#Chapter4
---The headless-chicken mentality of Ryder Quin-04
Since Ryder loved to work until late at night, she had installed a few lights around the place that sometimes wouldn’t turn off until two a.m. or later.
Taking advantage of her parents’ absence, Ryder decided to stay up till late, trying to figure out the blueprints of the drafting table, even though it was a school night. With the saw brought to her chin, her eyes were focused on the blueprints as the frown on her lips deepened. If it was a pen or a brush, damn it, even a God damn spoon, the image of this girl deep in thoughts was quite beautiful and mesmerizing. But of course that wouldn’t happen. With the saw on her hand and the cold blade of it lightly tapping her chin, this young lady looked like a psychopath about to cut up someone, but hadn’t quite figured out of it would be more convenient to cut down the arms from the shoulder, or the elbows because there wasn’t too much space inside the trunk of her car.
And so, midnight came before Ryder could notice how late it was. Still deep in thoughts, at first she was unaware of the shuffling sounds coming from the wooden fence behind her. It wasn’t until a loud thump echoed through the silent night that she jumped up in horror and turned around.
The head fell again, she thought. The last project of hers had been a life size wooden doll that she had worked hard to make it look like Medusa, but unfortunately it turned out a bit deformed. Her parents had proposed to bring the doll to her uncle’s farm to scare the crows in the fields… Needless to say, Ryder felt quite offended by such proposal.
However it wasn’t the head of the deformed Medusa that had fallen. Horrifyingly it was the dark figure of a man, lying on the ground in fetus position, groaning in pain. As if fate had decided that this night shall end like a scene from a horror movie, the man was hidden by the shadows because of course, the light of that specific corner burned out a few days ago.
I’m going to die tonight.
Her body tensed from fear, the grip on the saw tightened, as she eyed the hammer that wasn’t too far from her, but unlike when forced into socializing, her mind was clear, having the time to analyze the situation, eye up the man and calculate how strong and big he was, and, of course, to curse. But her body still remained frozen like an ice cube. All she could do was to look at the man and accept her death.
At least I won’t have to do the homework for tomorrow.
However, much to her surprise, the dark figure of the man didn’t move, almost as if he was dead. Did he actually jumped over the fence into my backyard only to die? How will I explain that to mom? She will never leave me alone if a random dude dies this one time I have the whole house for myself.
Suddenly the broad shoulders of the man shook slightly a muffled sound came from him. A soft, heart-breaking cry. He was crying.
Is he drunk?
Still in high alert, Ryder dared to take her eyes off the man and look around for a phone, only to remember that it had no battery and died a few hours ago. It really must be her destiny to die today. What is this unrealistic horror movie setting?!! What is this kind of death… well on a second thought… I will probably end up on the newspaper…
Should I scream?
But what if he jumps on me? I’m armed but he’s probably stronger and taller than me so the chances of survival are few…
Just as she was about to decide if screaming or not was a good idea, the man spoke. /"I’m sorry…/" The voice broke and what followed those two words, Ryder couldn’t make out. At first she thought he was apologizing for intruding, but the man kept crying and muttering under his breath. It wasn’t Ryder he was seeking forgiveness from… but then who?
/"I’m sorry… I’m sorry…/" Hidden in the shadows the man bit his lip as tears washed his face.
Bewildered by such turn of events, as mentioned before, with that chicken mentality of hers, Ryder now felt more curious than scared of the man. With her saw still held in her hands ready to strike, she found the courage to ask. /"Are you okay?/"
Are you here to kill me? But of course she didn’t say that at loud. It the man didn’t have such intentions, she didn’t want to give him ideas.
The man sat up, his head hung low and knees brought to his chest. His hands covered his already hidden by a hood face. In such position, the shaking of his shoulders was even more visible. The man shook his head.
Oh… so he isn’t okay? Okay~
It felt like an eternity drowned in silence before the man took a few deep breaths, sobering up and calming himself down. With a hoarse voice he broke that silence. /"Can… can you give me some water? Please?/" His voice sounded like breaking glass. As if there was something in him that kept shattering his soul from inside.
Never in her life had Ryder heard such pained voice… the sound sent a shiver down her spine, though what caused it was unknown.
/"Will you leave afterwards?/"
The man nodded.
Still keeping an eye on him, Ryder grabbed the bottle at her worktable. Since she always worked for hours nonstop, she would usually bring some snacks and a bottle of water with her in the backyard for her short breaks. The bottle was almost full, so it should have been enough.
Not daring to approach him, Ryder rolled the bottle to his feet. It felt like she was merely feeding a dog, but even though she had tons of homework to do, Ryder preferred to be alive by tomorrow.
The man took the bottle in his hands and brought it to his lips. The hoodie he was wearing kept his face in total darkness and the burned out light bulb seemed like it was created just for this specific moment to hide the man’s figure, yet as he lifted his head to drink, Ryder saw the white skin of his jawline.
When the bottle was brought back down it was completely empty. The water had sobered up the man. He stood up and dusted off his dark clothes, his voice clearer. /"I’m sorry for scaring you. I better get going./" The shattered glasses of his voice turned into burning ice. The stranger was about to jump over the fence again, leaving the same way he came, but his movements came to a halt, making the blood turn cold down Ryder’s veins. /"Thank you for helping me, Ryder./" The tone of the man said softly and warmly, holding the taste of a smile...
And then he was gone.