Post by elvenimp on Oct 11, 2012 20:57:47 GMT -5
~~~
His breathing was slow and steady, paced. Sweat dripped into his eyes and burned, but he didn’t dare wipe it away. The mouth guard felt thick in his mouth, a head protector muffling the sounds of those working out around him. His opponent’s movements seemed to be in slow motion. He dodged a punch thrown towards him and spun, kicking low to bring his opponent to the ground. With quick movements that felt like liquid molasses, he placed his foot gently on top of his opponent’s throat.
The sound of a whistle penetrated his mindset.
Quickly, the noise from around him rushed, louder in his ears than before. He removed his foot from the man’s throat and helped him up. Smiling, he clapped the man on the back, thanking him for the sparring match. “Caleb!” His name was shouted from behind. Turning, Caleb caught a water bottle that was thrown to him, the bottle feeling bulky in his padded hands. He gave a smile to his buddies and squirted water from the bottle into his mouth.
Breathing a bit heavily, he jumped out of the ring, landing with a light thud. He needed to get home to his girlfriend, Jasmine. Tonight was their anniversary and he wanted to set up everything before she got home from work. He said goodbye to everyone, showered and changed. Tossing his gym bag into the backseat of his car, Caleb drove off to his apartment, blasting the stereo on his way there. He had to make a quick stop on his way home.
Humming a tune, Caleb half way ran up the stairs, his brown hair nearly dry from the shower he had taken at the gym. The elevator was broken, but he enjoyed the exercise, even though he had just worked out. Hopping up onto the landing of the floor, he walked down the hall a bit stopping in front of his door. Keys in hand, he paused right before the key was going to enter the lock.
Brow furrowed, his hand fell to his side as he placed his ear to the door. The wood felt cool against his cheek but his gut was telling him that something wasn't right. He had though he heard music coming from the apartment, but that couldn’t be right. Jasmine wasn’t supposed to be home for some time and as far as he knew no one else had a key to the apartment. He frowned and slid his key into the lock. It made a click as it opened; music louder as he opened the door. He dropped his gym bag to the floor and shut the door behind him. Still the music played.
His footsteps were quiet on the wooden floors, though he didn't try to be sneaky. There was no need. He just guessed that Jasmine must have gotten off early and not told him. The floor in the hallway towards their bedroom creaked loudly under his feet in a rather sudden way. The music stopped and Caleb saw that the door was cracked and he went to push it open. "Jaz?" He questioned. There we hushed whispers and the feeling in his gut got worse.
He stepped inside of the room, stopping in his tracks. Jasmine looked out of breath, pale cheeks flushed, as was her naked chest. She was nibbling on her lower lip, but that wasn't what Caleb was even looking at.
There was another man in his bed.
He felt as though his heart had been torn out of his chest. His insides felt as though they were being wrenched out. He felt like he might throw up, the taste of bile on the back of his tongue. Caleb had his suspicions that Jasmine might have been seeing other men behind his back, but there was never any proof that he had really bothered to confront her about. She always had a reason why she was home late or occasionally didn't come home at night. She worked late or stayed over at her friend's places after a girl’s night out. He had always taken her word for it. Caleb guessed he shouldn't have.
He didn't say anything and neither did they; the traitorous tramp and her lover. After a few moments of staring, he just turned around. Caleb didn't know what to say. He was trying not to cry, trying not to shout and scream and get angry. Taking a shaky breath he stepped out of the room. There was movement behind him. "Caleb, wait!" Jasmine called out. The sound of her stumbling to put something on came to his ears but he ignored it and walked down the hall.
He felt a hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off, continuing to walk down the hall. Jasmine then grabbed his arm. "Caleb please!" She pleaded and tugged on his arm. He kept walking, his face set in a scowl and one eye twitching at the sound of her voice in his ears. "Just stop. I can explain." She said this even louder than before, the tone of her voice sounding as though she was hurt by the fact that he was trying to leave. That was it. He had tried. He stopped, closing his eyes before turning around. Jasmine was in a pink silk robe, one of the sleeves hanging off of one of her shoulders. He would have said she looked sexy if it wasn't for the fact that she had just been in bed with another man.
