Bygone Home

Chapter 1: Thrown Away

"...You can't be serious."

Those were the first words to escape my mouth as I registered what the man opposite of me had just said. That man in question being my boss, or rather in this case, my former boss. A man in his late forties, with the facial wrinkles, balding head and glasses to emphasise the age under the name of Harris.

Now despite what you might think, neither of us ever had a problem with each other. Harris was a great boss and as he had told me a few times in my many years of working here, I was one of his best employees. Always had my assignments handed in days before their deadline with more effort put in than you can imagine and I got along with each and everyone of my co-workers.

So why was I being terminated, you ask?

"I honestly wish I was joking, Parker. But after every other possible solution I've considered, I don't really have a choice. I'm… really sorry." Harris replied downtrodden with a sigh as he pushed his glasses back a little before continuing. "Our profits have been decreasing for months and if I don't do something about it, then chances are by next month… There's going to be one less business office in this city. That alone is why I wasn't able to provide you or anyone else's salary this month."

Of course, he wasn't lying. The city our company was settled in was unfortunately home to several other opposing business offices which were somehow earning a whole lot more than we have recently and even after trying to get on the higher-up's good side, it seemed like he had no choice left but lay off some of the staff. Just my "luck" that I would be one of those staff being deported.

"Believe me, Ryan, if I had a solution to this that would guarantee you keeping your job here then I would've mentioned it by now. I'll never forget you." Harris sighed again, making it clear that doing this was mentally hurting him as much as it was me.

With a sad nod, I reluctantly complied and shook his hand, thanked him for having me work for him for nearly ten years before saying my final farewells.

The rain couldn't have picked a much worse time to start falling. The report had said that it was going to be sunny for the whole day so of course I never thought even once about taking an umbrella with me.

But the rain was honestly nothing compared to the weight that had been put on me now that my main method of making a living had gone down the drain. And from what I've heard, the rival business offices absolutely loathed anything to do with the company I worked for so trying to apply to work at one of them would be out of the question.

It took a stray raindrop running down my forehead and glistening the surface of my eye to bring me back to my senses and have me realize I was standing out in the cold wet downpour and god knows that catching pneumonia wasn't going to solve my current problems at all. So with a slow heavy trudge, I made my way back to what has been my home in this city for as long as I had been working at that office.

382.

The number of my apartment room door that has been etched into my brain ever since I moved here.

Honestly, the last place you'd expect a business office worker to live in would be a condo that looked more fitting at a cheap low-rated motel. Not that I cared anyway, rent was fair and at the very least, it wasn't infested with bugs. The room itself was just plain and average at best with the living room being just an old couch in front of a CRT TV on a brittle table and the kitchenette being nothing more than a desk with a worn down microwave, and the bedroom was… just a bed in the corner. It really was just like a motel room at the end of the day, but whatever, it gave me a roof over my head so I thought nothing less of it.

Dumping my business suitcase down just by the door, my legs clearly had a mind of their own as I let them drag me across to the couch in question before my body went limp, collapsing onto the sofa.

I just needed two seconds of quiet. Just to clear my head and rest up after the events of today.

…

…

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Okay, I didn't mean literally.

Forcing myself back up onto my feet was a struggle but whoever was bashing at the door must have something very important to tell me as I dragged myself back to my apartment door and opened it.

Standing opposite of me in the hallway was none other than my landlord who owned the apartment building, Stefan.

...Oh, of course.

How could I forget that today is when my monthly rent payment was due? The 16th was the agreed day when all of us had to pay our rent to be given another month to stay here and I was just about to shove a hand into one of my pockets and give Stefan the one hundred dollars he charged.

Until I remembered that the month of my salary could not be paid before my leave…

Ah shit.

Now there was a reason why everyone even me paid our rent immediately when Stefan came to our doors, no questions asked.

Stefan, to put it lightly, wasn't the most patient man. Never once had I ever seen him smile, even on his best days. His intimidating blunt no-nonsense personality made it clear that all he wanted from us was our rent payment and nothing else, the best you'd get out of Stefan if you tried to make friendly conversation with him was a growl that could very well translate to "Piss off".

Not helped that he was practically taller than us and had very noticeable muscle mass. You'd swear that he would've likely worked as a bouncer in the past.

And the one thing he hated the most of all, what would easily and always anger him was whenever a tenant was even a second late on paying their rent. This was why we all paid him upfront the minute we saw him at our doors, the sooner he got out of our hairs, the better.

