The Risen

Arieles POV   As I rounded about a big grassy plain,  my GPS started to malfunction. I quickly realized I was in the middle of the boondocks and had no idea where I was going. It had been a while since I ran into any stores of any kind or saw any signs of civilization, just grass. "For f***s Sake!" I yelled as I hit the GPS in frustration.  I was a heaping sweaty mess. This trip wasn't like the many others I'd taken before, my car was giving up on me. It was an oldie but a goody and I didn't want to replace it. It was my baby and under many different circumstances my home.  But the AC stopped working months ago and the check engine light had been on for a little over a month already. Just then my car started to sputter and I started to see smoke come up from the hood. "No,no, no, no, please!" I practically pleaded as my car came to a screeching halt. I put my head over my steering wheel in defeat.      Breathe Arieles,  I thought to myself. I took a couple of deep breaths, turned the car off and put my long, curly hair into a messy bun. I had dyed the underpart of my hair red and kept the front half black, but that was a while ago and the red soon went pink. I imagine I look like a crazy person. Some of my hair was sticking out all over the place.  But in this kind of weather, it just couldn't be helped. I lifted the hood and smoke engulfed my face. I coughed and tried to assess the damage. I scratched my head, knowing full damn well I knew nothing about cars and was making it up as I go. As I put my hand down I noticed I had a black tarry substance all over my hands and tried to wipe it off on my black shorts.   I closed the hood of my car and took my backpack with the majority of my life's possessions in it and put it on my back. It wasn't a backpack per say but one of those big bags hikers use. It held a lot and on it I had a ton of pins that I had picked up from my travels.      The car isn't going anywhere and I don't think it's safe for me to stay near a smoking car anyway. I have to go find help and the heat is torturous today. I double checked to make sure my phone was in my pocket and locked my car. As I walked up along side a dirt road I can see a dilapidated looking farm house almost completely hidden by trees and overgrown grass up on a steep hill.  I wonder if anyone still lives there and would be willing to help me. If it was abandoned I can only pray its previous residents left some food or water there. Not that I was a trespasser, I just needed to regroup. At the very least maybe my phone would get connection and I can get a tow or something. But lets face it I can't afford a tow.   The anxiety was creeping in. What will I do now?  I pondered. As I got closer to the farm house I started to think of how I can seem approachable and not scary to whomever may live there.     I'm not from these parts and I'm sure it's obvious when looking at me. I have brown skin with a yellowish hue, my septum is pierced with a little silver hoop going through it, my black eyeliner was all smudged from the weather and the trek up this hill. Don't let me get started on my tattoos.  If someone is in there please let it be a nice old lady. I thought to myself. As I got closer I noticed the red and white colors of the barn and an intimidated NO TRESPASSING SIGN on the door. Nice protective old lady, nice protective old lady, nice protective old lady. I started to chant in my head. As I worked up the courage to knock.   I knocked three times really quickly, padded the side pocket of my backpack to make sure my pocket knife was still in there and resolved that if someone didn't come to the door in 2 minutes, I'd walk back down the hill. I need help, but I know how dangerous it could be in these types of desolated areas and if this was indeed someones home and they wanted their privacy I will respect that. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and put my back pack down to give my back a break.  As I put the bag down someone opened the door. I turned around and realized it was a man, I spoke quickly thinking he'd surely shut the door on me. "Please! I need help, my car broke down on the dirt road going past your house. I don't really know where I am and my phone has no signal..." I was huffing and puffing from going up the hill.  As I tried to catch my breathe, he dropped to his knees.. quite literally. It startled me.    He began to rub his eyes so hard and that's when I noticed how tired and disheveled he looked. He had a mess of chocolate brown hair resting on the top of his head and his green eyes looked like they lost their light long ago. He seemed built and muscular but he was hiding it under baggy pajama shorts and an over sized black t-shirt. As my honey brown eyes met his green ones, his eyes started to water.  "Hey are you okay?" I asked as I laid my hand on his shoulder. He seemed to melt under my touch and closed his eyes and breathed in slowly and deeply. A tear made its way down his check. I felt bad for the poor guy. Maybe someone had passed and he just received the news, or was just having a bad time. You never know what people are going through and I try not to project my frustrations on to others and be empathetic whenever I can.  As he opened his eyes I could've sworn his eyes were a different, brighter shade of green. I gave him my best sympathetic smile. "Whatever your going through, it'll get better I promise." He pulled me in for a hug and I was taken a back a little, but hugged him back. It felt oddly comforting, I had been through quite a bit on my travels. Maybe I needed hug too.  Nevertheless, the hug lasted for a solid 3 minutes and I started to feel a bit awkward, I had never really been a fan of skin to skin contact or being touched for that matter especially by a stranger.  As I pulled away, he looked at me and squeezed my hand. "Sorry about that, I am just feeling a bit overwhelmed, I've been alone up here for quite some time and your visit...lets just say was desperately needed." He continued on, " I'll be more than happy to help, can you just sit on the bench right there and give me five seconds to tidy up. Please don't go ANYWHERE."  He sounded nervous, I figured he wasn't expecting any company. I nodded my head side to side in thought and figured he didn't look like a murderous villain and then nodded my head in agreement.  Beggars can't be choosers, and right now I was a beggar! I had little to no money, a car that needed a severe overhaul and dirty clothes on. I could not pass this chance up in the middle of nowhere. I heard some shuffling inside the house but whistled as I waited on the bench and pretended to be checking out my nails. He didn't take but five minutes and came back out, " I'm so sorry for the mess that awaits us inside." He said bashfully.  "Pshhh. No worries! I'm just glad you're willing to help me, do you see me? I'm a mess my self!" I said pointing at myself erratically. That made him laugh softly and I was more than happy to be uplifting my saviors mood. I also chuckled a little. When he looked up from laughing and we made eye contact again I felt kind of nervous and shy all of a sudden. I pushed a curl behind my ear, noticing how handsome he really is and bashfully looked away.  No ones ever really laughed at my jokes or helped me with such politeness. I could feel his stare on me and he says, "I didn't catch your name". The shy, awkwardness went away as I now had something to occupy my thoughts. "Oh yeah, sorry about that. My name is Arieles. Arieles Cordales."  "Nice to formally meet you Arieles. You have a beautiful name by the way. My name is Calder Lupin." He said as he reached out his hand. I gave it a shake and he seemed to shudder a bit. I hope that means he has AC in his barn house and just caught a chill. I mentally crossed my fingers. As he reached out to touch my forehead I almost flinched away but he only just wiped some of the black substance from my car off my forehead. Concern was written all over his face.  "Let's get you inside. You look like you could use a drink." I was going to pick up my backpack but he put it on his back with ease, "What kind of host would I be if I didn't help my guest with her luggage?" He smirked. It was endearing and I was way too tired to fight with him about it or second guess it for that matter and I followed him inside of the ominous barn house.