GUEST OF THE STORM

“Who the hell…?” Rowan muttered as he opened the door and stepped into the living room.

Lightning flashed, illuminating a stranger slumped into the cushions, his face covered with a treatment mask. The storm Rowan and his twin brother Aiden had just fought through still roared outside, rain hammering against the windows.

The stranger’s dark hair was soaked, strands plastered to the edges of the mask and his pale temples. A bruise bloomed along his jaw, and his shirt was stained with water and blood.

“Mum,” Rowan called.

Mrs. Hale stepped in behind him, holding a towel and a small medical kit.

“What's going on?”. Rowan asked but before Mrs. Hale could respond the door opened again and Aiden walked in after parking the car. 

He froze when he saw Rowan standing stiffly, their mother beside him, and a stranger seated on the couch.

“Mum… who’s he?” Aiden asked, approaching slowly.

“He’s Kai,” Mrs. Hale replied as she moved closer to the stranger while her sons watched, exhausted but curious.

She gently removed the mask, revealing a handsome face; pink, tempting lips and a sharp, pointed nose, but his eyes still closed. Aiden stared, momentarily lost.

Rowan’s expression changed the instant he saw him. His eyes widened, his stomach twisting as he stepped closer, as if afraid his vision was playing tricks on him.

“Holy shit,” Rowan breathed, then spun toward his mother.

“What is he doing here?!”

The sharpness in Rowan’s voice cut through the room.

The stranger flinched, lifting his head slightly. His dark, exhausted eyes met Rowan’s for a second before slipping away. Rowan took a few steps back to where he had stood earlier.

“Mum, what have you done?” Rowan asked, frustration seeping into his voice.

Mrs. Hale frowned. “Rowan, watch your tone.”

“Tone?” Rowan laughed without humor, his fingers curling into fists. “Mom, do you even know who that is?”

“I know he was lying on the roadside in this storm,” she replied calmly. “Bleeding and barely conscious. I couldn’t leave him there.”

Rowan pointed straight at the stranger.

“You brought him into our house?”

Aiden finally found his voice. “Rowan, relax. He looks half-dead.”

Rowan’s eyes never left the man on the couch.

“That’s not just some random guy,” Rowan said quietly. “That’s him.”

Aiden turned to him. “Him who?”

Rowan swallowed.

“The one they called Rida,” Rowan whispered. “The man who walked into a war like it was nothing.”

Mrs. Hale stiffened. “Rowan.”

“I saw him once,” Rowan continued, breathing unevenly. “Just once. Everyone scattered when he showed up; no shouting, no threats, just… presence. He's like death but wearing skin.”

The stranger shifted weakly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he murmured.

His voice was hoarse.

Rowan snapped his gaze back to him. “Don’t lie to me.”

The man frowned in confusion and lifted his head a little more, eyes searching Rowan’s face as if trying to recognize something that wasn’t there.

“My name is Kai,” he said quietly. “At least… I think it is.”

Aiden’s chest tightened at the sound of it.

There was no arrogance in his tone, only exhaustion and an empty ache behind his eyes.

Rowan scoffed. “You expect me to believe that?”

“I expect nothing,” Kai replied. “I woke up in the rain. I don’t remember how I got there. I don’t remember who hurt me. And I don’t remember you.”

There was silence as thunder groaned outside.

Aiden studied him closely; the curve of his lashes, the slump of his shoulders. Whatever Rowan saw, Aiden saw only a helpless, lonely, handsome man.

“Aiden,” Rowan snapped. “Say something.”

Aiden hesitated.

“I think…” He paused. “I think he needs help, not accusations.”

Rowan stared at him. “You’re siding with him?”

“I’m siding with common sense,” Aiden replied softly. “He can barely stand.”

Mrs. Hale nodded. “He stays for the night. End of discussion.”

Rowan’s breath shook.

“No.”

“Rowan.”

“He’s not sleeping under the same roof as me.”

Mrs. Hale’s voice hardened. “You’re not throwing an injured stranger back into a storm.”

Rowan laughed bitterly. “You don’t understand what you dragged in.”

“Maybe you don’t either,” she replied calmly.

Rowan backed toward the stairs, eyes still locked on Kai.

“If he’s still here in the morning,” Rowan said, “don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Then he turned and stormed upstairs.

Aiden exhaled slowly.

Kai shifted on the couch, pain flickering across his face. For a moment, his gaze met Aiden’s.

Aiden’s chest tightened as he watched him quietly.

Mrs. Hale placed the towel over Kai’s shoulders. “You’re safe for tonight.”

Kai nodded faintly, but his eyes remained on Aiden.

Aiden lingered, then finally turned and headed upstairs. He entered his room and collapsed onto his bed.

“Who's this man? And why’s Rowan so scared of him?” he muttered to himself.

After a moment, curiosity pulled him back up.

“I must find out.”

He left his room and went to Rowan’s. The door was half open. Rowan was pacing, his phone pressed to his ear.

“Gab, I’m telling you, he’s in my house now,” Rowan said, fear lacing his voice.

Gab had been his friend since college.

“I’m so scared…” Rowan paused, listening.

“You don’t get it. He’s lying, disguising himself to my family, and they believe him.”

Aiden stepped in, clearing his throat.

Rowan glanced at him and spoke into the phone, “I’ll call you back, Gab,” before ending the call.

“You both will regret it if you don’t send that man away,” Rowan said, more a warning than a threat.

Aiden walked to the bed and sat. “Tell me why. What has that stranger done to you… or what did you do?”

Rowan’s eyes widened.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Rowan said as he walked closer.

He bent low, placing his hands on Aiden’s lap. Aiden stared, surprised. Rowan had always been cold, hard to crack, but now one stranger made the twenty-four-year-old tremble like a frightened child.

Rowan straightened, biting his finger, staring at Aiden for a long moment before finally speaking.

“He’s… he’s Rida from Bridge College. He was…”