EPHEMERAL [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER III - Men break into my house. Rude.

"Where do you want the soup cans?" Riona asked, taking three out of her backpack.

"On the top shelf, please," I call back from the couch.

"You got it!"

I smile, getting back to my book.

It has been several months since I had first met Riona. After a couple of weeks, she was good as new, her injuries completely healed. We had since become friends, spending almost all of our time together, since she now lived with me.

She told me of her past, how she had had never known her parents and lived in an orphanage. She had apparently taken self-defense classes since the age of twelve and now, at seventeen, it was safe to say she could usually handle herself.

She had always dreamed of traveling the world, so, after surviving the apocalypse, she went through with her plan and walked from city to city. Sure, it wasn't the same after the world collapsed, but it was still something and also surely safer than risking being discovered by gangs.

Which apparently still didn't go as planned, seeing as how those men had still managed to find her.

She had tried convincing me to leave the city with her almost daily, but I refused. It wasn't that I was nostalgic or afraid of what could be out there - which I was, but those weren't the main reasons - it was because I couldn't. I had promised I would find him, no matter what, and I made a habit of always keeping my word. He was the one who saved my life and I wasn't about to give up on him, just like he didn't give up one me so many months ago.

"So, what is it tonight?" Riona asked, glancing at the book in my hands.

"Harry Potter," I answered happily.

"Again?" she said, exasperation clear in her voice. "It's the third time this month!"

"Hey, it's only the second time, actually!" I smiled at her. "Besides, if I can't reread books even after the Apocalypse, then the world is more broken than I had imagined."

"Fair enough." she shrugged. "I'm bored. Want to play some cards?"

"Sure, let me get them," I said as I grabbed the small box I had recovered a few weeks ago from a building I was scavenging in.

We spent the rest of the evening playing cards until the light of the sun is all gone.

"Should we light a fire? Or some candles, maybe?" I asked hesitantly. "It's beginning to get cold at night."

"What about the men? Won't it be like a huge 'HERE I AM, COME AND GET ME' sign?"

"I don't know, freezing to death doesn't sound that good either, and the blanket isn't that thick."

"Point taken." Riona nodded thoughtfully. "Let's light a small fire, enough to keep us a little warmer, but not too big to be noticeable from outside."

"Alright, let's do that."

And so, a couple of minutes later, we had a small fire in front of us. We had lit it with a scavenged lighter on some twigs and small branches that we found outside. We laid close together, almost hugging, so that we could stay as warm as we could, the blanket and the rest of the bed sheets not that effective against the cold of the night.

But it was enough.

My eyelids were heavy with sleep as I laid my head on Riona's shoulder, happy to have someone else with me besides Bubbles, who I was hugging closely as always. She cuddled closer to me, causing me to smile. She could sometimes be rather cold but in moments like these, I was happy to see her softer side.

And, with a content sigh, I let the darkness take over and fell asleep.

***

I woke up with a hand over my mouth.

The small fire was out and total darkness enveloped the house. My instincts kicked in and I struggled in the person's hold before Riona's quiet voice reached my ears.

"Stay silent. Don't move. I think someone is here."

I instantly froze, more from fear than from her command. Someone was... here? How? Why?

Riona quietly got up into a crouch, urging me to follow as she made her way to the back door on all fours. The sound of footsteps almost stopped me in my tracks, but I managed to keep going, my heart beating loudly in my chest. This had never happened before and I was completely terrified.

For a moment, I thought of all the things I was leaving behind to probably be taken by these men - including Bubbles! - but I decided my life was more important than them. So, with quick, but quiet movements, the two of us reached the back door.

Riona pushed it open and we both got out, sighing in relief as we got up.

Wrong move.

"Where do you two think you're going?" came a voice from before us.

Glancing up, I was immediately met with the cold glare of a man. But not just any man, but the man I had hit with a bat.

I immediately froze, instinctually taking Riona's hand into mine.

"You," the man said, a look of recognition passing his features at the sight of the girl next to me. "You're the girl that beat up Tommy and Chris. Which means that you-" he glanced at me, his expression hardening into one of rage. "-are the one who hit me."

I was now trembling in fear as I heard the footsteps behind me stop.

"What do we have here, Aidan?" another man spoke.

"Looks like the girl you said beat you up, Tommy," spoke yet another man from behind us, amusement clear in his tone.

"She didn't beat me up, she-" the man, Tommy, protested before being interrupted by the one in front of us, Aidan.

"Yes, she did, Tom."

Meanwhile, Riona and I were still frozen in shock. She seemed to snap out of it first, though, and she tried to lunge at Aidan, but one of the other men caught her, immobilizing her arms behind her back.

"Let me go, you imbecile!" she cried out, desperately trying to break free.

Aidan then took a piece of black cloth and quickly gagged her as she thrashed around in the man's hold.

"Not so tough now, are we?" he mocked her, making my blood boil.

Without thinking, I sent a blind punch behind me, hoping to hit one of the guys. And hit I did. I heard Tommy groan as a small crack was heard. I had broken his nose.

"Oh, you'll pay for that," he said threateningly, taking a hold of my arms before I could do anything else. "You'll both pay. Aidan, I think we should bring them to the boss."

Aidan smirked menacingly.

"Good idea, Tom. Let's go."