NOVEL NEXT 113: There, Not Here
PEYDRAN
"Ungh," I grunted awake, blinking bleary eyes. "Honey?" Ren's forehead mashed into my belly button— hard. The pale light of early morning peeked through the windows as my husband rocked his head back and forth on my stomach.
Fear spiked through me, "Ren?! Ren!" No response. I put my hands under his shoulders and pulled him to me. I couldn't feel his mind. Maybe he'd been trying to get into my mind through my navel? I held his head to my chest and sat up, rocking him. He was unresponsive.
He'd been composing for two days, and we'd sent the boys to my parent's house in media for a long weekend, so the house was empty. Continuing to rock Ren, I sat cross-legged and pulled him into my lap. He pushed his head into my breast bone, inconsolable, but I had no idea what was going on. My mind tried to catalog everything. If something was wrong with the boys, my parents would have called.
I sent a commands to our pads and both floated over in front of me. I scrolled through them and found nothing worrisome. No news from Ryst or Nayth. Nothing from my parents.
I looked through Ren's most recent files. Plenty of music and lyrics. Nothing that looked concerning. I ran my hands over his whole body. Nothing seemed out of place. I took long, slow, deep breaths. Ren's breathing began to calm and slow in time with mine.
I kept rocking him, and with his arms wrapped around my waist, he relaxed against me. He started sobbing into my chest. I had no idea why he was upset, none at all, but I held him and stroked my metal hand down his spine. "I've got you, love. I'm here, Ren. I'm here. I love you. I've got you, Ro. I love you."
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Ren stood up and took my hand, pulling me to my feet. He headed for the bedroom door, but since I was in boxers, I stopped and pulled on lounge pants and a sweatshirt. Ren kept going through the apartment towards the front door, so I stopped him again, and we put on shoes. He took my hand and led me up the hill towards Ryst and Nayth's casita.
When we got there, Ren unlocked the door with his thumb on the keypad and went inside. I followed him. The house was completely quiet. He kept going to the bedroom. The empty bedroom. The empty bed. With duvet askance, as though someone had just gotten up and not made it.
I looked around, but the apartment was completely vacant. Ren crawled onto the bed, planted his face in the mattress, and curled up in a ball. He stayed that way for a while, so I sat next to him. Listening and being open, but utterly bewildered.
Finally, Ren sat up, looked me in the face and said, "They're not here. They're there."
"What do you mean, Ren?"
"They're not here. They're there. It's going to be okay, Peydran."
"What's going to be okay?"
"They're gone, but not gone."
My stomach dropped out of my body and kept going down, down, down. "Gone?"
Ren nodded. "They're not here. They're there."
"Where's there?"
"Not here. Ryst won't hurt ever again."
My heart felt like it would explode.
"Where's Ryst, Ren?" I asked, trying not to panic.
"Gone. There. Not here. She'll never hurt again, Peydran. I will always hear her song."
Tears ran down my cheeks. "Where's Nayth?" I whispered.
"Laughing at her side, of course. He always said he'd follow."
"Ren, where are they?"
"There. Not here."
"Where's there?"
"Home."
Ren fell asleep. He'd been composing for forty-eight hours straight and would probably sleep for a whole day. I picked him up and carried him home, tucked him into bed, and crawled in with him, wondering what had happened to my best friends and why their house was empty.