The bond: chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Sean had spent fourteen hours in the car driving almost without taking a break to get to (town). He had stopped once to gas up the car and to use a public restroom at a Tom Thumbs just off the interstate. It was the first time he had ever experienced a “rest stop”, and after surviving their bathrooms he decided he would better off waiting until he got to a hotel, or in case of an emergency pulling over to the side of the road.

It was around ten in the morning when he finally arrived at the old abandoned site of the house he grew up in. Finding the address had proven to be more difficult than he expected. He had driven by the place twice before he decided to give Gregor a call on the off chance he’d still be awake. To his surprise the vampire had forced himself to stay up well past his natural hour, and waited on the phone long enough to guide him to the driveway hidden by overgrown foliage. Sean could detect an edge of worry in his uncle’s voice, and figured concern for his well being was what kept his uncle from finding rest. Gregor had even offered to stay on the phone while he explored the empty lot, but Sean declined. He wanted to do this alone.

For a long time he just sat in the car which he had parked off the side of the road, and considered where he was. The area was woodsy and on a hillside that was facing toward (town). In the colder season, when most of the trees had shed their leaves, the location probably would have given a nice view of the main part of town. The road his old home had been on was curvy and there wasn’t another home within at least a mile of the place. He wasn’t keeping track of how long he sat there staring and wondering, but it felt like a while, and not a single car had passed by. It was very quiet and secluded.

He took a deep breath and let it go, then finally opened up his door and got out of the car. There wasn’t anything to fear. The sun was out. The air was warm. No one was around to disturb him. It was a perfect place for him to try and find pieces of himself from a life he had forgotten. So, why was he delaying?

The former driveway had been paved, but chunks of it had been broken up by plant roots creating cracked veins along its surface. There were even young plants and trees that found a place to sprout from which made the place that much harder to find. At the corner of the driveway there was a rotten piece of 4 x 4 sticking out of the ground, probably the remnants of a mailbox post. Looking around the stump didn’t reveal anything.

Now that he knew where the driveway was it was clear to him where his old house must’ve been. Up ahead, about seventy feet there was a large clearing of mostly sand that the rest of the woods avoided growing in. He moved slowly walking down the eroded driveway studying the ground and looking for anything unusual, but of course with the passage of so much time he found nothing. It had been eight years. He’d be surprised if he found anything of significance. About midway the pavement disappeared beneath leaves, dirt and foliage.

Before stepping into the clearing he walked a complete circuit around the barren site. He tried to visualize his old home based off of what Gregor had told him and two pictures he had seen, but try as he might nothing stirred within his memories. He knew it had blue siding and stood two stories tall. There was a front and a back porch and the backyard had several toys strewn about it. He tried to force the images to overlap with what he was looking at and hoped it could bring forth something recognizable from the recesses of his mind. Nothing. He felt no connection.

Delaying no more, he ventured forth onto the sandy earth wondering if he would feel some kind of dark lingering affect from that long ago night. Maybe that’s why nothing grew on the ground where that nightmare took place. The idea of it was also part of what kept him from immediately stepping into the unnatural clearing. He listened. He felt. He sniffed the air. There was nothing different. He exhaled a sigh of relief, not realizing he had been holding his breath.

There was relief at not having encountered anything evil, and there was also disappointment because there was nothing that showed him his past. The next half-hour he spent kicking around the sand looking for any kind of buried treasure, but nothing of value came up. A broken link to a necklace, piece of glass and what may have been a wheel to a match box car was all he found. They were miscellaneous and meaningless items. Even though they amounted to nothing he still stuck them in the front pocket of his jeans.

He started to head back toward his car and stopped at the perimeter of the clearing to look back one more time. Standing there he tried something he didn’t dare before. He wasn’t sure why, or what caused the whim, but he tried to summon an image of that unfathomable large werewolf that had torn through the woods and ripped into the house that once stood here.

For a split second he felt something, and it startled him, rocking him back on his heels. It had been so brief he didn’t know what to make of it. It scared him.

Sean immediately started to run back to the car. The thought and feeling had come to him in an unrecognizable flash. Before he knew it he was sitting down and gripping the steering wheel trying to recall what he had just experienced. His breathing was at a fast and panicked pace and he had to force himself to calm down. At the same time he tried not to think of that wolf monster, but the thought came to him unbidden. He relaxed slightly when nothing else happened, and he dared to analyze what he had just experienced.

The emotion had felt dark. He couldn’t describe it as evil, because that would imply intelligence. This feeling had been raw, and primal. It tugged on ancient engrained instincts of flight or fight, but despair was associated with fighting. It had been so overwhelming that it robbed him of thought. For a moment he tried to conjure the feeling again, but he couldn’t conjure the courage to do so. It was better to drive away, and that’s what he did.

