Page 34 of The Heir

His hopeful expression faded away, and he spoke: “Hanging out with Keil, then work. Have a good weekend. See you on Monday.” I watched him as he walked away from me until he faded into the crowd of students, rushing to get home.

“Ready?”

I jumped when I saw Ryker suddenly at my side, smiling at me.What is wrong with me? Why am I so spastic?“Yep,” I said in irritation.

Ryker chuckled and grabbed my hand as he led me through students in the parking lot to the sidewalk. I tried to ignore the feeling of his hand in mine, tried to ignore how his touch was not as cold this time as it was earlier, and yet not the same at all, especially if compared to the jolt within Shad’s touch. I triednotto compare, but it was difficult not to when the feelings were so different, and Shad obviously won. We walked down the street, leading to our neighborhood: mine, Ryker’s, and Shad’s.

“So–my dad isn't home, so we will have some privacy.”

“Okay, yeah. I heard you at lunch, but why do we need privacy?” I raised my eyebrows.

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen you in a while?” he shrugged.

“Okay, so what are we going to do?”

“Watch a movie?” he asked.

“Another movie, really—don’t you get tired of that? That is what we did for two weeks straight after you got home from your trip.”

“What? I thought you liked watching movies with me.” He gave me a pouty bottom lip.

I shoved his shoulder. “No, I tolerate watching movies with you because I love you.”

He stopped walking and looked into my eyes, his face suddenly very serious.

“What?” I asked, confused.

He shook his head and smiled at me “Thanks, Em. I love you, too,” he whispered reverently.

“Okay, fine, Ry—I will watch a movie with you, just as long as it’s not a horror movie.”

“Yeah, no, of course not,” he assured me. We walked through his front door and down the hall, reaching the bedroom opposite where mine would have been in my house. Ryker grabbed the door handle and turned to me. “I just want to warn you a little that well—” he stopped and ran a hand across his face in irritation. “I have been doing some research, and don’t think I am crazy, okay?”

“Okay. What class of yours already has a project? Are we watching the movie in your room? You are acting weird,” I added, thinking there could be nothing else that could shock me. He nodded, not answering my questions and opened the door. I walked inside, still confused.

His room was large and spacious because he had very few furnishings: one twin size bed, one small dresser, and one desk on the opposite wall. I knew his room well; however, there was a new addition. The entire large expanse of the wall, where the desk stood, was covered, floor to ceiling, with papers. I gawked, surprised—for thehundredthtime that day.

Wait, is Ryker one of those stalker-killer types from the horror movies?It would have been hard not to gawk when I felt like I had just stepped into a scary movie.

“Okay, so I know, it is a bit much, but there is something about having all my research in one place and being able to always see it.”

I nodded because that was all I could do. I looked at a piece of paper which was the beginning of a timeline with dates blacked out. “What is this?” I pointed to the paper.

“I was mapping out any previous attempts.”

“Attempts?”

“Uh, yeah.” He looked at his feet and shuffled.

“What is this, Ry?” I asked, moving down the wall to news clippings of car crashes. I stopped when I saw news clippings fromthatnight, the night my world changed. I froze as I felt the old, and nearly forgotten about, snake coil inside of me once again, restricting my breathing, and I gasped, clutching at my heart.No–no I do not want to go back, backto that existence which once had been mine without a beating, feeling heart. It had been so long, it seemed, since I had felt that deep, sorrowful and painful presence inside of me. I wanted to scream and find a knife to cut it out of me.

“Are you okay, Em?” he asked, holding my elbow before I fell over.

Good thinking there, Ry.

“Ry, what is this—” I ordered rather than asking, my voice shaking.

“I know your parents were murdered, Em.”