Chapter 10 | MISSING FOR SEVEN YEARS

"I'm looking for my uncle's friend," I tell the couple. "I don't know his name, but if you are who I'm hoping you are, you'll be able to take me to him. My uncle wrote me a letter 7 years ago telling me that if I ever needed a place to stay, his friend would be here."

A minute ago, Henry moved from behind me to stand by his wife, who remains sitting in the rocking chair, moving back and forth inaudibly.

Now, as they both face me now, they're silent. Nina remains expressionless, and Henry shifts slightly.

So, steadfast, I continue on.

"My name is Mikaere Eriksen. My uncle's name being John Agner."

Their eyes grow wide with recognition, and Nina asks, "You're John's niece Mikaere?"

"Yeah! I've come from Washington. Is he here?"

Does this mean they're the correct two people who I was supposed to find?

Nina's face grows solemn. "John's been missing for seven years."

I take a deep breath. Even though the thought has occurred to me, I find it hard to truly grasp. Yeah, I didn't know the man very well; he was just a distant family member. However, he still gave me a chance at a hopeful new life, and not knowing where he is or what happened to him is a mystery I shall dedicate myself to solving.

"Where was he last seen?"

"By us? He stopped by to talk to me one Sunday, in 2013. It was...February, the 17th. I never got to hear what he had to say, though. By his friend? Well, you'll have to ask him. However, don't necessarily expect a reply. He doesn't exactly like to talk."

"Really? That's fantastic!" I instantly blurt out before I can think.

They both look at me oddly, and Henry asks, "What?"

"I mean...it's unfortunate that he won't talk about John. But, maybe he finally will. I just meant in general, you know-"

"Well, you might not even be able to reach him," Nina adds. "He hasn't been seen for months."

"Well," Henry starts, "that's not saying much. He just doesn't like being around most people."

I manage to not voice my instantaneous thought this time: That's terrific!

"I suppose you're right," Nina replies.

Henry then says, almost seeming eager to leave, "I can go and let Matthias know that we need a team for tomorrow."

Team?

She nods in response to him.

Turning to me, he asks, "I assume you'll want to head out tomorrow, right?"

I nod my head, "As early as possible would be great."

"Sunrise is at 9:08, and Matthias won't be available before then."

"So," Nina cuts in, "You can stay upstairs in the guest room for the night. You don't want to go to Kameron's motel."

"Why?" I ask.

"Trust me, you don't want to know why," she answers.

"Oh, okay."

Henry walks out of the room, most likely to go talk to this Matthias, leaving me alone with Nina.

"So," she says, "you can go put your bag in the guest room. Up the stairs and to the left. Second door on the right. Go bathe and get cleaned up. Then, you can come down for dinner."

Wow, I really do look that bad, huh? "Okay, thank you so much."

She nods, getting out of the rocking chair. However, before she can walk out of the room and back to the bar, I remember that I have to let Grace know I made it. "Wait!"

Nina turns and looks at me expectantly.

"Before I go and do that, do you mind if I use your phone? I need to let a friend know I've made it."

She nods, "Out here."

I follow after her, walking up to the landline and finding Grace's number on the piece of paper.

After a couple of rings, she picks up. "Who's calling?"

"Sarah," is all I say.

"Oh! Hey, you make it?"

"Yeah, thanks for your help!"

"Mhm. Call anytime you need anything."

"Will do."

"Bye, Smith."

"Bye!"

After I hang up the phone, I move back to the other room, beginning to walk towards the stairs and eventually up them. My bag starts to feel like it weighs 100 pounds, and I think it's been a whole day before I finally reach the top.

And I did that on an empty stomach.

I glance down both hallways. I count four doors, two to the left, and two to the right. I follow Nina's directions and turn to the left, entering the second door on the right. The white door creaks open loudly, and I immediately flip on the light switch. A small lamp on a bedside table flickers on, filling the small room with a warm glow as I take in the decoration. There's a couple of framed scenic photographs on the walls, showcasing mountainscapes, along with a small wooden vanity set that looks to be hand-carved. There are no windows.