He didn’t think about where he was going and before long he was wondering if he had just imagined it all. Distance seemed to have shielded him from the reality of what he had just happened.

He knew he wasn’t far from the main street that ran through the heart of the small town and started to make the vehicle go in that direction. Hunger and fatigue were starting to catch up with him and he scanned both sides of the road for some place to eat at. His eyes settled on a diner that was connected to a string of other shops by an old brick wall. There was no parking lot, but there were designated parking spots on the opposite side of the street. Since there was hardly any traffic, and the street was wide enough, he risked making a U-turn to grab a spot diagonally across from the diner.

He got out of the car and waited for the only car in site to pass by and then walked across the street. The town hardly had any activity, and Sean wondered if it had anything to do with it being a weekday. When he thought about it he realized he didn’t even know what day of the week it was, but found he didn’t really care. He just wanted to eat and find a decent bed to sleep in, and that’s all that mattered.

A bell rang as the top of the glass paned door hit it. The diner had an old feel with booths covering the right wall, a few small round tables to his immediate left, and a serving counter with round swivel stools that ran the rest of the way down the left wall. Besides the single waitress there were only two other people present, and they both sat on the stools with their elbows on the counter. They looked like big men with solemn weathered faces just eating breakfast before starting their workday again. All three of them looked up at the new stranger walking in their front door.

Sean gave them a nod in greeting, but lacked the energy to do more than that, and slid into one of the booths. On the table there was a laminated, colorful, miniature version of the larger menu that was folded in half so that it would stand on its own. He picked it up glancing at the pictures and quickly decided that a burger would sit well with him. The waitress made her way over to his table with a courteous smile and asked her standard, “What it’ll be?” She spoke with a thick southern accent, and halfheartedly smiled at him out of a sense of professional courtesy.

“I would like a hamburger cooked medium rare please”, he tiredly answered.

“Want cheese on that?”

“Um… sure.”

“French fries?”

“Yea!”

“What to drink?”

“Just give me water.” Sean wondered how many more questions she would ask before she went away to give his order to the chef working the kitchen. Fortunately for him she recognized that he was tired, and didn’t continue to ask him anything else.

Within no time she came back out with a plate of food and a large plastic cup of ice water. Sean hungrily took a bite and it seemed like the juiciest most delicious hamburger he had ever tasted. His satisfaction of the food was most likely due to how hungry he was, but that wasn’t really important to him. Before he took the last bite of his hamburger the waitress came back to his table to ask him if he wanted anything else. He realized that he was still hungry and asked for another hamburger just like the one he had.

“How about the bacon swiss mushroom burger?” she asked. “It’s the chefs special, and today you can get it for the same price.”

“Okay!” Sean simply replied.

He busied himself with eating the side of fries while he waited for his second hamburger. With food in his stomach he started to feel better, and noticed the hair on the back of his neck tingled like someone was watching him. He looked up in the direction of the waitress and she quickly looked away as though she felt guilty for staring.

Sean didn’t give it much concern. He figured it was a normal response since he wasn’t a regular. The second hamburger came just as quickly as the last one did despite all the extras, and it smelled twice as good. He offered her a polite thank you and took a big bite out of his second meal. True to how it looked it tasted better than the first one too.

After he swallowed he noticed that the waitress was still standing there looking at him with a puzzled expression. He stopped eating and looked up at her not sure what she wanted of him.

“For some reason you look vaguely familiar to me.” She let the statement hang there, seeing if Sean might help her to fill in the blank, but he sat there quietly looking at her more closely.

She looked to be about in her forties with a face just beginning to show its first sign of a permanent wrinkle. She had medium length blond hair with darker roots that were apparent because she had her hair back in a pony tail. The waitress uniform she wore was a red apron with black shirt and slacks and her name tag read “Natalie.” Her dark blue eyes showed more focus as she tried to figure out Sean, and how she recognized him. Sean began to wonder if this older woman might have some connection to his past.

“Did you grow up around here?” she guessed.

Sean hesitated in answering her, speculating how safe it would be to confirm her question. Hesitatingly he nodded his head in confirmation.

“Where at?” she asked. “I bet I’ll know you if you tell me that.”

“Well… did you know of the house that was on 347 Mallard Drive?”

Suddenly her eyes opened wide in surprise and her hand shot up to cover her open mouth. Her face combined a look of shock and recognition and Sean started to reconsider if what he said had been wise.

He had no idea what everyone here knew about the fateful night of his disappearance, but he didn’t think it was likely they knew the truth. Gregor had cautioned him many times that the supernatural, like themselves, remained in existence largely due to their anonymity. If the world understood the truth about their reality then the extraordinary and magical things in the world would become exploited or destroyed, because in the end the general population consisted of normal people and they greatly outnumbered everyone by at least forty thousand to one.

Natalie still was unsuccessful in coming to terms with who she was seeing, and she felt the need to sit down in the booth at the other side of the table. Sean stared back at her waiting to see what she would say next, hoping for more insight to what she believed happened.

“We all thought you had died… What happened to you?”

Her question was not exactly what Sean had wanted to hear, and he didn’t know how to safely answer her. To hide his struggling search for an answer he took another bite of the hamburger he still held in his hands. He felt foolish staring back at while he chewed his food, and thought he obviously looked like he was stalling.

“I don’t know exactly,” he said after he swallowed with a gulp. He felt like his mouth was drying up and took a sip of his water. “I… well you see, I’m suffering from amnesia and I don’t have any memories of this place, of my parents, of growing up here, or anything. I guess you could say I’m here trying to rediscover myself.” Sean thought his answer was appropriate. He didn’t want to lie to her, but at the same time he didn’t want to reveal anything that was outside her normal experience.

“Oh, my God!” She shouted in shock. “Are you serious!?” Natalie sat there still trying to soak in the living ghost sitting in front of her. “You are serious, aren’t you?”

They both sat there for a moment, and Sean was afraid to add anything else to his story until he had an idea of what people believed had happened to him. Stretching out the awkward silence he nodded his head to her last question. He was so distracted by this stranger, who evidently knew him, that he didn’t even taste his hamburger anymore as he took another bite.

“So… you don’t remember me or my son Craig?”

Sean looked at her with interest but couldn’t respond right away. He was in the middle of chewing a mouthful of the burger.

“I’m Craig’s mom”, she continued. “Craig was your best friend when you guys were just kids. Do you remember any of that?”

Natalie waited patiently for a response after he chewed and swallowed, and Sean continued to look down at the table. He felt uncomfortable staring at a woman who knew him well as a child, but he could find no sense of familiarity with. He carefully searched his heart and mind desiring to feel some kind of connection to the stranger, but he could find nothing. Sean looked back up at her and shook his head as he averted his eyes back down to the table again.

“Oh my God, you poor thing! I can’t imagine what this must be like for you.” Natalie looked at Sean with sympathetic eyes. “Oh jeez, listen to me. I must sound like a loon the way I’m talking to you. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable; it’s just that I’ve never experienced anything like this at all. I don’t know what to say. I guess I half expect some people with cameras to pop out of now where and tell me that this has all been a joke.”

Natalie pushed herself away from the table and stood up. She started to wipe her hands on her apron, more so out of nervousness than to clean them. “I’ll let you be.”

“No,” Sean quickly told her, “please, I don’t mind. In fact I think I’d actually prefer to hear what you have to say. I mean if you can.”

Natalie looked around the diner and saw that there was only one more customer left at the counter, but he was already in the process of standing up and leaving a couple of dollars folded and under his plate. She didn’t recognize him as a regular, so he was probably one of the many truck drivers that passed through here from time to time. He kindly nodded at her and tipped his hat in her direction wishing her a silent good luck. The dining floor wasn’t that big, and they hadn’t exactly kept their conversation quiet. It was obvious to her that he was aware of what was going on and was kindly removing himself from the scene. She watched him quietly head out the door and she thanked him with a smile.

Natalie eased herself back into the seat and the awkwardness of the situation slowly settled over the two them. She felt like she was staring at someone that should have been dead and had no idea of what to say or think.
Sean could only imagine what she was going through in her mind as the moment of silence stretched on. He too began to feel some of her discomfort as the seconds passed by. Finally he decided one of them had start saying something, and it might as well be him.

“Coming back here wasn’t an easy decision for me. I didn’t know what I would find or if anyone would even recognize me. And then if people did recognize me I didn’t know how they would react. I’m at least grateful that you’re not walking away.”

“Aww, now Sean, I wouldn’t do that. I was almost like a second mom to you.” She reached out with her hand and folded it over Sean’s hand that was balled up and resting on the table. “Where did you go? What happened to you?”

“What happened to me, I don’t know. I was kind of hoping that you might be able to fill me in on some of that. All I know is that I was in a coma for a while and wound up in the care of an uncle I never even knew I had. He told me that I had suffered some bad injuries and that while I was under my body had healed up from them, but when I came to I couldn’t recall anything about who I was or where I came from. Can you tell me anything about what may have happened to me here?”

Sean understood the truth well enough, at least as far as what uncle Gregor had told him, but he didn’t know what the people around here knew. He was pretty sure that none of them knew anything about giant a monster or strange people from the Veil, but he didn’t want to give away too much without knowing what her take on everything was.

“Oh hun, it was sudden.” Her eyes widened with sympathy, and she stared back feeling sorry for him. “I remember sleeping, and I had woken up, because I had heard this loud noise, and I thought I felt the ground shake. At first I thought it was lightening that had struck the ground somewhere nearby, but then I started hearing people outside, dogs barking, and sirens going off in the distance. I put on my robe and went outside to join the crowd of people already collecting and jabbering on about what they had all heard, and in the distance up on the hillside where your house use to be we could see this ball of fire lighting up the night. Later we came to find out that there had been some kind of accident. Officials told people that there had been a gas leak from the kitchen and that a spark, probably from a light switch, set the whole thing off. We were all told that there’d been no survivors… but now here you sit.”

She looked back at him shaking her head in amazement. “How on earth did you survive that?”

Sean remained silent. The last two things he wanted to do were lie to her, or tell her something outlandish… like the truth. He played it safe by shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. He looked at her hoping that her decency wouldn’t press the issue.

She squeezed his hand in reassurance and smiled back at him. This time the smile was more genuine and deserving of a close friend or family. “I guess it doesn’t really matter how you got here, it’s just a miracle that you’re here. If there’s anything I can do to help, all you have to do is just ask.”

Sean didn’t know what to say. His face felt flush and a mix of emotions flooded him. He couldn’t help the thrill and joy of having found someone who had not only recognized him, but also knew him. Sitting before him was talking, living, visible proof that he had existed before his life turned strange and bizarre. Taking the trip all the way out here hadn’t been in vain and he was lucky to be able to connect with someone from his past.

He also felt relieved that talking to her didn’t bring up any complications of what really happened and the life he had lived up to this point. But, he also felt a smudge of guilt for taking advantage of her good nature and trust. He didn’t outright lie to her but he knew he was dancing around the truth, and this happy moment was tainted by his hidden deception.

“You know what,” she began, “I don’t know what your plans are but why don’t you come on over for dinner tonight. Craig is home from college for at least another month, and I bet he’d be incredibly happy to see you. I mean I’m sure he’ll feel the same shock I did, but after he gets over that he’ll probably be talking your ear off telling you about all the things you guys used to do as kids.

“Awww, man! I’m doing it again.” Natalie withdrew from Sean and started to wring both her hands together out of nervousness. “I shouldn’t impose on you like that. I mean how do I know how you feel about all this? You don’t have to come over if you don’t want to.”

“Natalie, I would love to come over,” Sean interrupted, “but I have to tell you I’m exhausted. I drove all last night to get here, and even though I’m excited to have met you, I need to get some rest.”

“Of course dear!” she said, feeling thankful she hadn’t offended him. “If you want I can direct you to quiet out of the way motel just a couple of miles from here. I wouldn’t recommend the one in town. The traffic will likely keep you up.”

Sean was more than happy to write down the directions she gave him to the Pine Motel and a second set that would lead him to her apartment later that evening. She also had him write down her phone number so in case he got lost or changed his mind about coming over he could call her and let her know. She tried to reassure him that if he changed his mind about sharing dinner with her and her son then he shouldn’t hesitate to call her. She promised that she would understand and that they could do it another time when he was ready. Sean was appreciative of her thoughtfulness, but told her not to worry about it and to expect him to show up at her place that night.

He walked out of the diner feeling recharged with a positive attitude. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so elevated. For the time being his fatigue had been momentarily forgotten. He knew his emotional high wouldn’t last for long and that he should find that motel and get a room before exhaustion claimed him again. The directions she had given him were accurate and simple enough for him to follow, and he arrived at the Pine Motel without getting lost.

The place was located off a back road about two and a half miles outside of the main town. It was one story high with its room’s side by side in a single row. There was a smaller building off to the far side with a neon “No Vacancy” sign suspended by a fifteen foot pole, and only the word “vacancy” was lit up. On the opposite side of the street there was a long stretch of gravel where two sixteen-wheelers were parked. Sean figured they belonged to truck drivers that were sleeping the day away, so they could have an easier time driving at night to avoid traffic.

There was parking available in front of each room and a couple of spots near the smaller building where he figured was the place to register. Crowded along the back he could see a bunch of tall evergreen pine trees peacefully standing over the motel giving the place its trademark name. Out of the ten rooms that were visible, two of them had vehicles parked in front of them.

Sean parked his car in front of the smaller building, next to a Trail Blazer that seemed like it had gone four-wheeling in the mud recently. He walked up to the door, which was a simple wooden screen door, and pulled it open. It was light weight with hinges that squeaked, and when it swung behind him the door bounced twice before staying closed.

The place smelled of chewing tobacco and he could hear the sound of a TV being turned down from the other side of the chest high counter that separated the majority of the room. A thin man wearing a dark blue baseball cap stood up on the other side of the counter and stretched. He was wearing worn out jeans, an old colorless buttoned shirt, and heavy leather hiking boots that clunked on the floor as he stepped up to the counter. When the fellow spoke he revealed an obvious over bite with crooked teeth and Sean’s nose was assaulted with a strong whiff of the chewing tobacco smell.

The fellow was nice enough to Sean and they both kept the transaction brief. Bob, which was the name he introduced himself with, wanted to get back to watching his TV show, and Sean simply wanted to relax and sleep. He wound up paying for three nights since the third night would be half off and it seemed quicker to just agree with Bob than to allow him to give his sales pitch.

Sean got back into his car and moved it down to the parking spot in front of room five. He grabbed his overnight bag from the front seat and locked the car up before heading on into his single room. It was simple and surprisingly cleaner than the slightly worn outside appearance of the motel. There was a twin sized bed, a dresser with a television on top, a night stand with a lamp, and a door in back leading to a small bathroom with a shower. Along the same wall as the front door there was a large window with its curtains closed to keep the sun from bleaching the color of the room.

After he completed a quick look through of the place he closed and locked the door and headed straight for the bed. It was nowhere near as comfortable as the bed he was used to, but that hardly mattered. He was just glad to be able to finally get some solid rest away from the atmosphere of the manor.


Something pulled it awake. It was reminded that it still had a purpose. The scent had resurfaced from somewhere nearby. The presence encouraged it to venture forth out of its surreal state to investigate.

It could sense that much time had passed since it last felt the connection to its blood. The presence was weak and convoluted, but there was a small element of truth that proved enough , so that it could feel the life it craved. The ground was sandy in the middle of the small clearing. The scent was only in this one spot and it couldn’t see any trace coming or going.

It recalled in flashes of broken memory the home it tore open to find the child it needed. It remembered how it clutched the little man in its hand and held him in front of its eyes, and the ecstasy it felt as it sucked on his essence. But for some reason there wasn’t enough. It didn’t understand why, so it had pulled harder on the boy.

It also recalled how it was interrupted by loud cracks and small annoying stings that pelted its back and from the shadows stepped several other small man things that were responsible for breaking its ritual. It ceased trying to drain the child and the thing had spasmed in its hand, accidently hitting it on the tip of its nose. The pain had been surprising and it reacted in vengeful anger by biting off the offending limb.

On that night Its anger blossomed like an erupting volcano as it realized that the little man things had tricked it into believing that the time had come for the last rite. It threw the hollow body that was left over in its grip and allowed everyone else to become the focus of its unbridled rage. It crushed every last one of the insignificant insects, and when it looked for where it had thrown the boy it found that he was gone.

He had been picked up by a man thing cursed with the blight, and it was trying to flee. That night had been the longest hunt it had ever enjoyed, and, much to its frustration, somehow the prey had escaped it.

But that was long ago, and this was now. It could taste the lingering aura of the spirit that had been here, and it was ripe, almost ready to consume. The time was growing nearer. It would be soon.


Sean awoke feeling sickened by the nightmare he had. Abruptly he got up out of bed and staggered to the bathroom sink where he splashed cool water on his face. The cold liquid was a shock against his feverish skin and it helped to wrench him away from the lingering images of his dream. He hit the light switch and looked in the mirror just to make sure that he was still himself. He was relaxed when he stared back into his own eyes.

Oh, those eyes. Everything about his dream was fading more rapidly than he could recall, but those dreadful eyes. Even the memory of it made his insides twist around and he felt like he was losing his sense of reality.

Somehow he had gone from looking at himself in the mirror to being crumpled up on the floor. Something was horribly wrong, and he didn’t like where his thoughts were taking him.

He crawled back to his bed and flopped over onto his back trying to get a grip on himself. His heart had been racing and he closed his eyes to get a grip.

