A Silent Soul- Chapter 3
#3 of A Silent Soul
Chapter 3!! :D
Hey you furs! ElijahHusky back for another chapter here! Today we'll see how Elijah is coping with the loss of his mother, and we'll meet one of his best friends who has come in his time of need. It seems that Elijah also has someone watching over him while he sleeps to protect him from bad nightmares, who could this person be? You'll just have to read to find out! See you at the bottom of the page! :D
P.O.V. Change: Elijah
My restless sleep was disturbed by the ringing of the doorbell. I flattened my ears and did my best to ignore it, but after the fifth ring I sighed loudly and threw the covers off me. The time read 10:30 a.m. on the now shattered screen of my phone. Not the time I wanted to be dealing with people, let alone after last night.
I stomped out of my room through the house to my front door. Not bothering to look through the peephole, I swung the door open, the sun blinding me momentarily. I rubbed the remaining tears from my eyes before addressing the visitor.
"Now is not a good-" I was cut off by a force slamming into me and wrapping it's arms around me. I struggled momentarily against the grip but upon acquiring the scent of the assailant I relaxed. Rachel. Returning the hug I inhaled gently, much enjoying the company of a friend.
Rachel was a beautiful red fox that could give any boy a nosebleed within seconds. She simply happened to be one of my best friends from high school. Now I know I said earlier that I was the only one that knew I was gay... Rachel is an exception.
I had to break the news to her when she decided to ask me out senior year. She was shocked as first, but she was extremely excited to have a gay friend to admire the cute boys in the hallway with. Rachel was always more of a big sister to me than a friend, but I never let it bother me. She almost reluctantly pulled away, looking me in the eyes.
"I heard about what happened last night. I'm so sorry." Remembering the events of last night, I felt the tears well up in my eyes once again. She led me inside and we sat down on the couch where I promptly buried my tearstained muzzle into her shoulder and just cried. She comforted me the entire time, giving reassuring words and pats. She stroked my back lightly, which seemed to work for the most part.
Once I was reduced to shudders and sniffles, she tilted my head up to look her in the eyes once again. "My parents offered to let you stay over at my place for a few days until you get everything situated with your living arrangements. You obviously can't stay here and I won't let you go out on the streets."
I pondered the idea for a minute, then nodded my head lightly. "Yeah... I'd like that a lot. Thank you so much." She nodded her head. "I'll head back and let them know. Grab anything you want to bring with you, I'll be back in about 10 minutes."
She gave my hand a light squeeze before turning to head to the door. She seemed to notice my slight hesitation as she turned back towards me. "Do you want me to stay and help you get everything?" She asked gently. I nodded my head in response. Smiling warmly, she helped me up off the couch and led me to my bedroom.
She began grabbing various items while I filled my duffel bag with clothes. I didn't really pay attention to what I grabbed, too consumed in emotion to care. A few minutes later we emerged from the bedroom with everything I wanted to take with me. As we walked towards the door, I told her to wait momentarily.
I ran towards my mother's bedroom to grab one last thing. Upon opening the door however, I fell to my knees as her scent washed over me. Recovering swiftly, I found her jewelry box inside the drawer of her nightstand. Opening it, I retrieved the silver cross that she wore when she went out. She always told me that it protected her when she was wearing it. Unfortunately the one time she didn't wear it was when she seemingly needed it the most.
Unhooking the chain, I wrapped it around my neck, reattaching it once I found it to be a comfortable fit. Reemerging from her bedroom, I shut the door slowly behind me before joining Rachel once again at the door. "Ready?" she asked. I nodded and we proceeded out the front door. Locking the door behind me, we started down the road.
Her house wasn't too far, but it was no short distance. We walked in silence for the first few minutes before she disturbed the silence. I jumped slightly as she spoke, "Ready to start classes on Monday? Today's Thursday you know."
I looked up in shock, completely forgetting as a result of last night's events. She seemed to notice my panicked state as she quickly attempted to calm me down. "Hey, hey it's okay. You have time still. My parents and I can help you move in whenever you're ready." How could I have forgotten? I have to move in before Sunday! I don't even know who my roommate is yet.