"Explain what?" He said, his voice low and eyes watery, though he refused to cry. He wouldn't cry in front of her. "You want to explain why you've been sleeping with other men for the past year and a half?" She looked shocked, taken aback by the dark tones that lingered underneath of his words. "Explain to me why you were kissing a man in front of a coffee shop last month? Yea, I told myself that couldn't be Jasmine. She's too sweet of a girl to do something like that. So I forgot, but I guess I shouldn't have. You're just a fucking whore underneath that innocent little mask aren't you?" He growled out and Jasmine looked as though she was about to cry.
"That's not fair, Cal." She said, her hands tightening on Caleb's arm. Caleb laughed humorously, grabbing his hair and taking half a step back.
"Not fair?" He yelled fishing into his pocket and pulling out a little black box, ignoring the pet name she used on him. "I was going to propose to you tonight! It's our three year anniversary and I find you fucking another man in our bed. Go ahead now; tell me what’s not fair." His brown eyes were livid and he was furious and heart broken. Jasmine's hand slid off of Caleb's arm at the mention of him proposing. She was crying now and Caleb could honestly say it was the first time it hadn't hurt him to see her upset.
He stepped back from her and stopped at the door, shaking his head as he opened it. "It's over." He said, voice quivering some. He walked out the door and slammed it behind him. With hands shoved in his pockets, he ran down the stairs and out of the apartment building.
The air was chilly and he only had a light jacket on. Caleb walked down the sidewalk, the city lights turning on as the sun began to set. He contemplated calling his sister, but in all honesty he didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. He felt so utterly betrayed, so used. Of course, that was what he deserved for turning a blind eye towards any suspicious actions Jasmine might have performed. He had always done that. Caleb had always dragged relationships on, even when he knew they were failing. He had been cheated on before, multiple times. Apparently women thought he was just some toy to be used and thrown away. He knew the signs, he had witnessed them before. Yet, all Caleb could think about these past years was: ‘Ignorance is bliss.’
He hated that phrase, that quote that was supposed to be advice. It was a warning that knowledge could be a dangerous thing, though now Caleb deeply resented ignorance. He had feigned ignorance for far too long and he had decided the second he had walked out of that apartment to quite playing dumb. He was through being a toy. He was through being in love. He was through with this shitty existence he had for himself. Oh, how he wished he could wake up in another world.~~~
The bar was loud and crowded, some sports game blaring on the televisions located across the expanse of a room. It was decorated with all sorts of sports memorabilia and had a long bar that stretched along most of the wall to the right of the door. Caleb could feel the chill of the outside whenever a new patron entered or an old one left. It was nice because the bar was rather hot due to all of the bodies moving and talking. It was a lot of hot air.
Caleb barely noticed though. His third glass of liquor was in his hands, fingers pressed up against the amber filled glass. He was hunched over on his bar stool, mind not in the present. He remembered how Jasmine and he had met. It had been cute and as though it was a classic scene from a movie. She had dropped something in the middle of the sidewalk of campus. Class had just let out so everyone was rushing to class. Caleb had stopped to help her pick it up, a rude student bumping into him and he fell on top of the beautiful lady.
Apparently the beauty only went so deep.
Sighing with a frown, Caleb pulled himself out of his mind as the sounds of the world became coherent again. If there was one thing he was good at, it was blocking out the sights and sounds of the world around him.
Pulling out the amount he owed, he slapped it on the table for the bartender to pick up. Turning around on his stool, he stood; running right into another person. The man’s hands had been full with three bottles of beer and a pitcher of the frothy alcoholic beverage. The pitcher spilled all over the man who looked shocked and then furious. “Sorry, mate.” Caleb said and tried to slip past the man, but he wasn’t going to allow that to happen.
