Chapter 7_ Back Home

The two women were as identical as two cigarettes in a pack, LSR thought he was actually seeing two clones of a person. Even from afar, their striking resemblance struck his eyes. The only difference between them was their hair which was as different as the other part of their body was identical.

One had a suspicious white hair. Not silver, not grey, just white, pure white. He had never seen anyone with such white hair before. He had seen silver hair, he had seen grey but white?!

The hired driver came forward with Duncan fumbling with the few pieces of luggage he had brought back from the hospital.

"Here" he heard his voice over him and he looked up to see the lad pointing a key his way. "Have it " he repeated when LSR gazed at him with confusion.

Confused, LSR spread his palm out and the young lad dropped the key in it and made to walk away.

What's going on? Was this not a rented car?

He was going to leave his car and go?

" Why? Are you not taking your car along with you?" LSR queried the driver whose steps were now receding.

The driver paused a bit and turned to LSR " It's not mine, I was a hired driver. The client owns the car" he supplied and crossed to the other side of the road, leaving LSR clueless.

" I think Zakariah bought a car then" He heard Duncan's voice say from behind him.

Zakariah bought a car?

That was not necessary right now. " Look," he said to Duncan and nodded forward at the happenings in front of burnt haven.

"Ah.. Yes, they are moving in already" Duncan breathed. " They are less than what I pictured. They look like normal people but look at those beauties" he whistled, referring to the two girls LSR had previously been analyzing.

Normal people?

There was nothing normal about these people he was staring at. Was it him were they sending some kind of eerie aura into the air? He caught it and it lingered around him now. " White hair, black hair" he whispered.

" Yeah man, the chic had her hair dyed white and it looks hot on her" Duncan extended his motion nonchalantly.

Duncan was taking things too plain for his liking now. He was usually like this too, not taking things too seriously and enjoying every moment as they came but what was wrong with him now?

White and black..

White cat, black truck.

White men, black men.

White hair, black hair.

White House, black roof.

Was it him or was everything related to the burnt haven's new owners black and white?

A black truck had hit him and he saw a white cat afterward.

They were probably staring too long and hard without realizing it as the black man amongst the burnt haven owners turned his neck and gave them a stern, hard look that shouts ' mind your damn business ' and Duncan took his wheelchair handle immediately.

" Let's get out of here man" he whispered as he wheeled him towards the house.

" I am sure there would be others lurking behind their windows, watching them too. Why did he look at us as if we were doing something bad and as though he wanted to eat us" LSR frowned and before Duncan who was lifting the vase in front of the entrance to pick the house key could answer, two more people stepped out of burnt haven different from those that were outside already.

It was the sound of the gate opening that made LSR turned his neck in their direction just in time to see them coming out of the building. "Just how many are these people?" LSR said out loud now which made Duncan turn to see them also.

He saw Duncan's brow crease " It must be a whole family. Now seven in view, might be more inside" he replied LSR and came over to take him inside the house.

" They don't look like family" LSR was saying " What family looks that way? There is no resemblance whatsoever between them and it's obvious they are not of the same race" he emphasized feeling stressed his friend was being so dumb.

They have entered the house now and Duncan was going back out now to bring LSR's luggages in " I will take one more peep while getting the luggages" Duncan said to LSR and went out the door immediately.

He came back approximately a few seconds later and shouted so loud that LSR felt the people next door would hear every bit of what the absurd lad said as he rushed in " Another 3 LSR! They are 9 now!" he squealed.

LSR held out his hand immediately to send the loud words back to Duncan's mouth " Shut up will you?!" he scolded and his fat friend who had beads of sweat dripping from almost every part of his body, his tucked in shirt which was now halfway tucked out now was soaked under his armpit.

Duncan stood abruptly prompting LSR's order and rolled his eyes like a little kid " What? When did you become such a serious and grumpy person? I was just telling you..." Duncan was saying but LSR cut him off again.

Was he being serious and grumpy?

He had lots of thoughts clouding his mind so, he could not be blamed if he was being suddenly serious. A lot had happened, a lot that shaped him and made him grow up within weeks.

He was no longer LSR with good looks, he knew that now. He only needed to prove that to people too " You say they were nine now? The burnt haven new owners?" He asked.

Duncan, who was kind of surprised his friends steered off the from what he was saying and returned to the matter about the burnt haven owners hesitated a bit before nodding " Yes, they are nine now. Two men and a woman came out too. But this woman was not young like the chics she looked a bit older" he answered before inquiring further " Is it me or you seem obsessed with burnt haven all of a sudden and its new owners?" Duncan was curious now and being thoughtful. Something was definitely wrong with his friend.

" Take me to my room first, I will tell you everything but first you have to promise it stays between us" LSR bargained knowing fully well he could not do this alone. He needed Duncan to be in on the table too.

