*Souta*
"Sou," my ma called out. She cracked the door open a bit and looked around the messy lamp-lit room. "Ya father and I are goin' to go to the city with your siblings. I left ya dinner in the microwave. Try not to stay up too late, you have class tomorrow."
I put down my book and gave her my best smile. "Don't worry, Ma, I won't."
Ma looked at the white curtains waving around in the wind. "It's said that a storm will be comin' tonight, so close ya window and don't forget to close the barn doors too."
I nodded as I picked my book back up. "Sure, sure, will do!"
She sighed as she closed the mahogany door.
I rolled my eyes once she was gone. Was I really that unreliable in her eyes?
***
A strong gust blew into my room as I put down my book; sending the papers on my desk flying in all directions. I sighed as I stared at the resulting mess. Uh, not that it wasn't messy before, but now it was worse! Far worse...
I rushed to shut the window and as I did, I recalled Ma's words about the barn.
Gods, how I wanted to kick myself for forgetting the barn animals. They could be dead because of me!
I pulled out a first-aid kit from under my bed in case I needed to tend to any injured animals or if I ended up getting hurt. Rushing downstairs, I went straight for the coat hanger by the main door and yanked my yellow raincoat off. Spinning around, I headed toward the kitchen and ran outside through the back door (I made sure to lock the house).
The already strong gusts were starting to pick up even more as I made my way over some fallow fields which once were home to giant stalks of corn over the summer. The barn house laid just on the opposite side of them, beyond the now flooded field that we would soon be using for growing pumpkins.
My eyes widened when I arrived at the barn. At first, I had hoped that it had been only my imagination, an illusion caused by the chaotic mixture of rain and wind with the dark shroud of night falling upon me. But it was no illusion, the chipping-white-door was closed. I gazed over at the other sight I had seen from afar; the bottom of several wooden planks on our red fence had been snapped. But the way they were broken was as if someone had done it, not nature.
Holding the first aid kit tightly, I made my way to the barn. I opened the door and only saw a handful of sheep (Pa and Ma had taken the rest to sell) and our horses, Anabeth and Perceus.
Anabeth, whose stall was at the far right corner, seemed disturbed by something as she kept jumping up and down. I figured it was due to the sound of wind pounding against the barn.
I put my hand through the opening of the box-stall and gently petted her long silky, golden mane. "It's fine, calm down. I'm here, I'll keep you safe."
Suddenly she lifted her front legs as the sound of metal clanging against metal echoed throughout the barn, upsetting the other animals.
I chuckled nervously as I noticed several shovels in the far-left corner had fallen over. "It must be a rat, or several of them." Oh gods, was I going to die here?
"Who are you calling a rat?" a masculine voice rang against the sound of wind and hail pelting against the barn.
Someone then came up from behind and grabbed me by the wrists.
My lemon-orange eyes widened as I turned my head. He or she had long, beautiful dark-purple hair that shimmered in the moonlight that poured through the barn window above Anabeth's stall. I couldn't help but be taken aback by the beauty of the person.
"You're being yanked by a stranger, yet you're blushing," the person said, the same masculine voice as before. He chuckled violently, causing the water in his hair to drip down against my shirt. "You're an odd one." He took a deep breath and erased his vibrant smile. "I need a place to stay."
I shook my head and head butted him with the back of my head. He released me--allowing me to make a run for the door.
The boy ran up to me and slammed me against the door. "Boy, I wouldn't do that if I were you. I can't have you informing the cops that I'm here. If you do then..." He touched my neck and dug his fingernails into it. "I'm going to have to kill you."
I let out a painful shriek as his nails punctured my skin, causing blood to pour out. "Let. Me. Go. I won't..." I cried out.
The boy sighed in exasperation and let go of me.
I took in deep breaths as I collapsed on the floor. He was serious... he really would have killed me if I had tried to go call the cops.
