I picked up on a rattling sound. At first, I had no idea what the sound was. I had, foolishly, completely ruled out the source as a possibility. The next sound reached my brain through my ears before I even realized the danger I was in.
“What’re you doing out here?”
The psychological shock was so great my butt almost flew right off the seat. I reflexively looked to the source of the voice, not considering hiding Chika. Curiously, though I had permitted someone to invade in this space so easily while I was not paying attention, now that my focus was drawn, my nerves were so sharp it was like everything was moving in slow motion. Before I even saw who had opened the door and spoken to me, I ran through all the possibilities of who it might be.
As I saw the intruder’s face, lost for words, they peevishly started speaking, half to themself, with a muttered “Are you serious…?”
“It felt wrong, but Mom was getting worried about how late you’ve been coming home lately, so I followed you. When I saw you go in here and not come out for a while, I thought you were doing some kinda weird drugs or something. Guess that’s not it. That’s good.”
My brother—resident mama’s boy—looked a bit bashful, perhaps caught between apology and relief that his younger brother wasn’t doing something strange in a place like this.
I started off with an “I swear” as well, proof that we really were brothers. Not that I would ever admit that, even with my dying breath. This was not a rejection of my brother so much an objection to the idea that DNA could really influence that many parts of our lives.
“I was just resting.”
That was the best I could come up with after cycling all the way through my brain. I tried to act normal, not letting a fraction of how I was really feeling slip to my brother. All the while, I desperately pleaded for him not to notice Chika’s eyes and nails. And for Chika not to say a word.
My brother was nothing like me. If he saw Chika, he would immediately peg her presence as something occult and run away, warning me never to come here again. Then, he’d probably start spreading the word around town, which would be a nuisance more than anything. All I could do was wait and hope that he would leave without anything happening.
“I usually take a break here or in the park a little farther down.”
“Still, what are you even doing running in a place as dark as this? I thought you might’ve been meeting up with someone dangerous or something.”
I was meeting up with someone. He just hadn’t noticed.
“I come out here to think, so I prefer places without other folks around. Plus, I’ve apparently got my family following me around, so if I was doing something bad, I’d be caught right away.”
“I see. That’s true.”
I did not let my eyes so much as flicker in Chika’s direction—I didn’t want to do anything that would lead him to notice her, no matter how unlikely that was. Thankfully, she caught on to my not addressing her and remained silent. The sudden visitor had probably put her on guard. I was sure she was capable of that kind of deduction.
“Anyway, it’s getting late. Let’s go home.”
I pretended to think for a few moments and then shook my head.
“No, I’ll head back in a little bit. If we come home together, it’ll look like I just tricked you or something, won’t it? Just head back and tell Mom I’m all right.”
There was no actual logic behind that reasoning, but my brother just nodded with a “Right, gotcha,” followed by “Don’t stay out too late. Try not to get caught,” before he left the bus shelter. I was thankful that he was not as prudent a person as Chika.
I didn’t say anything right away in case my brother came back, instead closing my eyes and steeling myself. For a moment I nearly disparaged him, but it was my fault for not being prepared for something like this. I should have kept my guard up.
When, after some time, my brother showed no signs of returning, I stood up and shut the open door. Then, I finally turned back to face Chika.
However.
I saw not a single mote of light before me.
“Chika.”
No reply.
“Chika, are you there?”
There were no lights anywhere.
In an instant, I considered three possibilities. The best was that she had, in a moment of quick thinking, shut her eyes and hid her nails with the other parts of her body. However, she wasn’t responding. The next best possibility that occurred to me was that the siren had gone off while I was talking to my brother. If she had managed to slip out of her seat without me even noticing, then surely my brother would not have noticed either—and while it was unfortunate that we would not get to talk any more that day, I would just have to wait for our next opportunity.
The worst possibility, however, stuck in my brain.
Could someone else invading this space have severed the connection between this shelter and Chika’s bunker? If the conditions that governed the connection between this world and hers involved this shelter, Chika’s safe house, and the two of us, could an intruder—a stranger to this situation—have disrupted that overlap?
“Chika…?”
I knew that she was probably already gone. Still, I called that name.
Obviously, there was no reply.
It was impossible to know which of those possibilities was correct. It might not have even been any of them. Regardless of the reason, if it turned out we were never able to meet again because of something like this…
Just the thought of it made my vision start to darken.
I still had no idea what connected us. Maybe there was nothing to begin with.
Useless as I was, before I left, I offered a prayer. That was all that I could do.
Even though I had accomplished nothing.