This can't be happening. Thought Rukia as her uncle handed her the keys to his front door as he went back to retrieve her suitcase. The sun began to set and she barely noticed the illuminated exterior of the rustic two-story log cabin as she made her way up the planked staircase, to an old wooden door. Her hands were shaking too badly for her to push the key into the lock. Teardrops forming in her eyes. His footsteps echoed on the wooden floorboards as he came up behind her, took the key from her shaking hands and opened the door. He stepped back to let her in.
She entered the room and her lips parted in shock. The lounge room was covered in large oil paintings of mountains and forest landscapes, animal heads hung on the rotting wood walls. Deer, moose, rabbit heads, were displayed as trophies along the top of a wooden cupboard. Animals that had been beautiful in life, hung all around the room. Rukia though she was gonna throw up. She was a vegetarian and she and Momo had been active in animal rights laws. To her, her uncle's living room was a chamber of horrors. Why hadn't she remembered that from her last visit?
"Come here, let me show you around," he said.
"Where's my room?" She managed to say. "I just feel like lying down."
He shrugged "Okay then. Follow me."
On the right side of the modest-sized living room, an old wooden staircase passed more heads, a medium sized rifle sat on an old metal rack and what appeared to be a cracked glass window. Her uncle carried her suitcase, while she wrapped her hands around her stuffed chappy doll. She hated climbing the stairs so close to the blank, watchful glass eyes avaerted her attention to the cracked window. The cracked glass window was stained in a thick layer of what looked like red paint but on a cold night like tonight, it gave the apperance of blood.
He reached the second floor and turned right, moving down a dark corridor featuring some more deer heads and a small wall sconces that looked like old fashioned gas lights. A wooden door to her left was opened and the light from the hall revealed a bathroom sink. That must be the bathroom she thought. They continued to walk down the dark hall, when he suddenly stopped and pushed on the door at the end of the hall, it opened.
The wall sloped and there was a small window positioned directly above a queen sized bed to provide skylight. A metal shelf on the right held two ivy pots and under it a wooden nightstand held an antique lamp with cranberry coloured glass. There was a small dressing table directly across from the bed, with a big circular mirror. On it was a bottle of furniture polish and a dirty rag. She smelt the lemony scent of the furniture polish and also, dust. Maybe he had spent the last couple of days cleaning? To make her feel at home. But it was nothing like her old bedroom. The room that had been burnt to ashes, from the fire.
"Thanks," she said stiffly.
He put down her suitcase and went over to the dressing table to collect the dirty rag and furniture polish. "You must be hungry." He said
"I'm not. Really. I'm just a bit tierd" She didn't look at him, but kept her gaze on the patterned rug, positioned in the middle of the room.
When the door clicked shut, she realised that he had already left. She collapsed onto the bed, stretching her arms as she lay there, motionless, as the tears began to stream down her face. After awhile, she forced herself to stop, the last thing she needed was for him to come up and find her like this.
Thunder rumbled; rain splattered against the windows. She would never tell anyone she was afraid of lightning and thunder. She never knew why, could it be because there was lightning and thunder on the night of the fire?
When it finally stopped, she quieted. She walked over to her suitcase and unzipped it. Picking up her phone as she made her way back over to the bed. She flicked on her phone and browsed through her contacts. When she finally found the right number, she clicked on it. She desperately needed to talk to Momo. No reception. Then there must be a landline somewhere, she thought. Most people kept their phones in the kitchen, right.
So she got up again and went down the hall. As she reached the top of the stairs, she smelled smoke. She panicked and ran down the stairs. She was just about to scream, when she saw the fireplace. Instead of looking warm and cozy, it sent a wave of fear through her body. She almost ran back up the stairs at the sight of it.
It's okay. It's normal.
"Normal" was her new most hated word.
She cautiously made her way around the corner. Trying her hardest not to advert her gaze from the hanging animal heads that decorated the room. When she found the kitchen, she flicked on the light. Revealing a run-down, but clean-looking kitchen. The blue paint on the aged cabinets was peeling away and the counter tops were rusty and chipped at the ends. The front of his ancient white fridge held nothing, but a calender that was from 1984.
She was getting a bit thirsty now, so she opened the fridge in an attempt to find water. The fridge was bare, it held nothing in it but a six pack of beer, an old molded loaf of bread and a package wrapped in butchers paper. Blood was soaking through the paper.
"Eww, gross!" Shrieked Rukia as she slammed the door of the ancient fridge shut. She took a few steps back, before she continued her search for a wall phone. Finding nothing. She decided to start looking through some of the drawers. Notepads, scissors, pens, pencils and a dog leash.
She picked up the leash, remembering the dog from her brother in law's story. She heard a light scratching sound against the back door. Maybe it's the dog. She thought.
