Chapter 28 - Hey There

Kaden groaned as he slowly pushed himself up from his bed. He made a face of pain as his hand went to cover his injured arm. He had been confined to his quarters going on two days and his mind raced with worry over Fred. Although, at this point, he should have been worried about his own well being. No one had come to see him yet, other than the cadet who made sure he was fed on time, and the lack of contact did nothing, but put Kaden on edge, if only just a little. He knew there would be some kind of punishment, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to think about it, so worrying about Fred, was all that occupied his mind.

But not even the Huntsclan would give him that as Kaden heard the door being unlocked from the outside. He sat calmly as it opened and Eric stepped though, his eyes on the floor as he did so. Kaden was no better as he immediately averted his eyes when he recognized who was coming to see him.

Each knew what was coming next, would be a pivotal moment when it came to each other lives. Silence rained over them, as each began to wonder, if the damage had already been done, if all that they were, was already severed beyond repair.

“Tell me, why,” Eric finally spoke, his voice soft, fragile even. He then slowly allowed himself to look at the boy who sat across the room. “Why did you betray the Huntsclan? Why-” his voice broke, his chest felt heavy. “Why did you betray me?” he asked his true question.

Kaden shook his head. “What I did had nothing to do with you,” Kaden tried to explain.

“So after everything – the good, the bad, the supernatural. . . I meant nothing to you?” Anger was clear in his voice.

“The opposite actually. You mean a lot to me,” Kaden let be known.

“Maybe.” He took comfort in that fact, if only just a little. “But that didn't stop you from leaving.”

Kaden took a deep breath. “I had to follow my heart, no matter who that may have hurt. Even if it was you.” Eric said nothing as he took in the other's words. “But don't think I planned this or did it on purpose,” Kaden tried to explained. “I didn't think things would end up this bad when they started so simply.”

Kaden then went on to explain how he had met Fred. It had been one of his free days off from the academy and he thought it would be a good time to go birthday shopping for Eric. He had entered a random shop with the intent of looking for inspiration, when one of the associates approached him and asked if he needed help. The associate ended up being Fred, who worked there part time.

Right away, the two of them seem to click. At the time, the young Huntsclan member would never admit it, but the thought of having a friend outside of the academy intrigued him. So he had gone back to the store and by chance caught Fred as he was ending his shift. Kaden had asked Fred if he was interested in hanging out.

Fred had looked at his watch, as if he were in a hurry, and explained to Kaden that his schedule didn't leave a lot of room for a social life. Fred expected the other to looked slightly rejected, as he had said it in a rude way, but to his surprise, Kaden only smiled and told him that was another thing they had in common.

Fred, amused by the kid, and realizing he hadn't had a friend outside of the Magical World in years, thought he could use the change in pace. So by the end of their conversation they ended up exchanging information.

Things started out slow. There were a lot of missed calls and plenty games of phone tag before they realized emailing and text messages suited them better. One night, one had actually caught the other's call. Fred told Kaden he had some free time coming up and wondered if he wanted to do something. Kaden, being one of only three teachers in a still very young academy told Fred he didn't know if he could find the time.

Fred sounded put out, when he heard the news, and Kaden not wanting to push away a new friendship before it really began, recanted his words and told him he would maneuver somethings around and find the time. Kaden regretted that decision the moment he saw the fifteen foot waves at the beach Fred had dragged him to. He had to put up with Fred's teasing about being a city boy all day.

And that's how things went for many months, one found himself with free time and would immediacy call up the other, who would clear their schedule for the other.

One night, while at a local arcade, eating pizza, Fred received a phone call and went outside to answer it. Kaden couldn't hear the conversation, but he could see him through the glass doors as Fred steadily became agitated. He knew the news wasn't good when his blonde headed friend couldn't really look at him as he made his way back to their table.

Fred had apologized, telling him something had come up as he gathered his bookbag and made sure he had the book he had shown Kadan earlier. He hoped that they could reschedule as he said he would make this up to him. Kaden only smiled as he reassured him everything was fine. Another moment later, Fred was out the door leaving Kaden sitting by himself.

Then as soon as Fred was out of eye sight, Kaden heard a familiar sound. He soon realized that it was Fred's cell, which was sitting under the table. He quickly picked it up, the call already missed, and ran out the door and down the street where he had seen Fred heading. Kaden then froze in his tracks as he had spotted him around a dark alley turning into a yellow dragon.

And as Fred's wings spread out, his back to Kaden, he took into the sky, disappearing into the night. His cell began to ring again, which slowly fell to the ground from Kaden's fingertips.

OoOoO

Kaden continued his story. “My first thought was to contact the Academy to let them know I had discovered a dragon in the region. But as I went to make the call, I realize I couldn't.” He took a deep breath. “It was then I realized I had come to care about him.”

“What about me?” Eric wanted to know. “We had been together, you made no mention of someone else. You gave no clue, I wasn't the only one.”

