R.E.solve (Rain Experience Book 2)

by Thomas W. Everson

  “She’s not coming with us,” Eve whispers harshly. “I got stuck here by accident but I’m making the best of it – I’m not competing with some child too.”

  “Eve, you’re overreacting,” I whisper back while looking toward the door to downstairs, preparing to cover myself for when Emma returns. “Emma’s not a threat. We turned her down once. I’m pretty sure the only one with any intention of her coming with us, is her.”

  “I’ll push her out if she’s here when it starts, when the vortex comes to take us,” she raises her voice a little.

  “If you hurt her, you’ll have to answer to me.” I become defensive and plant my finger very firmly in Eve’s sternum, moving past the embarrassment I would normally feel touching her in such a manner. “I understand your motives and I agree with not taking her along. But don’t even think about harming her.”

  Thoroughly irritated now, I push past Eve and head upstairs to my room. At the top I hear the sewing machine going, and stop to think about checking in on Ami. Standing at the door for a few moments I knock lightly but no response is given. The sewing machine continues to run and I hear shuffling. Knocking again, a little harder this time elicits a response.

  “Go away. I’m busy,” Ami answers sharply.

  With Eve feeling the way she does, no doubt Ami feels more so. Imagine her surprise seeing Emma again. Do I intrude and reassure her, or give her space and let her calm down?

  The former wins after another minute of quiet contemplation, and I twist the doorknob. With the door cracked, I poke my head in.

  Ami is working furiously, tossing things about as she seems to be trying to piece something together. She looks up at me briefly, angrily, before returning to her work. Taking her silence as permission, I enter the room and shut the door behind me. She continues to shovel things around and sew something together.

  “Hey,” I open dialogue.

  “What, Rain?” she answers with contempt.

  “What’s got you so upset?”

  “Nothing.” It’s that tone which tells me it’s something, but she is hesitant to talk about it.

  “Why lie to me? It’s not like you’re going to fool me.” I move closer to her, consciously keeping my tone light and playful.

  She stops her machine and looks at me. I can see it in her face, she’s hurt and jealous. No doubt she sees Emma as another person to compete against for my attention. Now within reach, I extend my arm and grab her hand, pulling her to stand up. She resists. I tilt my head and refuse to let go of her hand until she complies. Reluctantly she does and I switch places with her, sitting down and pulling her onto my lap.

  “Emma’s just excited to see us, that’s all Ami.”

  “She’s infatuated with you, like she was before,” she crosses her arms and looks away from me.

  “Last time we saw her she was a little girl. Just because she’s grown up a little doesn’t mean her status has changed. I still see her as a little sister.”

  “You didn’t see the way she reacted when she saw me.” She finally looks back at me. Anger has been replaced with sadness.

  “So tell me about it,” I speak soothingly.

  “As soon as I looked into her shop window, she nearly knocked me down asking if you were here too. Before I could answer, she stuck her tongue out at me and ran off.”

  “So, she’s like your little sister too?”

  She frowns but her cheek muscles can’t take too much more. Her face softens up. I wrap my arms around her. Placing her hands on my forearms she reciprocates the gesture. We sit in silence for a bit.

  “Frankly, I’m not sure I’m safe to be around you, let alone anyone else,” I say.

  “Well you’re not going anywhere. Even if you could.” She raps her fingers on my arm gently.

  “What if you and I do happen,” I start. “What happens if things don’t work out? Won’t it be awkward?”

  “Isn’t it too late? Us happening, that is.” She turns around and straddles me, placing her arms around my neck but leaning back. “It’s only been a few months, but it feels like a lifetime. Like I’ve known you forever.”

  “I know, and I feel the same way, but I want to make sure you’re safe and we’re stable. Wouldn’t it be better if we found a way to stop spiraling through time before we go any further?”

  She’s silent and I can tell she doesn’t like the idea of our relationship not progressing. I’m unsure of it myself, but my resolve to ensure her safety first is solid.

  “Fine, then we wait before we become more serious than we already are. But it doesn’t mean I’m letting Eve near you. She can go jump off a cliff. And Emma stays in this time.”

  I chuckle at Ami’s aggressiveness.

  “And you better make good on your promise to help break this curse quickly,” she continues while staring me directly in the eyes. “Then Eve can find someone else to pester. You, my Mother, and I can just stay together.”

  “We’ll need to approach with caution. Look at what happened when Evalyn tried.” I point to my eyes. “I haven’t forgotten my promise, but I want to do research.”

  Sitting for a few more minutes, just being with each other, I finally tap the side of her calf to tell her I’d like to leave. When she stands up she turns and grabs both of my arms, helping me to my feet. My legs tingle and moments after trying to take my first step, my leg spasms. My balance falters. Ami catches me and I laugh while struggling to not hit the floor face first.

  “Always there to catch me,” I joke.

  “Always. Legs asleep?”

  “Mmhmm.”

  The wait for my legs to reawaken isn’t long and we make our way back downstairs.

  Eve is neither within the living room nor the kitchen, and I am thankful to not have to worry about confronting her again so soon. Emma bustles about the kitchen while Agatha sits at the table, watching a human storm blow through. Emma has taken Agatha’s place preparing the food and she is clearly displeased about it.

  Emma sees me and stops briefly. “You’re going to have to come to my shop and help bring my food here tomorrow. You have a good amount of fruits and vegetables, but you’re running low on meat.”

  “I thought you just sold produce.”

  “I did! That was seven years ago! Can you believe it?! After things got bad I had to take up additional products in order to keep going.” She frowns but resumes her cooking tasks. “I’m one of a few left in my district, and not for long.”

  “Wait, why are you bringing your food here? Shouldn’t you be selling it?” I’m not liking where she’s headed with this. “Especially because you’re one of the few that’s left.”

  “Rain, you have no idea how long it felt waiting for you to return!” She stops dead in her tracks and turns to me with a bright smile on her face. “You guys aren’t leaving without me!”

  “Why?” I quirk an eyebrow.

  “What do you mean ‘why’? Don’t you remember what you did for me?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Well, now I’m old enough to repay the debt!”

  “There’s no debt,” I try to explain, but Ami jumps in.

  “It’s too dangerous,” Ami tells her. “You can’t go with us.”

  Emma’s innocence is lost in an instant. She slams a wooden spoon down on the counter, spattering a creamy white sauce all over the counter and her overalls. In a rush she shoves her way between us and faces Ami in an act of defiance. Ami crosses her arms and I anticipate a breakdown of the calm we just created.

  “He’s under my protection, and I’m protecting him from you!” Emma glares.

  Agatha chuckles and Ami fights back a laugh. Eve slams the back door open. With the ferocity of a wild animal Eve is upon Emma, towering over her short frame, nearly foaming at the mouth.

  “You’re not coming. End of story!” Eve yells at her.

  “I’m pretty sure that’s not your call!” Emma yells right back and looks her up and down in a snooty manner. “Someone ne
eds to protect him from your grubby hands.”

  “Let me tell you something, child.” Eve reaches out to grab her by her overalls but is eluded. Emma bounces away behind me.

  “You can’t have Rain, you vagrant! Who dressed you?!”

  A teenager is now deciding my love life? What is the world coming to?

  “Vagrant?!” Eve is infuriated. Her face has turned completely red and her eyes begin to water. There’s a faint grinding noise and it’s coming from Eve’s mouth. She’s had it and pushes me out of the way, lunging at Emma.

  Emma dives between Eve’s legs, evading her long arm grasp. A chase around the kitchen ensues. Ami and I move out of the way to watch. While amusing for a moment it soon becomes tiresome and I step in.

  Jumping in front of Emma as she rounds the island I place both of my hands out in front of me and plant them firmly on her shoulders. Moving swiftly, I swing my body, and Emma, around to block Eve.

