บท 8: The Hero and the Haunting

Six hours!

It was not easy to reach Flynn's childhood home, Sunray estate.

The Sun hadn't set yet.

Since it was the latter part of winter, the daytime was comparatively longer than that of the mid-winter.

'The Sunray manor' stood tall in the white snow background. It was impressive in a strange way. The house was a little old, yet embellished. If it was summer, The Sunray manor would be more splendid with a green environment. Rhea's uncle Raymond maintained a garden, which was all white at that moment. Thus there was nothing much to look at around the house.

Mr. Philip, the butler of Sunray manor, gave them a warm welcome. They didn't have much to worry about since all the arrangements were made by Mr. Philip, who was an organized, responsible, and creative man. He welcomed them with refreshments. Rhea could see that he had made additional arrangements, which made them feel like being in a five-star hotel.

The four were exhausted. They were tired because of different reasons. Xander and Flynn were worn out after all the talking. Ryan was tired because of listening to their new kind of nonsense. Flynn directly went to his room and locked the door, out of habit. Xander too had already gone to his room since Ryan told him to rest for a while.

Mr. Philip guided Ryan upstairs to the Master bedroom. Then he went back.

The room looked like an equivalent of a presidential suite. When Ryan saw that king bed at the center of the room, he threw himself on the bed then looked around from there. Everything he could need was available.

It was a huge room indeed and very well furnished. But he felt the interior design was a bit strange yet familiar. It was a combination of American and Chinese styles. It was appeasing. They must have changed the design specially for him.

He was touched!

'It is a lot of luxury for a freeloader' he thought. He shook his head with a smile, stood up from the bed, and walked towards the door.

At that time, Mr. Philip had returned with a new set of clean towels.

"This room looks good. Thank you, Mr. Philip", he heartily thanked the man who had adorned that room.

"You're welcome, Mr. Ryan. But the original idea was from little miss"

"Oh," Ryan nodded.

Ryan knew who that 'little miss' was. He was pleased.

Once Mr. Philip made sure Ryan doesn't need anything else he went downstairs.

Meanwhile, Rhea was wondering if Ryan really liked the arrangements. But she didn't go upstairs since she knew he was with Mr. Philip. There was no need for her to be there at that moment. She was tired as well. She was the one who did the hardest of all the works, driving. But she couldn't rest as she usually doesn't rest in the daytime. She went to the kitchen and asked the cook about the dinner. She had asked them to prepare some Chinese dishes as well. At last, she went upstairs to her room. She used to stay in the same room whenever she visited Fairbanks. It was like her own room. She took a warm bath to chase away the fatigue. At the time she finished, someone knocked on the door.

Flynn was the only one who used to knock on her door like that. But this time, the knock seemed a lot calmer, unlike Flynn's hasty rat-tats.

"Could you give me a minute?" She hastily got dressed, opened the door to see Ryan.

He stood there with crossed arms, wearing a nonchalant expression.

It was not so surprising anymore!

Ryan appearing before her had become a normal event in the past few days. But still, every time he turns up, she felt a mixture of feelings like nervousness and happiness. This seemed unavoidable.

"Are you tired?" he asked, with a stern face.

Of course, she was. But she can't rest in this mood anyway. So she replied "Not really"

"Got any plans?" he asked, then pursed his lips.

"Since others are sleeping, no. Why?"

"I'm bored!" he said clearly then waited for her response.

"Do you need..." she started to speak to which he interrupted.

"It's frustrating. I got nothing to do. Nothing seems interesting in my room!"

Though Ryan had been behaving like a spoiled child recently, especially when they are alone, she didn't expect him to appear before her to make a complaint that soon.

"What can I do for you?" she politely asked. Rhea felt as if she had become his hotel attendant.

He really looked like a kid who was bored with his toys. To be franker, now, when she clearly observed his face, she felt like she had become the babysitter of the child who was standing before her.

"I am just bored you know. I want to do something interesting. Something fun and interesting"

"Mr. Ryan, did Flynn bite you?"

"What?"

"You talk like him. I think you are infected"

"Do I?"

"Yeah. Maybe the side effect of continuously listening to him!" she told him with compassion. "But, don't you want to take a nap? Aren't you tired?" she continued.

"No, I don't want to..."

"What would you like to do then?"

"Can you show me around the mansion?" Ryan asked as if that old house was some important tourist location.

"The mansion?"

"Yes. I've heard about the indoor air quality maintenance methods and ventilation strategies in Alaskan houses. So I would like to have a look at the house to learn more about them!"

Though Rhea was a brilliant girl, what Ryan told her sounded like something from a science book in her secondary school. She did know those things, but not enough to explain them in Flynn's house.

"I'll call Flynn. He knows better. It's his house so…"

"No!" Before Rhea could finish Ryan interrupted.

Rhea was surprised. He not only cut in but also looked strange. It was obvious that he didn't know what to say next.

"What's wrong?" Rhea instigated him to talk.

"It's your duty!"