“At the time you were.” Kaden gave a weak smile. “Fred and I had gotten into it sometime after that. He had noticed I was acting differently around him and he wanted a reason behind it. I lied and he caught me. I thought he was a hypocritical bastard when he told me he didn't do secrets and he ended our friendship. I wasn't in a good place after that and you noticed. You didn't know what was wrong, but you never pressured me into telling you. You were just there, and I appreciated you so much for that. Soon we sort of took off. And it was good. We were good.”

Eric seemed genuinely pleased to hear those words, even though he knew they were lies. Their relationship had always been rocky at best, especially with Kaden trying to deny he was attracted to guys. “So why didn't we stay good?” he humored him.

Kaden looked hesitate. “A few weeks back, Fred called. He wanted to see me so I went to him. He told me, in his own way, that he missed me. He didn't want to end our friendship. And me, not thinking, told him I wanted more than friendship. To my surprise, he accepted, as he concluded that's what I had been hiding from him. He said he didn't want secrets in our relationship, so he showed me his true form, but I never told him I was Huntsclan.”

“Or that you were already dating someone else, huh?” Eric interrupted his him. “I guess, I just completely and utterly slipped your mind.”

“That wasn't it!” Kaden tried to defend himself. “I told you how much you meant to me, but how I didn't see us working like that. I always told you the truth.”

“You were as clear as muddy water. Because no matter how the chips fell in your world, I was still cheated on. You didn't even have the decency to break it off with me before I made an idiot of myself,” Eric told him. “Do you know how long it took me to gather the courage to say that I love you?” he asked, walking over to Kaden's bed. “And you just spit on it. Then you went and told that filth what you should have been telling me.” He shook in his anger. “I love you! Do you even know what that means?!” he screamed.

Kaden sat there calmly before he reached out and placed him hand on Eric's cheek. Despite himself, Eric closed his eyes and leaned into his touch, taking an all too familiar comfort within it. “I'm sorry,” Kaden finally whispered. “I care for you, but I can't love you like that.”

Kaden watched as a single tear slipped down Eric's dark cheek, before he opened his eyes. Kaden drew away, expecting the full force of the other's anger, but to his amazement, it didn't come. “I understand,” were Eric's hushed broken words. He then turned around and walked towards the door. He opened it and closed it behind him, but not before saying, “And I hope you understand, why I had to kill your precious dragon.” And leaving Kaden locked within his quarters, with only his thoughts to console him.

Eric had walked around the corner before he heard, the gut wrenching sobs of Kaden, but with each step Eric took, the other's cries meant less and less to him. He was a full blooded Huntsmen now, a foolish boyhood crush would no longer hold him back.

OoOoO

“Alright, lights are going out on my count.” Getting in was not easy. Sneaking into a Huntsclan Academy had not been as simple as it was back when Jake was fourteen, but then again, he had had Spud by his side to hack into the system. It wasn't that his sister couldn't do the job just as well, but it was times like this that Jake wish that he, Trixie, and Spud were still an untouchable trio. “Three. . .” Haley began her countdown. “Two. . . One. Go!”

The lights were out and the three separated down different halls of the Academy, each with their own mission. Jake realizing just how huge the compound was stopped. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, ten identical clones stood in front of him. He nodded and they all took off. He then continued down the path he was originally on.

Suddenly, there was a blaring alarm and flashing red lights. “Attention all cadets,” came a recorded message, which made Jake falter in his steps.

“Rose,” he couldn't help, but whisper her name.

“This is not a drill,” the message warned. “Intruders have infiltrated the Academy. Seek and destroy. Repeat, this is not a drill.”

Jake turned quickly as he heard footsteps and fighting down another corridor. One of his clones had been engaged in battle. “What''s that?” Jake took off quickly, he couldn't be spotted now. He had to hide and wait for them to pass if he wished to know where Eight-nine was being kept. He slipped into the nearest room that had an unlock door and slowly close it as not to be heard. “I think I saw something go this way!” yelled a cadet, probably no more than nine. His spear was close to twice his side, but he carried it as if he had been born with it. A rush of cadets flew down the hall pass the door. “Echo – Romeo!” The nine year old seem to be giving silent instructions to two teams.

A moment later, when they could no longer be heard, Jake turned around to lean again the door, but as he did he realized he wasn't alone in the room. Frozen in shock across the room, stood none other than the woman Jake had been in love it for a good part of his life.

Each just stood there, staring at the other, not believing their eyes. Jake's lips curled into a small smile, she was just as beautiful as he remembered, even with the flashing red lights still going strong. Time and time again Jake wondered what he would do if he ever came face to face with her again. He hadn't heard from her in several long years. So much had changed and yet, when he looked at her, he still felt like that thirteen year old boy who had bumped into her one day after school.

His stomach was full of butterflies as he waited for her to speak. It was then that he realized she seemed hesitated and so Jake knew it was on him to do so. Suddenly his throat felt dry. How did one sum up everything in a moment like this? Jake then realized it was with one word at a time. And so he began the only way he knew how. . . “Hey, there.”

To Be Continued. . .

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment