The Ancient Ones

Chapter 4: Reyn

     I cackled with my forehead planted on the table. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. I hadn't the faintest idea what was going on around me, all I knew was it was funny as hell. How many bottles had we finished? 2? 3? Who the hell was even keeping count? Everything seemed funny to me now. The world was spinning as if my body was moving around in circles. I felt as if I was sliding across the table that I was pathetically trying to cling too, though I couldn't seem to grasp its surface.

     Komos was red faced trying to hide his laughter behind his hand, while holding a glass with liquid spilling over the rim. There were cups scattered across the table, tipped over, some with liquid still inside them.

     Kaera had fallen off the chair she had been sitting on, and now laid on the floor on her back with her legs still on the seat. She was laughing so hard her face was turning purple, though there was no end in sight to her laughter. She was gripping her sides as tears were spilling down the sides of her face into her disheveled hair that lay on the dirty cafeteria floor. I was sure she was going to choke on her own laughter with how hard she was laughing.  

     We all sat there laughing up a storm until it hurt to breathe, and even then, we continued. Only when we all stopped laughing were we actually able to breathe. "I needed this." I finally said breaking the silence that had started to grow between us all. "I don't think I would have lasted too much longer without something like this." 

     Komos gently swirled the liquid around in his plastic cup. He didn't seem interested in trying to drink it. Had he even finished a glass? I wasn't even sure anymore. "I know you did." He stated simply. "You have been running yourself ragged ever since-" There was a heavy silence that seemed to weigh in the air between us all.

     A darkened cloud loomed over my head as I kept it pressed to the cool table surface. I swallowed hard as I knew what he was about to say. "Before he left." Everything between us seemed to change in a single instant. No one wanted to say anything. No one moved, or even dared to breathe. If a pin had dropped across the cafeteria, we would have heard it so loud, the sound itself would have reverberated off the walls and rung in our ears, deafening us.

     Komos sighed, breaking the silence finally. "Listen Rainy, I didn't mean-"

     "No, it's okay." My tone was sad as I thought about all the sleepless nights that I spent crying trying to keep everything together. "I don't know why he left, but I know it was my fault."

     "Don't give us that crap." Keara, who was usually so chipper and overly full of energy, picked herself up off the floor and stared at me with judgmental eyes. "Rorak left, that has nothing to do with you. You didn't fight, he just left. He didn't tell anyone anything, so that's not on you. Don't you dare blame yourself for his actions."

     Komos and I stared at her, absolutely stunned. We had seen her angry before, after all, the last time she was angry, she and Komos had ended up destroying a base in the amazons. It was just so rare to see her mad, so when she was, we kind of forget she's capable of it. After a moment of stunned silence, Komos and I looked at each other. "You know she's right."

     "Yeah I know, but still. It's hard to think it was not my fault when its been six months. This group was his life's work before I came along. He loved you all. You guys were family. Then one reckless night, we got super hot and heavy and boom, accidental turn, then he's gone."

     Kaera shrugged "the way i see it, you got us in the divorce. If we truly meant anything to him, he wouldn't have left. Not like that."

     I sighed in frustration as I sat up straight, then running my fingers through my hair, pushing it back out of my face. "He convinced me to keep the baby. He convinced me he would be here for it. Why did I expect anything different when he wasn't there for Temptress?"