57Yes, I know. Another story. I'm horrible. This inspiration like this hit me so hard I couldn't work on my other Kakashi/OC story. I've got this out of my system for now though.
Enjoy~!
*"Japanese"*
Chapter 1
"Jasper! Come here boy!"
The loud and playful voice rang through the farmhouse easily, and in moments she could hear the heavy galloping of paws rushing toward her. From around the corner came Jasper; her loyal and loving bullmastiff. As she stood by the door grabbing her coat, Jasper excitedly thrashed his tail from side to side and pushed his side against her legs.
Weighing over half her own bodyweight, she was happy he was mostly a gentle giant. The excited jittering of her dog nearly knocked her over as she reached for her hat on the hook. Huffing, she pulled on the orange stocking cap, "Yeah, yeah, I know, potty." As if to respond, he barked. And, like she usually did, she thought of his response in her head.
'That's right Alysha, time to go potty! Let me out the door so I may run free!'
Alysha shook her head with an exhausted smile and zipped up her coat. Before she opened the door, she cast a glance over her shoulder to the mirror hanging there. Tired blue eyes and messy red hair sticking out from her hat only seemed to prove that it was too early to be up.
As soon as the door opened, Jasper ran out the door like a speeding bullet. The crisp and cool fall air did nothing to dissuade him. Unlike Alysha who shoved her hands into her pockets to protect against the cold. She followed after him, admiring the open and vast yard. Being twenty-four and living on a ten acre farm in the countryside was surreal. Granted, it wasn't really a farm anymore. The barn in the distance was empty, and the chicken coop hadn't seen a chicken in years. Looking at the old buildings only soured her mood.
This place used to be her grandparents' pride and joy. But neither her father or uncle wanted anything to do with it. Then her grandfather passed away and there was no turning back. That was ten years ago. The sudden death had hit her family hard, especially her grandmother, Gwyneth. She sold all the animals, stopped caring for the orchard, and the paths down to the lake were overgrown with weeds and shrubbery. She had lived all alone out here for eight years, that's when her memory finally started to leave her.
Alysha loved her grandmother dearly, but she was always nervous. When she visited her at the nursing home would there come a day when she wouldn't recognize her? It had started so small, from missing an appointment or forgetting a conversation, to suddenly not eating.
They let it go on for a while, but eventually it was decided that it was time for her to move to the nursing home in town. That way she would be looked after and cared for, instead of starving herself unintentionally and forgetting her medication.
That's where she came in. Gwyneth had refused to sell her home and demanded that it be looked after. The quality might have gone down, but she wanted it in the family. She would go on and on about how important the land was, and how the small lake was magical. Since Alysha was a child she had preached about the importance of it, but to call it magical… That had to be the dementia talking. The timing had been perfect when her dad called her and asked her if she was interested. Just for a few years, or until he could talk her into selling the place. With the arrangement that she would only need to pay for the monthly utilities and food, Alysha would have been an idiot to turn it down. Especially considering where she had been before this.
It had been nearly six months living out here, and overall, she was content.
Just her and her dog. What more could she want?
Speaking of her dog, there he went rushing into the overgrown paths to the lake. Picking up her pace, Alysha followed. Thankfully, Jasper wasn't a dog that loved to swim. He'd get his paws wet for sure, but at least she didn't have to worry about him getting soaked. It was too cold to worry about a wet dog. It was mid October and she only wanted it to warm back up. Now that the leaves were all fallen and the trees were bare the only thing left to look forward to was the snow. And, boy, was she not looking forward to driving in that.
Brushing past the overgrown bushes and branches she finally made it to the lake. In the early light of the morning, it was a stunning sight. To think she got to see it every morning was unbelievable. The water was still and except for the ripples Jasper made with his tongue, it was quiet as well. Just the chirping of the birds to keep them company.