  “All right. Enough you two,” I tell them with force.

  “You’re going to let this little girl talk to me like that Rain?!” Eve exclaims.

  “Let her? What control could I possibly exert over someone this rambunctious?” Dropping my arms I turn to face Ami, neutral to both of them.

  “Yeah, he’s not going to defend you because you are a tramp!” Emma doesn’t want to let it drop. “Who dresses like that?”

  “At least I don’t dress like a man!” Eve reaches to smack her but I grab her hand and look at Emma sternly.

  Emma looks away and I place my hand on her head. Eve lowers her hand and I release it when I feel she’s no longer a threat.

  “You two, behave. Eve, Emma’s only going to see us for a month. Emma, I’m sorry but it’s too dangerous for you to go with us,” I try to explain, yet again.

  “But she gets to go?!” Her finger points accusingly at Eve, tears beginning to stream down her face.

  “The four of us don’t have a choice,” I explain. “In the few months I’ve lived in this house, we’ve seen quite a bit of danger. Slavers, marauders and a black mass trying to consume everything.”

  Emma isn’t buying it. That hurt and angry look appears on her face while tears stream down her rosy cheeks. She raises her voice. “You don’t know what it’s been like! It broke my heart watching you disappear! You just left me! All I wanted to do was to stay here! Things only got worse after you left!”

  I let her breathe before I try and explain, but Ami moves toward her and, in a surprise move, hugs her. Emma sobs into Ami’s shirt and the darkness tugs inside me. I feel something rising and it compels me to caress her soft, golden locks in an attempt to quell the anguish.

  “Emma, the four of us are stuck. There’s nothing we can do until we break the curse on this house. We’re forced into dangerous situations,” Ami explains, trying to help me out. “It was good you didn’t come with us because you’d be stuck here forever, or at least until Rain makes good on his promise.”

  “I don’t care! It would have been better for me! Denis became a problem again and his father couldn’t handle him! The city is like this because of him! He destroyed everything!”

  I hug her tightly, squishing her between Ami and myself. But though times had been bad for her, I’m not sorry we didn’t take her along. “Let’s eat and you can tell us about it. Okay?” My tone is soft and I smile sympathetically.

  Emma calms down after a few minutes and pulls away from us to finish cooking. The rest of us set the table. She’s prepared pasta with a creamy, white sauce and boiled beef chunks from our reserves on top. With the table set and the glasses filled Emma serves us, starting with me.

  Sitting in my normal spot at the head of the table, Ami is to my right and Eve to my left, leaving Agatha and Emma to sit toward the middle. But before we are completely situated Emma drags her chair with one hand, her plate of food in the other and interjects herself between Eve and me. Eve’s furious expression tells me she’s readying to verbally assault her again but I catch her gaze with the shaking of my head. She backs down, with a loud and defeated sigh, and we begin our meal. With the first bite of creamy pasta in my mouth, Emma jumps right into her story since we last saw her.

  “After you left, Denis disappeared for a while – a couple years, actually. But when he returned it went back to the way it was before. Some of the fighters stayed loyal to him even after Mister Lindali put an end to it. He recruited his own personal army of mobsters to do his bidding. His father became ill when he took over and he started punishing everyone, trashing things even if they had paid their ‘protection’ money.”

  Emma takes a breath and a bite of her food, but continues talking while she chews.

  “When people couldn’t afford either the repairs or the protection money, they just started abandoning the city. I tried leaving but Denis won’t let me. He said if I did, he would burn the city down and anyone left in it.”

  “Has no one tried stopping him?” Ami asks.

  “There was resistance at first. From whole neighborhoods. But Denis wore them down by destroying their lives, conversion, or death. The resistance was quelled within six months.

  “He said if I marry him I wouldn’t have to pay protection money and my shop wouldn’t be ransacked anymore. Of course I refused him. He’s a pig!” Emma looks up at me, the glimmer having returned to her eyes.

