Immortals Of Byolla Bay
Chapter 3 – Rikki

“I’m not trying to question daddy’s decision, but moving to a town that has less than 1500 people just seems like a bad idea. Everyone here knows each other and we will stick out. I know he said his dream told him to move us here, but he never said it told him we’d be safe or that we could quit repeating that personal hell called high school. I just want to stop running.” My sister sighed and dramatically fell backwards on her bed. I wasn’t anymore happier about it than she was, but I kept quiet. If she knew I felt the same way then she would attempt some kind of anarchy protest against going to school to our parents, making this 70 times harder on us all. If I acted like I was on board with this going to school mess then 9 times out of 10 Mag will get over it and not put up a fight.

Truth be told I hated repeating high school every town we moved to as well, but I’ve learned that the more we blend in to society, the less attention we call to ourselves, versus if we stayed at home and gossip around town started about why our parents never let us out of the house. That was what happened in our last town that prompted our move here, which in turn made father put his foot down about Mag and I going to school in this tiny city. This is by far the smallest town we have lived in and hopefully it will work to our advantage being out in plain sight. Maybe we can stop running for a while.

My thoughts were interrupted by a honking sound out in the driveway. “Father and Gene are back with the moving truck. Come on, at least it is something to do to get your mind off of tomorrow.” I nudged her arm that was closest to me. Reluctantly she got up and followed me out of her room.

We walked down the dilapidated stairs, which mother was going to fix later tonight, and out the front door that was barely hanging on the hinges. To say this house was a fixer upper was an understatement, but it was cheap, ready to move in and the seller didn’t ask any questions. They were as happy to get rid of it as we were to take it off their hands because of how long they had been trying to sell it. Apparently we are the first people to move to this place in over two decades.

My older brother jumped out of the truck and rolled open the door to the back. All the furniture we had was brand new. Mother had just ordered it all for the house we were in previously before we had to abruptly move so it’s been sitting in a storage building for a few weeks.

“Mom said be extremely careful with the couch. It’s a sectional, whatever that is.” Gene informed me. He’s the newest to this realm, or world, so he’s still learning the language and names of things here. He was released to us after 200 years for punishment from him. Just thinking about it made my blood boil. One day, when we are returned to our former glory, I will make him pay. Not just for Gene, but for all of us.

Gene hands me one end of the expensive, eggshell white couch, “Okay, mom said this whole thing needs to be turned at the same time or else the sections will come apart.” Mag was standing in the yard watching us work or supervising as she called it, which actually means she was not doing a damn thing.

I heard footsteps along the sidewalk, but with the oversized couch in my view I couldn’t see who it was. We finally navigated the couch into the living room in one piece and turned to Mag as she slammed the door behind us. We shot her questioning looks and she replied,

“There was a girl who was staring at us so I came in and shut the door before she decided to come introduce herself. I’m not in a sociable mood, especially since I have to put up with school all tomorrow. The teachers will make me introduce myself and all the kids will be asking me questions. I’m not doing any of that today though.”

A voice came from beside us, “Great. I’m sure that girl is going to go ahead and tell everyone how rude the new family is and will start gaining us negative attention. You better replace her and apologize for your rudeness tomorrow.” Father, who no one heard enter the living room, demanded angrily. Mag hung her head and muttered “Yes sir.” She then excused herself to her room.

Father ran a hand down his worn face, “Boys I’ve decided only Mag and Rikki are going to school this year. It will be senior year and Gene you look too old to pass as a teenager anyways. You will be accompanying me to the docks tomorrow morning and working with me as a fisherman, alright? When I told the overseer that we could afford the boat rental he hired me on the spot, no questions asked. Apparently they have been understaffed for quite some time.”

Mother walked in and looked as equally worn out, “I will be doing the stay at home mom thing since there is not an abundance of work here. I need to fix everything wrong with this house anyways so at least I won’t be sitting here bored until you all come home. Hopefully soon we will no longer have to do this.” She blew out a sigh and walked up the stairs, probably to comfort Mag and offer her words of encouragement.

Father motioned for us to follow him outside to unload the rest of the furniture so Gene could drive the truck back to the rental place tonight.

Night sets in early here apparently. It’s only 4:00 and the sun has set already. I carefully made my way onto the decaying balcony outside my room to listen to the crickets and other sounds of nature. This town had no noise other than the ocean waves I heard about two miles from where I was standing and the rustling of the autumn leaves falling from the trees. The quiet can be misleading. It gives you a false sense of security and peace, which are two dangerous things for my family. As soon as we start feeling settled in and comfortable, that’s when we stop being on guard and then he will replace us.

As if to further emphasize my inner dialogue, screaming came from the woods to the right of our house. Instantly I jumped off the balcony, landed two stories down on the ground and raced to the edge of the woods to investigate. I stopped when I seen a young woman with light brown hair come frantically running out of the trees and then smacked right into me. I reached out and grabbed her arms to steady her when something happened. An electric current ran through my body, not painful, just...exciting. It heated my blood as I studied her face. This has never happened to me before.

The girl started telling me she was sorry, looked up at me and her jaw dropped. I must have scared her with me being a stranger and all so I smiled as big as I could to show her I would not hurt her, “Are you alright, lady?” I asked, truly hoping she didn’t injure herself by running into me. She slowly smiled back, “No I’m not hurt. I take it you are new in town. My name is Kinsley Preden. I live on the next road down so I guess I could say I’m one of your neighbors.” She had the look of earnest sincerity in her sky blue eyes. My stars was she beautiful. I remembered my manners and replied, “It’s nice to meet you Kinsley. Thank you for running into me and making my night interesting. My name is Rikki.”

I almost told her my true name instead of the name I was forced to go by here on earth to fit in. That has never happened before either. Who is this young lady that makes me want to tell her all my well kept secrets every time she smiles? She nodded, “It’s nice to meet you as well Rikki. Again, sorry I ran into you. I got scared when I heard a sound in the forest and I over exaggerated a little.” Her cheeks started turning red and I could tell she was embarrassed.

“Nonsense. The forest is a scary place when you are alone. The noises echoing off the trees are amplified when only your ears are there to pick up its sounds and it can trick you into thinking monsters are chasing you when in reality it is just a deer or squirrel. If you do not mind, Kinsley, may I escort you to your home? We can listen to the scary sounds in the woods together and you will see, when there are two sets of ears hearing the same noises it’s not so bad.”