Firecracker Eyes // Ryan

The day I first met Avary was the strangest day of my life.
She was different than anyone I’d ever met. Unexpected. Ethereal, maybe. I can’t even think of the words to describe her. But now, as I sit in the midst of the dark cold woods, feeling the snow pile around me in giant drifts, her image brands itself into my memory once again.
“The name’s Avary.” Her words seem to echo, weaving themselves between the snowflakes, standing out against the howling wind. “What’s yours?”
Her green eyes were snapping like firecrackers as she stared at me, and I felt like running away. Only… I didn’t. I stayed. Rooted. Held captive by her gaze. “Ryan,” I said carefully. Tentatively. I felt like I was walking on glass. Like the floor would fall out from beneath me any moment. I really don’t know why. But I felt like she could either love me or hate me in an instant.
“Oh.” She crossed over, backlit by the stark lights of Dr. Flanigan’s laboratory. She didn’t shake my hand like I’d expected. She folded her arms instead, refusing to make any contact with me other than her eyes. Her fierce, captivating eyes. “What brings you here?”
It was like a splash of cold water. I realized that I had no reason. Not one that she’d understand, anyway. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, come on.” She began to pace around the room. “You have to have a reason. Dr. Flanigan doesn’t just let visitors stroll in unannounced.”
“I’m not unannounced.” I decided to play her game, coming over to the table and fiddling with a small glass beaker. “I’m his nephew.”
This seemed to affect her in some way, because she stopped in her tracks. “His nephew?” She looked for a moment like she almost believed me. Then she shook her head, and my hopes fell. “No, that’s impossible. Dr. Flanigan doesn’t have any family. Not anymore.”
“He has Sawyer and Bailey.”
“How do you know about them?”
“I told you, I'm related.”
“He’s lost all his extended family. And everyone in his life. They defected.”
“Then why are you still here?”
“I’m held here.”
Somehow, I doubted it. “How?”
She avoided my gaze. “I’m a prisoner.”
This somehow changed things. I don’t know why, but it did. The conversation ended quickly. Dr. Flanigan entered and confirmed that I was his nephew. Avary still didn’t trust me.
I wish she was here as the pine needles fall at my feet, blown down by the fury of the wind. I wish she was here now, to help me make sense of myself, if nothing else. I wish she was here so that her firecracker eyes would light up my world.
But she’s not here.
And there’s nothing but silence, coupled with the aching chill that the wind leaves behind.