  Looking in Ami’s direction I stare blankly, taking bites of my own meal, thinking while Emma continues on with her story. Their voices become background noise to my own thoughts.

  What happens to these souls trapped in despair, now inside of me, if I change things? If I remove Denis from his throne of power over the city, will things change? Am I supposed to stop him? Will some of these souls be put to rest?

  “Yes. You must,” despair calls to me again and I realize it’s coming from within me. It’s no longer their collective voices, but their collective thoughts protruding in on my consciousness.

  “Rain? Rain what’s wrong?” Emma asks putting the back of her hand to my cheek, scared. “Rain? Why is your face turning black?”

  Her hand is cool and I flinch, startled. Standing up I move quickly to the sink and douse my head with cold water from the tap. Feeling them rise in me, I fight to suppress it, to hold it in. They call to me and I can feel the anguish of the city. It pricks at my skin and the hairs rise on the back of my neck. Despite the shock of cold water, my control is slipping. I fling the back door open and run out into the cool night air. Darkness spreads through my body once more and it envelops me, covering me from head to toe in a wave.

  Hearing Emma call out to me I try to run faster. Over my shoulder I see Eve and Ami restraining her from following. Safe from harming them, I run a few more feet, past the apple tree and into the dying grass of the park. I collapse in a heap on my knees, my hands on my head. They pound against my soul. The heat rises. The voices begin screaming and I cannot control the darkness.

  “AUUUGGGHHHHH!” I let out a cry of despair. Darkness spews forth, swirling around me like a tornado once again. Even under the darkness provided by the clouds in the sky I can see clearly the black seeping through the ground and billowing into the air like shadowy whips lashing at anything in reach. I am powerless to stop it.

  “Rain, fight for us! We are lost in despair! Stop Denis!”

  “You don’t have to convince me!” I yell to the voices.

  “Rain, stop Denis!” They repeat their desire. “Stop him before he kills us!”

  “I will!”

  “Stop him!” They persist despite my telling them I will do as they ask.

  “I know!” I yell, aggravated.

  Slowly, the dark storm around me begins to die and recede into my body.

  When I feel it’s safe, I remove my hands from my head and stand up, but my knees cave under my weight. My face impacts first on the dead patch of grass I have created. Having sapped my energy trying to contain the darkness, it’s a struggle to keep my eyes open, but I force myself back up and
turn to find Emma running at me with Ami and Eve hot on her tail.

  I put my hand out to stop her, but Emma grabs it and throws it over her shoulder. The feeling of weakness increases as she takes some of my weight. She struggles to support me but is quickly assisted by Ami and Eve. They are my crutches back to the house.

  Upon arriving, Agatha places a wet rag on the top of my head and I shiver; the water is too cold now because the hot flash has ended. Tilting my head down I drop it back into her hand and we continue inside and to the table. They place me back in my chair and I rest with my eyes closed. I hear them retake their seats and sit in silence, no doubt watching me. Emma is the one to break the silence.

  “What is it? Why did your skin turn black Rain? Why are your eyes like that? Are you sick?” The questions come out one after another, but each one is cautiously asked.

  “I can’t explain it fully. The short version is that it’s a collection of souls from this world who died in despair.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “In the last time we were in, we don’t know where we were. It was a nothingness. In this nothingness was this shadow which came to life, a collection of despairing souls trying to overtake Ami and I. They wouldn’t let up until I ‘let them into the light’ which basically meant inhabiting my body until I can change their fate. I did it so Ami, Eve and Agatha wouldn’t die and so it wouldn’t be unleashed on the world when we shifted through time.”

  “Why were you yelling at it?” Emma asks after a few moments of silence.

  “They speak to me in my head. They want me to change events in time so they will not have died in despair. Apparently that’s how I can save them.”

  Silence falls across the room again for a few moments. It’s awkward and I find my eyes opening to make sure they haven’t left me.

  “I don’t know if changing time would have a significant impact on their despairs,” Ami points out. “Even if you can save some of them, you can’t save them all.”