SPLINTERED
Running his hands through his hair, another man who looked eerily similar to Stanton stood at the corner of Crystal Ave and Tsienneto Street. It was still mid-morning, though there were dark clouds looming in the sky above his head. A warm breeze passed by, ruffling the long strands of black hair hanging down his back. He then checked his watch to see that it was the appropriate time before leaning against the lamp post, strong arms crossing over his chest. A lightweight jacket, the same color as coal, covered him from the rain that was to fall shortly from those thunderclouds above. Black was obviously the new black these days.
“She’s late,” he mused while glancing up and down the street from behind his own pair of sunglasses. They were identical to the other man’s, thick and dark. Only, while Stanton was able to remove his whenever he so chose, Ridic could not. His eyes were different than his counterpart’s, made of something more light sensitive than the usual eye. Rarely did the man standing on the sidewalk talk about his optical impariment, passing it off as an accident or flat out lying. They weren’t an accident, he had wanted them.
As a hand lifted to run over his sturdy, smooth jaw, a silver ring glinted in the dim light coming from the sky. There was some inscription in the otherwise plain surface, the letters not looking anything like English and more like squiggles. A bead of white shone off the ring as he stopped his hand, eyes locating the young woman he was waiting for. She was talking with another female, walking lazily as they laughed about this or that. Ridic raised a brow in amusement as he turned his head away, the rain beginning to fall.
“Oh! I can’t believes it’s raining!” said the redhead on the left, her right, as she held a book up over her head to protect her hair. It looked as though she had spent a lot of time curling it that morning.
“The weatherman said it was supposed to,” replied the other, a brunette that had some purple tint in the strands. Ridic assumed she had dyed it. Her pale hands opened up an umbrella and held it over their heads, a smile on her face.
“Yeah, well they said it wouldn’t rain until, like, noon!” The redhead sighed, but smiled in thanks at her companion as they huddled close together while approaching the end of the street. Neither seemed to even notice Ridic as he stood there while zipping up his jacket casually, but quickly, to look as if he cared. Somehow he always managed to end up in the middle of some kind of rain storm or another, even if it was just a drizzle.
When the two girls passed, he turned and looked over his shoulder at them. They disappeared in to a coffee house down the paved way of Crystal Ave. Eyes lifting with a tilt of his head up, the tall man read the lit up sign attached to the front of the brick building. “The Summit Café? Pft, they don’t know a summit until they’ve been to the top of one of our mountains.” With a shake of his head Ridic made his way in to the coffeehouse, sitting with a slump in at seat by the window closest to the exit. The pair of girls were across the cramped café, sitting on tall chairs at an equally tall, yet small and round, table.
From where he sat, Ridic couldn’t hear them speaking as he looked down at a menu. Curious. The drinks all sounded vaguely the same, nothing giving anyone a real amount of variety among their coffee’s and cola’s. How boring. A waitress came over and looked at the man as he shrugged out of his damp coat, shaking his head to loose his long hair from the cloth. She smiled at him, swaying back and forth on her feet before coming to a stop with her hip popped out to the side. The man rolled his eyes behind his glasses.
“Hi,” she said through an airy tone. “I’m Trish. What can I get for you?” As she spoke he noticed that she moved her head, like trying to find the perfect angle to look at him. Finding her boring, Ridic leaned back in the wire seat and crossed his arms lightly while his right hand pushed the laminated menu away.
“Coca-Cola,” he ordered. “And, Patricia, make it fast.” Voice flat as he spoke, she took the hint and scurried off with a sneer. While she may have found him easy on the eyes, his attitude was not one she cared to consort with. Usually he wasn’t so bad, he thought, but the again Ridic wasn’t exactly the going out-socializing type.
After his drink came several minutes ago, he drank slowly while reading a newspaper. These people had such uneventful lives that they were reporting school theatre productions coming up. Ridic turned the page, deciding maybe a comic would be a better choice than trying to learn about their culture. A part of him wished it was only this one quiet, little town that was as snooze worthy as they were. Sinking feelings in his stomach told him otherwise.
Luckily he was then saved from further reading as the young ladies got up and made for the door after paying at the register. Ridic hastened out the door, leaving a five dollar bill on the table on his way. He might be rude, but he was not cheap--not to mention he had plenty of money to spend anyway. The Grand Council didn’t find it funny when he went off to by convertibles and Jeeps to add to his collection, but there was nothing they could do. Being a prince kind of gave you that “do whatever the heck you want” feeling.
When the pair of women came out of the shop, they turned right and shuffled on down the sidewalk in the spitting rain. It wasn’t unbearable and an umbrella was hardly needed, but they shared anyway. Friends, a feeling Ridic missed now and again. He mulled over his own friends quietly while hanging back, trying not to look suspicious and failing about five minutes in to the trip.
“Want to come in?” he heard one girl ask of the other as he stood behind a gathering of thick bushes and trees. He could not see who had spoken, though his best educated guess was that it had been the redhead.
“I would, but I can’t. I have a paper to work on for English due Friday. I should really go get it done.”
“Ah. Alright, well I’ll see you tomorrow! Bye, Dee!”
“Bye!” The girl left in the rain turned and hopped down the stone steps of the small, white, ranch-style house on her way to the sidewalk. There, however, she paused and looked in Ridic’s direction. “Hmph,” she shrugged and turned to her right, gasping when she found the man in black standing in front of her.
“Hel-” her cry was cut off as he put his ringed hand over her mouth, a finger up to his lips.
