Adan looked between Aura and Ilian as he tried to find words in that moment. Turning to her, he spoke, “so you actually do know him? He is actually the guy he says he is?”

Aura swallowed as she held Ilian in her sight. She wasn’t sure she was quite convinced of that herself either, but right then, thinking clearly seemed to be a bit of a problem. “I just remembered meeting him, that night I passed out in the pantry and couldn’t remember why I had been in there for like half an hour. But that’s who he said he was then. But I only remembered it, now” she stated warily.

Adan took a few steps backwards into the room, closer to Aura, holding Ilian in his gaze as he did. “But you don’t remember him from before the bunker?”

“Reese hardly spent a lot of time socializing with my parents in his off time. I didn’t even know he had some son who was around our age” she admitted as Adan reached her side, taking her hand in his protectively.

“And you couldn’t remember meeting him in the pantry before somehow passing out for half an hour, til now?” Adan repeated, both of them centering suspicious looks on Ilian.

“I’ve revealed myself to both of you now. I’m not here to hurt either of you. I promise” Ilian stated as he moved those dark eyes over them both, watching for any signs that they were going to become hostile due to their understandable distrust.

“You’re so fucking creepy, man” Adan told him coolly. “And if I ever find out that you did hurt her, or plan to try hurting either of us...”

“I don’t. I’m actually...”

“Actually what?” Aura asked.

Ilian paused a moment, as though rethinking what he had originally planned to say. “I actually want us all to be safe. I do” he insisted.

“Fine, bud, but just go be safe in the other bedroom for right now, would you?” Adan told him pointedly.

Ilian let out a slight sigh, but did not argue before slowly moving down the hall to the other bedroom. Disappearing inside and closing the door softly behind him, he heard their bedroom door shut, and lock as well a moment later.

“So, do we actually trust this guy or what?” Adan asked her worriedly.

“You’re the one who studies human behavior, and who isn’t a complete and total anxiety-ridden wreck. You tell me” Aura responded.

“Everything about him being here and everything else seems pretty fucking weird....”

“But?”

“I don’t know, he just...” Adan sighed as he took a seat on the bed.

“He what?” she asked softly as she joined him.

“Just something about him, it... It seems like familiar to me or something” Adan tried to explain that strange impression he had gotten from Ilian ever since first laying his eyes on him.

“So we do trust him?” she asked with doubt. She then moved her hand to his back comfortingly as he seemed to be struggling with his decision on the matter quite a bit. Only, when she placed her hand on his waist, she felt the hard cool metal gun under his shirt. “Is that a gun?” she choked on the question.

“Two, actually” Adan admitted as he reached behind his back and pulled them free. “Just in case, right?”

She swallowed hard as she turned a shocked look to the guns in his hands now. “Just in case” she whispered her agreement.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

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The following morning, Adan was sitting at the dining table stirring a bowl of cereal more than actually eating it. He was having difficulty convincing himself that powdered milk was even remotely similar to real milk when Ilian cautiously entered the room. Both boys were now wearing nothing more than the pants they had each slept in the night before, and both still had sleep-mussed long black locks falling over dark brown eyes. And both continued regarding each other hesitantly as Ilian slowly moved into the room.

Adan continued to watch the allegedly just slightly older man seem to struggle with the very concept of taking a glass from the overhead cupboard and filling it with water from the sink. “You’re so weird” Adan mumbled to himself as he forced down a bite of his breakfast.

“Where’s Aura?”

“You mean you didn’t poke around spying on us to answer that question already yourself?” Adan replied in the same mumble.

“I’m guessing you still don’t trust me?” Ilian responded quietly.

“Imagine that” Adan replied shortly as he took another bite.

Ilian let out a slight sigh as he looked suspiciously at the glass before taking a sip of the water. “So, what can I do to get you to trust me then?”

“I’ll let you know” Adan retorted.

“Sarcasm again, right?”

“Well you are pretty fucking shady. Even without the whole sneaking around in here with us for over a week thing. What do you expect?”

“Well, I could leave but...” Ilian offered with a slight shrug.

“Funny” Adan scoffed as he took another bite.

“So, am I why Aura didn’t want to come out of your room?” Ilian asked after a few more unsure sips of water.

“Probably” Adan offered, unapologetic.

“So you didn’t... calm her down again, last night?” Ilian asked innocently, causing Adan to glare up at him.

“See, it’s shit like that that makes you so goddamn weird, and makes us so goddamn uncomfortable around you. Spying on people not a great way to break the ice. A fact that seems to have escaped you in the last twenty years, when she apparently never even met you” he added pointedly.

“I needed to make sure...”

“Yes, I heard.” Adan grumbled his interruption.

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It was just over an hour later when Aura could no longer ignore her hunger, and made herself actually leave the bedroom where she had been mindlessly messing with whichever apps would still work on her phone now.

When she reached the glass doors, she found her now two young male companions sitting awkwardly at opposite ends of the sofa while another DVD played across the television screen. Ilian was watching the screen with rapt attention, as though whatever was on it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. Meanwhile, Adan was watching Ilian, while pretending he was not.

When she stepped into sight behind the glass doors, Adan noticed her presence first. Aura gave him a pointed look, gesturing for him to come speak with her. As she ducked back out of sight, Adan looked over at Ilian. “You keep watching that, buddy. I’ll be back” he excused as he moved quickly to leave the room and join Aura where she was staying out of sight in the hall. “You beckoned?” Adan asked in a whisper as the two stood just off to the side of the glass doors speaking furtively.

“What are you doing?”

“Answering your summons?” Adan offered with a shrug.

“I mean, in there” she returned in a loud whisper.

“Keeping an eye on our new friend so he doesn’t you know, decide to kill us and keep the bunker for himself or something?” Adan offered.

“Or erase our brains?” she stated pointedly.

“Yeah, that would probably be bad too” Adan admitted with a tone of discomfort.

“Or roofie me and leave me laying on a burlap sack in the pantry?” she added in the same raspy whisper.

Adan glanced back toward the doors with more worry, then back to her. “You really think he did that?”

“Well what do you think?”

“No idea. I wasn’t there” he had to admit.

“No kidding.”

“What? If you really think he did something like that, do you want me to go get the g--” he began, causing her to quickly clamp her hand over his mouth to prevent him from finishing the sentence.

“Did you suddenly forget how to be subtle?”

“Sorry, but if he really did some shit like that to you...”

“I don’t know. I just know this is all kinds of fucked up. Him. His story. The memory losses. The fainting. All of it!” she exclaimed, her volume rising with her panic levels.

That was when Ilian moved to open the glass doors and look over at where the two of them were standing there in the hall. “Are things... OK?” he asked warily.

“Yeah, just fucking peachy” Aura responded bitterly as she pushed past Adan and headed for the kitchen, leaving him to force a fake smile as he looked back at their new roommate.

“Should I have waited until you put your mouth over hers again? The way you did last time she got like that, and then...”

“Would you shut the fuck up?” Adan bit back. He then sighed heavily as he looked off in the direction of the kitchen. “Why don’t you go get a shower or something? I mean, you probably could use it after sneaking around in here for the last week.”

“Shower?”

“Yeah, in the bathroom” Adan added impatiently.

“So you can go and calm her down?”

“Or try to. And shut up” he repeated with frustration as he moved off after Aura.