Book 2 of the Eternal series

Chapter 9

“Ashta, who are these people?” asked Yinlin as she, Roman, Riah, and Ray walked into the house, and Ashta looked at the old man with dead eyes.

“Just some friends. They are going to be staying with us for a while,” she said, and Yinlin nodded.

“Alright, then I will make something extra special for breakfast in the morning,” he said, and Ashta only nodded.

“Come on, guys. Let’s go upstairs,” she said, and Roman, Riah, and Ray nodded as they followed her up the stairs.

****

“Let me guess, bacon and eggs for breakfast?” asked Riah sarcastically after Ashta had shut the bedroom door.

“More than likely,” sighed Ashta, and Roman made a disgusted face.

“I’m so glad that we found each other,” said Ray, and Riah nodded.

“Yeah, me, too, but I don’t think we are totally out of the woods yet. We still have to find our way back home,” said Roman, and Ashta nodded as she sighed and sat down on her bed.

“What is this place?” Riah asked as she looked out of the window.

“I’m not sure, but wherever we are, this place isn’t real,” said Ashta, and everyone nodded.

“So, what do we do now?” sighed Ray as he sat on the other side of the bed, and Riah sat down next to him.

They all sat and thought for a moment. Roman, Riah, and Ray had never been to the human part of the world before, so this was all strange and new to them. The only one that would know anything about this little town would be Ashta.

She grew up in the human world, and she lived in this very town once upon a time. Roman looked at Ashta thoughtfully.

“Ashta, you once lived in this human place. Is there anything you can remember about this town that might be the same?” he asked as he sat beside Ashta, and she thought for a moment.

“Actually, everything is the same. The only difference is that people didn’t act like this when I lived here. They actually acted like normal human beings, like us, believe it or not,” said Ashta, frankly, as she looked up at her friends.

Roman looked at Ashta with care, and he brushed a stray strand of hair from her face.

“What do you remember about your old life?” he asked softly, and she swallowed as she nodded.

“Okay, well, the coffee shop has always been there as far as I remember,” she said, and Roman, Riah, and Ray nodded.

“I used to go for walks down to the shop to get a latte and a muffin. I remember when Yinlin and I would go down to the grocery store together, I used to….”

She trailed off and looked at Roman.

“You used to what?” Riah asked, and Ashta looked over at her.

“I can’t remember. It’s still a little foggy,” she said, and Riah sighed.

“I’m sure it will come back to me. Everything else is starting to come back,” said Ashta, and Riah nodded sadly.

Angrily, Riah stood from the bed, and she growled. Ray gently took her hand, and she looked down at him with tears in her eyes. He gave her a caring look, and she nodded as she sat back down.

“Yes, I’m sure it will, but the fact that whoever put us in here is sick in the head,” Riah said heatedly, and Roman, Ashta, and Ray looked at her with care.

“My kids, my husband, our families that we have lost. Who in their sick mind would bring the dead back to life? That’s why they have no life in them, and they walk around like robots. They are dead,” Riah sobbed.

Ray pulled her into his arms.

“Riah, I know this is hard. In fact, it’s hard on all of us, but we have to hold it together until we find our way out of this place and find this sick-o,” said Ashta softly, as she reached out and touched Riah’s arm.

Riah nodded, and Ashta looked at Roman. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Ashta got up from the bed and walked over to it. She opened the door, and then she gasped as she saw Yinlin standing there with a serious look on his face.

“Yinlin!” she exclaimed, and he looked at her with his dead eyes.

“Lashanna just called, and she said that you ditched her at the party,” he said sternly, and Ashta looked at him with a confused look on her face.

“What?”

“You need to call her and talk to her. Apologize for leaving her there.”

“I didn’t ditch her. She ditched me for her date she brought with her,” said Ashta heatedly, and Yinlin looked at Roman, Riah, and Ray.

“Ashta, who are these people?”

Confused, Ashta looked back at her friends, and then she looked back at the dead-eyed older man.

“We had this conversation when I came home a few hours ago,” she said, and the old man just looked at her.

Heavily, Ashta sighed.

“These are my friends, and they are going to be staying with us,” she explained again, and Yinlin smiled an eerie smile as his head twitched.

“Well, I guess I had better get some shut-eye. I want to make something really special for breakfast tomorrow,” he said, and she looked at him in question.

“Goodnight,” he said, and then he walked away.

Ashta shook her head in disbelief, and she shut her bedroom door. She sighed as she walked back over to the bed and sat down.

“So, a special bacon and egg breakfast. I can’t wait,” teased Roman, and Riah and Ray made a gagging face.

