Chapter 6
"When will we need to use this?"
"Uh...let's say you have a ladder against a wall, and you need to know how big of a ladder you need to reach the top of something. You can take the length of the bottom of the triangle the building and the ladder form, to find out how long your ladder should be..."
Matthew gave himself a little shake, not remembering how he went from nearly sprinting from school on Friday, desperate to get home, to sitting in Calculus, of all classes, on Monday morning. The pressure around his eyes made his head queasy when he tried to remember how he managed to crawl out of bed. It seemed like yesterday he was in school, instead of a short weekend ago.
A short weekend of Alfred avoiding the subject he was sure the both of them were dying to know more about, and Matthew did not dare to directly ask Arthur about it. What if he became offended? I need to get to the bottom of this. But how? The answers were certainly not in a numbing math class.
"Hey, if you don't like it, go complain to the administration," the teacher retorted to a student's whine that Matthew did not catch. "I'm just doing what I have to do to prepare you for the midterms-" The bell dismissing for that period drawled out, and the class let out a collective sigh of relief, including the teacher! Matthew quietly gathered his supplies and crept out into the crowd, only to be rudely jostled by some crazies hosting a contest of how hard they could shove each other into lockers.
Once on the ground floor, Matthew pressed his back against his locker as much as he could, muttering about dealing with these things for four more days until the weekend, and the rest of this one. He spotted a glimpse of soft light exit the stairwell and disappear into the next hallway, and demanded in quiet grumble, "Just what the Hell are you?"
Matthew straightened, shifting his weight foot-to-foot as the hallway slowly cleared out until just a few stragglers were left. He took the opportunity of being able to go to lunch a few minutes later than his other periods to stroll down the hall, not worrying about a tardy. He passed two security guards, keeping his gaze forward.
As soon as they passed, Matthew clamped a hand over the back of his neck, and tossed a quick look around the emptying hallways as if the walls had spouted eyes that studied his every move. The security guards stopped at the end of the hall, laughing at whatever they were saying to one another. He decided to stop dawdling and get to the cafeteria, but when he turned around to go, his soles squeaked on the floor as he stopped and stared at who loomed across the hall, staring right back at him.
Matthew took a hesitant step forward.
"Hello." A timid smile for a guy his size, "I was looking for you."
"You said that." As he came closer, Matthew felt himself getting warm, too, and he tried to keep his stare away from how strong this guy's arms were. Hopefully they were a product of football or something like that, and not steroids. Anyway, people only looked for him if they were looking for Alfred, or if they caught Matthew sleeping during their class. "How come?"'
"You were asking for me."
"Um, no I wasn't."
Calmly, yet confused, "Yes, you were."
Saying it does, doesn't make it so. Matthew resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I'm sorry, I seem to be forgetting a lot of things lately. Did we...did you ask for help for science homework?"
"Home...work? Uh, no? You called for me. I am here for you. What is it that you need?"
"I didn't call for anybody."
"You do not remember that, either?" Before Matthew could say anything, the near-stranger assured him with a little chuckle, "Don't worry! I was unsure of myself, too! But now I am sure you are the one who called for me."
"Um," Matthew's voice came out in a pathetic squeak, "I'm sorry?!"
A sharp voice snapped from behind him, "Don't you gentlemen have somewhere to be?"
One of the hall monitors glared at them with her hands on her hips, now taking her job very seriously. Matthew blabbered, "Yes, sorry. I'm going now. See you, uh, I think."
The stranger scrunched his eyebrows together as Matthew hurried pass him. "See me when?"
The monitor droned, "That means you, too. Unless there is a problem?"
"I think there are a lot of problems to come!"
~.~
~BOING~
~.~
"I do not understand," Arthur had his face contorted in a typical glower, but did not look up when Matthew joined their usual group at their usual lunch table. "Yes, the vehicles are speeding around everywhere like maniacs, but the gentlemen driving them certainly do not look at all 'furious,' but rather enjoying themselves. They should call it 'Fast and Fun...' or something like that."
Alfred snickered at his friend's attempt at humor and snatched a fry from his plate. "Maybe the guys whose stuff the main dudes took are mad, so that's where the 'furious' part comes in, and you said yourself that their cars are 'fast.'"
Matthew tried not to stare at the slightly glowing complexion of his brother's friend, more noticeable on an overcast day. "Hey, Al. What are you two up to?"
"Real interesting." Not. "You said there are seven movies out now?"
"Yeah, the newest one is still in theaters!" Alfred's voice climbed a few octaves, "You want to maybe go and see them together?"
Matthew's jaw clenched, and he slouched closer to the table.
"Films are expensive."
"Nah, it's the food that wipes you out, but don't even worry about it! My dad's royalty check should come into the mail soon. We can hit up that gas station before we go, so we don't have to give up some of our organs for popcorn."
"I beg your pardon, I plan on keeping my insides-"
Matthew sighed, hitting the table with his hands when his brother reached over and grabbed a tater tot from his tray. "Alfred, that money is for groceries!"
Alfred jumped a little. "Hey, Mattie!" He immediately went back to his giggling, "Dude, it's a figure of speech. Keep your guts."