"NOW, PARKER." The sudden angry boom of Stefan's voice instantly snapped me out of my senses as I saw him glaring down at me, still waiting for his rent payment.

What was I supposed to tell him? Knowing how he worked, there's was practically no chance he'd let this slide. I somehow had to talk him into postponing the rent payment until next month.

"Stefan, I don't know how to say this… But my job had to get rid of several staff in order to manage expenses and… Well, I was one of those staff. I haven't been able to get my monthly rent today, but if you let me have until next month to figure myself out, I PROMISE to pay my rent in double and even triple if you want on the next 16th. Do we have a deal?"

I probably should've expected that.

I honestly thought this day couldn't get any worse after just getting laid off but no, fate found a way to make this day just that.

I didn't even flinch when I saw my suitcase land out in the cold wet concrete just beside my head before the apartment's front doors slammed shut behind me.

Great, so not only was I now out of a job but I was now out of a home and out in the cold downpour no less. So now I had two options; it was either give up and live out in the streets for the rest of my life or pray that the city has a homeless shelter. Both my parents had passed away at an early age so they were out of the question and as far as I'm aware, I did not have any other family to turn to.

My body registering how damp my clothes were getting for a brief moment would get me to snap out of my thoughts as I clearly needed to find some shelter first before I planned my next move.

It would be right there just as I was pushing myself up off the ground that I noticed it, a very quick glint of metal reflecting into my eye sight, coming from something that was poking out of an outer pocket of my suitcase.

…

…A house key?

I could tell that this wasn't even my apartment key as it looked nothing like the one I had just pulled out. For one, Stefan's apartment keys did not have a charm that looked like an odd-looking leaf with a section of it cut out.

How long have I had this key for? ...And… why does it look familiar?

Analysing the bizarre house key, I ended up finding an inscription on one side of the leaf charm which turned out to be "Ryan" carved into the material.

Was this really my key or was there some kind of coincidence going on?

Well even if this WAS my key, which seems very doubtful, where was it even supposed to go? There was over a million doors in the world and it could belong to any one of them.

No sooner had I realized that I had ended up wandering a little through the city whilst trying to figure out the mystery key in my hand when I saw the front gates to the city's railway station, a nearby digital timetable display showing the current arrivals and departures as I read the latter.

DEPARTURES:

Missouri – Departs in 5 minutes

Illinois – Departs in 10 minutes

Nuleaf – Departs in 3 minutes

...Nuleaf? What kind of city or state name is that? But weirder than that was that the text for that specific area had a symbol at the end of it which looked exactly like the charm on the mystery house key.

It could take even a seven year old to put two and two together. Whatever Nuleaf was, it definitely had something to do with the key in my hand and the only way I was going to get any answers was to go there myself. I'm lucky to have remotely enough for a two-way ticket.

And well, if this mystery turns into a dead end, I can at least see if there's a place to stay and work at Nuleaf.

It felt like I was the only person on that train. Not even one other soul met my gaze as I made my way to the chosen chair. If I was taking the train to work, an empty carriage would've been a blessing, but this just felt off.

There was not much to see out through the windows other than a never-ending army of pine trees and the dull grey sky full of rain clouds. It was beyond impossible to even see the city of Los Angeles or any other city in the far distance within the sea of leaf green.

Even the complete lack of small talk from others seemed abnormal. If you focused your ears hard enough, you'd be able to hear every second of the train's wheels running along the metal tracks and nothing else. Has anyone else ever been on this train before… or am I actually the first one to use it?

My mental string of questions would be put on pause as I just managed to pick up the sound of a carriage door opening and closing, followed by light footsteps that got only slightly louder as the source seemed to be approaching me.

That source I faced however, or rather how they appeared would completely throw me off. Instead of another human being, I was face to face with… a cat standing on it's hind legs in a red diamond sleeveless sweater and simple green shorts. Their main fur colour being an odd shade of blue.

We both just stared at each other as we shared a look of astonishment. The last thing you'd expect to see on a bizarre empty train and it was standing right in front of me.

"Woah… Didn't expect to come across someone else on this train to be honest, mya ha howr!"

…It just spoke.

I swear I'm dreaming, I had to be. That was it. Everything I had been put through, me getting let off my job and thrown out of my home and now this… It was all this time just a dream. All I had to do was wake up and I'd be back in my bed ready to start the work day.

...Except no matter what I did, I wasn't taken back to my apartment room. I was still on the weird empty train with the freakish two legged cat facing me. Pinching myself did absolutely nothing and I tried blinking, and yet I did in fact feel the resulting mild pain of my fingers squeezing my skin.