The bed is twin sized, covered in fluffy blankets.

I step inside, and the wooden floorboards creak beneath me as I close the door and lock it.

The room is simple but cozy. I like it.

I set my duffle bag down to the side, hearing the contents clunk as they hit the floor. Then, I take off my choppers, hat, socks, boots, and coat, setting them near my bag.

There's a connecting door to the room, too.

Hopefully, it's a bathroom.

I walk to the door and open it, stepping inside. Immediately, the cold tile against my bare feet lets me know that, yes, it's a bathroom. I flip on the light switch and right away see a showerhead.

"Yes!" I cheer quietly.

A shower! My favorite! However, I really need to pee. When I'm done, I glance in the mirror in front of me. Suddenly, I'm overwhelmed by how much I visibly need a shower.

The girl who stares back at me has long black hair, and her lovely, dark eyebrows are just about the only thing she's proud of regarding her face. Inverted triangle face shape, or at least I think that's what she has. Medium-sized eyes, nose, and mouth. More of a bottom lip than a top one, but thankfully she does have a top one. There are some freckles, too. I watch as she forces a smile, seeing dimples appear.

Now, all of that doesn't sound bad, but when you take into account the long hair not having been washed in like, 5 days...

It's mangled and incredibly oily. Thankfully, my skin has improved since the last time I washed it. However, I still have a couple of visible spots.

I've always struggled with acne. I hated going anywhere without makeup. But, I didn't bring any with me here, mainly because it's Alaska and I no longer care.

My skin should get better after my shower, though, since I'll do my skincare routine and everything.

But, I also should clean my clothes, seeing as how I don't have many packed. After my shower I'll ask Nina about using her washer and dryer.

When I'm finally under the hot water, I instantaneously feel my anxiety fade away.

I love showers. I just love feeling clean.

I try to get as clean as I can, washing my hair well, exfoliating my skin using my face scrub, along with everything else. But, I also try to be quick, as I'm incredibly hungry.

When I'm done, I feel so much better. I dry myself off and wring out my hair before flipping the towel and putting my black locks into it, wrapping them up.

Then, I walk out and get a set of clean clothes from my bag.

When I've changed, I brush my hair and look in the mirror, seeing a noticeable improvement. My face has gotten some color, too, thanks to the hot water.

"Okay! Food time," I say to myself, almost walking out of the door before I pause.

Should I leave my bag here? Or should I bring it with?

All my savings is a lot to just leave lying around.

I decide to take out the money and put on my footwear, stuffing the bills, which are in a plastic bag, deep down inside my right boot.

Then, satisfied, I walk out the door and close it behind me.

No one's going to take my phone or tablet, I'm sure.

Well, hopefully.

Wow, Mikaere. Talk about being paranoid and having no faith in fundamental human goodness.

I roll my eyes at myself as I go down the stairs.

I wonder how slow I was. I tend to lose track of time without any difficulty, so hopefully, I still have some time and can get a meal.

I pull open the door to the bar area and right away notice the clock on the wall in front of me: 6:27 pm.

"Enjoy the shower?" Nina asks from behind the bar.

I nod to her, "Yes, thank you."

She's serving four guys who are seated at the bar, now. The same three from earlier along with the guy with the eye patch.

They've been here for two and a half hours, at least, but they don't look like they're too intoxicated.

I mean, maybe David does, along with the guy with the eyepatch. But, the other two seem fine.

A family of three sits at a table in the back, eating burgers. The mother hands the mustard to the father, and the little girl cringes at the sight of the yellow bottle.

Same.

I've always preferred ketchup to mustard.

Something about them sends a strange, familiar pang through me, though. I label it off as missing my own father and mother, putting them out of my mind as I focus on Nina.

"Are you hungry?" She asks me.

Once again, I nod, taking a seat at the bar next to the guy with the eyepatch. "I'm ravenous, yeah."

The guy with the nice cheekbones laughs a bit at my choice of wording.

Nina questions, "Is a cheeseburger fine?"

"A cheeseburger sounds great."