Arthur crossed his arms. "I was going to anyway."
Matthew took this opportunity to pilfer a French fry from his brother's tray. "Alfred, did you speak to...that strange guy lately?"
"What strange guy? That one with the staring problems?"
"Hush, not so loud!" Matthew swished a hand at his brother. "He might be staring!" All three lunch mates glanced in the direction of the table that the man sat the previous week, but he was not there. "Huh, that's weird. I just saw him in the hall."
Alfred gasped, "Maybe he's skipping!"
Matthew fidgeted in his seat.
"You seem concerned," Arthur noted. "Is this...strange man giving you trouble?"
"No, not at all. He just...keeps saying weird things..."
His brother blurted, "Creepy things?!"
"No, no! Like," Matthew bit his lip as his face grew hot. Alfred snatched another tater tot. "Never mind. I'm probably just overthinking things."
Alfred shrugged, but squeaked when Arthur pulled on his ear. "Alfred, do you know taking things that are not yours is a sin?"
"Ow! Do you see the itty bitty meals they give us? I'm so hungry!"
"Yes, but Matthew is a growing boy as well. Show more consideration for your brother."
"Hey, Mattie, do you want any of your tots?"
"Huh, what? Um, no?"
"See?" Alfred stuck his tongue out at Arthur for a quick moment before snatching his brother's food and plopping it onto his tray.
"Bugger," Arthur's face grew from agitation to interest as Alfred took the entire dish and slid all those tater tots down his throat.
~.~
~ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ~
~.~
When Matthew walked into his workplace that evening, he could not believe the day was nearing to a close. It seemed like a dream, that he would wake up to his brother doing something stupid to get him up for school. All the day's work, down the drain, and he would have to do it all again, for real this time. He caught himself putting a non-fiction book between two fictions.
The bell attached to the door jingled, but it was a sound etched in the back of his mind that he learned to tune out. He weaved out of the clustered book shelves, toward the selection of non-fiction works. Matthew was scanning the back of the book he held when the floor boards groaned under heavy feet. He lifted his gaze as the steps grew louder, closer. A large shadow spanned over the bookshelves. Matthew raised the book in a threatening manner as he slowly turned around.
"May I help..." His eyes widened, stupidly gawking at the strange man in his workplace. "You again!"
The man's face lit up. "Yes, me! Hello, Mattie!"
"What are you doing here?!"
"Am I not allowed in this store of books?"
"No, no, I mean, yes, you can be in here." Matthew pushed up his askew glasses and sharply sighed, amusing his company. "How did you know my name?"
The man's short lived smile fell to a look of vague fright. "I...I heard it from your brother."
Al said he did not talk to this guy. "Oh, really? What else did Alfred tell you?"
"Nothing. I simply heard him call you that multiple times."
Matthew turned away and set the book in its appropriate place. Gotcha. "Oh, so you have been creeping long and close enough to catch this."
The man's face inflamed to a strong pink. "I do not creep!"
"Really? Then, how did you find this place? It's easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for."
"I followed you."
"That's creepy."
"Is it?" The man seemed genuinely shocked. "I have no intentions on this...creeping that you insist I am doing."
Matthew lightly demanded, "Who are you, and what do you want?"
"You were calling for me! But I needed to know that it was you I was looking for. I could not go to just anybody, could I? No," the weird guy kept going before Matthew could get a word in, "that would be spreading word of what I am to these people that did not need to know about it, and that would increase the chance of my cover being blown. You have seen me before, so you already know what I am. I am also better at hiding now, and have come to answer your summons."
"Oh, my God, you're a criminal."
"What? No, I said nothing of the sort. Criminals show up where they are not wanted. I am here because you have summoned me."
"I did not summon anything!"
The man let out a short snort, and his smile fought to stay on his face. "It must have been a long time since we first met, so I understand that you may have forgotten some things as I have, but you called me recently! It had to be no more than a few sunrises ago! It had to be you. Who else could have known about my blood sigil, and where it was? I have left it for you."
Matthew weakly echoed. "Bl-blood sigil?" Just like a rubber band snapping back, his mind leaped to the odd symbol in that little shed in his back yard. There was only one person, or one type of person that would leave it there-
"Hey!" Someone barked from the other side of the aisle. Lovino balanced the spine of a children's book in his palm and had his other on his hip. "You're not causing problems, are you? Don't make me kick your ass!"
Matthew peered around his company to shake his head. "No, everything's fine, so put the book down!"
Lovino narrowed his eyes, but slipped the book back into its (hopefully) proper slot. "The trash outside needs to be thrown out. I did it last time."
"Yeah, I got it," Matthew waved a hand, not wanting to deal with his coworker moan and groan. He made his way to the back of the store, and the strange man followed. He slipped outside into the biting breeze and called behind himself, "So, you're following me?"
"We still need to talk, do we not?" A pale head of hair peeked outside. "What are you doing?"
