His

Calm Before the Storm

Everyone was stunned in place. That rope swing had been there for generations. More troubling was that Kyle had not come back up out of the water. With a heavy sigh and then deep breath, Roux dove in next to the sinking branch to retrieve the drowning bafoon; though, part of her wished she could have just let him sink to the bottom and be done with it.

As Roux drug him ashore, she could see the wound on his head bleeding into the most beautiful patterns as it mixed with the water streaming from his hair and then swirled into the pool of water. He was breathing, which was good enough for Roux. She hadn't been the cause of his current condition but didn't want to stick around long enough for anyone to recollect that she had just bit this guy.

The other twin, Paulie, came rushing into the water to retrieve his brother. Rachel hadn't moved an inch since the whole thing started, mouth gaping like the open wound on Kyle's head.

Roux waded out of the water and left up the rocky cliff's path to her belongings without another word or even looking back. This was a perfect example of what she wanted to get away from.

She picked up her dry clothes and tied them into a knot for easy carrying, and walked off into the woods in just her sports bra and panties. When she got to the road she put her clothes back on and started running back home.

The lights were on in the house as she approached, and she could see her uncle through the window, walking around the living room and talking on his cell phone. Roux came in through the backdoor through the kitchen and grabbed a piece of fried chicken from the box on the table. Thankfully, Mark must have gotten something to go from the city, as she really wasn't in any mood to cook.

"You ready for tomorrow?" Mark called out from the living room doorway.

"Not really, but it's not like I have a choice or anything," Roux couldn't entertain his enthusiasm right now. "I'm just gonna call it. See ya," and headed down to her basement.

Which, in all actuality, was like its own apartment. It had a kitchenette, bedroom with its own master bath, and even a small set of french doors that went out to a side entrance with a porch. If she decided to just stay and fester in this town, at least she would still have this space to herself. Mark never came down there, and he would probably never make her leave.

The heat from the day had lingered in the house, so she propped open the french doors to let in some cool night air. The moon was full in the sky with a glow around it, and it warmed her heart to see it. The moon was never noisy, never bothersome, just peaceful and still. It was a constant, always present, often visible even during the day, and she found comfort in that. sometimes, she would catch herself looking up to the sky during her runs, instinctively and unconsciously searching for it.

Roux took all her running clothes off and headed for the shower. maybe she could wash the unpleasant day from her head, start tomorrow fresh. But as she lay her head upon her arm, resting against the shower wall, all she could see in her mind's eye was Kyle's swirling blood in the water, and it made her blood as hot as the water that was running down her back.

!BOOM!

She jumped out of the shower with a quickness, barley grabbing a towel as she ran out of the bathroom and ran into the bedroom to see what the loud noise was. she saw a picture that had been on her dresser that looked like it had hit the wall with such force that not only did the glass break, but the frame itself was in pieces.

"What the hell?" she was left very confused. No gust of wind could do this, but there was no one else here. Roux picked up the frame pieces and the glass and put them in the trash. She picked up the old picture from the floor and studied it for a minute.

What would these people think of her now? Would they love her? Would they be proud of her? She doubted it. But "they" as parents was an abstract idea. She had never known them, she really didn't know anything about them. And she had never really asked Uncle Mark about his sister, my mom. That was a long overdue Q&A session that she felt like expired some time ago.

"Good night kiddo, and good luck tomorrow! I'm heading over to a friend's house. Just try to have a little fun at school, okay?" Mark yelled downstairs before shutting the door back. She wondered which friend it was tonight. It could have been Terry, who oddly enough Mark had been seeing several times a week. This was very out of the ordinary for his usual dating habits, but maybe he was running out of options? But Terry seemed nice enough. She ran a bar a county over and had crazy work hours, so Mark would sometimes wait at the bar for her to get off, which sometimes wasn't until 2 am. Roux had only met her once at the grocery store and totally by chance. It was the most awkward introduction she had ever witnessed, her uncle fumbling over his words and using more than usual hand gestures when talking. She could tell that he was really nervous in that instant, something she had never really seen from her uncle before. Maybe that meant he was changing. maybe that meant she could change too? Maybe tomorrow didn't have to be as terrible as she anticipated...