'Duty? How come...', before she could finish, her thought was interrupted. Now he is even interrupting her thoughts!

"You are my tour guide," he paused.

"If you don't know those things, that's ok! But can you just show me around the house?"

"Ok. I'll try my best. But some advanced architectural features are unknown to me."

"It's fine. I will ask if I'm not satisfied with the explanation."

"Ok"

"Ok!"

Though she agreed, she didn't move. She was worried whether he had reverted to his intransigent mode. He was friendly after the conversation they had yesterday. But now, he sounded like a general in command.

Seeing her gazing at him he spoke again, "Don't slack off! I've got only one more day here!"

'One more day!'

She had known this. But when he told her so, she felt that this truth had become quite disturbing. Before she could react, he lost his patience, held her hand, and dragged her to the last room in that long corridor.

"Start from here!"

He was looking at her as if he is very much interested in learning something new.

Rhea turned towards that room but to her surprise, it was a simple bedroom with only one bed inside. There was nothing much to describe. She confusedly looked at Ryan. He was still looking at her.

Rhea looked at the room again. This room had been unused for a very long time. There were no specific 'architectural features' which were special about that room. She couldn't understand what she needed to say about a bedroom. No matter how many times she looked, she could only see a bed. That was all. There was not even a chair. She looked at him again with incertitude.

"Explain!" he was still looking at her.

'Explain?'

Rhea hesitantly lifted her right hand and pointed to the bed, "That's a bed! It is a piece of furniture used for sleep or rest!"

"Ok!" Ryan was listening 'attentively'. After a moment or two, he finally understood what she just said...

"What?", Now only he turned his head towards the room.

"Other than that, there is nothing in that room" she continued. Looking at him being dazed, Rhea couldn't help but titter then hastily hid her smile by rubbing her nose on her sweater sleeve.

In truth, when Ryan came to her, he just wanted to thank her for the arrangements. But when he saw her, he wanted to stay a little more there and provoke her. He used the boredom to provoke her and came up with a reason to stay with her. When she hesitated, he somehow wanted to make her agree, so only focused on dragging her into his plan, and didn't sincerely concentrated on what was inside the room.

Ryan never makes silly mistakes. He is always concentrated and careful about what he did. But this time, it seems to be a different case. He had really made a grave mistake that could expose his true intentions.

Is he exposed?

He analyzed Rhea who stood in the area of his indirect vision. Judging from her body language, he could understand that she was hiding and suppressing her laughter. But he wasn't sure if she really caught him or not. Whatever it is, he wanted to manage the situation!

At that time Rhea intentionally added, "Do you see anything else inside?"

After asking so, she couldn't hold in her laughter, so stepped back out of his vision, covered her mouth with both hands, and continued to laugh, without making any noise. She was shaking with laughter.

But she didn't realize that she had already, unconsciously given him the idea to divert the situation. A way to reroute her mind from his awkward mistake.

After a long pause, he spoke.

"I see... a woman sitting on the bed!"

Though the sun hadn't set yet, it was quite dark inside. They could see each other and the room as well, but the lighting felt somewhat scary. His voice modulation was as calm as ever, yet intense. The way he said the words really gave her the feeling that there really was someone inside that room. Her smile froze.

'He must be lying' she calmed herself.

"She is wearing all black and..." he continued to attack, "...and her hair seems to be a mess!"

Rhea who had always been scared of darkness and ghosts from her childhood because of Flynn's tricks couldn't help but fear this time.

Ryan just gave the 'ghost idea' a try. Of course, he didn't know if she was afraid or not, but now it seemed to be working. She fell silent so Ryan happily continued, "There is also a little girl standing beside her. Her eyes are... DARK!".

His voice was still angelic, but the way he said the words gave her chills. It was like he was telling her a horror story!

"Mr. Ryan" she was almost inaudible. He felt Rhea stepping behind him as if she was hiding"

"And... she is looking... No! glaring at y..." before he could finish Rhea suddenly held his hand.

"Mr. Ryan, stop joking. Let's move to the next room."

Even at that time, Rhea didn't want to lose face so she talked as if she wasn't scared. But her fear was obvious in the hand which held his.

He felt guilty!

He really wanted to comfort her at that moment so turned to her.

"Look at me. Look at me. I was lying. I don't really see anyone. That was a lie. Are you that scared?"

"I am not!"

"It's ok. No need to be scared when I'm here" he lightly patted her cheek. She continued to look at him in the eye."

"I wasn't", she firmly denied.

Her persistence seemed funny and adorable. With suppressed laughter, his eyes grew softer.

"Ok. Let's move to the next room!", he walked past her.

"Wait!" she hurriedly stepped forward clutched his t-shirt sleeve near his wrist! She was scared to walk alone. He who had already expected her to follow closely stopped then held her hand which was cold as ice!

She titled her head and looked at their hands with puzzlement.

"It's ok. I'll lend my precious hand to you!"

She hurriedly grabbed his warm hand. "Thanks," she said.

