After eating dinner and saying his good night to his parents, Evan made his way back inside his room.
Even if it's not the late yet, Evan felt tired. He was thinking of resting early tonight and that was what he did. There was nothing from Iva throughout the night either. So, Evan's sleep was both uneventful and dreamless.
'Evan? Evan!'
He groans a little at the sound of someone calling his name. He blinks his eyes awake, groaning even more when he realized that the sun's rays were directly on his face from the window.
'Good, you're awake.' Iva sighs, from what Evan could only feel was like relief. 'I've been trying to wake you up for what felt like ages!'
Evan shook his head to try and wake himself up even more. 'What's wrong?'
'Oh, nothing much, just realized that something is going around your house outside.'Iva tells him. 'Not sure what it is, but it has been circling for a while now.'
After hearing that, Evan's sleepy brain became more alert. He looked at the corner of the room, not moving as he tries to see if he can hear anything.
Not really noticing anything out of the ordinary, Evan's eyebrows furrowed. He normally would feel nervous if there's any danger. But he isn't feeling anything at all. So, he stood up and made his way towards the door.
'What are you doing, Evan? It might be an enemy!' Iva's voice echoed in his mind.
Evan sighs. "Or, it just might be something roaming around. You told me what you had detected whatever it was without line of sight. Maybe it's just a rabbit, or something. I'll go check it."
Iva made some noises but in the end, couldn't really tell Evan no.
So, Evan placed his ear against the door. He closed his eyes and listened.
He realized that his parents are gone by now, but that's just normal. What wasn't normal is the sound of the main door opening and a set of unfamiliar footsteps.
No wait. There's more than one pair.
Evan's eyes shot open when he realized that there were more.
Three?
No, four.
It's one less than the dangerous strangers from way back then but they were still many. He stood frozen at the door for a moment, trying to see what those people are here for.
Looks like he didn't have to wait since he heard the footsteps stop.
"Are you sure this is the only house around this area?" A man's voice came from the outside.
"Yes boss. This is the only one. The next house is at least ten minutes away." Another man replies.
"Okay two of you go to the next house. You, come with me. We're searching for all possible escape around here. Let me know which one looks more abandoned for our operation."
"Yes boss!"
Evan heard two sets of footsteps getting out of the house, while two others separate inside the house.
He waited for the two leaving footsteps to disappear from outside before Evan gulps. He has no idea what to do in this situation other than one thing... Try to either escape or lead them out somehow.
"Simulation Zone." Evan muttered under his breath.
The whoosh came like it always did. When his vision darkens a little bit, he moves. His movements were more fluid this way, so it like a ghost, he was able to hover and move passed the door without opening it.
Once he is outside, he finally saw the strangers. One of them, who looks like a leader, is clothed from head to toe in black. He has shades on and he had spiky blue hair with a darker blue bandana on his forehead. His face has a black mask while his chest is covered with an armor of sorts.
He had a badge on his hip, so Evan moved closer to look at it. The badge background is in blue, with the icon of a Tiger in the middle.
Evan looked at the other man and saw the same badge on his hip.
They are members of the Tigris, one of the noble families from the Xertle City.
Evan doesn't know much about them, but he has heard about them from one of his mom's stories. They own half of the market with stalls being rented by vendors there.
His eyebrows furrowed as he moved past the front door and towards where he saw the other two men. Both had the same badges on their hip.
Evan went back inside the house. Then, he stared at the two of them. "Iva, time is still frozen right?"
Iva hums. "Yeah, time is frozen. Why?"
"Nothing, just checking." Evan went back inside his room and opened the window. Then, he climbed down from it, grabbed a basket and made his way to the forest.
After he made it to the entrance of the forest, he blinked his eyes. That made him go back to his original position.