Moments like this she understood why her grandmother called it magical. She could look out at it for hours. Alysha knew that her grandparents had indeed spent hours in this spot doing just that. The shoreline had been gutted years ago, leaving a small open area where a fire pit lay. She remembered gathering around that same firepit with her family and enjoying marshmallows and hotdogs. Those were memories close to her heart.
Usually, she enjoyed standing there on the edge of the lake, but there was something different today. Looking at the water gave her a sick sense of foreboding. Goosebumps rose in waves down her back and arms, but it wasn't from the cold.
"Jasper." She called softly, as if speaking too loudly would alert something she couldn't see.
He lifted his head from the water with a comical tilt, obviously curious what was wrong.
She grit her teeth. Weren't dogs supposed to have a sixth sense for danger? Why would she be feeling this way and Jasper not have a care in the world? Alysha patted her thigh and he trotted over to her. With a scratch behind his ear and a glance back to the water, she began walking away.
A rush of water and a desperate gasp stopped her clear in her tracks.
The scream stopped in her throat and she turned to see a man pulling himself from the lake on his hands and knees.
Time seemed to slow.
What. The. Fuck.
Jasper squared up in front of her, putting himself between his master and this new possible threat. The sudden appearance startled the dog nearly as much as it startled her.
It was unlike anything she had ever seen. He was unlike anything she had ever seen. Heavy green vest, navy pants and sleeves with a headband and mask. He looked like some strange off brand military man or something with that vest. Most noticeable though, his hair. It was almost as white as freshly fallen snow.
Alysha was far too stunned to do anything other than stare as he struggled to pull himself out of the water. The birds had stopped chirping and now the only thing she could hear was the heavy panting from this mystery man. He finally lifted his head and looked straight at her, saying something she couldn't understand before promptly falling face first into the dirt.
Well… this wasn't how she wanted to spend her Tuesday.
~0~
Why didn't she call the police? Why didn't she call her dad? Why did she drag this random dude all the way back to the house? And, most importantly;
Why was he loaded with weapons?!
Maybe it's because she knew he couldn't have swam to the shore. Maybe because telling someone that a random man popped out of the lake sounded crazy. Maybe she was scared that it was all in her head and she really was going crazy. In reality, she couldn't think of how to explain it to anyone. And, she reasoned that if he tried anything, she had Jasper. He'd protected her in the past, he would do it again in a heartbeat.
Not only did she have Jasper there with her, but she had hidden all of those strange weapons in the attic. Every knife and every throwing star. In fact, she just chucked the whole pouch and vest into the attic and closed the hatch. There had been no ID, no drivers license, no passport; nothing. She couldn't find a single thing on him telling her who he was. Other than weapons and a few strange scrolls, she found two books. One was smaller and thinner than the other, full of mugshots of different men and a few women. While she couldn't read a word of it, it seemed like profiles. It wasn't extremely weird until she came across a man who looked like a freakish fish with blue skin and gills.
She promptly closed it and set it aside.
The other book didn't have any pictures, other than the cover that was a man chasing after a woman in a skimpy dress. It was the same language, she assumed. After a onceover of the orange book, she sat it down on the coffee table and just stared at the man on the floor.
Yeah, the floor.
After dragging him all the way back there was no way she had strength to lift him into a bed or onto the couch. So there he was, in the middle of the room with a pillow under his head and a fleece blanket tossed over him.
Her hand rubbed Jasper's fur, the familiar feeling soothing even in this strange situation.
At least this guy was nice to look at. Actually, scratch that, he was gorgeous. After she had pulled him inside and plopped him in the living room, she had taken off everything she deemed unnecessary. That included everything that wasn't his shirt and pants. Not knowing what else to do with a soaking wet mask, she put all the small things into the drier. It was the least she could do, right?
It did worry her though, the eye he had been covering up had a long scar running right over it. She knew the other eye worked since he had looked right at her, but there was no way with a scar like that that he wasn't half blind. Thankfully it looked like a very old scar, so she shouldn't have to worry about it getting infected from the water, right?