Instead of a reply, it was a clap he got from Duncan's end he shook his head. " Idiot" he whispered to himself. Duncan was an idiot.

" Don't tell me you have laid one of the chics man" a smirk broke across Duncan's face and LSR thanked himself for calling him an idiot just now. He just proved he was damn right now.

Laid the chics?

Even when he knew fully well he was not the type the sexy girls wants. And those girls he saw earlier, they were more than sexy.

They look angelic and so.. so.. different.

She looked angelic, the white girl. For some reason, he had not taken full note of the dark hair girl except for her obvious twin sister with white hair.

His curiosity grew, he wanted to see how she looked like entirely. He wanted to see and analyze every ounce of her beauty and weigh her shape and just how hot she was. Her beauty was no doubt, he was able to affirm that even though he had only seen a side of her.

Why was he thinking so much about her now?

A person he only saw in a few seconds.

" Stop speaking nonsense Duncan, take me to my room or I will do it myself" he said impatiently to Duncan, taking out his aggression on his very patient friend.

He could hear Duncan's loud and tired sigh. At least, his accident was making his friend work hard now. He would lose a pound or two, he needed it. " Fine your most gracious LSR" he sulked sarcastically and wheeled him straight into his room.

A smile broke across LSR's face. That was the thing about Duncan, he would always make him smile in whatever situation he found himself. Duncan doesn't need to do anything before doing something funny enough to smile about. Also one of the reasons he liked Duncan and still kept him as a friend regardless of how uncool it made him look was that he was the one thing in his life that he could control.

It seemed unfair but Duncan was so dense and controlling him was easier unlike all the ups and downs in his life which he had no control over.

Call him selfish or not, he could care less about that. Life was selfish to him too.

Still bargaining on whether or not to tell Duncan about the suspicion he had relating to his accident, he decided to bring up the issue about Ink. He was curious about that too so when Duncan had successfully settled him on his drawing desk, he coughed lightly and faced his friend " What's going on with Ink? I heard about the lawsuit but what do you think?"

" You did not watch the news in the hospital?" Duncan asked and without waiting for him to answer " Ah.. I forgot you had the cables disabled" he said and when he noticed he had unintentionally rhymed his words, " Look! I might be a poet now" he dragged the two strands of beard under his chin.

Ah.. He was friends with this joke of a person for two years how?!

Was he so hopeless after what happened to him in his first year at the college which made him drop out that he had no hope of being normal again up to the extent that he made this person his closest buddy?

Well, he had no other friends and he might as well embrace and appreciate what he have now " Come on Duncan! Be real for once" he said with a pleading eyes.

He was a new him and he was going to give Duncan one more chance of becoming a satisfactory person too before he gave up on him and ditch him at the end.

" Okay, fine but you know I have to go soon right? I have to resume my workout classes even though I don't want to. Mum made me this time " Duncan sulked.

LSR traveled his eyes from the top of Duncan's body to the bottom " Does she need to make you when you obviously need it so?" he scoffed.

" Oh please, don't lecture me now. We had our motto, not doing what the rest of the world is doing and that's what makes us special" Duncan reminded him of the ignorant motto he had shared with his friend for two years.

How was he going to explain to him he was no longer ignorant and had no desire to be foolishly special anymore?

" Anyway, you haven't told me what's up with Ink"

" They did it again, Killed a person with their devilish product. I don't know why everyone is still buying it anyway! They ought to bankrupt and shut down if everyone collectively refuses to buy from them" Duncan lamented and LSR shook his head.

Did this accident make him more clever now or was he being paranoid that he was seeing all the faults in Duncan's actions and words?

The him from before would have agreed with him but not now.. " Even if our Orange City don't buy from them, they will still be big anyway. They are a big international corporation. The whole world knows them, what difference does our little town makes compared to the world?"

Duncan tilted his head " That's true though, why didn't I think of that? But isn't it strange only our town gets these strange happenings after using their products and not the rest of the world? Not even the whole of the country?" he became thoughtful.

For the first time, Duncan said something meaningful to his ears since the beginning of the day.

" Duncan?" LSR called " What if Ink is not devilish or occultic at all? What if they are experimenting on the people of our poor town?" he asked rhetorically and thoughtfully.

Duncan straightened up and smelt his armpit then his face turned sour " Arrgh, smells bad again" he groaned " Well, that's not it. They are not scientists so definitely, they are devilish like everyone in the town believes my friend. Bye now, I have to go or mum is going to chop my legs off later" he finished and LSR picked up his sketching pencil that was still where he left it.

His room was just how it was since almost four weeks he had spent in the hospital now. Another sign Zakariah did not give a damn about him.

His pencil's edge did cut the other day and with its broken end, he started scribbling fool this time buy only ends up making holes on the paper instead.

" Bye Duncan" he muttered without looking back and heard the slamming of his door.

LSR sighed, it was only him again.

What was he supposed to do with his injured leg now?