The angry bar patron slammed the beers he had been holding on a table, grabbed Caleb by his shoulder, and pulled him back; throwing the rest of the pitcher over Caleb’s head. Caleb only blinked, his brown hair almost looking black; plastered to his head. “Whatcha gonna do ‘bout it mate?” The man sneered; Caleb was close enough to smell the alcohol on his breath---Or that could just be the beer he had just been drowned in.
“Look, I’m sorry ‘bout your drinks. It was an accident.” Caleb explained, placing his hands in front of him in a passive manner. He didn’t want to start anything right now. That really wouldn’t be good in his current mind set. “Here, I’ll buy you another one.” He reached to pull out his wallet but didn’t make it even into his pocket before something collided with the side of his head.
“I don’t want you money.” The angry man spat. Caleb stumbled back some, not having expected the blow to his head. The alcohol in his system made his movements a little slower, but he caught himself before he fell. Reaching up, Caleb pressed his fingers against the side of his mouth. They came away with blood on them.
“That was uncalled for.” He mumbled and stood up straight, turning around to walk out before this turned into an outright brawl. Already people were staring; a bit of a ring had formed around the two. Caleb had made it to the edge of people when heard someone moving behind him. He turned around just in time to catch another punch that the angry man had thrown. He pushed him away and frowned, his anger billowing forth again. “Back off, before you get hurt.” He said and the man laughed.
“Before, I get hurt? No. I think you’re gonna be tha only one gettin hurt here.” Two large men walked up next to Caleb and each but a hand on either of his shoulders. Oh, he really wished that he could wake up in another world right now.
They led him out into a back alley, Caleb vaguely remembering one of his mates telling him about a group of thugs that liked to cause trouble at the local pubs. Of course, that was just how this day was going now wasn’t it.
He was shoved forward, stumbling down the stairs until he caught himself on a dumpster. “We don’t have to do this.” Caleb said calmly, standing up straight and adjusting his beer soaked jacket. The smallest of the three men stepped forward, lighting up a cigarette.
“Oh, but I think we do.” The man replied with a wicked grin and Caleb was beginning to think that this had to do with something more than just accidentally spilling a man’s beer. This was just plain ridiculous. Who goes into a back alley to beat up someone that accidentally ran into you? Apparently this guy.
The big men stepped forward, each of them at least six feet tall and built like oxen. One cracked his knuckles and the other one just went at it, going after Caleb with his fists. Caleb dodged, his smaller size making him quicker than the powerful lumbering oafs. The other big man caught him by the arm and pulled, gripping him in a bone crunching bear hug. Caleb squeezed his eyes shut and groaned, trying to get out of the vice like grip. It felt like his ribs were going to break. The man squeezed harder and all the air in Caleb’s lungs vanished like smoke in the night.
The bear of a man dropped him after that and Caleb didn’t have enough strength in him to catch himself from hitting the ground hard. He took deep breaths, gulping in air. Sitting up, gravel stuck to his cheek, Caleb didn’t have enough time to dodge a kick from the other large man; it landed right on his gut. The force of it drove the new air in his lungs out again and prevented him from getting up. He was on his back now, staring up at a black night sky. Groaning, he blinked and rolled to get up again, but was pulled up and thrown against the hard, metal dumpster.
Yet again, Caleb tried to get up, this time he had help from the dumpster that was now at his back. The smell that came from it was unpleasant, but he hardly had a care to notice. He dodged a punch that was thrown towards him, the sound of a large fist hitting metal echoing in his ears. He also managed to dodge the second man’s. They didn’t pause and one came hurtling towards Caleb while the other followed suit. Caleb rolled between them but didn’t get far as the hood of his jacket was pulled. He was pulled into both of the big men who grabbed both of Caleb’s arms and pushed him to his knees.