The boy winced as he touched his left arm. He had what seemed to be a tranquilizer dart stuck to his skin. I only recognized it as one as my father owned a tranquilizer gun which he would use to calm down the bull that we used to own whenever it went on one of its rampages.
I crawled over and grabbed the boy by the arm, making sure not to move it too much. "Are...you okay?"
The boy scoffed. "You think I am?"
Shaking my head, I took out the dart which caused the boy to let out a shriek. I grabbed his hand. "Let's go inside the house, I'll clean up your wound there."
He narrowed his eyes. "Are you really going to invite someone who snuck into your property and threatened you into your home?"
"You're hurt." Besides, if he tried to hurt me again then I would just use my powers...
He followed me back into the house. I took him upstairs as it would be easier to hide that he was here. He was lucky that my parents and siblings were gone, though. Else it might've been more difficult to help him.
"I'll need you to take off your clothes," I ordered.
The guy backed away and narrowed his gorgeous purple eyes.
"Is something the matter?" I asked, tilting my head.
"Are you a pervert or something?" he said, taking another step back.
I turned away as we walked toward my room, trying not to blush more than I already was. "I'm not! You got to take a shower. You'll get sick like this. I'll share my clothes with you."
He sighed. "Alright, I'll do it."
I snuck a look at him as soon as I heard the sound of fabric rustling. Seemed that he had misunderstood as to where he should take off his clothes as he had unbuttoned the bottom pair of buttons on his shirt. The young man had a rather slender yet somewhat sculpted figure based on what I could see... actually, he reminded me a lot of a girl.
"Hey, are you really a guy?" I asked, grinning.
The boy punched me on the shoulder but it didn't hurt much. He likely used up all the strength he had left back on the barn. I reminded myself to get him something to eat later.
"Of course I am!" he exclaimed. He pulled his long hair back into a ponytail. "Darn, I should get rid of this mop of hair..." He stared at it and shook his head. "I can't do it..."
I smiled as we entered my room. "You like your hair long?"
He grumbled. "Does it matter to you?"
I chuckled. "Well, I think it looks nice on you."
The guy looked away as he closed the door behind him. "The way you're complimenting me is kind of weird." He tried to bend his injured arm but when he did he would wince.
"Here, let me help you." I put down my first aid kit to the side. "Just raise your arms up slowly, don't bend them." I went behind him and pulled his shirt off, revealing his boyish chest. The guy had only a bit of muscle on him. Otherwise, he was almost a twig.
He grinned. "Disappointed that I'm a guy?"
I shook my head. "I'm not, besides, why would I be?" I dropped the shirt to the floor and pulled out disinfectant spray from my first aid kit. I applied it as gently as I could over the wound though he still winced. "There, I'll apply some gauze over it once you finish showering."
He looked around my formerly neat room, the wind from earlier had blown books and sheets of paper across the floor. I walked over and moved my wardrobe over the window just in case the wind proved to be too strong for the reinforced glass to resist.
The boy whistled. "You know, despite how you look, you're pretty strong," he said.
I snickered. "I owe it to years of plowing the fields. Oh right, the bathroom is to your left. In the meantime, I'll pick out some clothes for you."
"Thanks," he said, unbuttoning his pants in front of me.
My eyes swung directly to the orange carpet to avoid looking at his crotch. Though based on what I was I saw of the bump on his underwear, he seemed to be rather big. Though he was likely flaccid...
The boy scoffed. "You like guys or something?" he asked.
I glanced up and nodded shyly. "D-do you care that I do?"
He walked over to the bathroom and shrugged. "Not really. Just curious." With those words, I was left alone in my room.
I took a deep breath to calm down my erratic heartbeat. He was right, I was a strange person. He threatened to kill me, yet despite that...
I shook my head and knelt down to pick up the scattered papers and books. Once I was done with that, I picked out a fresh set of clothes for him as I had promised. I chose a pair of denim jeans which were a tad long for me as well as a purple t-shirt.