With the leash still in her hand, she made her way to the wooden back door, when she opened the door, the light from the kitchen spilled onto a small planked porch. The moonlight cast light on the tiny raindrops that covered the branches of every tree. It was so different here, the smell of mud and burning wood filled her nostrils. She walked 3 steps off the porch, onto flat stones arranged to form a path.
The extensive green leaves of the tree infront of her began to rustling.
"Doggie?" she called softly
The back door, slammed open and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Turning around, she saw her uncle, a rifle in his hand. Her eyes widened and she stumbled towards the tree.
"Rukia!" he shouted, "Get in here now!"
She lifted her hand and showed him the leash. "I was just looking for your dog"
"I don't have a dog." He adverted his gaze to the tree behind her. "Anymore."
"Hello?" a male voice called from the front of the house. "Is this a bad time?"
Rukia sighed, all she wanted was a cup of water and to talk to her best friend, she didn't want to have to be social, especially not now.
"We have company," he said "Please come inside, it's dangerouse out there."
Dangerous, what did he mean dangerous, she was barely 2 metres from the house and he's standing out here with a shot gun in his hands. It was aleady creeping her out that he has dead animal heads in his house, but apparently he also has loaded shot guns as well.
"Fine, but can I borrow your phone?" She asked
"Hello!" the voice called again "Kuchiki, you in there?"
"Just give me a minute" her uncle almost shouted back.
She stepped back onto the porch, feeling a little more relaxed.
"Rukia" He said " You see around here we have this whole friendly hospitality tradition, so I'm expecting that you will" he trailed off
"You want me to introduce myself, don't you" she said.
"That is correct," He said.
"Fine then, so if I introduce myself to him then can I make a phone call to my best friend," she asked.
"Then you can make a call" He clarrified
They walked back into the kitchen, where she returned the dog leash to the drawer. She the walked into the living room with her uncle. The front door was open, but the porch light was off, there was someone standing out on the porch, he was wearing a black leather jacket that covered most of his features, but she couldn't help but notice how big he was, he looked about six or seven feat tall, if not more and his muscles were clearly visible under the thick leather jacket. But the most suprising thing about this boy, was his hair. He had long scarlet hair that was tied into a ponytail, even on a dark night like tonight, his scarlet red hair still seemed to be able to stand out and when the light of the moon hit it, it looked like it was glowing. There was only one word she could think of that would describe him "Wild".
He slung his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans and smiled at her. It sent chills up her spine. There was something about him that made her tingle.
"Hey, Rukia." He said. She found herself smiling back which was really weird, because just a second ago there was nothing on earth that could make her smile.
"Renji," Her uncle said in greeting. So his name was Renji, she liked that name.
"Well what are you waiting for, get in here" Said her uncle as he motioned with his hands to get in
"Right" Said Renji, taking off his shoes and walking in.
When he walked past her, he winked. Which made her blush a bit.
They walked into the living room and took a seat at the dining table, while her uncle went and got the food. Leaving her and Renji to sit awkwardly in silence. After awhile, he came back with a bowl of ... Salad? Or at least she thought was salad.
He placed the bowl on the table and sat down in the empty chair.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" He asked "Let's eat"
She looked at the bowl again, she was so glad that they weren't eating some sort of steak or something, because afterall she was a vegetarian. But looking at Renji, it was quiet obvious that he wasn't. He looked at the dish before him, a horrified expression on his face.
"Hey, Kuchiki what is that?" Asked Renji pointing to the dish fearfully
"Well, that my son, is what you call a salad" He replied in a fatherly voice
"So, people actually eat that stuff"
"Yes, it's actually really healthy and good for you"
Rukia watched their conversation with amusement. Was this really the first time, he's seen salad? she wondered
After a few more questions, Renji took a bit of the salad and placed it on his plate. Staring at it for a good 10 minutes before actually putting it in his mouth and like she had predicted it came out almost as fast as it had came , he definitely wasn't a vegetarian.
As dinner progressed, she found that it wasn't half as bad that she had thought it would be earlier, in fact she was enjoying it, quiet alot. It amused her how hot headed Renji was and how easy it was to get him angry. And the fact that he could be absoulutely clueless of what was going on around him, only added to her amusement.
"Well, rukia" Said her uncle " There is a reason I've invited Renji over tonight"
All eyes went to him
"Really?" She said a little confused
"Yeah well what you see here" He pointed to Renji "Is your ride to and from school every morning and afternoon, starting from tomorrow" He anounced
"B-But" She was really scared about this whole driving to school thing, what if he got lost, or worst, crashed?
"No buts, I've already paid him 30 bucks so theres no way your refusing" Her uncle said
Oh great, now she was certain she would die.