Caleb looked up to find the small man smoking his cigarette. He came forward with a smile, the glint of something metal in his hands drawing Caleb’s attention. The man stopped in front of Caleb and smiled. Before Caleb could say anything, he was punched in the face with what felt like a train. He saw stars and his mouth filled with a warm metallic liquid. Spitting, he found blood now on the ground. Something warm trickled down his face and he glared up at the cigarette smoking man. “Why are you doing this?” Caleb questioned his voice low and anger very present.
Chuckling, the man in front of him took the cigarette out of his mouth. “Ya see. One of my mates told me tha ya made his woman cry. I owe him a favor and he tol me ta make sure ya don do it again” He knelt down and pressed his lit cigarette into Caleb’s forehead. Caleb gritted his teeth and growled through them at the sensation of the cigarette burning its way through his flesh.
Breathing a bit heavy, Caleb looked up at the man as he stood; a fierce anger behind his brown eyed glare. The only woman he had made cry was Jasmine. That meant Jasmine had been sleeping with some thug. The bitch deserved the cretin then. He shouldn’t have told Caleb that.
A slip of a smile formed on Caleb’s lips. None of the men there seemed to notice. “I guess you can’t perform you own favors. You have to hire monkeys to do it for you.” He sneered, the two men holding him, tightening their grip with angry looks on their beefy faces. The man who had been smoking the cigarette turned frowned and made a motion with his hand. Caleb was pulled up to his feet and instantly the man dug his fist into Caleb’s stomach.
Caleb coughed and chuckled some, another blow coming. The man didn’t like getting talked back to it seemed. “Pathetic, you didn’t put much strength behind that did you.” Caleb said, looking at the man, his head rolling back some to face the sky.
That made the cigarette man quite angry as he growled and poured a flurry of physical abuse onto Caleb. Hits came for a good minute before the man stopped his breath heavy. Caleb’s breaths were shallow. He was still smiling tough. Spitting up more blood, he looked up at the man who had just been beating on him. “That all you got?” He questioned, though his voice was weak.
The man snarled and turned around, walking back towards the entrance to the pub. “Do wha you want with ‘im.” He told the two brutes who were still holding tightly to Caleb’s arms. They looked at each other and let go of Caleb. He dropped to the ground, body weak from abuse. His spirit was still strong though. Looking up at the two men he smiled. It was a mistake to let him go.
He rolled out of the way of the first man’s kick and used the dumpster to help him up. He pulled himself to the side when one of the men came barreling at him. The dumpster shook at the impact. Caleb pushed himself forward, using the momentum from his legs to get the other big man in the face with his fist. His opponent hadn’t been expecting that and took a few steps back. Caleb moves his feet and tripped the larger man, his own size working against him.
Spinning around, he squatted as the other man came running towards him, yet again. If he hadn’t learned that charging at people was bad by now, he would soon. Pushing into the man’s hips with his shoulder, the moment from running caused him to spin to the side and crash into a brick wall head first. Standing, Caleb dusted himself off and limped out of the alley. He didn’t generally fight like this unless he was angry and he had tried to not be angry, but that was just too hard at this point. Caleb just wasn't very nice when he was angry.~~~
~~~
It had been a few hours since Caleb had left the apartment after finding Jasmine in bed with another man. He hadn’t necessarily cooled off yet, but he really didn’t really want to go over to someone else's place looking like this. He would just go in, pack a bag of clothing and go over to his father’s place. It wouldn’t be too bad.
He paused in front of the apartment building, sighing before opening the door and making his way up the stairs. He walked slowly up them, slower than he had in a long time. His body was sore and his mental state was trying to comprehend the day in its entirety, trying to keep his mind off of everything at the same time. When he reached his floor, he walked to his door and stopped. He glared at the door and wondered how many other men had used it to come in to see his girlfriend. Shaking his head some, he tried to push the thoughts out.
Fishing the keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was quiet and all the lights were off. He frowned even more and turned on the lights. He looked to the left and there was a letter on the table. It had his name on it. His hand shook lightly as he reached out to grab it. Opening it, there was a note inside. It was Jasmine’s handwriting.‘I’ve gone to Lauren’s place. I thought that you might want some time. Call me, please. I’m sorry.