Even though he had been dragging her here and there, seizing her wrist before, holding hands really felt a bit... different!

Rhea wanted to turn on the lights soon but the switches were almost at the end of that long corridor. So she had to hold his hand till then.

When the two reached near the switch, Rhea switched on the lights then pulled her hand back.

"So you don't need my hand anymore?"

"I never actually needed to hold your hand. I did it because one of us may fall since it's dark" she boldly lied. Of course, she would never agree that she was scared!

"Oh really?"

"Yeah," she started to walk in the opposite direction.

"Well," she heard him say that behind her then once again the lights were turned off. Rhea was frightened, turned, and got collided with something! As the lights were on a moment ago, she couldn't immediately see anything clearly. It was pitch dark around her. But she understood that she had collided with Ryan from the faint fragrance coming from him. She grasped his t-shirt near his abdomen, to stabilize herself.

"Mr. Ryan, turn on the lights. I... I..." she stammered while tightly grasping the t-shirt.

"Rhea, who is that lady behind you?" he mercilessly continued to frighten her. Rhea was truly horrified this time and without a second option, she buried her face into his chest with tightly closed eyes, and quickly, lightly stomped her feet nonstop on the ground, as if she was quick marching.

Ryan ended up being his worst enemy this time.

The moment she hugged him, he was frozen! His hand was on the switchboard but he was still not able to or to be more precise, not willing to switch on the lights.

"Please, please" she almost begged this time.

He felt guilty, once again! Snapped back to the situation, he switched on the lights.

With tightly closed eyes, and face which was buried in Ryan's chest Rhea didn't know the lights were on.

Ryan was still motionless. Seeing him not responding for a long time to her pleads, Rhea slightly withdrew from her position then slightly opened the right eye. She could see his black t-shirt a few millimeters away. The lights were already on! Though she was flustered at first, she was really angry. 'Why the hell he has to be another bully of her life?'

Now that she thinks of it, Ryan had always been mischievous from day one. That's right. To be honest, Flynn had been the only problem of her life so far. But with experience, Flynn had already become predictable to her. Flynn doing those kinds of things seemed forgivable since he openly did everything. He was talking rubbish and doing rubbish almost to everyone. Also If Rhea didn't like what he was doing, she can simply hate him.

Ryan was the opposite. Rhea simply couldn't predict what he had in his mind. It's been only four days since she met him but she had already seen four types of him. Yes, truly four versions. Silent, but distant Ryan, unreasonable Ryan, friendly Ryan, and now prankish Ryan? Rhea used to believe that he was the silent nerd type of a guy for the past two years. When she met him, she thought he may be a little rude type. But now, she wasn't even sure if he can be categorized.

There was also another big shocking difference between Flynn and Ryan which seriously scared Rhea. No matter what Ryan did, she couldn't bring herself to hate him!

On the other hand, Ryan's eyes were fixated on her. His right hand was still on the switch. The left one was fisted. He too was deep in his thoughts.

His insanely fast heartbeats!

His heart was frantically racing. Of course, he wasn't scared. Ryan was thinking if Rhea had felt the beats a moment ago while hugging him. If so, how would she interpret them?

He wanted to give Rhea a reason for his racing heart straight away. He broke the silence.

"I agree. It's really scary here. Even though I was the one who switched off the lights, I was afraid as well and my heart was racing a moment ago!."

'What a sloppy reasoning!' he blamed himself inside his head. At that time, that was all he could think of. It's better to have something instead of nothing!

'Light? Heart? Race? Dark?', Rhea who was lost in her thoughts finally realized what he was talking about. She realized that she was still all clingy to him.

She hurriedly pulled back her hand from his t-shirt.

He was too busy trying to find if she believed that or not! So he just examined her face.

Looking at her flushed expression, he understood that she was really angry. He knew that he was a meanie a few minutes ago. He immediately felt the urge to cool her down. What will he do if she says that she can't accompany him anymore?

"Rhea I'm really scared. Trust me. I'm really really scared. So can you lend me a hand? When looking around?"

Rhea was still angry. She didn't reply.

"Rhea, you took advantage of me a moment ago, and now you are backing off when I'm asking for help?"

Rhea was really speechless this time.

'Took advantage of him...'

She didn't know how to respond. Although he was at fault, she couldn't argue that she was right either.

Her face was already flushed, but now he could clearly witness her whole face reddening more. He tilted his head then just kept staring.

"Do you really need to look around the house?" she reluctantly asked.

"I do!" he made a curious face then stretched his hand towards her.

With an irresolute expression, she looked at the hand he had stretched.

"Are you really scared?", she asked him without even an ounce of trust.

"I am!", he made an innocent face this time.

'Unbelievable, No wonder you are an actor,' she thought.

Now Rhea was not sure if he is naturally unaware or purposely doing everything. She even wondered if she looks like a pushover. But seeing him being all innocent for the very first time, Rhea's hand raised. He held it in his hand carefully. Then started to walk while dragging her once again.