CHAPTER 10: empty house.

It didn't take them long to reach Theo's home after their stop.

As he approached his house, he could immediately tell that something wasn't right. The door stood wide open, and the windows had been smashed. He quickly hurried inside, but what he saw inside was to be expected.

The furniture was scattered around the room and shards of broken pottery covered the dark wooden floor.

Despite already knowing that the house had been abandoned he moved from room to room, still hoping that he would find at least a trace of his parents.

Completely exhausted, helpless, and nearing despair, he sat down inside of his room, blankly staring at the wall while trying to make sense of it all. He had no idea where his parents were, or if they were even alive at all.

His distorted ray of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by Gwen walking into the room.

"So, this is your home. To be honest, I would have expected more of it. It's quite small, don't you think?"

"Could you please shut up! No one's forcing you to stay here. If you don't like it, just leave. I don't need you now anyways."

She nonchalantly leaned against the wall. "Yea sure. Hey, you got any food in here. I'm starving."

Quite annoyed Theo didn't even bother to look at Gwen. "No. everything's gone. And from what I could tell it's been like that for at least a few days now."

"Then doesn't that mean that they got away?" Timon who had heard the short exchange of words from outside of the room walked in.

But Theo just shook his head. "If they really got away then the house wouldn't be trashed like this. There is no guarantee that other people didn't come here after this all happened and just took whatever was left. I mean have you seen those things out there. If they, like us, had to keep running nonstop, it would be more than just beneficial to just take whatever is left in this house."

"But there are no bodies. And for as far as I could tell, there's no blood."

"That might be the case. But I don't know what happened to those people, what made them turn into those things. Maybe the same happened to them and they wandered off in search for anything that breathes. Maybe after I was captured, they got arrested and are now getting executed somewhere. Keeping things from the ruins without permit is a crime after all."

Timon lifted his eyebrows. "You're from the ruins? Have you seen the gods there? Are they still alive? Did they leave a message with you?"

"No, I crawled out of a rose and slept in a nutshell. Of course, I am from the ruins. Weird unexplained things come from there, including myself. And how am I supposed to know anything from the gods. I have never met them; they are probably crumbling apart just as much as what they have created."

Theo took a deep breath and tried to collect himself. He stood up and walked towards his closet. Without the people he cared about here, this place hardly meant anything to him. And staying here wouldn't magically make them appear out of thin air. He pulled out some of his clothes and shoved them in the bag he used to carry with him back when he helped his father to hunt.

"What are you doing?" Gwen, who was still leaning against the wall as if her legs couldn't properly carry her, asked.

Theo closed his eyes and bit his lip. "I'm going to try and find my parents. The sooner I leave, the higher the chance that I can find them. Even if they are dead, they would at least deserve a proper funeral."

After that he pushed Gwen out of the way to walk through the door. When he was walking down the stairs, she asked him a question.

"Are you a demon?"

"What?"

"You come from the ruins of the gods, but you have no connection to them. So, I just wanted to know for sure. Are you a demon? You know, with the horns and all."

"I already told you. I don't know what I am. But I'm certain that I am not a demon."

"Then how do you know for sure?"

Theo nervously chuckled. "Don't ask how exactly I got my hands on it. But I wondered the same thing as you. So, I may or may not have, creatively borrowed a whole litre of holy water. And then decided to drink it to know for sure. And since I didn't go up in flames, I'm pretty sure that I'm not a demon."

"Or you are just lying, and you are planning to drag us down to hell with you."

Theo continued to walk down the stairs "Yet again. No one is forcing you to stay. Either stop being annoying, or I will make sure that you would no longer even have the option to follow me."

He made his way into the living room. here he opened the drawer of the desk. After searching through it he found some black ink.

He opened the small jar and drew a map of the area on the wall. Here he hinted at which direction he would be moving in and a relatively safe place where he planned to stay for a few days.

Gwen and Timon now also made their way down the stairs.

"What are you doing?"

Theo briefly glanced at Timon who walked up behind him.

"I am drawing a map."

"I can see that, but why?"

"Obviously I don't know what happened here. Maybe my parents are still alive and on their way back. But we are too close to those… things. And repairing the doors and windows will cost too much time. It's simply not worth it to stay here. So, in case they come back, they will know where to find me."

"Can't other people find us too then?"

"I don't see the problem in that. We don't have food, weapons, or a better way at transportation. And I doubt that humans would try to eat each other already since what is going on just started. We're simply not worth the trouble to fight. And since we'll only be staying there for a few days at most chances are that by the time people discover it, we are already gone."

After he was done drawing the map, he put the jar of ink in his bag.

"If you need anything let me know now and I will try to help you find it. Otherwise, I'm leaving."