“Shh, I’m not gonna hurt you. I need to talk to you.” As the girl tried to back away he sighed, reaching out for her shoulder and spinning her around. When his broad chest touched her shoulder blades, his arms wrapped around her middle. With that they were gone, vanished in to thin air as a tendril of smoke was destroyed by the clearing rain.
“She’s late,” he mused while glancing up and down the street from behind his own pair of sunglasses. They were identical to the other man’s, thick and dark. Only, while Stanton was able to remove his whenever he so chose, Ridic could not. His eyes were different than his counterpart’s, made of something more light sensitive than the usual eye. Rarely did the man standing on the sidewalk talk about his optical impariment, passing it off as an accident or flat out lying. They weren’t an accident, he had wanted them.
As a hand lifted to run over his sturdy, smooth jaw, a silver ring glinted in the dim light coming from the sky. There was some inscription in the otherwise plain surface, the letters not looking anything like English and more like squiggles. A bead of white shone off the ring as he stopped his hand, eyes locating the young woman he was waiting for. She was talking with another female, walking lazily as they laughed about this or that. Ridic raised a brow in amusement as he turned his head away, the rain beginning to fall.
“Oh! I can’t believes it’s raining!” said the redhead on the left, her right, as she held a book up over her head to protect her hair. It looked as though she had spent a lot of time curling it that morning.
“The weatherman said it was supposed to,” replied the other, a brunette that had some purple tint in the strands. Ridic assumed she had dyed it. Her pale hands opened up an umbrella and held it over their heads, a smile on her face.
“Yeah, well they said it wouldn’t rain until, like, noon!” The redhead sighed, but smiled in thanks at her companion as they huddled close together while approaching the end of the street. Neither seemed to even notice Ridic as he stood there while zipping up his jacket casually, but quickly, to look as if he cared. Somehow he always managed to end up in the middle of some kind of rain storm or another, even if it was just a drizzle.
When the two girls passed, he turned and looked over his shoulder at them. They disappeared in to a coffee house down the paved way of Crystal Ave. Eyes lifting with a tilt of his head up, the tall man read the lit up sign attached to the front of the brick building. “The Summit Café? Pft, they don’t know a summit until they’ve been to the top of one of our mountains.” With a shake of his head Ridic made his way in to the coffeehouse, sitting with a slump in at seat by the window closest to the exit. The pair of girls were across the cramped café, sitting on tall chairs at an equally tall, yet small and round, table.
From where he sat, Ridic couldn’t hear them speaking as he looked down at a menu. Curious. The drinks all sounded vaguely the same, nothing giving anyone a real amount of variety among their coffee’s and cola’s. How boring. A waitress came over and looked at the man as he shrugged out of his damp coat, shaking his head to loose his long hair from the cloth. She smiled at him, swaying back and forth on her feet before coming to a stop with her hip popped out to the side. The man rolled his eyes behind his glasses.
“Hi,” she said through an airy tone. “I’m Trish. What can I get for you?” As she spoke he noticed that she moved her head, like trying to find the perfect angle to look at him. Finding her boring, Ridic leaned back in the wire seat and crossed his arms lightly while his right hand pushed the laminated menu away.
“Coca-Cola,” he ordered. “And, Patricia, make it fast.” Voice flat as he spoke, she took the hint and scurried off with a sneer. While she may have found him easy on the eyes, his attitude was not one she cared to consort with. Usually he wasn’t so bad, he thought, but the again Ridic wasn’t exactly the going out-socializing type.
After his drink came several minutes ago, he drank slowly while reading a newspaper. These people had such uneventful lives that they were reporting school theatre productions coming up. Ridic turned the page, deciding maybe a comic would be a better choice than trying to learn about their culture. A part of him wished it was only this one quiet, little town that was as snooze worthy as they were. Sinking feelings in his stomach told him otherwise.
Luckily he was then saved from further reading as the young ladies got up and made for the door after paying at the register. Ridic hastened out the door, leaving a five dollar bill on the table on his way. He might be rude, but he was not cheap--not to mention he had plenty of money to spend anyway. The Grand Council didn’t find it funny when he went off to by convertibles and Jeeps to add to his collection, but there was nothing they could do. Being a prince kind of gave you that “do whatever the heck you want” feeling.
When the pair of women came out of the shop, they turned right and shuffled on down the sidewalk in the spitting rain. It wasn’t unbearable and an umbrella was hardly needed, but they shared anyway. Friends, a feeling Ridic missed now and again. He mulled over his own friends quietly while hanging back, trying not to look suspicious and failing about five minutes in to the trip.
“Want to come in?” he heard one girl ask of the other as he stood behind a gathering of thick bushes and trees. He could not see who had spoken, though his best educated guess was that it had been the redhead.
“I would, but I can’t. I have a paper to work on for English due Friday. I should really go get it done.”
“Ah. Alright, well I’ll see you tomorrow! Bye, Dee!”
“Bye!” The girl left in the rain turned and hopped down the stone steps of the small, white, ranch-style house on her way to the sidewalk. There, however, she paused and looked in Ridic’s direction. “Hmph,” she shrugged and turned to her right, gasping when she found the man in black standing in front of her.
“Hel-” her cry was cut off as he put his ringed hand over her mouth, a finger up to his lips.
“Shh, I’m not gonna hurt you. I need to talk to you.” As the girl tried to back away he sighed, reaching out for her shoulder and spinning her around. When his broad chest touched her shoulder blades, his arms wrapped around her middle. With that they were gone, vanished in to thin air as a tendril of smoke was destroyed by the clearing rain.