Chapter 9: When a Door Closes, Another Opens

2/3/2021

The bicycle ambled down the long dirt driveway, Rhydian swinging his leg over and hopping off in one motion. Leaning the bike against the weathered, split rail fencing, he immediately recognized the woman with wild, red hair, whose back was to him. Jana was bringing Ceri up to speed with the daily going-ons of her life, unpinning laundry from the line and handing it to the older woman to be folded. Rhydian huffed, pushing the gate open and sauntering up to the women.

"Rhydian, Ja - "

"Hi mum," he greeted, kissing her on the cheek. "Jana," he nodded, exhaling noisily.

"Well, I think I'll let you two catch up," she excused herself, throwing her cub a warning look as she withdrew inside.

"Nice bike," Jana commented looking over his shoulder.

Rhydian - for whatever reason - looked back as if to confirm it was his bike she was speaking about. Not sure if she was being sarcastic or actually complimenting him on his new ride, he shrugged. "I needed something to get me to 'n from work."

"The docks, right?" She asked, knowing she was right but just trying to be polite. She followed Rhydian as he walked to his bike and began guiding it inside the shed, suddenly remembering it was expected to rain later.

"Jana, I know why you're here."

"Really?"

"I haven't changed me mind," he grunted as he pushed the bike over the lip of the entrance to the shed. "Just why can't ya let it go?"

Jana waited for him return, keep silent as he closed the old wooden barn doors. Adjusting her sun glasses, which seemed overkill as it was overcast; slow, dense clouds dawdled over the small village. An uncomfortable silence tailed them as they walked toward the small field that separated the old Smith family farm house and the neighbors'. Keeping to the perimeter fence, Rhydian came to a stop and picked at a splintering piece of wood, understanding it would soon need to be replaced. Finally, he turned and acknowledge the woman beside him. "Jana," he began with a heavy sigh..

"Rhydian, you searched for Maddy for nearly ten years and then suddenly, you just stop?" It was dance he had been doing for the last three weeks. First Tom, then Shannon, and now Jana. If Bryn knew how to work a telephone, he was sure to be hearing from him next.

He shook his head, and ran a tired hand down his unshaven face, "Jana, I tol' ya. My goal was always to - "

"Find Maddy. I know, but I just can't shake the feeling you aren't . . ." Jana craned her neck so as to look Rhydian in the face, the blonde stubbornly having turned away to search for nothing in the tall grasses that covered the unplowed fields. "No one discovers treasure and just leaves it."

Rhydian snorted, his opinion clear on the matter. He scratched his head, his lips pressed in a thin line, deep in thought. Finally, he turned his attention back on Jana. "I'm not goin' to come back. I . . . trust Segolia . . . Dacia."

Jana abruptly shifted her sights on the skies above, her head turning right to left.

"What are you lookin' for?" Rhydian queried, now mimicking her.

"Flying pigs . . . unicorns . . . lightnin' to strike ya dead."

Rhydian made note of disgust and walked away, heading back to the house, the conversation finished in his mind.

He could hear the pebbles of the small creak that intersected the property skip across the ground as Jana jogged to catch up. "Sorry, but your sudden support of Segolia is - I dunno - suspicious . . . just a little, wouldn't ya say?"

"Well, I change me mind, all right?"

"This comin' from the Wolfblood that said Hell would freeze over first before he'd trust Segolia, huh?"

"Stop," Rhydian commanded, spinning on his heels, bringing Jana up short that she nearly collided with her old pack mate. "Listen, now that Maddy has been found, Dacia can get the support she needs, yah? And I trust you, okay? I trust you won't let them screw this up. There is nothing I can offer to help her, all right? So . . . drop it," his outburst waning with a plea to leave well enough alone.

Jana slowly pulled her shades from her face and squared her shoulders and for the briefest moment, Rhydian thought she might strike him. "Is it you have nothing to offer? Or she has nothing to offer?"

Rhydian stared blankly, as if she had really struck him across the face, and merely blinked at her, his mouth hanging agape. "That's - that's not it," he finally managed to force out.

"Don't think I don't know what learnin' she had amnesia - that it could be permanent - didn't mess with your fairytale endin' that you concocted in that pea-sized brain of yours. But if she meant anything to ya - "

"Watch it," Rhydian growled.

"If she does," Jana pressed on, "if we mean anything . . . your pack . . . you wouldn't being hidin' like some damn coward," she finished, knocking into him as she passed. Rhydian wanted to lash out, tear down all her theories, but instead he just watched her mount her own motorcycle. Revving the bike, her tinted visor hiding her face, he knew she was glaring at him as she glanced back before taking off, the bike kicking up clots of dirt.

Rhydian kicked the fence post in frustration, the wooden stake tilting in defeat. He didn't care that his friends were mad at him, he knew deep down he was doing the right thing. Maddy didn't need his help - didn't want it. She needed professional help from Segolia like Victoria Sweeney to protect her and Dacia Turner to dig into the case, and their medical teams. She needed more and better than he could ever give. Plus, he could now get back to his original plan. Everything would work out.

Rhydian took the steps two-at-a time, until he reached the fourth floor of his old apartment. As he had foretold, once he found Maddy - which is all he wanted - he would return to Laura. Turning the corner, he paused seeing the door open. Several deep, male voices were echoing into the hall. Rushing inside, he discovered two men in large blue jumpsuits standing about as a third, with a clipboard, seemed to be speaking to Laura. His ex-fiancee pointed to different items within the flat, the man with the clipboard taking diligent notes. "Rhydian?"

She quietly dismissed the gentleman, who meandered to his counterparts, debriefing them on the conversation.

