chapter 2— Arthur | Twenty-Two Days.
1055 Words
I came to get my brother. I didn't tell him I might not be able to bring him back. Because I think we're in this for a long time.
Elijah is asleep in the passenger seat.
Of course he is. We've been driving for three hours, and he lasted just forty-five minutes before collapsing against the window. His bag is between his feet. He didn't even have time to open it. Poor guy.
I glance at him. My little brother. Long hair, his face relaxed for the first time since he opened his door tonight.
He had a real life back there. A clean apartment. Books everywhere. Law classes. Friends, probably. The kind of normal life Dad wanted for him.
And I came and blew it all up.
I stare at the road and press harder on the gas. Because time is running out.
We stop at a gas station somewhere in Illinois. 2 AM. The kind of place lit up by neon, with a cashier sleeping standing up behind the counter. I cut the engine. Elijah wakes up immediately — old hunter reflex; even after two years of college, it doesn't go away. You'd think...
"Where are we?" he says, his voice still heavy with sleep.
"Illinois. I need coffee."
We go in. I grab two coffees and chips. Elijah picks up a bottle of water and a sandwich that looks like it's lived several lives. I look at him with a little pity.
"That's all?"
"It's enough."
Some things never change with you.
We sit on the hood of the pickup. The parking lot is empty. Trucks pass on the highway in the distance. Up above, there are stars — we're far from any city; out here you can actually see the sky. It was truly beautiful.
Dad used to teach us the stars when we were kids. Orion, the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia. "If you're ever lost at night, look at the sky." Back then I thought it was just about surviving in the forest.
Now I wonder if he knew that one day we'd be searching for something much bigger.
"You have his last messages?" asks Elijah.
I pull out my phone.
I hand it to him without a word. He scrolls through Dad's messages. His face doesn't change, but I know my brother — his eyes move differently when he's processing something important.
"Last message was twenty-two days ago," he says.
"Yeah. That's right."
"He says he found a lead near Lake Superior." He hands the phone back. "And then nothing."
"And then nothing."
Elijah stares at the highway. "You have any idea what he was hunting exactly?"
"He told me about disappearances in a small village. People not coming back from the forest. He thought it was a rugaru at first."
"A rugaru in Minnesota."
"Yeah, I know. It didn't really add up." I drink my coffee. "That's why I'm worried. Dad never gets it wrong on a hunt. If it didn't add up, it was something else."
Elijah stays quiet for a minute.
"Something bigger," he says finally.
"Yeah. I completely agree with you."
We finish our coffees without talking. The wind is cold. The stars are bright. Somewhere in Minnesota, our father has been missing for twenty-two days, and we don't even have a real lead. It's frustrating. Really frustrating.
I toss my empty cup.
"Let's go," I say.
Elijah slides off the hood without complaining. He gets in the passenger seat and opens his laptop this time, instead of sleeping.
"I'm going to search everything I can on Lake Superior — electrical storms, cattle mutilations," he says. "Disappearances, incidents, everything. Leaving nothing out."
"Good."
I start the engine. The radio comes on — classic rock, the way Dad had it set the last time he drove this pickup. I don't change the station.
We started driving north. He's still on his laptop. I tell him,
"Finally, there you are again. Mr. Geek."
"Yes, really. I know we'll find him. Thanks to what he taught us," says Elijah.
I start humming the song. I turn up the volume.
"Stop. You never dropped that habit," he says.
"Sing with me, little brother."
He started singing too. The atmosphere was truly special. I finally got my brother back. I look at him for a few seconds.
"You know I'm proud of you, Elijah."
"Yes, I know. That's why you haven't contacted me in nearly two years," he says.
"I wanted to, but I thought I should leave you alone. Sometimes I'd come by to see you at your school, but I made sure you didn't see me."
"Seriously?" he says.
"Yes, I'm serious. I was in front of your university one day, and you came out with classmates. That's when I saw the lovely Lisa. You were holding hands. In that moment, I truly saw that you were happy. And I went on my way."
"You could have at least said hi, Elijah."
"I'm sorry for not checking in by phone all this time. But I was watching over you," I tell him.
"I know, and I'm sorry too. I didn't like the way we left things. I hate it when we fight, Elijah."
I tell him not to worry. The main thing is we've made up. We keep singing together. It was really great. After a few minutes, he goes back to his research. I'm focused on the wheel, going full throttle.
"Tell me a little. What have you been doing all this time? Just hunting?" Elijah asks.
"Yeah, well, someone has to save people's lives. I even met a waitress during a hunt. She was gorgeous. We spent a night together. She thought it was going to work out, but I made her understand I was just passing through. Uh, whatever, Melissa."
"That's the hunter's life. But for me, things go back to normal when we find Dad. Right?" says Elijah.
"Yeah, yeah."
Deep down I know it's going to be a little complicated, because I have a feeling a lot of things are waiting for us — stuff we can't even imagine.
And I keep driving.
Still heading north. Once we reach our destination, we'll get our answers.
I hope Dad is okay...
—
Don't forget to give your opinion. It really matters, thank you very much.
- Writer