"Dumping the trash bin into the dumpster. Sometimes, it needs to be done so it doesn't overflow and homeless people get into it. Or worse, animals. At least the hobos clean up after themselves...sometimes." Matthew yanked the handle of the trash can, but he almost ripped his shoulder out. "Ah, crap, it's frozen to the asphalt!"
A warm gust of air hit his face when the man swung open the door and stepped outside. He rubbed his hands together before wrapping his arms around the trash can. Matthew took a step back, exclaiming in surprise as he ripped it from the ground with a grunt.
"Look!" Proud, "I got it unstuck!"
"Wow." Big guy. Matthew blinked stupidly, and pointed to the dumpster at the end of the alley. "Can you dump that in that bin over there?"
The near-stranger happily complied, swinging the waste as if it were weightless. He spun around and trotted back to Matthew, set the can back, and was about to say something when his boot slid out from himself. Matthew shot forward and grabbed onto his ugly, patchy jacket, and they caught one another when he started to slip, too.
"The frozen water is more slippery than it looks!" The weird man gave Matthew's arm a squeeze. "And you are more solid than you look!"
"Um...thanks. I think that's the only bad thing about winter. All the ice, and sometimes, it looks like a puddle of water, and I go to step on it..." Matthew stopped blabbering as the weird guy's grip lowered to his hand, raising it and turning it over experimentally. He almost pulled away. "Are you going to be around long?"
A warm smile despite the winter, "As long as you want."
"Okay...do you have a name?"
"I think you already know it."
"You're Vanya?"
"Oh, ha-ha! You may call me Ivan, if you like."
"Ee..? Oh, Ivan, yeah, sure. Let me get this straight. I somehow called you by using a strange painting on the wall of my dad's old shed from like, how many years back, and now, you're here? Do you know how crazy that sounds?"
"That is how it usually goes!"
"The guy from then...!" Matthew coughed against the cold biting his throat. "The guy that left that strange sigil was...different. He was not like us."
"Not like a human? Why, thank you, I try very hard to-" Ivan flinched as a heavy gust of wind rolled into the alleyway. He yanked his scarf over his cheeks. "So cold!"
The light above the door flickered briefly before blowing out. Matthew cussed at the sudden darkness, "What?! I just changed that last week!"
Ivan sniffed the air several times. "Oh, no..." He gasped, skittering on the ice as he scrambled toward the door, before throwing himself inside.
"Where are you going?!" Matthew was about to follow the whacko back into the store, but a large shadow spread across the next building's wall. His throat grew tight as he made out an approaching glow from around the corner of the alley. "H-hello?"
The figure stopped. "Hello, Matthew."
Matthew gripped the door knob. The light over his head dimly ebbed to life, and he spotted a recognizable scowl. "Arthur? What are you doing here?"
Arthur did not respond.
"Um, is my brother with you?"
"There is no need to be concerned for Alfred; he is safe. I mean to ask if you have spotted anything strange around here."
"Strange?"
Arthur drew closer, intimidating the sconce's flicker with his steady glow. "Yes. Anything notable, or...other worldly, perhaps." Matthew glanced up, and the other man stopped in front of him. He leaned in, and took a deep sniff.
"Ugh!" Matthew wanted to say it was Arthur that was strange, but he had turned away, taking quick whiffs of cold air. All he could smell was the garbage as the chill bit his nose. He blurted, "You like making things obvious, do you?"
Arthur demanded, "Are you going to answer my question or not?"
"No. I mean, no, I did not see 'anything weird around here.'" Besides you.
"Very well," Arthur sighed, and lifted an arm as he turned to walk away. "Stay safe, lad."
"But...!" Matthew began, but Arthur was already out of sight. "What is up with all these weird people?!" Another gust of wind rolled in, and he turned to escape, but the door cracked open from the other side. He stepped away as Ivan's pale face popped out.
"You know him?"
"Y-yeah. He's one of my brother's friends." Matthew studied his company's wide mauve eyes, but when they landed on him, he dropped his own gaze to the asphalt.
"Doesn't he smell bad?"
"The garbage?"
"Not just that. There was one of them nearby..."
"One of what?"
Ivan let out a deep noise of thought. "Maybe we should not worry about it. Worrying may call them closer."
Matthew asked in a small voice, "Can I get inside? It's really windy."
"Will you let me help you?"
Do I really want to? After thinking of how interesting things were becoming, he realized, Yeah, I kind of do. "How about this? I'll ask the questions, you tell me what's going on all of a sudden, I listen, and then, I'll decide whether to believe it or not."
Ivan sprung a smile again, and pushed open the door to beckon Matthew inside. "There is a deal!"
Blehps:
(1) The hall monitor droned, "That means you, too. Unless there is a problem?"
"I think there are a lot of problems to come. Will they be because of me? We will see! Uhuhuhuuhu!~"
"...get to class!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
(2) "I mean to ask you if you have spotted anything strange around here."
"Strange?"
Arthur drew closer, intimidating the sconce's flicker with his steady glow. "Yes. Anything notable, or...other worldly, perhaps." Matthew glanced up, and the other man stopped in front of him. He leaned in, and took a deep sniff. "Oh! What kind of soap is that?"
"You like it? It's oatmeal and rose petal scented!"