"I'm coming in," I called out before opening the door to the bathroom. I put the clothes I had picked out on the counter and squatted down to pick up old his clothes. I gasped as I managed to get a better look at his clothes. His pants were tattered as if their owner had ran through a forest of thorns.
I carefully picked them up, avoiding the thorns embedded within the fabric. How did that guy managed to bare the pain?
"Hey, you're out of soap," he said, poking his head out. I jumped, dropping his clothes.
I looked away. "Huh? Oh, yeah, soap," I said. Squatting down I grabbed a bar of soap from underneath the counter. "Here ya go."
The boy snatched it from my hand without even uttering a 'thanks'.
After leaving a towel for the rude guy, I went downstairs to fetch the dinner mother had left me in the microwave, a plate of fried potatoes with tomato sauce. I reheated them and ran back up. I ate half of them and left the other half for the unmannerly boy. With my stomach half full, I went to sleep.
***
"Hey," a voice woke me up.
I rubbed my eyes, blinking until I could clearly see the boy's scowling face. "Huh, when did I sleep?" I smiled at him. "Feeling better now?"
He sat down on the bed. "Only a little bit. By the way thanks for the food." He pushed me away from him. "By the way, I'm sleeping here."
I grinned. So the guy did know how to say 'thank you' after all.
"That's fine, I guess. By the way, why did you have a tranquilizer on you?"
He allowed himself to fall into the pillow. "I..." He rolled around the bed as he touched the arm where the tranquilizer formerly was. "Damn... I can't hold it back now."
"Hold what back?" I asked. Suddenly the guy's entire body started to spasm. "Hey! What's wrong?" I reached a hand out but the guy's arms flailed erratically, almost hitting my face.
"The effects of the tranquilizer. Sleeping drugs mixed with poison," he muttered. With gritted his teeth and let out a muffled shriek, he rolled out of the bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud.
I picked up the first aid kit from where I had left it earlier. "Hold on," I said, searching for the anti-venom. I sighed as I pulled out the anti-venom from the box. Good, I did have some left.
His eyes widened as I walked over to him. Was he afraid?
I tried not to laugh, the guy's eyes were just like a kid's during a visit to the doctor. "Stand still for a moment, it will only hurt a bit."
He squirmed around as I got closer but he didn't move his feet or rather he couldn't move them much. Whatever was mixed with the poison had finally numbed his legs.
I pulled his shirt up and injected the anti-venom on the spot on his back where the tranquilizer had hit him.
"Get that thing out of me," he yelled as his eyes widened to the size of limes.
I quickly pulled it out and grinned as I rolled some gauze around his wound. "You seem a lot better now."
He looked at his arm, I could swear that he had a slight blush. "No thanks to you."
I laughed as I stared at his red face. "You're quite the tsundere, aren't you?"
He got up and pushed me away. "Argh, you're so freaking annoying!" The boy climbed back up to the bed and shut his eyes. "Now, let me rest."
I pulled the covers over him. "Right, the sleeping effects are still lingering."
What I didn't understand, at the time, was how he managed to slow down the effects of the poison and sleeping drugs that were in the tranquilizer. Also...why had they shot him with it in the first place?
Thunder shook the house, causing the boy to open his eyes. He looked at the wardrobe covering the window. One could see flashes of light pouring through the gap on top.
I chuckled as I laid down next to him. "Don't tell me that you're scared of a little storm?"
He pulled the covers over his head "I'm...not afraid of anything."
I slide under the covers and grabbed his hand. "I'm here ya know. If you're scared, I'm here to protect you."
The boy stared at our interlocked hands. "You're so weird. I threatened to kill you and yet you say that you'll protect me?" He looked at me with his mysterious amethyst colored eyes and grinned briefly before closing his eyes.
His hands were as cold as ice when he had snuck up on me but now they were warm. I smiled back and I closed my eyes too. Something about the way our hands were interlocking felt familiar, as if we had done it long ago.