Roman took a sip of his water. He looked out of the kitchen window and nearly choked on the water from the sight that met him in the garden.
"Seth!" Roman screamed.
Roman dropped the glass and started running towards the backdoor, once again screaming Seth's name. Seth came out of his room, looking like his usual unhappy self. Seth hadn't been happy for two months. Not since his girlfriend Samara left without a word. One day she was just gone.
"What?" Seth asked in a cranky voice.
"It's Samara," Roman said.
Roman tore the backdoor open and ran outside. To no surprise Seth was right there next to him. Both men stared at the woman lying on the grass. Her shoulder long, dark brown hair looked like it hadn't seen a hairbrush in ages. She wore the same clothes she wore the day she disappeared, only now it was dirty and torn. They both stormed towards her. Seth threw himself down on his knees and wrapped his arms around her.
"Oh my god! Baby!" Seth cried. "What happened, Samara? Talk to me. Look at me. Samara, please."
"Easy," Roman said. "Give her a chance."
Samara opened her matt green eyes and they looked dead. Like she wasn't there. She didn't look at any of them. She stared out at nothing.
"We need to get her inside," Roman said.
"I got you, baby," Seth said.
Seth helped her up and supported her as they walked inside. This wasn't his girlfriend like he remembered her. This was a broken woman not aware of her surroundings. She hadn't left them like they had thought for the past two months. Something had happened, and he had no clue what. He got her to the bathroom and started cleaning the dirt off her face. She just sat there on the toilet lid, letting him do whatever he wanted to do.
"I'll get her some clean clothes," Roman said.
Roman ran to Seth's room and found one of Samara's pajamas. He ran back to the bathroom and placed the pajamas on the floor next to Seth.
"Samara," Seth said softly. "Can you look at me, baby?"
Samara's eyes turned to him but it was like she was staring right through him. As if he wasn't there.
"Can you talk to me?" Seth asked. "I need to know if you're in any type of pain. Let me in, baby. Let me help you."
She didn't speak at all. Tears ran down Seth's cheeks as he looked at Roman.
"Roman," Seth whispered.
"I know," Roman said.
"She didn't disappear on her own like we thought. Someone did this to her," Seth said.
"I know," Roman gritted his teeth. "And we're gonna figure out who it was, but right now she needs your help. You need to get her out of those clothes and inspect her body. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me. I'll cook some dinner. She needs something inside her."
"Pasta," Seth said.
"I remember her favorite food," Roman smiled sadly. "Take care of her. Call if you need me."
Roman went to the kitchen and concentrated on making pasta with cheese sauce. He wasn't much of a chef but he had to try. Samara looked like she had been through hell and they needed to make sure she got her strength back. Seth and Samara joined him in the kitchen 15 minutes later. She looked like herself in that lime green pajamas but her eyes told a different story.
"Do I dare ask?" Roman asked.
"She's been tortured. I can tell by how her body looks," Seth said.
"Samara? Are you hungry?" Roman asked.
Roman put food on a plate and tried handing it to her. She didn't respond. He put it down on the table instead. Seth helped her to sit down in front of the plate but she didn't touch it.
"Oh, I know," Seth said.
Seth opened the fridge and took out a bottle of pepsi max. He had still bought her favorite soda and kept them in the fridge despite Dean sometimes drinking them. They had to be there if she ever came back. He poured soda in a glass and put it in front of her. Her hand shot forward and tilted the glass over.
"At least it's some sort of response," Roman shrugged.
"Samara, you need to drink something. You need to get something inside you so you don't pass out. You're weakened after what you've been through. It's your favorite soda," Seth said.
Samara got up from her chair and opened the fridge. She took out a fresh bottle and unscrewed the lid herself. It made a hissing sound to tell them all it hadn't been opened before. With the soda in her hand, she left the kitchen.
"It looks like she might be afraid of being poisoned," Roman said.
"Or drugged," Seth said. "Shit, I need to figure this out."