"What's going on?" Looking about, boxes labeled 'kitchen' and 'bedroom' were stacked about the living area. The framed painting he bought at a local gallery for their first-year anniversary was bubble-wrapped and leaning against a box titled 'clothes.'

"I'm moving back home," she filled-in, heading to the kitchen. The sound of packing tape cut through the emptying space. Laura uncapped a black marker, and address the cardboard box 'fragile - dishes'.

"Like to the States?"

Laura sighed as if she couldn't be bothered. "Yes, Rhydian. I'm moving back home into my parents' place?"

"But, school isn't finished yet? You quit? Was this cause of me?"

He followed her into the bedroom, where she continued to pack some clothes into a suitcase.

"No, yes, and no." She pulled out some slacks and folded them neatly, adding them to the pile of clothes that already found a home in a large suitcase. "I was going to send your things to you, but since you're here," she gestured to the lone box in the corner of the bedroom. "You wouldn't happen to have your key, would you?"

Rhydian looked from the box to her and back. Shaking his head 'no,' he turned his attention back to her. "I . . . I don't understand. You love teaching," he blurted out, noting the suitcase was sitting on a stripped mattress, a box shunted to the back of the bedroom marked 'bedding.'

"I still do. I'm planning to finish the semester at Rebecca's. Afterward, I'm flying home to stay at my parents' until I can find a job at another school." She crossed the room, narrowly avoiding bumping into him and began extracting some tee-shirts from the middle draw of the tall dresser. Haphazardly adding them, she zipped the suitcase with a little more force than necessary.

"Do your mum and dad know?"

"No, I'm just going to show up at their place unannounced like some-people-I-know do." She turned to face Rhydian, who looked beside himself at the sight of things being boxed and packed. "I need to get myself together. I thought I could do that here," she gestured to the empty space, but . . ." she paused eyeing him from head to toe. "I can't. I think a change in scenery is needed if I'm ever going to properly clear my head."

"Move on from me . . ."

"Move on . . . and move forward," she yanked on the case and let it fall to the floor with a thud. She leaned on the vanity that he remembered once was lined with different pictures of them wedged between the glass and the frame. "It will be good for both of us. Something we both need."

"Here, I'll help." He bent down and stretched his hand out to grab the handle.

Quickly blocking his hand, "No, I got it." She righted the suit case and pulled out the long handle. "It rolls," she elaborated. She moved passed Rhydian, her luggage trailing behind her obediently, and returned to the kitchen. Rhydian was about to follow her and then realized his things were still boxed. He moseyed over and peered inside, examining the collected contents. There were knick-knacks piled on top each other, tokens from their time together. Bunched in a corner was a forest green sweater with the words Bradlington High in bold white font across the front. Rhydian spotted a blue sea-glass frame and picked it up. It was a picture of he and Laura from when then were first dating. They were sitting against a retaining wall, his arm lovingly around her shoulders, the coast a perfect backdrop of simpler times. Rhydian turned the frame over and undid the clips, extracting the picture. He tucked the picture in his inside jacket pocket and let drop the frame onto the sweater.

Abandoning the box, he followed Laura. "What do you mean, 'it will be good for both of us'?"

Laura took a cursory glance around the space and then faced Rhydian. "You know what I mean. You never truly dealt with what happened to Maddy - I mean it drove you to - "

"Find her," Rhydian cut in.

"Yes, but at what cost? And to be fair to Maddy, you need to, if you want anything to happen now?"

Rhydian's fell open at her words, he wanted to immediately defend himself from the accusation but he had enough sense, for once, to keep his mouth shut. He shoved his hands into his pockets and rolled onto the balls of his feet before dropping back down on his heels with a loud sigh.

"For what it's worth, I hope for your sake it works out."

Rhydian snorted at the gracious wish. "Unlikely, she has amnesia . . . it's permanent . . . she . . . uh . . ." Rhydian felt his throat close as he tried to explain, taking a deep breath, "she has no clue who I am." He wrapped his knuckles on the granite island before meeting her eyes, weighing his next words. "For what it's worth, I am sorry. You deserved better. I did try my best, though."

"I know you did. And I'm sorry to hear about Maddy."

Rhydian inched toward her, but stopped abruptly, reconsidering the hug he was going to give her. Feeling an awkward pause encircling them, he sighed. "I should go." Silence followed, filling the growing space between them. His hand on the doorknob, he paused as she called his name.

"My father is a doctor . . . to both Naturals and Wolfbloods. I use to tag along to his home visits with Wolfbloods," her eyes dropped to look at the floor, "I think he had hoped it would spark some type of passion in me to follow his footsteps, you know?"

Rhydian nodded.

Her attention back on him, she titled her head as if studying him. "Anyway, never have I heard of a Wolfblood having amnesia . . . ever. Something to think about."

"You - you think she's lying," his voice sounding hurt more than angry.

"I don't know . . . If she's not . . . I just . . . be careful, Rhydian. I don't have a good feeling about this."

Rhydian wanted to assuage her ill feelings, but he couldn't. "Right," he forced a smile, opening the door.

"Oh, and if you don't send your key back by the end of the week, the money we're being dinged for is coming out of your share of the deposit."

He nodded, smirking at her threat.

"Oh! Wait! Your things?"

Rhydian looked back in the direction of their room, and let his arms rest at his sides. "I'm good. What was most important I have," he answered, patting the spot where the hidden breast pocket held snug the picture.

Laura titled her head to one side like a confused puppy, but didn't say anything. Rhydian gave a lackadaisical salute and then left; her words about Maddy prowling behind him.

A/N: Thank you for taking time to read my story. Please leave a review. Stay safe and well.