In a sudden panic his hand darted to his chest searching for the pendant his uncle had given him. He found it quickly under his shirt and clutched it bunching his shirt in his fist. Sean sighed with relief and felt a sense of security that he still had the pendant resting against his skin. He tried to recall his dream again, but couldn’t remember a thing aside from a ghostly image of those eyes that felt like they were pulling him out of his body. An involuntary shiver rippled through him and he stopped himself from trying to think about it anymore. He imagined hearing Gregor lecture him on the importance of trying to retain his memory of what he dreamt, but he wasn’t there to enforce it so he chose to just let it go.

He looked over at the digital clock that was on the nightstand beside the bed, and the time read a little after five thirty. He rolled onto his side and reached for his cell phone that was laying right next to it to confirm the time was correct. It was, and he scrolled through the options to turn off the alarm that was set to wake him at six o’clock. Natalie was expecting him to show up at her place around seven, so he had plenty of time to get ready and head on over.

He still felt exhausted, and it seemed like he slept less than an hour as opposed to the five hours he actually had. For a minute he entertained the thought of laying back down and going back to sleep, but he doubted he’d awaken in time to make it to dinner like he promised. With a moan he forced himself to stand back up and headed for the cheap motel shower in an attempt to freshen up.

After he washed and put on a clean pair of jeans, a black T-shirt and comfortable pair of high top sneakers the time on the clock had reached six o’eight. Not sure of what to do with the extra time he had, he decided to call Natalie to confirm that everything was still on for tonight. She answered the phone surprised and pleased to hear from him. She reassured him that she had talked to Craig and that he was all right with him showing up tonight. She didn’t hang on the phone for long, because she was still in the middle of getting the food cooked, but told him that if he wanted he could show up early.

Sean folded his phone closed and looked around the small room for anything else that he might do before finding his way to her apartment. He saw the pile of his dirty clothes sitting in the bathroom and for the first time realized that he would have to do his own laundry. He began to understand that there were quite a few things that he had taken for granted while living at the manor, and now he would have to be a lot more responsible for himself. The plastic bag inside the small waste receptacle was clean, so he used that to put his old clothes in for now until he could find a laundry mat tomorrow.

Without wasting any more time he picked up the room key, locked the door behind him and got into his car. He started the engine and while he waited a minute for the AC to start pushing cool air out through the vents he reviewed the directions Natalie had given him to her place. There were five turns that he would have to make and she included descriptions of obvious landmarks. He felt confident that he would be able to find his way there with no problems.

He backed the car out of the parking lot and went on his way. As he drove he thought again about his nightmare and wondered if it had been anything important. Whatever it was he knew it had disturbed him, but he was glad that none of images clung to him, just vague impressions. He also wondered what it would be like to meet Craig, and what he would look like. He expected that it would feel strange to both of them once they saw each other, but he guessed the full impact wouldn’t hit him until the actual moment.

As he predicted he was able to find the apartment complex without any difficulties. It was a grey vinyl sided quadruplex with each apartment having a second floor to it. He pulled into the paved driveway and parked behind the blue sedan that he guessed belonged to Natalie since it had several stuffed animals sitting on the ledge in the rear window. The grass looked dark green and thick and had that commercial look to it.

Sean got out of the car and took a better look at Natalie’s place from the outside. There was a cement patio that was made even with the driveway and had just enough room to include the front door and a two seater swing suspended by a set of chains. The storm door was open and the aluminum screen door closed, so that it acted as a window too. To the left of the patio there was a large bay window that looked as though it took up most of the wall to first floor room, and it had white curtains that were drawn back giving the place more of a domesticated feel than the other apartments.

Sean heard what he guessed was Craig’s voice yell out from inside, “Mom, he’s here!” A tall young man came to the screen door and stepped outside to meet Sean. He had on a red T-shirt, worn out blue jeans, and a pair of opened toe sandals. Craig easily stood a foot taller than him and had broad shoulders with a robust chest. His hair was dark brown with a fading cut on the sides and the top was wavy with curls. He had a boyish face with a couple of freckles on his cheeks and he gave Sean an uncertain but friendly smile.

“Hey man,” he greeted Sean. “Wow! This is kinda awkward.”

Sean stood by his car feeling uncomfortable with the response his presence caused. Craig’s welcoming words weren’t quite what he had expected, and it made Sean uncertain as to how Craig felt about him being there.

“Umm… I don’t mean that in a bad way,” Craig tried to amend. “It’s just that I guess it’ll take me a little to get used to you being alive again. Here… come on inside,” he said as he pulled the door open for Sean and gestured for him to go through.