"Don't pressure her. She's in there or she wouldn't have taken that soda. She just needs time to figure out how to get out of there again. It needs to be on her terms," Roman said.
"I can't wait, Roman," Seth sniffled. "I thought she had left me. For two months I've been heartbroken over her leaving without even saying goodbye. I thought I understood. This life takes a toll on you at some point. You either learn to live with it, get killed on a job or you disappear without a trace. I thought she had chosen to vanish on her own."
"We all did," Roman said.
"I gotta be with her, Roman. I can't sit here and do nothing," Seth said.
"So go be with her," Roman said. "Just don't pressure her."
Seth left the kitchen and went into his room, or what was technical their room. Samara was sitting on an arm chair, drinking her soda and watching him. He scratched the back of his head nervously and looked at the bed before looking at her again.
"I understand if you don't wanna share the bed," he said. "You can have it. I can sleep on the couch or in Roman's room maybe."
She didn't respond. She took another sip of the soda and just stared at him as if he wasn't there.
"No?" He asked. "God, I need you to talk to me, Samara. Please. I've been through hell without you."
"I'm back, bitches!" Dean yelled.
Seth turned his head towards the open door, and then looked back at Samara again.
"I need to make sure he got the job done. No loose ends. You remember that," he tried smiling. "I'll give you some time to yourself. I'll come back later. If you don't wanna share the bed, I'll leave. But I'll be back to check up on you. And you gotta eat, Samara. I'll make sure to put leftovers from dinner in the fridge. Even if you don't want Roman's food, eat something else. Just eat something."
He sighed deeply. She was so close, yet so far away. All he wanted to do was take her in his arms and make her tell him everything that had happened but there was clearly a wall put up around her, and he wasn't allowed to climb over it right now. He knew her. If he tried pushing her, she would push back, and it would get ugly. She needed some time to herself right now. He left the room, closed the door behind him and went to the kitchen where Dean had grabbed the untouched plate that Roman had made for Samara.
"I got him. In and out without problems," Dean smirked. "Why do you two look like your puppy drowned?"
"Samara's back," Seth said.
"What?" Dean's eyes widened. "How? Where? Why? Did she say anything?"
"She's in our room," Seth sighed. "She's not talking. She won't even eat or drink what we serve her. It's like she's not even here."
"A shadow of her former self," Roman sighed too. "We found her in the garden."
"I don't understand," Dean said. "So she's not talking at all? I have a hard time believing that. Usually we couldn't shut her up."
"This is not a fucking joke!" Seth yelled.
Seth knocked Dean's plate of food over in his anger. Dean was taking too lightly to all this.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Jeez, man. She left and came back. What's the big deal? She's back now," Dean said.
"The big deal is that she clearly didn't leave on her own like we thought," Roman said.
"Oh," Dean said. "In that case, sorry for my idiocy. It won't happen again."
"I'm sorry too," Seth said.
"Clean the table and we're good," Dean smirked. "I need some more food."
Dean got up from his chair and fixed himself a new plate. Seth wetted a cloth and looked at the mess on the table. Roman took the cloth from Seth and gave him a stern look and a nod. Seth understood. He nodded back and went back to his room. Samara was still sitting in the chair, watching him in that creepy way that made him feel like air.
"Job well done by Dean," he said.
He sat down on the bed and looked over at her. His eyes dropped to the empty bottle of soda on the floor. At least she had gotten something inside of her. He could only hope she would help herself to some food too once the entire house went to sleep.
"Can I stay in here?" He asked.
She didn't answer. Instead she leaned back in the chair and held on to the arm rests. It felt like she was telling him that she didn't plan on leaving the chair. He pulled his t-shirt off and threw it on the floor. He stood up and got out of his jeans and socks before crawling under the duvet. He hit the light switch and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
"I wish you would talk to me," he said. "If you want the bed at any point during the night, you're welcome. I won't ask any questions. You need some sleep. I'll protect you. You know I will."