I sighed before responding, "How am I supposed to concentrate in class after this? There's no way!" In my grief I failed to realize that college started in just less than a week and I haven't even started preparing. I shook my head dejectedly.
"I think you'll do great. Just need to get your feet back under you is all." Rachel responded before stopping abruptly. I didn't notice with my head down. "Hey where are you going you goof!" I turned sharply to see my friend standing in front of her house, hands on hips. I blushed madly as I rejoined her. "Sorry." I said quietly.
Her expression softened before responding. "Hey. It's okay, don't be upset." She wrapped me in another hug as I simply enjoyed the contact. We broke apart and proceeded up the stairs to her front door. I opened the door for her letting her in first. "Such a gentleman." She winked walking through the door. I blushed once again before following her inside, taking in the surroundings.
Her parents must have heard us come in, as they both emerged from the kitchen to greet us. I knew them pretty well, as both of our families frequently went out to dinner with each other. Her mother, a red fox just like Rachel, slowly approached us upon seeing me. "You look so much like her..." She commented before wrapping me in another hug just as Rachel had.
Knowing the hug was just as much for her as it was for me, I stayed put for a few moments before releasing from the hug. Her father approached after Rachel's mom withdrew, and we shook hands.
"Thank you for letting me stay, you don't understand how much it means to me." I stated before taking my hand back. He smiled warmly, "We know how much it would mean to your mother, it's the least we can do."
We all stood in awkward silence before Rachel's father broke the tension. "Rachel, why don't you show Elijah where he'll be staying?" She nodded quickly before grabbing my hand and leading me down the hallway.
Three rooms resided at the end of the hallway. "The bathroom is straight ahead, the room on the left is my room, and you'll be on the right. I'm right across the hall if you need anything." I nodded slowly before dragging my belongings in the room. Sitting on the edge of the bed I pondered the events in the upcoming days.
Classes start on Monday, and I have to move in before Sunday. Should be enough time to recover... good think I finished that report yesterday. Maybe this won't be so bad... I smiled inwardly before inspecting my now shattered iPhone. What am I supposed to do about this? It's practically unusable.
"We can head to the mall to get that fixed tomorrow if you want." I looked up to see Rachel standing in the doorway. "But I don't have the money for-" She cut me off before I could finish. "Don't worry about it, I've got some money put away for a rainy day." I shook my head. "I can't let you do that, you've done plenty already. I wouldn't be able to repay you." I stated. "Just let me do this please? You'll need it for college anyways."
Unable to pass up the offer, I sighed before accepting. "Okay but now I owe you, and the debt shall be paid whether you like it or not." She smiled at the response before leaving the room once again.
I laid back onto the surprisingly comfortable bed, feeling my eyelids growing heavy. A nap wouldn't hurt I guess, not like I got any sleep last night anyways. Rolling over on my side I drifted into a restless slumber.
P.O.V. Change: Rachel
I smiled as I watched Elijah roll to his side and drift to sleep. Poor thing probably was up all night. The light snoring jostled me from my thoughts as I looked back towards him. Well that was quick. Laughing lightly I closed the door quietly before joining my parents at the kitchen table. I had a bit of explaining to do.
"You told him we'd do what?!" my father asked agitatedly. "I may have told him that we'd help him move in Sunday..." I laughed nervously, scratching the back of my head.
I watched his tail thrash about behind him, obviously irritated. "I know I said we'd take him in for a couple days, but I never agreed to that!" he stated. My mother spoke before I could however.
"Richard! That boy just lost his mother, he is in no shape to be moving into college without any help. If you don't want to go fine, but I'm going to help!" Smiling at my mother's response, I quickly backed her up. "I have to move in the same day anyways, so I don't see why it's that big of a deal." I commented.
My father sighed before answering. "Fine, we'll help the boy. Sunday you said? I'll miss the football game though!" he grumbled. My mother and I shared a laugh before we all left the table and went back to what we were doing before.
I went to my bedroom to do a bit of studying, but not before taking another peek at husky-boy in the other room_._ His nose and tail twitched slightly as he snored lightly. He's so cute when he sleeps. I retreated to my bedroom before pulling out my math textbook for a bit of study time.