"Hey uhhh… You wouldn't mind if I actually took a seat opposite of you, would you? Unless you're expecting someone to come on board, I understand if you are!"

The cat spoke again as I couldn't think of any other way to convince myself that what I was seeing was all in my own head. Initially, I did not like the idea of the thing talking to me sitting in front of me but only god knows what they… or rather he, given his masculine voice would do if I said "No".

"Fine." I just mumbled nonchalantly, giving the creature the okay to sit down as the next thing I knew, he began to start a conversation with me.

"So… You ever rode on this train before?"

At this point, I wasn't going to get any answers if I didn't entertain the anomaly sitting opposite of me so I just decided to play along.

"Um, no. Not as far as I recall anyway." I answered truthfully as the cat nodded in understanding before continuing.

"Oh sorry, I forgot we're both strangers. Name's Rover." The cat introduced himself whilst holding out a hand out to me which is uneasily shook, feeling the furry texture of his fingers on mine.

"R-Ryan." Was all I replied with before both our hands let go.

"Ryan? You know that's kinda funny actually… I remember once meeting someone with that name before. It must've been years ago." Rover said as he looked as if he was trying to reminisce about the person he met with the same name.

…Wait a minute.

I quickly pulled out the odd leaf charm key and showed it to Rover, making sure he could see the side with Ryan's name carved into it.

"Huh, well isn't that a surprise! You must be a friend of his or perhaps a long lost twin brother." Rover theorised as he stared at the key, his face contorting to one of deep thought as if he was trying to figure something out.

"Last time I saw Ryan was when me and him were kids… I really hope he's doing alright wherever he is now." Rover muttered with a tinge of worry before noticing something out through the window.

"Oh, looks like your stop, Nuleaf is coming up! Tell Ryan I said "Hi" for me, and great to meet you!" Rover immediately piqued up as he gave me a friendly smile which I could only return with a much more awkward smile of my own before getting off my seat and hastily heading for the nearest set of doors.

The train didn't stay at the station for long as I stepped out, almost as if whoever was driving seemed to know that I was the only passenger leaving. I can only hope that the same train would return to take me back to Los Angeles as early as tomorrow once I had this mystery figured out.

The day was still rather gloomy but I had noticed that not a single drop of rain was falling which was at least a plus for me since I wouldn't have to play detective whilst damp and cold.

As for the town itself, it wasn't what I had pictured initially with a name like Nuleaf.

The town looked a lot like one of those old forest villages you'd probably find in England or a medieval fantasy novel. Simple terrace houses stood in the distance of the huge grass fields that were home to a few small acres of trees, the only thing that stood out that seemed to have any electricity were the few stray aged lamp posts consisting of rusted metal poles. I doubt anyone would find a town much more natural and archaic looking than this.

What really got me unnerved however was how quiet it was, there was barely any ambience of resident chatter. Just the howling wind and the rushing nearby water streams. Not helped that I didn't see any of the possible residents anywhere either. Had it not been for the fact that the train had made a stop here, I would've guessed here than then that the town was abandoned, but that wouldn't explain why none of the houses had been rendered into dead piles of rubble. In fact, all of them looked to be still in working condition.

Wait… The house key, the very reason I came here to begin with. I almost forgot.

Keeping a firm hold on the key in question, I started my trek through this new town, taking the time to take in the sights I was beholding. The many houses that adorned this town all looked unique with the exterior having different coloured walls and roofs along other details. I swear even one of the house's doors was metal.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the looking ahead of me as my intake of the town was interrupted by my body colliding with something, or rather someone else, causing us both to stagger back a bit to stop ourselves from falling as I looked to see…

...Another bipedal animal just like Rover. Only except the one I was now facing wasn't a cat but had more of a lupine appearance yet their fur colour looked even more unnatural than Rover's. Their fur being light pink with a cream coloured muzzle and hands, their clothes being what looked like a zip up sweater with skin tight pants.

"Oh uh sorry, I didn't see you there." I apologised out of impulse, probably out of fear at how the creature in front of me would react if I didn't show even a little bit of politeness.

The wolf-like biped blinked as their eyes suddenly widened upon registering me, a look of stunned silence on their face as they just stared silently, probably having never seen a human before. But the expression didn't last long as it suddenly turned to a snarl of annoyance as they glared at me through their blue mascara eyes before shoving me aside and walking past.

...What was all that about?