-Jasmine
Caleb crumpled up the paper and trough it in the trashcan after he had walked into the apartment a bit more. Of course she was at Lauren’s place. She probably was with that man again, fucking him right now. A burst of anger flared up inside of Caleb, but he just ignored it and threw his keys onto the table.
He made it to the bathroom and stripped down, turning on the shower. Hopping in, it scalded his skin it was so hot. He hissed, but made no move to cool it off. He scrubbed his body. The cuts stung and he felt bruises forming on his face. He needed to get clean. He needed to get rid of the blood and the filth on his body. He needed to get rid of the linger touch he still could feel when Jasmine tried to explain why he had found her in bed with another man.
Caleb couldn’t help it when the tears fell. His body shook as he pressed his burned forehead against the moistened, cool tiles of his shower. Did he do something to piss off some greater being? He weakly hit the wall in front of him, gritting his teeth and lifting his head so that the burning water was hitting him in the face. This just wasn’t fair.
He got out of the shower and dried off, walking into his bedroom and grabbing cloths out of the closet, he changed into jeans and a long sleeved green shirt. He pulled out a duffel bag and shoved other clothing into it, throwing in a pair of tennis shoes as well. He pulled on a pair of black boots and a brown leather jacket. Hoisting the packed bag up onto his shoulder he turned and started to walk out of the door. He stopped in the door way, looking back and sighing. There was no way he would ever sleep in that bed again.
He left the apartment and went to go find his car. He had the keys pulled out and stopped in front of where it should have been. It wasn’t there. He walked all up and down the street. It wasn’t anywhere. Either Jasmine had taken it or his car had been stolen. That was just fan-fucking-tastic.
So he walked. It would take him about an hour, but he could make it to his father’s place in about that time. It would be quite late by the time he got there, but he knew that his family would understand they always did.
A half hour into the walk and Caleb’s shoulder was getting sore from holding up the weight of the bag. He switched arms and happened to glance down an alley way. What he saw confused him greatly.
There was what looked to be a giant pit in the ground at the end of the dead end alley. Looking around, he saw that he was one of only a few others walking around in this area of town at night. He stepped into the alley, thinking that he should probably go back to the street. It wasn’t exactly the best part of town that he was lingering in.
He walked down and his brow furrowed. There was indeed a large hole in the ground. Hesitantly, he looked over the edge and he couldn’t see the bottom. It could only be a few feet deep though; the street lamps didn’t fully reach this far into the alley. Shaking his head in confusion, he made to turn around and leave.
Hands were suddenly on his back and he was pushed, his duffel bag forcefully ripped from his hands. Caleb lost his footing as he was turning around and he his left foot settled on the edge of the pit, the loose ground crumbling away under his weight. His eyes caught hold of a strange figure in a black hood right before he plummeted into the pit.
He yelled as he fell, not expecting to have been pushed. Everything was black and his heart felt as though it was beating out of his chest. He was going to die. He was going to die, falling down a pit in the middle of the city. He truly, truly wished that he was somewhere else right now; anywhere else but here.
That was his last thought before everything went black.~~~
The sound of high pitched chit-chat woke Caleb up. His sense of hearing came back first. The next thing he knew, he felt something poking him in the cheek. His eyes fluttered open, the scent of dirt and green things coming to him. Blinking, his eyes got used to the light rather quickly and everything came into focus.
He was lying on the ground, trees surrounding him, but for a small clearing he was in. The air was fresh and felt cool. Groaning, he blinking again and then his eyes narrowed in confusion. Sitting right in front of him was a white mouse, wearing sunglasses. It had a black stick in its hand, standing with both front paws on top of it. Caleb frowned and the mouse seemed to frown too, as much as a mouse could frown. Quite quickly it moved its black stick and thrust it right into Caleb’s forehead. Now, that wouldn’t have been so bad if hadn’t recently acquired a burn right where the end of the stick stuck.
