2 Welcome To Town (2)

The two walked in through the front door of their unassuming home, that was in a row of other equally unassuming homes, with only the numbers on the door and the small little decorations allowing one to tell the difference between them.

The chime rang out, announcing to all inside that they had arrived.

"Welcome home kids" rang out a cheery voice from the kitchen. Walking out, a mature woman with long brown hair tied into a ponytail revealed herself.

"We are home mother" said the two, one not quite fitting the description of 'kid' but rolled along with it as he had always done.

"Dinner will be ready soon you two, both of you should go and wash up and then come down and wait to be served" said the two's mother.

"Okaaay mom" said Avlynn, while Ryker just nodded and headed towards the stairs leading to the upper level. As he walked past his mother, however, a piece of paper dropped on the ground in front of him face up.

"Oh how silly of me" said the mother, chuckling to herself whilst bending down to pick up the paper, making sure that it was facing towards Ryker the entire time.

Ryker sneered inwardly, suddenly becoming extremely interested in fixing a stray hair on his sister's head who was extremely pleased with the sudden attention.

"Hah, I will not fall for your tricks" thought Ryker in triumph as he had dodged yet another cliché.

Feeling smug, he led his sis up the stairs and into the massive room that was his bathroom. Stopping at the sinks that were large enough to wash a medium sized dog in, he went to grab some soap to wash his hands with.

"Huh, Avvy did we run out of soap?" asked Ryker as he saw none anywhere near the sink.

"Ummm, we should have some more below the sink bro" called out Avlynn as she washed her hands and face.

Feeling a sudden sense of dread Ryker carefully asked, "Uh Avvy, could I use yours?"

"Sur- wait no, not today bro. Today is…today is *that* day, I uhhh get really possessive on those days so get your own!" said Avlynn, sounding more like she was convincing herself than Ryker while speaking.

Not wanting to even question such a topic that sent shivers down his spine, Ryker bent down and held his breath as he opened the cupboard looking for the soap below.

"Oh there it is" thought Ryker in relief, reaching for it…oh how foolish he was. As his hand moved he noticed a piece of paper fall slowly that was no doubt held up by the closed door. Fall it did, landing face up like the universe itself was mocking him in silent cosmic laughter.

"No…." thought Ryker while his mind froze and heart skipped several beats.

"MY EYES…WHY HAVE YOU BETRAYED ME" screamed Ryker as his brain processed everything that he had just read against his will.

"DNA testing,

Catherine Innocenta

Children: Ryker Innocenta, Avlynn Innocenta

Results: Ryker Innocenta, Related

Avlynn Innocenta, Unrelated

"

With shaking hands Ryker grabbed the accursed soap and closed the door to the cupboard.

"Of course there was such a development, but even so if only I know about it then there is no problem…" thought Ryker

"Bro what's wrong?" asked Avlynn from the sink next to Ryker's.

"Ah, nothing Avvy. I seem to have gone muddled for a moment, hahahah" said Ryker, talking nonsense out of desperation.

"Hmmm, how weird bro but that's okay. I understand, I read online that when you get older you start having what is called a midlife crisis"

"Hey I am not THAT old, I only just turned 20…" said Ryker as he paused for a moment, recalling when his birthday was, "back in February after all. People get a midlife crisis when they are like a bit older, when they have enough time in their life after working for so long to reflect on everything and they find that they never realized some obscure childhood dream or something"

"Woops, I don't think I am supposed to know that" thought Ryker, analyzing his memories once more.

"Well this world does have the internet, I can always use that as a convenient excu-"

His thoughts were interrupted by a gasp from next to him, followed by an odd giggling that one would expect to have belonged to an asylum resident than a teenaged girl.

"Avvy whats wrong" started Ryker uneasily as he looked over.

He soon regretted doing anything besides immediately walking out of the bathroom and going to sleep, as in Avlynn's hand was a single document. The same one that his mother had 'dropped' earlier in front of him and the same one that was under his sink.

"W-what is that Avvy" said Ryker, almost breaking out of his façade for a moment.

Avlynn froze for a moment, looking over the paper in her hand at Ryker…a trace of what Ryker hoped was madness, and not something that started with an L and ended with an E, flashing past her eyes for but a moment before she looking back at the paper…which she crumpled immediately and…ate it. "Nothing bro!" said Avlynn cheerfully as she finished washing up and practically skipped out of the bathroom.

"HahahHAHaHHhAA" laughed Ryker as he held his head, wondering if he should just smash it against the glass of the mirror in front of him and try again in the next life.

"I saw nothing" concluded Ryker as he finished washing up.

Heading down the stairs once more, he went and sat on the couch in front of the TV in the living room to wait until dinner was served. His mind was blank, akin to the blankness of a TV set to the wrong video output or the static between stations on the older TV's.

The moment he sat down, Avlynn took a seat next to him immediately as if she were waiting for him.

"Coincidence, she was probably talking to Catherine in the kitchen"

Time continued to pass, although Ryker would not have known, until Catherine called the two into the dining room to eat.

"I will be going on an unexplained trip to an unknown location for an extended period of time for my job that I have never mentioned before, of course" said Catherine in the middle of the meal.

Such a line awoke Ryker from his shutting out of the real world as he looked at Catherine and said,

"Ca- Mom, what do you mean? I can take care of myself but what about Avlynn, as I may need to stay over at the University for up to a week at a time if something important comes up."

Ryker thought what he said made some sense, although he knew in some dark recess of his mind that anything rational most likely had little effect on the world around him.

"She is almost an ADULT" began Catherine, emphasizing certain words for reasons that Ryker simply did not even try to think about, "She can take care of herself and if anything comes up I am sure you can make some room in your schedule to help out. I heard she helped you out today, walking out on her afterschool activities with just a single text from you…would you not do the same if she really needed it?"

Ryker glanced over at Avlynn who looked quite prim and proper eating with such elegance that not even a high class family could find fault with, her short bangs kept out of her eyes with a single hairclip and her light brown eyes focused on the food in front of her, the food being raised to her lush lips…

"I am not a sinful man… I am not a sinful man" recited Ryker as he turned his attention to Catherine.

"I would do the same. How long do you expect to be gone and will I be fronting the bills for well, everything?"

"Of course not dear, in addition to the monthly stipend you get from the local government I will also periodically send an allowance to you and Avlynn. Oh and I do not know when I will return, perhaps in a few weeks or a few months…but what can I do, I signed up for the job after all"

"What is this job exactly, as to this day you have yet to ever reveal anything about it to me" asked Ryker.

Catherine merely laughed lightly in response whilst shaking her head, as if he had asked the silliest thing in the world that did not even merit a proper response.

"As expected…I suppose I will not get anything about the father that mysteriously never comes home mentioned that I have a sister who is not biologically related to me either…" thought Ryker as he finished his meal alongside his two family members.

After cleaning up the dishes he immediately bid goodnight to everyone and retreated to his room in short order, lest something even more insane happen he told himself.

Sitting down at his desk, he reached under and behind it for a notebook he had taped to the backside of it. The cover was read, "Homework" but inside was anything but…