Chapter 2: Empty
Tyr felt his consciousness return to him. He cracked open his eyes slowly. He felt soft earth under his back, wind brushing gently over his body and shifting his blond hair. A crescent moon glowed softly in the sky, bringing him back to reality. Tyr pushed himself slowly up to a sitting position. What time was it? Tyr glanced at his watch. 12:00AM.
Tyr cursed to himself, scrambling to his feet. But he must've stood up too fast, because he promptly collapsed and regurgitated what was left of his food. Tyr sat there for a moment, trembling and gasping. He slowly stood up, bringing a hand up to his pounding head. Tyr returned to the locker room, retrieving his backpack, making sure to move slowly.
He began to make his way back home, wondering why none of the teachers or students had woken him. Normally this was a long walk, which was why there was a school bus sent to his neighborhood, but Tyr knew he had to get home. He made his way home. Slowly, but gradually, he walked. Midway through his journey, he felt something cold touch his nose. Tyr exhaled, seeing his breath form in front of his nose.
He turned his eyes up to the sky to see little white flakes, drifting slowly to the ground. Tyr shivered, stepping up his pace. He had to get home. Soon. As Tyr walked, he felt exhaustion slowly creep onto him. Tyr felt the coldness that bit at him turn numb, then even warm. A welcoming warmth… he could just sit down… and lie down… maybe then he could sleep and forget everything…
No. Tyr shook his head, feeling life coming back to him. He broke into a run, tearing across the sidewalk, snowflakes drifting past him, the fog that was his breath forming with every stride.
Tyr finally got home, breathing hard. He collapsed in front of the door, a familiar fear settling over his chest. He took hold of the door knob, shaking. He twisted it, opening it slowly.
The living room was dark, except for the flickering of a TV screen, with people talking to each other on it. The smell of smoke and alcohol choked Tyr. A figure was collapsed on his couch, surrounded with empty wine bottles. Tyr's father.
Tyr took off his shoes, putting it gently near the door. He began to move slowly, creeping upstairs, hoping to get to his room without his father noticing.
Tyr snuck into his room, pulling himself into his bed. He had returned from the world of spirits to reality. He wrapped himself in the thin blankets that couldn't even be called blankets. Tyr curled up tightly, trying to conserve his heat, and slept.
Tyr woke up to the soft buzzing of his watch. He always woke up early, to leave the house without his father waking. He put on his jacket, slung on his backpack, and left the house. Tyr pushed the door open to the close by convenient store, the small mini ones by a gas station. He sat down, taking out his pencil and papers from his backpack, hunching down to do his homework. He checked the time. 6:11AM.
He had an hour and a half until his school bus arrived. He finished his homework within the hour, packed his things, and made it look like he was getting ready to leave. But right when the cashier's eyes were turned, he slipped one of the pre-made sandwiches from the shelf into his backpack, as if it was just another one of his homework papers, stood up, and left the store.
Tyr used to be honorable about paying for his food, since it was so cheap anyway, but after his father fell into this state, he no longer had anyway to get money, and it wasn't like his father was going to make him food, forcing him to steal food in order to survive. He was pretty sure the cashier knew he was stealing food, but since this tiny sized sandwich was his biggest meal of the day, he was abnormally skinny, he was almost certain the cashier felt bad for him, and didn't stop him from taking a small sandwich every morning.
He walked to the bus stop, where he ate his sandwich slowly, watching his breath form clouds of fog in the air. Tyr suddenly froze, his mouth opened right next to his sandwich, ready to take a bite. Across the street from him stood a doe. A medium sized doe, her ears twitching, watching him with her round yellow eyes, a silver pendant hanging from her neck. Tyr stood up suddenly, taking a step towards her.
"Shai!" he called out softly, suddenly glad that he was at the bus stop early so that no one could hear him calling out to a deer. The doe jerked her head as if she had been shot, before galloping away quickly. Tyr felt sadness gathering around him as he sat down and began to eat once more.
The one being, even though she was a doe, who was willing to talk to him and listen to him, had abandoned him, leaving him to sit by himself. When he was isolated by the students for his heterochromia and abused by his father, leaving him to fend for himself, he felt as if a close friend had left him by himself.
Tyr finished the food, got on the bus when it arrived, and continued on with his school day. The day was normal. As if nothing had happened. As if Tyr hadn't been roughly jerked into the world of spirits. He didn't feel sick during PE, didn't go unconscious, didn't move to the world of spirits, didn't talk to Shai, didn't wake up at 12 the next day.
He returned home as normal, sneaking into his room. Tyr went to his room, finding his little safe space, a secret door in his closet, which he supposed was some sort of hurricane-safe area he had repurposed. He pulled up the trap door, slipping into it, pulling his backpack with him.
For his small figure, the place was quite spacious, except for the little critters scuttling around like rats and spiders, he had spent time making it feel comfortable. He had stolen snacks, warm blankets, books he borrowed from the library, and other comforting items. Tyr curled up in his blankets, opening a book, and allowed time to pass.
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