Caleb shot up from lying to sitting, grabbing his forehead; the poking of his burn had caused quite some pain, even though it was rather shallow. “What the bloody hell was that for?” He yelled, feeling like an idiot for yelling at a mouse. The mouse didn’t answer him, but the two mice standing behind it sounded as though they were laughing. They also had guitars strapped around their backs.
“He’s alive; we better hurry so we don’t miss our next show.” The mouse that had been standing in front of him said. Caleb just stared, not entirely sure what to think. They looked like any normal mouse; small, furry with little whiskers. The all turned around and walked off into the clearing, leaving Caleb there to himself.
A very confused look was on his features, but he shook his head and stood up, adjusting his jacket. The last thing he remembered was falling, but that couldn’t be right, could it? Turning around in a circle, he found that he was indeed in a clearing. There was a forest as far as he could see, circling all around him. He took a step forward and nearly fell as he stepped on a rather large, hard, and circular object. He adjusted his balance and lifted his foot. Bending down, he picked up what appeared to be a softball sized walnut. Dropping it, he continued walking, though looking around for anymore of the dangerous nuts. The leaves on the trees were in the process of turning colors. It was fall though, so that should make sense.
He walked the perimeter of the clearing. Once he had done that, he move back to where he had woken up, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. The only conclusion he could make was that he was hallucinating. Where else could he find little white mice that spoke and wore glasses? That had to be the only reasonable explanation. There was a possibility that he was dreaming, but it was always said that you can’t feel pain when you are dreaming. Plus, Caleb had never had such a lucid dream before in his entire life. He supposed he could be dead, what with falling into a pit and such, but in all honesty, Caleb was just going to chalk that up as part of his hallucination. He was probably standing in the end of the alley way, looking like some mental patient. Then a thought occurred to him:
‘Well, isn’t it bad to move around when you are hallucinating?’
And so, he sat there. He didn’t know for how long, he just did. The sun was low in the sky when he had started to contemplate getting up. His limbs were stiff from being in one place, but of course it could be dangerous to move if you were hallucinating. The crunch of dead leaves alerted him to the fact that something was nearby. He turned his head in the direction of the noise and within moments, a young, maybe adolescent woman popped into view. Her brown hair was knotted on the back of her head and she was wearing a pale yellow sundress. There was a basket in her hand and she started to bend over to pick up some of the nuts that were in the clearing when she noticed him. Pausing, she stared at him and he just smiled and waved, trying to be patient for whenever this hallucination would end. Hell, it was better than facing bitter reality at this point. Might as well enjoy not having to deal with the shitty day he had been having.
Standing up straight, the girl walked up to him and frowned. “What are you doing?” She questioned and he looked up at her with a goofy smile.
“Just sitting here.” He responded and then looked away, not wanting to fraternize with anyone that wasn’t real.
“I can see that. Why are you sitting here?” She tried again at coxing an answer out of him.
“I’m hallucinating. If I get up and move around I could be endangering my real body.” He stated matter of fact like, nodding his head as if convincing himself that his stiff and sore joints were worth it. The girl pursed her lips, her brow furrowed in an unsure expression.
“You’re not hallucinating.” She was giving him quite the look and he didn’t like it. Looking up at the girl, he frowned himself.
“If I’m not hallucinating than my name is not Caleb.” He was very thirsty he realized. Hungry too as his stomach seemed to emphasize his name. The girl rolled her eyes.
“Okay, ‘Not Caleb.’ You’re not hallucinating.”
“If you think I’m not hallucinating than explain why the hell I saw a group of three mice walking around with sunglasses and guitars?”He seemed sure of himself now; as though he had shown the ‘fake’ girl that he did know a thing or two.
“They’re the three blind eyes band.” She responded, a deadly serious look in her face. “Where have you been, living in a cave?” He just looked at her, more like glared before turned away from her, scooting his body around so that his back was to her.