The growing pit in her stomach only grew from guilt.
She needed advice.
Standing, she left the room and entered the kitchen, picking up her phone. It didn't take her long to find the number she was looking for. She held the receiver to her ear and waited for a few rings.
"Hey! What's up?" Came a much too chipper reply.
Alysha visibly relaxed at hearing the familiar voice. "Monica, hey."
"Damn, how long has it been since you called? Like, a month? You still like living out there in the middle of nowhere? How's courage?" She paused for a giggle, "You find yourself a Eustace, Muriel?"
Alysha sighed and leaned her elbows on the counter as she looked out the window. She rubbed her temple, "Yeah, we're good." It was just like Monica to make an obscure reference like that. "Say… Hypothetically… If you had an unconscious dude sleeping on your living room floor… what would you do?"
The silence was deafening.
"Aly, what the fuck?"
Her face flushed red, "Hey! Just… what would you do?"
"Well, did you guys do the nasty on your living room floor or something?"
She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Jesus Christ. No." She sighed, "He just kinda showed up."
"So, this isn't hypothetical." Monica said flatly.
Fuck.
"No- I mean, yeah, it is." She couldn't stop the nervous laugh.
"Dude!" Monica shouted over the phone and Alysha had to jump away for a second at the angry outburst. "You're telling me some random dude showed up at your door in the middle of fucking nowhere and he's asleep in your living room?! Why haven't you called the cops yet?! Why did you let him in?!"
A few minutes passed of Monica going on about serial killers and rapists and the like. Of course Alysha knew about all of this. It had gone through her mind too. It didn't stop her from bringing him inside though. "Calm down, I have Jasper."
"And why hasn't he bitten his dick off already?" Monica hissed. "That's it, I'm calling someone for you. No friend of mine is gonna be murdered today." This was followed by shuffling and the muffled sound of rustling paper.
Her heart rushed in her ears and the stress made her face unbearably hot, "No!"
The line went silent.
"I'm fine. Nothing bad's happened, and nothing bad will happen. I promise."
Apparently, her voice sounded more convincing than she felt. Because after a few long moments Monica sighed, "Girl, if you die I swear to God I will staple your soul to the goddamn floor."
Alysha laughed awkwardly. She didn't know whether to be flattered or scared by the comment.
"I want an update every ten minutes. A minute too late and I will get a swat team out there."
She couldn't help it. "Depending on the wound it can only take a minute to bleed out."
"Not funny," came the deadly hiss.
"Right, right, sorry." She rubbed the back of her head. "I should get going though. I'll text you in a minute to let you know what's going on."
"You fucking better."
She smiled. "I will. Oh, and, Moni?"
"Yeah?"
"...I'm sorry for not calling."
Monica's voice was softer than it had been the whole conversation, "It's okay. I know you've been going through a lot."
The two said their goodbyes and hung up. Alysha hung her head and took a deep breath. Not how she wanted to spend her day off. The mystery man had yet to wake up and he had been out cold the whole time. If he wasn't up in another hour, she might just have to call an ambulance…
She shook her head. No, he would wake up. In the meantime, breakfast sounded amazing.
When she turned around, she got the second shock of her life that day.
Standing there, leaning against the island counter was Mr. Mystery Man himself. Arms crossed over his broad chest and one foot over the other.
How long had he been standing there?!
His scarred eye was still closed, while his open one was dark and more serious than she had ever seen anyone's. It was calculating, assessing, like she was a complex math problem that he couldn't figure out. His lips were drawn into a hard line.
Alysha couldn't say how long they both looked at one another in that kitchen. That was until he finally opened his scarred eye, showing the red iris hidden there.
"We need to talk."
I am very dedicated to my other story but I will say, really like the premise of this one. I do have a lot of ideas going forward for it and a barebones plot. If you want to see more, definitely drop a Review to let me know your interest!
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Posted - 12/22/21 (Gosh, it's the same backwards and forwards, lmao)