Sean thanked him for holding the door and inviting him in as he walked past and waited just inside the door for Craig to follow. Right in front of him as soon as he stepped in was a beige carpeted flight of stairs leading up to the second floor with a white tiled section linking the steps to the front door. To his left the living room opened up with an L-shaped couch centered in the room facing an entertainment wall unit, and more of the same worn, beige carpeting. Along the walls there were pictures of Natalie and her son in addition to a few other people that bore some family resemblance. Looking at the large bay window from the inside he could see a few potted plants resting on the ledge and hanging from hooks so that it could catch the morning sun. In the opposite corner of the room from where he was standing there was a large opening into another room which also had similar tile flooring to what he was standing on. He guessed that was the way to the kitchen.

Craig let the screen door close on its own and told Sean to follow him. They walked through the living room and into the spacious kitchen where Natalie was off to the right standing at the stove stirring a pot of red sauce. The aroma of garlic and spaghetti sauce hit his senses and his mouth watered in anticipation of how dinner was going to taste.

“Smells good, doesn’t it?” Natalie said glancing over her shoulder at her guest. Only then did Sean realize he had his face tilted up and his nose angled toward the steaming pots on the stove. He abruptly straightened up and cleared his throat in embarrassment, feeling self conscious of acting even the slightest bit like an animal.

“I’m leaving it on the stove to simmer a bit more, but you can go on ahead and get yourselves bowels and silverware. The bowels are up there and the utensils in that draw,” she pointed respectively.

“Mom, I think I know where the bowels and forks are,” Craig responded in good humor, pretending his mother was talking to him.

“Smartass! I was telling Sean, not you.”

Craig chuckled and they all smiled. Any lingering awkwardness due to Sean’s presence was alleviated with Craig’s minor joke, and Sean allowed himself to feel more at ease. Craig got bowels and forks out for everyone, and within minutes they had all served themselves and were sitting down at the round kitchen table slurping spaghetti and dipping their garlic bread into their sauce.

After their first few bites Sean complimented Natalie on how delicious supper was and she thanked him. They talked briefly about Sean’s drive to (town name), but that topic died just as quickly and an unpleasant silence settled in, until Craig finally broke it.

“Okay Sean, spill it. Where have you been these last couple of years and what have you been doing.”

Sean was in the middle of chewing and shook his head slightly with a smile as Natalie reprimanded her son for being rude with his question. Sean held up a hand to stave off Craig’s mother from overreacting and to give him a chance to swallow before responding.
“No. It’s all right. I completely expected questions like this, I just didn’t know when to start talking about it and where to begin. Craig’s actually making it easier.
Add a sentence or 2 about how Sean feels skirting the truth
“Basically I don’t remember anything from the night I disappeared on, although I’m sure my injuries were severe in order to make me have amnesia. My first clear memories are of waking up in the care of my uncle. I stayed with him as I recovered, and he did everything he could to help me. I’ve wanted to come back here for a long time. I just never had the courage to do so until recently.

“I’m sorry for not letting you guys know earlier that I was still alive. I just didn’t know how to deal with it. The thought of coming here where people would know details about me that I should know too, but don’t… I found it disturbing. So, I just stayed away.”

“Until now,” Natalie said. “What made you decide to come back?”

“Part of it’s because of my uncle, and part of it’s because of me. My uncle has always been encouraging me to get better, and to remember things. And I felt it was time I tried to rediscover myself and find out where I came from. Now that I’m here and I’ve found you guys, it’s not as hard or as scary as I thought it was going to be.”

Natalie reached out and patted Sean’s forearm in reassurance, “We may not know exactly what it’s like for you to go through what you’re going through, but I remember you as good kid. I bet that you haven’t changed that much. So, if there’s anything we can do to help you fill in the blanks you just have to let us know and we’ll tell you everything we can.”

“Yea,” Craig agreed. “I know it’s weird seeing you again after believing for so long that you were gone, but I think I’m going to get used this pretty fast.” Craig was smiling and Sean could easily feel the edge of excitement coming from him. “Don’t worry if you don’t remember anything. If you’re half the kid I remember we’ll be best friends again in no time.

“While we were waiting for you to come over mom and I dug up some old photos of us when we were kids. If you’d like, after we’re done eating…”

“And cleaning,” Craig’s mom added.

“And cleaning,” Craig reiterated rolling his eyes at his mom, “maybe you’d like to take a look at some of them.”

Sean agreed and couldn’t keep from smiling. He was feeling better than he had since… forever. He couldn’t believe his luck and how well Craig and his mom were receiving him. Despite how odd it was for him to be back in their lives they were still willing to welcome him with open arms and open hearts.