“Go finish picking up your fake nuts.” He muttered and hunched over, elbows on his knees. The girl scoffed and turned around. She went around and started picking up the nuts, looking at them closely before deciding whether or not to put them in the basket. After a while, she stopped, sighed, and walked back over towards Caleb.
“Come on, I can take you to town. You must be hungry.” She offered, frowning lightly, but looking kind enough. Caleb looked over at her, brown eyes contemplating her offer before shaking his head no.
“I’m not hungry. I’ll be fine.” The girl looked exasperated now.
“I heard your stomach growl.”
“No you didn’t.” Caleb replied, looking dead serious. The girl looked as though she was trying not to lose her patients and then failed.
“Oh come off it! You must be mad in the head. You know what fine. Have it your way. I’ll leave you in the woods for the bears.” She turned around and started to walk off. At the mention of bears, Caleb decided that he would rather take his chances if he was hallucinating.
“W-wait!” He called and stumbled into a standing position. He caught up with her and tried to look cool, shoving his hands into his pockets. She just rolled her eyes. “I could do with a bite to eat.” He muttered.
A little ways into the forest, Caleb was feeling a bit uncomfortable. The girl hadn’t said a thing yet and he felt as though he might die at any moment. If he actually was hallucinating, than his body could be anywhere, walking around. Of course, there was the possibility that this whole thing was real…though that seemed a bit hard to believe at this point. Caleb had never been a child to really believe in fairy tales.
“My names Caleb.” He then said out loud, hoping that the girl would respond likewise. She looked to him, a coy expression on her young face.
“Oh really, I thought it was Not Caleb.” She smiled lightly afterwards, obviously meaning it as a joke. Caleb just mocked her and gave her a look. “I’m Beth.” She finally introduced herself, blue eyes staying on Caleb’s face. “What happened to your face?” She then asked, scrunching up her nose a bit.
“I got into a fight.” Caleb replied simply, shrugging his shoulders. His closed answer made it obvious to the girl that he didn’t want to give details.
“Yea?” Her eyebrows went high and she shook her head some.
“Yea.” Caleb wasn’t really sure what to make of his situation now.
The rest of the trip through the forest was quiet. Beth led him to a road and they followed it for a good amount of time. The sun was nearly gone by the time they made it to a small town. The houses were made of wood but there were old gas lamps lining the dirt packed road. An elderly man was in the process of lighting them as Caleb and Beth entered the town. He didn’t even look up to see who was there, so engrossed in his job he was.
Caleb nearly ran into Beth as he had been staring at the man so intently that he hadn’t notice her stop in front of him. “What’s up?” He questioned and she gave him a funny look, as though she had never heard that phrase before in her life.
“The inn is right over there.” She pointed to a two or three story building with windows and light music coming out of the open door. “It only costs twenty copper.” She said and started on her way.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Caleb grabbed her by the arm and spun her to face him. “It costs what now?” He questioned and she frowned.
“Twenty copper.”
“Copper? I don’t have anything like that.” He questioned and Beth looked at him as though he had two heads.
“You don’t have any money is what you’re saying.” She said, eyes narrowing in thought. Caleb shook his head. He didn’t have any money that he figured they would take. Great, now he was broke in a world his mind had made up. Awesome. The girl sighed and motioned for him to follow. “Fine, you can stay at my house for the night. My sister is always telling me to be nicer to strangers anyways.” Caleb smiled and happily followed the girl, though part of him wondered if he really was making all of this up.
They walked through the town, coming towards the outskirts on the opposite side. Beth stopped in front of a wooden house and opened the door. “Sister! I’m home. I’ve brought a guest.” She called out. Caleb followed her inside, shutting the door behind her. The house was warm and open. He could see two other doors leading to some other room, but right inside the door they had entered was a large and open room. There was a fire place made out of stone on the far wall, a fire going with a pot hanging over it. The scent of food had permeated the air and Caleb’s mouth began to water. He was quite hungry it seemed.
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