23. Ryan

23

RYAN

T he walk through the dogwoods and cherry trees was every bit as beautiful as Ciel promised it would be, and much better in the daylight than on the one fateful night when I nearly got lost in the woods.

I didn’t tell my parents where I found out about the trail, and I certainly didn’t mention the other person I’d walked it with before. I planned on talking about Ciel as little as possible and hoping that they just forgot that I ever said I was seeing someone.

We had to walk behind the library to access the trail, and as we passed by the old, stately building, my mom peeked in the windows to get a better idea of the amenities here.

“We should stop in on our way back,” she said.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I said dismissively, waving her along with the hand that wasn’t holding a basket full of food.

“Why, is it dirty inside or something?” Dad asked.

“No, not at all. It’s just, well, this town is chock-full of monsters and they like to congregate in there. I know you don’t mind seeing some different creatures, but it might be a bit of a shock to see all the species all at once.”

“That won’t shock us,” Dad replied. “Don’t worry about it. I think it would be a great idea to stop by and learn more about this place. Do you have a library card, Ryan?”

I wanted to tell him no, but that would be yet another lie. I was already skirting the truth about why I didn’t want to go inside the library. I had faith in the Librarian that they would be tactful when meeting my parents, but they didn’t know Ciel and I had broken up yet, and I feared that they would start talking about him before I could shut them up.

“All right,” I said reluctantly. “Let’s do it on the way back. I’m starving, and we need to find a place to eat.”

We walked among the pink and white blossoming trees for a little while, admiring the little deer trails that branched off and the nests birds had made last year that were still visible in some of the barer branches.

I half-expected a squirrel or a raccoon to scurry out of the bushes, but with all our laughing and chatting, we were too loud for any animals to stick around once they heard us coming from miles away.

We stopped at a nice little clearing surrounded by trees. In the middle was a bed of fir needles matted down from something stepping or lying on it — a deer, maybe? My knowledge of wild animals was limited at best. Ciel, bless his soul, would know much better.

“This looks like as good a spot as any,” I said, sitting down cross-legged and spreading the food out.

Mom and Dad joined me, though it took them a little longer to lower themselves to the ground and get comfortable. We were able to eat in relative peace, but toward the end of the meal, the question came up:

“So, tell us about your Ciel.” Mom smiled and waited eagerly for me to say everything that I couldn’t possibly say.

“Ciel?” I feigned ignorance.

“Yes, isn’t that her name?” She turned to look at Dad. “Sean, that was her name, right?”

Dad shrugged. “That’s what Ryan told me.”

“Oh, that Ciel!” I acted as though I had an epiphany. “Yeah, Ciel’s actually out of town this week.”

“She is?” my parents’ faces fell.

“I’m sorry, it was unexpected. H–Ciel will be back next week.”

“That’s too bad,” Dad said. “We were really looking forward to meeting her.”

I smiled. “I know, and maybe someday you will. It just wasn’t meant to be this time.”

“It wasn’t an emergency, was it?” Mom asked.

“What?”

“Her having to leave so quickly. Everything’s okay, right?”

“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine. It’s not like h– Ciel has anyone to worry about like that.”

My parents furrowed their brows, exchanging confused glances. I should have elaborated, but I preferred to leave things there and let them guess what I meant by that. I couldn’t tell them the truth, which was that Ciel was a fallen angel and obviously had no family to speak of.

I began cleaning up the remnants of lunch, but Mom stopped me. “Let me do that for you. Sean, now’s a good time to…you know.”

Dad cleared his throat and pulled himself up off the ground. “Right. Ryan, why don’t we take a short walk while your mom is busy?”

I hesitated. “Okay. Is something wrong?”

“Not at all.” He took my arm and led me away from the clearing, back down the path we came from. “I just want to give you your money before I forget.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. I mean, it can wait till later.”

“No, let me do it now.”

He pulled out his checkbook and a pen and scribbled some information onto a check. When he handed it to me, I almost didn’t want to take it.

“That’s too much,” I told him. “I won’t be able to pay it back for a while.”

“We don’t want you to pay it back.” He pushed the check into my hands, closing my fingers around the paper.

“But won’t you and Mom be dipping into your savings?”

“We’ll be fine; don’t worry. What’s important is that you’re able to take care of yourself. Now, how about we head back and stop in at the quaint little library we passed by? I’d like to get an idea of the sorts of people around here, and that seems like the perfect place.”

I stuffed the check into my pocket, trying not to look at the number Dad had written down lest I start worrying all over again.

We walked back to the clearing and I took the picnic basket from Mom. We headed back down the path, a little slower now that we weren’t hungry and eager to eat. When we made it to the library, I set the basket down outside. Mom was worried that someone might steal it, but I assured her that no one was going to steal an ugly old basket that I used to store video games in at college.

“After you,” I said, holding the door open for my parents.

The bell jingled and the Librarian glanced up, obviously busy with something important behind the counter, based on the pot of ink on the desk and the quill in their hand.

“Hello, Ryan,” they said cheerily, setting the quill down on a towel to catch errant drips of ink.

I smiled and nodded, hoping to get away from them as quickly as possible. I had no such luck, as they wiped their hands on the same towel that the quill was on and emerged from behind their desk.

“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting either of you. Are you new in town?”

“These are my parents,” I explained. “They’re just visiting.”

The Librarian’s face lit up. “Ah, how wonderful. And you chose the library as one of your stops? I’m impressed.”

My mom and dad were clearly charmed by the bookish little fae, and any attempt I made to steer them away ended unsuccessfully. Fortunately for me, the Librarian avoided any mention of either Ciel or the matchmaking service. I wasn’t sure if they knew Ciel and I were no longer together or if they merely wanted to be polite, but I didn’t care — I was grateful either way.

“What were you working on with that beautiful quill and ink?” Mom asked, peeking over the front counter.

“Ah, I’m attempting to create something for my dear cousin’s birthday,” the Librarian replied, excited to tell someone about their more artistic exploits. “He’s an artist by trade, so my work pales in comparison to his, but I thought it might be nice to print his vows to his husband — they married last year, and writing is more my speed than any sort of art, so it made sense to combine the two.”

Mom and Dad both smiled. “That’s sweet,” Dad said. “You know, Rebecca, that might be fun to do if we ever dig up our vows from our wedding day.”

The Librarian nodded eagerly. “You should. There’s a bit of a learning curve to scripting, but I can assure you that the final result is well worth it.”

They held up their canvas and my heart lurched as I noticed the quill they’d been using. The feather portion of it was long and stark white, almost glowing, meaning only one thing.

Before I could ask the Librarian about it, the door to the library swung open and a pale, illuminating glow similar to the quill’s aura washed over the room.

“Ah, Ciel,” the Librarian said. “I’m so glad you came in today. I’ve been meaning to thank you for the lovely feather, and–" they stopped mid-sentence when they saw the look on Ciel’s face, his eyes trained on only one person in the room.

All the color drained out of my face. My parents looked back and forth between me and the angel, confusion spreading rapidly. The Librarian, sudden realization dawning on them, shrank back behind the counter.

The entire building grew still. Time stopped. Someone had to say something, and of course it was Ciel who spoke first.

“Hello, Ryan. Fancy meeting you here.”