AllFreeNovel
Share Us
What exactly was happening here?
This mother and son pairing wasn’t at all normal. There was something between the two of them that went far further than just her. In fact, she felt like she was completely incidental to whatever weirdness was going on here.
But it also wasn’t her problem.
Creepy lady could take her smelly son and both of them could walk.
And Sandy would be registering this concern with True Match the moment she got back. Clearly, this soulmate stuff was quackery of the most severe kind.
Loud thudding in the hallway outside broke her out of her reverie. She blinked, focusing back on reality, then onto the door, as she waited.
Wherever this room was, it was clearly not a highly trafficked area, because she never heard anyone moving around outside. What was going on now?
She got her answer when the door beeped as it unlocked and slid open.
Sandy didn’t move as Rane was thrown inside. Literally. Again.
It was only the second time she had met him, and it was the second time the creepy ratchi duo were manhandling him like a sack of trash.
He looked better today, at least. His feathers were darker and waterlogged, but he was fully dressed and didn’t smell like the dumpster behind a winery.
As she watched, he quickly recovered, moving with surprising grace as he rolled with the fall and came up on his feet. He ran to the door before it could close, grabbing the two panels and grunting as he tried to keep them apart. The door beeped, obviously angry at being interrupted, as the panels opened again.
Rane opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Blue drew his fist back and slammed it – CRACK! – across his jaw.
Rane flew into the room, hitting the ground with a grunt of pain.
This time, he wasn’t fast enough to get up and back to the door. He could only pound against them, roaring his frustration, after they had already closed and locked. He punched the hard metal with surprising strength – and durability, considering he didn’t break his hands. If nothing else, it confirmed to her that brute strength wouldn’t be enough to get them open.
However, he only kept up the protest a short time before dropping his head against it, fists shaking, accepting his defeat.
Sandy hadn’t moved. She remained perched in her chair as she watched Rane get up the courage to finally turn around. It was a slow process, but it wasn’t like she had anything better to do, so she just waited.
Watching.
Learning.
Patient.
Rane finally dropped his arms and turned to her. Blood dripped from his broken, already swollen lip. It looked painful, but he didn’t pay it any mind as it stained his creamy white shirt. His crest was flat to his head. His shoulders were slumped.
And there it was again. That defeated look in his eyes.
But just like before, he banished it quickly as he smirked at her.
“Still here, ugly little human?” He asked with a sneer.
Sandy said nothing. She just blinked at him. Watching him carefully now. Trying to figure out this guy that clearly wanted nothing to do with her. To the point he was willing to take a punch to the face to avoid being in the same room with her.
Now, Sandy wouldn’t call herself the most socially knowledgeable person on Earth – or Levtiram, as it were – but even she could tell that wasn’t normal. His urge to get away from her was for more than just general disgust or displeasure.
Something was definitely going on here, and she remained unmoved, watching this guy as she waited to see what he would reveal to her in the aching silence.
It took only a few seconds before he couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Well?” He smirked. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
Sandy said nothing, observing his body language. She didn’t just watch daytime talk shows and game shows. She and her grandmother also enjoyed soap operas. She devoured the slow-paced drama like a starving man lapping at the slow trickle of sap from a maple tree. Ravenous and eager and unapologetic. It taught her a great deal about reading small changes in body language and the inherent story telling involved in subtly.