He felt so happy and relieved that for the first time he recognized this invisible knot of tension that he never known he had until now. He felt the emotional weight lift from him, and a feeling of relief flooded in its wake. It was such a pure feeling of happiness that it almost brought a tear to his eye. He didn’t want to suffer the embarrassment of breaking out into tears of joy, so he clamped his mouth shut and rode the feeling out until they were finished eating. It wasn’t hard to say much of anything with the exception of a “yes” here, and a “no” there. Craig’s excited chatter dominated the rest of the dinner conversation as he tried to recount the memorable things they did as kids.

When they were done eating, Sean was glad to help with cleaning up after their meal and Natalie was impressed with his good manners. She even made a comment that if he could teach her son to be better at cleaning up after himself then they would keep Sean around. It seemed like everyone was feeling some of the elation he had felt at being accepted, and they were glad to have him back in their lives.

They spent the rest of the evening sitting in the living room, looking at old photographs, and talking about everything and anything they had done as kids, as well as fill Sean in on all that had happened to them since he’d been gone. Everyone lost track of time until Natalie yawned and cursed at how late it was. It had just turned three in the morning and she realized that she would have to be up in four hours to get ready for work. Sean started to apologize for keeping them all up so late, but she stopped and sternly told him, “Don’t you dare apologize for being here mister.” She then hugged him goodnight telling him that he was always welcomed in their home no matter what time it was, and headed upstairs to get some sleep. Sean told Craig that he had best get going, and Craig agreed to walk him out.

“So… uuh, you got a lot of stuff in your car,” Craig said as they walked up to Sean’s car. The front light on the patio was on, illuminating enough for them to see that Sean’s vehicle was packed. Sean just nodded, not sure of what else to say.

“Listen,” Craig continued, “I’m supposed to be hanging out with a bunch of friends tomorrow, and we may spend the night camping out by the creek. I’m not sure yet about the overnight part, but if you’d like I bet they wouldn’t mind if I invited you to come along. I’m guessing you don’t remember the place, but we used to play around there a lot when we were kids, and who knows, maybe you might remember a thing or two while we’re out there. What do you say? Wanna come?”

“Umm… sure!” Sean was amazed at how quickly he made up his mind. He and Craig were getting along naturally, and he was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to stir up their old friendship.

“I wouldn’t recommend you taking your car, the path there can get kinda rough. My truck is in the auto shop, but I’ll be picking it up in the morning. After that I can swing by the motel and pick you up. Cool?”

“That sounds great. Is there anything I should bring?”

“A change of clothes and maybe a bathing suit if you got one. You don’t need to worry about any camping gear. I’ll have you covered there. Oh yea, and a towel or two.”

Sean got in his car, closed the door, and started it up. He pushed the switch to automatticaly roll down the window, so that they could still exchange a few final words before Sean drove off.

“With all that stuff you look like you’ve just moved out or something,” Craig said, as he stood next to Sean’s car staring at the back seat and all the boxes and luggage that were piled behind him.

“Yea, I did,” Sean said rather pointedly.

“Are you planning on living somewhere else instead of your uncle’s?”

“I’m looking,” Sean responded. “My decision to leave and come here was spontaneous. But my uncle’s got money and he supports me, so I’m not really worried about getting a place just yet.”

“Think you might get a place here?”

“I don’t know. I might, but I think I want to do some traveling first. You know… go to some places and see the world.”

“You lucky bastard!” Craig declared, with an exaggerated smirk. “You die, got rich, and now can go anywhere you want. Hey, maybe you can take me along with you.”

“We’ll see, Craig.” Sean chuckled at his friend’s suggestion, and thought that it was an entertaining idea that would merit more thought later. “Do you need me to give you a lift to pick up your truck?”

“Na! It’s only a short walk, besides I’ll probably need the walk to help wake my ass up in the morning.”

“Ha! Yea, it is getting late. What time should I expect you to come by tomorrow?” Sean thought about what he had said for a second, and in consideration to the actual time and re-asked his question. “Technically it is tomorrow, so what time should I expect you today?”

“Nine… no, make that ten o’clock. I got one unscheduled stop I need to make.”

“All right then, I’ll see you around ten.”

Sean put the car into reverse and pulled out of the driveway. He switched gears and drove off while waving to Craig. He couldn’t keep from smiling as he took his time driving back to the Pine Motel. He was feeling great. He had just rediscovered his best friend from his childhood and couldn’t believe how fortunate he was that Craig had received him so well.

Sean wasn’t able to remember anything from his past during the whole time they were showing him photos and recalling stories of all the things they had done as kids. But, he figured it didn’t matter all that much, as long he had someone in his life who had known him, and was willing to accept him back into their life. Things were turning out great. He wished he had done this sooner.