villains that live in my head;

Myles was walking back through the hallways towards his and Lex’s room when the room seemed to turn sideways. He was quick to reach out and place his hand against the closest wall, holding himself up as he closed his eyes and tried to take a few deep breaths in to keep from throwing up. When he thought he felt better, he opened his eyes and tried to start walking again only to have his feet give out from underneath him, sending him falling down to the floor.

Today in particular, was a day of disappearances. Trooper was her loyal companion, he walked with her back and forth the limits of the motel. He enjoyed it, she enjoyed it. Even the times when she would sit down to knit or have a small lunch. After a while of solitude, Riley began to make her way back to her room. It was then that she saw him, holding onto dear life before crashing down on the floor. In a quick movement, Riley came to his aid; kneeling down to check on him. It was odd, seeing someone get sick. It had been years since she last saw someone like this, and wondered what triggered this. 

“Hey, hey - it’s okay. I’ll - ..” The girl looked to her surroundings, hoping to catch sight of someone, anyone - but there was no one to help. Almost acting on instinct, Riley searched up for cloth in her backpack and a bit of alcohol that she supposed could help. She soaked up the cloth in the substance and placed it by his nose. There was not much she could do but stay there, hoping he got consciousness so they could move away from the open hallway. If only she could get a grasp of Billie. 

“That’s the perk of being a dog, everyone likes you..” Riley couldn’t contain her laughter and after a while, she let herself relax over the blankets. This almost seemed like a daydream, a weird invention of her mind. A vision, a hallucination. It had been a long while since she last felt at home, or just genuinely happy and it was all because of him. Blue hues focused on his figure as she laid on the ground, what if this was just a dream? What if, this wasn’t even real. Riley poked her brother on the shoulder, just to make sure. There were times when she could see things that weren’t really there. Her mind always played tricks and she needed to be sure. 

“And anyone who doesn’t, well they’re probably just assholes,” Rylan replied, laughing along with his sister. Feeling a finger poke him gently, he looked over at Riley and smiled. He had missed this, it had been such a long time since he was able to hang out with his sister like this. To just have fun and laugh with her. Even when they had still been together before the hunters had attacked their group, things had never been as fun as this. While the warehouse was horrible, he supposed it brought some sort of comfort being on the inside and feeling as though nothing could get you. “Think this is the best Christmas we’ve had in a while.”

Riley had almost forgotten about the dining hall incident. Pristine blue eyes looked down at the floor, hands trying to find something to do. “I - well. I’m better..” It felt odd to talk about things like that with someone. Usually no one ever dared to ask, only the doctor had spoken to her a few times not that she had ever allowed herself to share too much. “You did look a bit crazy back there, at least your friend got you level headed. Is she - is she your girlfriend, Ry?” Riley finally asked, curious about her since the moment they arrived at the warehouse. “You’re always with her..”

Rylan could only hope that Riley really did feel better, or as good as she could given the circumstances. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth at her words, wondering what she would think of him had she known what he had done when he was held captive by the hunters that had attacked their group the night they were separated. “Yeah luckily Tatum was there to keep me from screwing everything up,” he agreed. A small laugh managed to escape Rylan lips at his sisters question. “No she’s not. We’re just good friends.”

Riley had always been a bit more introverted than Rylan. Even in kindergarten, she was always that one girl who sat by herself playing with Legos. She had never cared much for anything else, being by herself had always felt okay. And because of it, she found the time to do many things others didn’t quite knew how to do. She learned to knit, gardening, she enjoyed reading and just loved activities that required in some form to be alone. Surely, some of that served to be useful in the midst of the outbreak. A big smile adorned her lips, glad someone at least appreciated the little things she did. She laughed, though it was small. “No, I didn’t. I made one for your friends too..” She mentioned, as she showed him another smaller set of tiny packages. “I have enough wool so I figured it would be nice to do something nice.” Riley shrugged. She only spoke to Myles once or twice, but if he helped her brother, then he was automatically on Riley’s good list.

“Well now I definitely know you are trying to tell me my feet smell, because their feet reek,” Rylan joked. He placed the items just beside him on the floor, his eyes catching sight of the other packages by Riley. He smiled at her, “They’ll appreciate it. I’m pretty sure neither of them have gotten gifts in ages so they’ll be surprised,” he told his sister. Rylan shifted in his seat, leaning forward to grab a cookie that was placed on the blanket before him. He took a bite of it, while they weren’t exactly fresh, they still had a decent taste to them and he didn’t hesitate to grab another one before leaning back against the boxes. “I’m sorry about the other day…in the dining hall. I freaked out, I should have listened to you. How have you been feeling?”

Riley’s eyes were trained in her brother. She wanted to see his reaction to the small place she had arranged for them. A soft smile lingered on her lips as she sat there, for a small fraction of second, everything felt like home. Flashbacks of dreamy Christmases came to mind. Of when they sat by the tree to open presents, the laughs of her parents as they tore down the wrapping paper. A happy sigh left her lips, this was what she wanted truly. She hadn’t expected her brother to give her something. Nowadays, it wasn’t easy to take hold of possessions. Riley only had a few clothes that were only hers, she had pictures of her family from a small album she took before departing their home. She had her mother’s necklace, her still surviving school bag which she had stored everything in. It wasn’t much but at least it was something.

She wondered what the present could be, though she soon got the answer. Blue hues peeked into the brown bag and saw an array of seeds. Surely, Rylan knew of her favorite hobby. Sadly, she would have to wait until winter was over to attempt planting them. One thing was certain, her smile wouldn’t fade anytime soon. “You didn’t have to, Ry..” She started, though soon after she outstretched a small package to him. It was wrapped in a cloth, shoelaces tying everything up into a nice squared gift. “I - this is for you..” Within the cloth, was a pair of black knitted gloves and matching socks. Items she made from scratch.

Rylan took a seat by Riley and leaned his back against a box that luckily was full of enough items to hold up his weight. “I would have gotten you something better but there isn’t much out there anymore,” he told her honestly. He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled as he watched the smile never fade his sisters face. “Besides when we get out of here were going to need to make our own garden somewhere,” he told her, reminding her that getting out of the warehouse was still the plan. Eyebrows rose as he saw her hold out an item to him, cloth and shoelaces made to look like a package. It looked far better than his brown paper bag. 

Rylan uncrossed his arms and gently took hold of the item. “This was all enough. You didn’t have to give me anything,” he said, motioning his head to the set up around them. He slowly opened the packaging and took out the gloves and socks with a smile on his face. Riley was far more talented than him when it came to creating things. “These are great Riley. Although I’m not sure if the socks are you being thoughtful or you trying to tell me my feet stink,” he teased her, a small laugh passing his lips.