P.O.V. Change: Elijah
Walking through the grocery store with my mom, I stopped momentarily to grab a loaf a bread and dropping it in the cart. "What else do we need?" I turned asking my mom. That was when I noticed she was nowhere in sight.
"Mom? Mom?! Where'd you go?! MOM?!" I began to panic as I looked all around me. Other customers gave me odd looks as I spun around trying to spot my mother.
Elijah... I whirled around to where I thought I heard the voice but there was nothing there. Elijah... Elijah... I sat down on the ground as the voice filled my mind repeatedly. "Stop! Stop it please! Stop!" I shouted as I tucked my tail around me and covered my ears.
"Elijah. Elijah! Elijah!" I gasped as I awoke from my nightmare and sat up quickly. Rachel stood next to the bed staring worriedly. "Elijah? Are you okay? I heard you whimpering from my room so I came over to check on you. You were yelling stop or something." She commented anxiously.
I looked around one last time before responding. "Yeah, just a stupid nightmare. I'm okay now. What time is it?" I asked attempting to change the topic. She frowned, "Almost 6:30, my mom is making dinner right now. Are you sure you're okay?" She asked again.
"I'm fine! I'm fine." I stated, wanting to move on. I felt guilty seeing the hurt look in her eyes, but she accepted the answer. "Dinner's almost ready. You should come join us." She stated sadly before turning to the door.
Sighing, I stopped her. "Wait. Look, I'm sorry for shouting. I'm still a little on edge right now." I apologized quietly. "You don't have to apologize, I was just a little surprised. If you ever need to talk about it, I'm all ears." She smiled gently before leaving the room.
I followed her shortly after she left, and the aroma of chicken alfredo meeting me halfway down the hall. Licking my lips my stomach growled, realizing I hadn't eaten since yesterday.
I sat down next to Rachel at the table as her mother brought plates out. She dropped mine in front of me, a much larger helping than I would have expected. I sent a look her way, and she met my glance with a wink. Her large fox ears must have heard my stomach growling down the hallway.
Not wasting time, I dug into the meal. A few minutes later with a full stomach we all sat around the table chatting. We discussed how moving was going to work on Sunday, my tail wagging madly when I found out that Rachel was staying on campus as well.
With that, we retreated to her bedroom where we talked about random things until we grew tired. Glancing at her small digital alarm clock, I decided it was time for bed as the clock read midnight.
"Aww, but I'm not tired yet!" Rachel whined as I broke the news.
"Sorry, but know that I got no sleep last night so I'm basically a zombie right now." I stated, struggling to keep my eyelids up. "Ugh fine, you can go." She pouted as I stood up.
Feeling brave, I leaned down and pecked her on the cheek, then whispering in her ear, "Thanks for everything, it means a lot to me." Now feeling shy I quickly retreated from her room, but not before shooting a sly grin at her as I left.
I crawled into my temporary bed, sleep already threatening to overtake me. As I closed my eyes, the lightest warmth washed over me, almost like a soft embrace. Smiling slightly, I drifted off into a dreamful sleep.
P.O.V. Change: Rachel
Staring at the retreating form of Elijah, he turned at the last second to offer a sly grin before leaving. Blushing madly, I shook my head, grinning like a fool. My tail wiggled underneath me, feeling tingly inside. He's so sweet I thought.
Turning off my lamp, I changed into my pajamas before crawling under the covers and dozing off, still feeling the ghost of the peck on my cheek. I smiled before I was gone to dreamland.
Aaaaand that's a wrap! A little bit longer chapter than the first two, so you're welcome! Hehe. It looks like Jasper's prayer had it's desired effect, as it looks like Elijah will have a peaceful slumber. I decided to introduce Rachel here because I knew that Elijah was going to need a friend ASAP, and now he's got one. Maybe things will work out! Anyways, that's all from me! Thanks for reading and be sure to drop a comment if you enjoyed! Or not! Your choice. Just know that I love reading your guys' comments, it inspires me to keep writing and usually leads to chapters coming out quicker! (Hint hint nudge nudge) Alright, I'm gone! Cya! :3