Chapter 9: Chapter 9

She could hardly explain that to Cutter, though. Thinking of him brought her back to other events of the day. How did someone so good looking, so charming, end up in Reaper’s Hollow? He was definitely proving to be a distraction for some of the other teachers, but Ru was focused on what Candice had mentioned. They did have some similar qualities. Hair coloring, eyes. Even the fact that they were both taller than average. Not knowing where you came from sometimes made it difficult to think about anyone romantically.

“Not that I need to be doing that,” she also said to the uninterested cat. “Can you imagine? Me with Cutter? Please.” She only received a purr in response. “Maybe he’ll ask Candice out.”

She stroked the cat a few more times before pulling herself up off of the second-hand, sage green sofa she’d found on Craigslist and heading into the kitchen, finally paying attention to her rumbling stomach. Cooking would be hard—she didn’t need to lose an appliance today—so she decided to make a sandwich and eat some leftover potato salad. She’d have to open the fridge, but the pot holders would make that doable.

“After this, I’m taking a nice, long, relaxing bath,” she said, staring down at her kitty. Ru took her plate and headed to the living room, thinking a mindless sitcom might help her to forget about her mother, her past, and the handsome new teacher across the hall. “I’m sure he’s not thinking about me,” she said, tearing off a piece of turkey and feeding it to Piper, who purred in agreement.

Cutter had stayed at work until after Ru left, watching discretely out the window as she made her way to her car. Sadly, she wasn’t the last to leave, and Cutter began to realize he’d had some misconceptions about public school teachers, but then, he’d never gone to public school, so he hadn’t really known what was typical.

Once she was in her car and out of the parking lot, he grabbed his lunchbox and headed out as well. The light had been off in his classroom for more than two hours. He wanted everyone to think he’d gone home. Several people had stopped by that afternoon, after the final meeting of the day, and he was getting tired of pretending to be interested in their lives. They were all nice people, but he wouldn’t be staying there long enough to get to know any of them.

He noticed Ru left the door to her classroom open and the light switch on when she left, though it had extinguished itself now, thanks to the motion detectors installed to help cut back on electricity costs. He wondered why she didn’t like to touch her door or her lights, though he had a sneaking suspicion he already knew the answer.

Rider had sent him several more texts, and he’d even gotten a couple from Lyric, but since he was headed to their location now, he thought it a waste of time to respond. He’d talk to them in person in less than a half hour.

As he climbed into his Dodge Ram, he wondered how it could be possible that the one they’d been searching for all these years could actually have been right under their noses the whole time. Hopefully, someone on the team had come up with an explanation. There had to be some sort of cloaking going on because when Cutter reached out to Ru mentally, it was as if she wasn’t even there. He should at least be able to pick up on her mental vibrations, even if she wasn’t aware enough to let him in.

Once he was out of Reaper’s Hollow, the roads began to wind through the woods, and he started to relax a bit. It was growing dark, but something about being out in the open country made him feel more alive. Not that the little town he’d recently relocated to was congested by any means, but the strain of being around so many people different than him was a bit tiring. He’d always felt more at home with his own kind and was looking forward to discussing what he’d learned with like-minded individuals who would potentially help him come up with a plan for how he should approach Ru. He knew he needed to handle the situation delicately.

The turnoff that led to his destination would be hard for someone with lesser eyesight to see, but he picked it up easily and made a right hand turn onto a gravel road that wound its way back to a clearing on a rolling hill. The house loomed in the distance, set against a backdrop of forest which continued to climb into the sky. They definitely needed to do some repairs on the colossal Colonial, but for now, it would do. Some of his friends had been surprised to see it was still standing.

Cutter pulled his truck in between Ivy’s and Rider’s cars and noticed Lyric’s motorcycle over beneath one of the trees. He took a moment to breathe in the stillness of nature before he climbed from his truck and headed to the house, realizing he’d be bombarded with questions the second his foot stepped on the parquet floor.

The foyer was empty, though, as was the living room. Cutter wandered toward the back of the house and found Lyric plating mounds of spaghetti for the rest of the team. “Hey! Look who’s here, just in time,” she said.

“He’ll always make it home in time to eat,” Rider jabbed.

“You’re one to talk.” Rider Michaels was well-built but had at least thirty pounds on Cutter. He was a bit of a brute.

Ivy Uriahs offered Cutter a plate, and he took it, thanking her. She smiled and fixed the final plate for herself as Cutter made his way to the table in the corner of the kitchen. The house had been renovated in the 1950s, but that meant most of the appliances were over sixty years old when they’d decided to set up basecamp here about a month ago. Cutter and Rider had ordered all new appliances and had the electric and plumbing checked over, but there was still plenty of work that needed to be done if they would be staying there long term.

Lyric Gabriels was digging into her spaghetti next to him as Cutter waited for Rider to pass the parmesan cheese. He tossed it across the table, literally, and Cutter caught it, shaking his head. He always seemed to do things the hard way.

“So, what did you find out?” Ivy asked, sitting at the end of the table between Cutter and Rider. “Do you think it’s her?”

Cutter hadn’t even taken a bite yet and already with the questions. “I’m not sure,” he said before twirling a bite of spaghetti onto his fork and shoveling it into his mouth.