Ashta snickered, and then she looked at her friends thoughtfully.

“We could always go out to the garden. I haven’t eaten bacon and eggs in weeks,” said Ashta, and Roman, Riah, and Ray looked at each other.

“What? What is it?” Ashta asked as she looked at them.

“You said garden. I have one back at my house too, and to tell you the truth. I haven’t been eating that stuff either,” said Riah.

Roman and Ray made a face.

“Me either. I have a garden as well, and I think the earth element helped out a lot,” said Roman, and Ray looked at the three of them with wide eyes.

“What have you guys been eating then?” he asked, and Riah looked at him oddly.

“Have you just been eating the eggs and bacon the whole time you have been here?” she asked, shocked, and Ray tried to keep a straight face, but he lost control and smirked.

“No,” he laughed, and Riah smacked him on the arm.

“Jerk,” she said, and then she, Roman, and Ashta snickered.

“Now, we know that the elements are with us to help us if we need them, but we really need to focus on how to get out of here,” Ashta said, and Roman put his palm on her cheek.

He searched her eyes for a moment, and then he smiled.

“We will figure it out, as long as we stick together. We always do,” said Roman softly, and she rested her forehead against his.

“I hope that you are right,” she breathed, and he rubbed his thumb across her cheek.

“Well, step one is done. We found each other. Now, we just have to figure out step two,” said Ray, and Riah nodded.

“Maybe you will remember what you can’t think of when we get some rest. It has been a very eventful day,” said Riah.

“Yeah, maybe,” said Ashta, and she looked at her huge bed.

“Okay, I think we can all fit on here comfortably,” she said, and Riah smiled at her.

“What about the other bedroom? We passed two bedrooms on the way to your room when we walked down the hallway,” said Riah, and Ashta looked at her.

“There is Yinlin’s room, and the room is his study,” she said.

Before anyone could say a word, another knock was at the bedroom door. Heavily, Ashta sighed as she got up from the bed and answered it. Again, Yinlin stood there standing at her door, staring at her with his dead eyes, and he had a serious look on his face.

“Yinlin.”

“Listen. Lashanna just called and said you ditched her at the party this evening,” he said sternly, and Ashta looked at him with a confused look on his face.

“What?”

“You need to call her and talk to her. Apologize to her,” he said, and Ashta stared at him with wide eyes.

Didn’t they just have this conversation? she wondered as she stared at the man.

Even Roman, Riah, and Ray looked at him oddly. At that moment, Yinlin looked at the three of them in the room, and then he looked back at Ashta.

“Ashta, who are these people?”

Confused, Ashta looked at Roman, Riah, and Ray, and she looked back at the dead-eyed man.

“We have had this conversation twice now. They are my friends, and they are going to be staying with us for a while,” she said, annoyed, and Yinlin smiled his eerie smile.

“Well, then, I had better get off to bed. I want to make an extra special breakfast for everyone in the morning. Goodnight,” he said, and then he walked away as he had done before.

Irritated, Ashta shook her head and closed the door. Things were getting weirder and weirder, and Ashta looked back at her friends. Noticeably, Riah had a s**t-eating grin, and Ashta gave her a solid look.

“Don’t even say it,” she growled under her breath and sat back down next to Roman.

Cleverly, Riah looked at Ray and snickered.

“Bacon and eggs,” she said, and Ashta threw a pillow at her.

Riah laughed as she caught the pillow, throwing it back at her. Again, another knock was at the door, and Ashta gave everyone an irritated look as she got up from the bed.

“Yes, Yinlin,” she said as she opened the door, and to her surprise, Lashanna was standing on the other side.

“Lashanna!” Ashta exclaimed, and Lashanna gave her a dead-eye stare.

“I had a lot of fun at the party this evening,” she said, and Ashta looked at her like she was crazy and nodded her head.

Wait! Didn’t she call and say that I ditched her at the party? She thought, and then she decided to just play along with it.

“Yeah, me, too,” she said quickly.

“Hope you and that guy you brought home have lots of fun. Remember, don’t sleep with him on the first date,” she said, as she smiled an eerie smile, and Ashta only nodded.

“Well, can’t wait to see you at work tomorrow and hear all about it,” she said, and then she walked away.

Ashta blinked a couple of times as she shut the door, and then she looked back at Riah and Ray.

“Are you sure you want to go sleep in the study and not stay here with Roman and me?” she asked.

Riah and Ray looked at each other nervously, and then Riah looked at Ashta.

“On second thought, maybe staying in here isn’t such a bad idea,” she said, and Ray nodded.

“Alright. Let’s get situated for the night,” said Roman, and they all nodded.