Well, seeing that wolf person told me two things; that this town was in fact still inhabited and the likely fact that it was home to only two legged creatures like Rover and that wolf. I honest to god hope that none of them were territorial like the wolf possibly was.

With an intake of air, I continued onward to find which house the key belonged to. Along the way, I came across a few more buildings, one of which stood out more than the others from it's appearance and size. It looked more like a general grocery store than a house and yet before I could even read what the store's sign said, my train of thought was disrupted by a feminine gasp.

The next thing I knew, I was facing another of the town's supposed animal residents, this one having more of a dog like appearance. Like the wolf, they had pink fur but it was more of a cotton candy variant, their muzzle, hands and the stripe in the middle of their face being white and their attire being a seafoam sleeveless dress, one more detail about them, or rather her was how I managed to figure out her gender; the eyelashes.

The pink dog in question was just standing there opposite of me, mouth open in more shock than the wolf initially had, not uttering a word as she continued to gawk at me.

"Uhhh…" Was all I could get out before the canine stepped a little closer as if to analyse me further.

And then with a bit of a squeak, she charged at me as I suddenly felt her arms wrap around me in a tight hug.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU CRAZY WOMAN?!" I immediately exclaimed in protest as I shoved the dog off of me and stepped back, perturbed at her sudden motions. She just looked back at me now with an expression of disbelief, yet somehow I could sense something else…

Betrayal?

I don't even know this dog, so why did she look at me with such a face. That was when her mouth quivered.

"Y-Y-You don't… rem…" Was all I could hear her utter out, her voice cracking as her eyes glistened.

And then all of a sudden, she began to bawl loudly like an upset child, her nose pointed up towards the sky as I swear I could see tears spraying out of her eyes like a garden hose before she ran off crying hysterically.

What on earth just happened?

As confused as I was, a part of me felt guilty about making her cry even though that wasn't my intention to begin with. Maybe I could've reacted to how she had suddenly lunged at me better, I don't know.

Well one thing's for sure, I'm definitely not making a good name for myself in this place. No doubt the population will be glad to have me gone once I figure out what this key is for and why I had it to begin with.

Thankfully, it didn't take any longer for me to find a house that looked different to the rest. As in unlike the others, it didn't look as refurbished as I could very well see a swarm of moss and other foliage having made themselves at home at the house's foundation and walls.

Perhaps this was where this "Ryan" lived.

With a few steps forward, I knocked on the door, as if I somehow expected someone to actually live here.

And as you'd expect, no one answered.

It was then that I remembered that I still even had the key to begin with as I brought it up to the front door's rusted lock and turned.

With an audible click, the key turned and the door was unlocked. So I knew that this was definitely the place.

The inside of the house was dark as you would expect. The first room I found myself walking into was actually mostly empty save for some old wooden furniture such as a coffee table and a few chairs, all of which were evidently coated in a blanket of thick dust. I swear I even saw a cockroach skitter across the floor upon sensing it's peace being disturbed by the open door. Ugh.

I tried the light switch and of course it didn't turn on. It was getting more and more obvious that the person who shared my name had long since left this house and possibly the town years ago.

So why did I have their house key?

Before I could further think about the situation, I heard a female voice yell out at me in what sounded like aggravation. Before I could turn to see who it was however, I was suddenly football tackled to the hard wooden floor, making me let out a pained grunt as I heard animalistic growling from above me.

Great, one of the other animals must have seen the pink dog in tears and is now going to attack me on her behalf.

"Alright, jackass! Mind telling me where you get off of freeloading in Ryan's old place?! If you know what's good for your health, I suggest you start TALKING!"

...Or it could be because of that.

Might as well try to explain to whoever was on me what I was doing here as I turned my head to face my assailant.

Surprise surprise, it was another of the animal villagers. This one turned out to also be a dog with just as unnatural fur colour; red with a circle of black on her right eye, black hands and ears, which surprisingly donned a few silver earrings. Her clothes being a black vest with a spiderweb pattern and matching colour jeans.

Even stranger was the sudden change in her reaction as she got a good look at my face. Like the pink dog, hers was also a look of shock as she was left speechless. Her grip on me lessening as she just stared at me.

"O-Oh my god… R-Ryan…?!"

She mumbled through her stunned silence.

Now I had even more questions. It was bizarre enough that I had the key of a house here that belonged to someone of the same name as I, but the fact that this dog somehow knew that my name was in fact Ryan.

And yet at the end of it all, all I could ask was…

"...Who are you?"