The Clock's Chain

[ VI ]

The Clock's Chain
Chapter 6

"Aaron?" exclaimed Ray Norringthon; utterly shocked by the most familiar figure he ever known. "Aaron? Is that really you?"

Neither Ray nor Robbert could believe in their own pair of eyes. Like, is this some kind of joke? Or is it just a wild hallucination which happened out of nothing? The good thing is, they still have their sane not to accuse him for being alive and breathing.

Ray Norringthon forced his saliva to run down his dry throat; convincing himself that this man is not his brother. If he's really Aaron and somehow he lost his memories, Ray wouldn't have a strange feeling like this. He's kind of distant, even though Aaron was the closest one to him. "Pardon me but have you met Aaron, my older brother, by any chance here?"

"And just for you to know, he looked a lot like you," added Robbert Faulkner with a whisper; making Ray jabbed his elbow to Robbert's arm. "Ouch. What was that for?"

"Unfortunately I cannot remember such a detail on the visitor record," answered Sebastien as he chuckled. "And may I have your names, please?"

"Right, sorry." Ray shrugged, and then introduces himself, "I'm Rayne Norrigthon. And it's pronounced more like 'rain' than 'rayn-ee'." He shakes Sebastien's hand firmly and smiles at Shailene who was standing behind Sebastien like a scaredy rabbit. "And this uniformed man beside me is-"

"Robbert's the name. Robbert Faulkner." He shook Sebastien's hand too with a rather wide fake smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Now please follow me, you two must be tired after a quite long journey," said Sebastien in a monotones. He leads them to the other side of the tunnel, where Ray couldn't believe that there's someone actually living behind the tunnel. There are houses and street lights, with a several people on their own activities. Nothing looks unordinary beside the fact that their town is hidden between mountains. The surroundings even made him wonder if he is still on the same world and dimension.

"Welcome to Catena, Mr.Norringthon and Mr.Faulkner. It's getting late now, maybe you can spend your night at my place if you don't mind," offered Sebastien as they stopped at his house entrance. While actually it was too huge to call it house more like castle.

"Robbert and Ray will just do," answered Ray under his awkward feeling being addressed by 'Mr. Norringthon'. "And yes. I think we could spend a night at your place if you had room for us."

"No worries," replied Sebastien calmly, "We've got plenty of rooms inside."

Robbert Faulkner nodded as a sign that he agreed to stay overnight. He took a glance at Shailene that was quietly standing behind Sebastien and he could see her mouth was gesturing some words.

You don't belong here. Hurry up and go before you end up like Aaron!

"What?!" exclaimed Robbert spontaneously. And looks like he has successfully made both Ray and Sebastien staring at him. "Um no I just... I thought that shop keeper is talking to me." He laughs and points out a random shop on the street instead. If only Ray was paying attention to Shailene just now, he screamed in his thought.

***

"Hey, Robbert," called Ray as they got in a particular room. He tossed his backpack across the room where it landed in the bed. "What do you think of Sebastien?"

"He's very suspicious." And to be more frank, Sebastien might be the guy who's behind this all, he added quietly. But there's no evidence or motive for him to kill Aaron. "But at the same time, he also seems innocent," said Robbert again. His butt quickly glued to the sofa and he lighted up his cigarette.