Worlds Apart

Chapter 1: Lonely

Day 1
Thursday
12/21/2017
Liu sat quietly in his old log cabin, rocking back and forth in his rocking chair, holding a delicate unfinished book in one of his hands and a warm cup of herbal tea in the other. He gazed out the frosted window, his saturated green eyes darting all over the snowy environment of the woods.

It was always cold in the winter. The sky would powder snow all winter long, and the lakes would be frozen over until March. But Liu had never remembered it getting this bad. It didn't help that his cabin was practically falling to bits. Snowstorms had been tormenting the woods for weeks now, and Liu felt even lonelier in his solitary home. Even Sully barely spoke a word to him. All he could do was think, which had become a bit of a dangerous pastime. What makes it worse is that today was his 21st birthday, and he had to spend it stuck inside, overthinking.

He sighed, wriggling out of the blanket he had wrapped around his lanky body and setting down the book and mug. He made his way over to his bed, bending over and pulling out an old mahogany chest. He couldn't remember the last time he had touched it. It must've been years at this point. He had always reminded himself to keep the past in the past, as resurfacing old memories just made things worse. After a brief moment of hesitation, he used the key around his neck to unlock the chest, slowly lifting up the heavy wooden lid. Each item had been intricately placed, coated in dust like ancient artifacts. He bit his lip, tracing his fingers over the objects. A photo album, an old camera, a couple CDs Jeff had bought for him on his last birthday with his family, the rosary he had used in self-defense that night, an old drawing of his family from kindergarten. He ignored the burning of tears in his eyes as he pulled out the album, flipping through the pages. Countless memories came flooding back. Chasing the ice cream truck, volunteering, dressing up for halloween, winning the science fair, acting in the school plays. No matter what it was, he and Jeff did everything together. Liu took a deep, shaky breath. He stopped flipping as a page near the end cut his finger. "Fuck, a papercut." He grabbed his finger, letting the book fall open on the page that had hurt him. It showed him and Jeff outside the new house, each carrying boxes in their hands. His eyes drifted down to the caption. 'Moving Day!' He felt his stomach flip, heart skipping a beat. The day that changed everything. How could he forget? He simply slammed the book shut, putting it back in the chest.

He took out the rosary. The one that had failed to strangle Jeff during his attack. The one his mother had given him as a desperate attempt to turn Liu towards faith as a child. The one he had to fix. He fingered the details on it, lifting it over his head and wearing it. Suddenly, an idea came to him. He furrowed his eyebrows, deep in thought. Without thinking, he rushed to his bedside table, grabbing a map of the woods from it. The paper was aged and fragile, but it was still somewhat readable. Liu took his compass, putting it in his coat pocket.

"So you finally wanna go looking for him, eh?"

Sully's voice echoed through Liu's skull, after days of staying silent. Liu rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, don't get your hopes up." Liu responded out loud, scanning the map.

"Oh, please. I just wanna help. You saw the newspaper, he can't be far. The bloodied, frozen bodies of two children were found by the lake just the other day. Missing guts. Glasgow smile..."

Liu bit his lip. "How exactly does this help us? Are you suggesting we lure him close? He'd just try to kill us again. He'd probably do it either way, this is a bad idea." Liu mumbled back. He started folding the map back up, as Sully begged in protest.

"You have a glock. That's an advantage over Jeff's knife. At least wander around the woods for a while. And do it during the night. Jeff's nocturnal, if the reporters are right."

Liu rubbed his temples, fighting the headache Sully's bantering was bringing him. He was hesitant to the idea, yes, but it was about time. Plus, Sully would just front and do it himself if Liu didn't agree. "...Fine. But if you get us killed, I'm gonna kill you."

Sully chuckled. "Atta boy."