She nods and disappears into a room to the left, presumably the kitchen.

I'm left feeling awkward sitting next to a guy with one eye.

But then again, when do I not feel awkward?

There's silence for a few moments until the man to my left suddenly states, "So, you're probably wondering how I lost the eye."

"Oh, well-"

"It happened 7 years ago. I was out looking for a friend of mine, as he had gone missing. I was pretty deep into the woods when suddenly, these ravens came out of nowhere. Like, dozens and dozens of ravens just started swarming me."

"Oh my God, did they peck your eye out?"

"What? No," the balding man with the red beard answers gruffly.

"Oh."

"I managed to fend off from the birds until they decided to leave me alone. Then, arrows started being shot at me. Random arrows just flew right past my head and everything!"

"Oh, so an arrow got your eye?"

"What? No, no. Stop asking questions."

"Oh, okay."

"So, I started running from the arrows blindly and ended up near a river. Keep in mind, this was December, so I wasn't too worried about any bear-"

"Oh! A bear attacked you and took your eye out?"

"No. I told you to stop asking questions!"

"Sorry," I say, thoroughly enthralled by his story.

He continues on, "Anyway, I ran right into a sharp branch."

"Ouch."

"Yeah," he says, and there's silence for a few moments.

And then: "So why aren't you asking any questions?"

I frown, "You said to stop asking questions."

"I meant until I was done with my story."

"Oh," I say. "Wait, your eye got impaled by you running into a sharp branch? That's what took it out?"

"Yeah."

"You're saying you survived a mob of ravens, along with an attack of random arrows, only to lose your eye to a twig which you jogged into?"

"...Yeah."

"Wow, that's really anticlimactic."

"Yeah."

"And the whole bear thing was irrelevant?"

"Yeah."

Nodding, I stick my right hand out to him, "What's your name? I'm Mikaere."

He shakes my hand, "Mikaere, huh? Never heard that name before. I'm Peter Thornson, but most just call me Thor."

"Thor? Why would they call you that?"

"Why wouldn't they?"

I look at him, realizing how much of a giant this man actually is. He seems to be at least 6'4", and he's really bulky looking. Plus, the whole eyepatch thing...

I nod. "Fair enough."

Just then, Nina steps out from the kitchen with a plate that holds a giant burger and some fries.

"Here you go," she says, setting the plate down in front of me.

"Wow, that looks so good."

The bartender asks, "Can I get you anything to drink?"

Deciding to give in to my cravings, I inquire, "Do you have any rootbeer?"

"Yeah, just a sec."

I dig into the food, savoring the taste. It's delicious, and I'm glad to finally eat something.

When Nina places the drink down in front of me, I nod and smile with my mouth closed as a silent thank you as I continue scarfing down the meal.

Only when I'm finished do I take a drink of the rootbeer, my eyes beginning to water because of the carbonation.

"You get enough to eat?" Nina asks me, taking my empty plate.

"Yeah, thanks," I answer. "How much?"

"It's on the house, don't worry about it."

Seriously? I'm almost starting to feel guilty getting all of these free rides and meals.

"You don't have to, I can pay."

"No, honestly, any friend of his is a friend of ours."

"Oh, well, thank you. Really."

She nods, walking off to the family in the corner.

The tired man who seems like he couldn't care less about anything speaks up, "Any friend of whose?"

I don't answer him.

"Oh, come on. I'll tell you my name if you tell me his."

"Why would I want to know your name?"

He scoffs, "Fine. My name is Benjamin. And you are?"

"Mikaere," I answer.

"I'd say it's nice to meet you...but it's not."

"Right back at you."

Benjamin turns to the man with the nice cheekbones. "Mikaere, this is Jacob."

"Hi, Jacob."

"Nice to meet you, Mikaere."

"Nice to meet you, too."

And now, I was acquainted with the regulars.

Maybe.

Then, Nina appears in front of me again, "Do you have any questions about tomorrow?"

Do I?

"Yeah."

She nods, "Alright, let's see if I can answer them."

She starts walking back to the room with the rocking chair, and I follow after her.