, so I don’t know that we have any hope of out running it.
“Brax!” I cling to him as he runs as fast as he can.
“I know, Baby, I know.” Even now, as we’re running from a mountain of snow, he’s trying to soothe me.
Is it too early to tell him I love him? Is it too early to feel that?
What if we’re about to die? He should probably know.
I guess I’ve always been quick to jump into relationships, But there’s something about these two that just clicks.
It’s like they’re missing pieces of my soul.
“Brax, we’re about to die, I need you to know something.”
“Baby, I’m not going to let you die.”
“I know, that’s one of the reasons I love you.” I boldly confess, not wanting to die with any regrets.