It really had been the longest week he could ever remember. The first few days had perhaps been the worst, as he kept thinking he would be at the shelter when he got there, which of course he wasn’t.
“Say, dad?”
“Yeah?”
“You think you could get me some sushi today?”
Chris looked at his son, at first not quite understanding why he was asking, but after a few seconds, it dawned on him. It had been a week, and from what he remembered River did love sushi.
“Of course, when do you want it?”
“Ehm, afternoon I guess, I figured I’d not leave until after I am done at the shelter.”
He had kept himself busy, always doing something, either school, shelter, modeling or trying to keep himself occupied with gaming, talking to his brother, pestering his parents, anything he could think of really.
It had been a different week for Vy and Hayden too, at first, they had a day where they didn’t talk as Hayden was sick all the time, mostly sleeping, eating and then sleeping some more. Vy using the time to read and think about what he wanted to say to Hayden when he did feel better, keeping Hayle’s advice to talk and not just tell him he was sorry in mind. It ended being a long, sort of awkward but also a good talk between them, and as they both agreed on, where the future would take them none of them knew.
“Going to see him today?”
“Yeah.”
“Nervous”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He looked at his brother who was sitting on the sofa with a few of the new cats they had gotten at the shelter.
“Eh… not sure, like this annoying feeling that won’t leave me.”
“The one you mentioned the other day?”
“Yeah, the one where I just know something is wrong.”
Hayden looked at his brother, wishing he could say something, but Vy had been looking for him in RoM and he hadn’t seen him, nor did any of the teachers have any information. He had seen Simeon, but not dared to walk up to him and ask him.
“Let’s just hope that your wrong and it’s just your nerves speaking.”
“Yeah…”
He nodded as he walked over to the dog side, leaving Hayden alone to get to know the new arrivals while he waited to Vy to come from RoM as they had some extra courses that day.
“You ready to go home, Lobo?”
“Wooof!”
He chuckled, as the big dog jumped up and down and danced around his feet. He had clearly already learned that the word home meant the house where he knew Hayle would pretty much sneak him a tasty treat every day if he was allowed too. Where the old dog was allowed to sleep in every bed, sofa and often with company too. Walking over to the other side, he found Hayden and Vy cuddling cats.
“You two ready to head home?`”
“Yeah.”
“Want me to carry you Hay hay?”
“Hmh… maybe if I get too tired and can’t walk more?”
“Okay!”
Rylan closed the shelter, making sure all the lights were off, which he tended to do when they were there if River’s mom was done for the day. They had spent some extra time there the last days to make sure the newcomers were settling in well, something they all enjoyed, even with some comments about stinkies along the way. Hayden lasted about half the walk home before he found himself in Vy’s arms, Rylan just chuckling, yet also having to admit deep down that he was a bit jealous at him, and it made him miss River even more.
“Here you go.”
He took the bag from his dad, Sushi and of course a little extra wasabi, as he knew River seemed to enjoy that stuff a little extra, and some extra stories on an mp3 player, just in case he got stuck there even longer. Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the portal, with Vy being there all the time it had been some time since he visited as he didn’t really need to go fetch books anymore. As he stepped through he was reminded just how pretty it was, but he quickly focused on what he was there for, and the first step was finding Simeon.
“Rylan right?”
“Yes, I was hoping to see River?”
“River left RoM after just a couple of days, we fixed his magic, and he said had nothing waiting for him and wanted to start a new life.”
Rylan just stared dumbfounded at the man, a slight panic feeling in his chest, quickly replaced by anger and disbelief.
“You are lying, why?”
“Why would I bother to lie?”
“How the hell should I know, but I know you are. He would not do that, ever.”
He noticed Simeon lift an eyebrow, which told him all he needed to know, he was lying, he was even more sure of it now.
“I’m sorry but I can’t help you.”
Rylan stared at him, oddly finding himself believing that more than the first answer, could it be that it was part of River’s punishment? Feeling how his heart sank, he looked at the man, holding back the wish to scream and put the man on fire.
“Fine, can you please just give this to him then, if you can.”
He didn’t answer, but he did take the sushi and the mp3 player from him, Rylan walking away, stopping by any place he could think they would keep him, even managing to talk his way into several locked parts of the basement, but no River. No one had seen him, no one knew where he was, no one could tell him anything, or they weren’t allowed too, it was just too hard to tell. He did notice someone giving him a look, and he knew he would be back soon to look for him more. There was just one person he had to ask a certain question first.