Spending time with Jordan and his mom was the most refreshing and energizing thing I had experiences in these recent times.
We sat in the living room all morning and talked about insignificant things really. Memories from our childhood, birthdays, playdates and even some of the most embarrassing things that Jordan and I had ever done before.
Of course, we avoided any serious talk and rarely got into the topic of the apocalypse or our abilities and honestly, I was thankful for that.
It made me feel like things were fine. Like I was normal once again, in a normal world. That didn't mean that everything that had ever happened in the past three weeks was forgotten. No, far from it actually, it felt more like taking a break from a serious job or a tough school project.
…
"Hey you done with the onions bro?" Jordan asked from a few feet away. He was working on the stove and steering its contents.
I turned to look at him. Tears pouring down the corners of my eyes. I may have evolved and leveled up but these onions…
'They're just diabolical' I thought.
Jordan laughed at my plight before his mother pushed him away from the pot.
"Get away from my stew before you ruin a perfectly good meal" she shooed him.
"Ma!" he protested but his mother was having none of that.
"Nah uh young man you are going to help your friend with the tomatoes and vegetables" she said her voice brimming with the mysterious power of a mom.
"What!? Why do I have to do both of them?" Jordan complained but still made his way to the table to stand beside me.
"Look at him. Poor Huey is already having enough trouble with the onions as it is"
Jordan just groaned in frustration but his hands got to work either way.
After half an hour of preparations, in which we did as the woman asked as she ordered us around the kitchen like a sorceress does to her minions, we sat down at the table and shared a quiet peaceful meal. After eating, Jordan and I got to cleaning the dishes.
Overall, the atmosphere was peaceful.
That is until Jordan's mom said
"I want to meet you friends"
I was drinking water at this point and almost had to spit it out but I managed to hold it in.
"What…mom why would you want to do that?" Jordan asked. Exactly my question.
"Well…you boys said it yourself right? You wouldn't have made it this far without their help so I wanted to thank them for taking such good care of you" Jordan's mom had a graceful smile on her face as she said this.
I exchanged glances with Jordan. Secretly communicating with our eyes. I honestly didn't see any problems with that so we had no choice but to relent. After that we had to leave.
Saying our goodbyes we made our way out the front door with his mother following us closely from be hind. It was almost as though she didn't want us to go anywhere at all which honestly gave me a warm feeling in my heart.
And when it was finally time to go she gave us all the last bits of advice she could give.
"Don't forget to wash up daily…oh and don't go getting promiscuous now and also…"
"Okay mom we get it" Jordan said both slightly irritated but mostly embarrassed while I bit my lips as hard as I could to avoid laughing which I was failing miserably by the way.
It was almost as though we were going to disappear for months or something.
…
We returned to the house later that evening. The sun was down. The air was getting cooler.
"You go on ahead I'll catch up" I said when we got near the house.
"You sneaking off again?" he gave me a suspicious look
"No not tonight" I said with a small smile at the corner of my mouth.
His suspicious gaze lingered for a moment before he finally turned away. "Don't take too long"
"I won't don't worry" I reassured him
He went ahead. I turned to the girls house next door. Walked up to its front door and knocked. I waited and was started getting slightly nervous too.
'It feels like I'm sneaking to the girl's hostel in college or something' I thought remembering the stories mom used to tell me about her college days. Though she never mentioned who she had been doing that with, I had a feeling that it was one of her experiences with my father.
…that cowardly bastard.
The door opened and Lydia stood in the open doorway. Her dark hair was loose and somewhat damp, she wore torn jeans, a black shirt with a rock band logo and finished the outfit with a black leather jacket.
She looked quite rebellious and badass. It was my first time seeing her like this and it left me stunned. Almost as though my brain was fried for a moment. I just stood there for a second, probably looking like an idiot.
However, Lydia's voice seemed to work like magic as it snapped me out of it. It sounded soft and melodious. I coughed and averted my gaze in embarrassment.
"Hm…yeah hi…how was your day?" I said with an awkward laugh
"It was great really. I actually managed to raise the proficiency of my skill. And even though the process was slightly boring it was refreshing in a way" her face became animated as she shared her experiences.
Seeing her like this put a smile on my face and I couldn't help but think that she had gotten somehow prettier.
I too shared how my day was.
"Oh Jordan found his mom! That's great"
I could tell that she meant what she said and I felt what I could only describe as butterflies in stomach. The kind that would make you do something stupid.
We just stood there in the doorway and chatted lightly. It was after more than twenty minutes that I managed to remember what I actually came for.
"Oh right by the way I would like everyone to meet back at our place tomorrow morning with the forms too" I said
"Alright I let them know" she replied
"Thanks I think that's all" I said somewhat reluctantly. I didn't really want to leave like this. I could feel my heart pounding rapidly through my ribcage. "…uh…goodnight Ly"
The words came out unconsciously
Lydia blinked for a moment before a rosy red colored her cheeks for a moment.
"Yeah goodnight Huey" she said with a somewhat shy smile on her face.
I gave her one last smile before I turned and stepped away from the door. I walked for a few more feet before I stopped and turned back around.
She was still standing in the door looking my way. I waved her goodbye. She waved back before I turned forward and headed in the direction of our house.
I heard Lydia close the door behind me.
I could still feel my heart beating in my chest.
I returned to our house.
The front door opened up to the interior of the house. Everything just felt warmer and nicer for some reason.
I sighed in relief as the warm air in the building washed away the cold I felt. The living room was bustling with activity as Mordecai and Dulton shared their experiences for the day with Nale whose face was lit up with enthusiasm.
I caught a whiff of something in the air. It smelled good and delicious. It was coming from the kitchen.
My legs carried me before I could even stop them and in what felt like seconds I was in the kitchen.
And what I was seeing just blew my mind.
It was fairly large kitchen with a kitchen island, a stove, sink. It was pretty basic kitchen actually. What really blew my mind was the fact that the man working the stove like Gordon Ramsey was actually Conrad.
I also noticed Jordan standing by the kitchen island with a his mouth agape. He turned to look at me
"Hey bro you seeing what I'm seeing?" he said
"Uh huh" I nodded absentmindedly. This was a shocker to say the least a shocker indeed.
The first time I had met Conrad my impression of him had been 'he's kind of rude' and the guy at that time didn't even seem to like me that much for some reason.
"He's a better cook than you bro" I said
"Hey! What do you mean he's a better cook"
"It is what it is man" I shrugged. "It seems you have no talent for the kitchen"
Jordan's face turned black. He looked at me with an intense gaze. That was my que to run.
And so I ran with an angry Jordan hot on my tail.
…
The rest of the night went by without any further drama. We had dinner prepared by Conrad and I have to admit it was pretty good. Mordecai and Dulton told me about their day with the hunting team and for a moment my heart stopped when they mentioned the Woodlands Forest.
'I need to inform the mayor first thing in the tomorrow morning because if I don't…' I shivered from the thought. '…things could end up badly for everyone'
They both managed to level up once meaning Dulton was now at level 7 while Mordecai was level 6. It wasn't much but I planned to do something about their levels soon. In fact, I planned to help all of them level up, I was stuck in a dilemma.
The best place to level up was definitely the Woodlands Forest. And even though that was true, it was also the most dangerous place especially with that unknown entity lurking within it.
After dinner we all decided to hit the hay. I released a breath when I made it all the way to my room and laid down on the bed.
It took me sometime but I was finally able to surrender myself to the land of dreams.