Change of Heart

Chapter 63

"I...I don't...it's really..." I couldn't hold myself back and my legs kicked my body forward running straight at him. I threw my arms around him causing him to stumble a bit.

Wrapping his arms around me, he embraced me tightly. "You're probably wondering how I'm even here." At this moment, I didn't even care how this was happening. Burying my face in his shirt, more tears fell out of my eyes, soaking his shirt. I felt so happy...so relieved, I never thought I'd ever see him again.

"You're really here!" I sobbed holding him tighter than I possibly could.

Caden let out a small laugh. "Yes I'm really here." He pulled my arms away and held me at bay. Looking me in the eyes, I could hardly see them clearly through my tears. "I should warn you now, I don't have a lot of time."

Wiping my eyes, I responded. My voice was still a bit sketchy. "What do you mean?"

"You already met, so I'm sure you already know her, but Juliana was the one who allowed our connection. No time is actually passing right now for you right now though. Once your subconscious returns, it'll feel as if nothing happened." Does that mean I'll forget I ever saw him? "Anyways, that's not the reason why I requested that I talk to you."

Caden grew serious. This was no longer a happy reunion... "Caden, what's-"

He held his hand up signaling me to stop talking. "Like I said I don't have a lot of time." Dropping his hand down again, he continued. "Juliana told me everything, about what happened from the beginning up until the time I was killed." My heart staggered at the word killed. "She allowed me to keep tabs on you, see what was going on. Being just a spirit, I can't do much for you, but with this chance, I can at least warn you."

"Warn me? About what?"

"About Zeke." My eyes widened. What did he know about him? Just before I could ask, Caden started up again. "Don't underestimate him. Honestly, I never actually thought I'd ever hear his name again, but-"

I couldn't hold back and blurted it out. "What do you mean? Are you saying you know him?"

"Yes. I know him, both him and Jake. And trust me when I say, Jake is no threat. Believe it or not, he was actually one of my best friends."

"Jake was? How did you two even know each other?"

"He was in my class in middle school. You and I had different classes so you never met him. He wasn't one to go to other people's houses either so that's another reason." He shook his head getting back on track. "Anyways, look. Zeke is just like Alex." So he was once human too..? "Though it is the same, Juliana said that Zeke's incident was a bit different, leaving him with more demon power. Because of Alex's heart, his full demon potential can't be obtained."

Swallowing hard, I didn't like where this was going. Because of his human heart...it's holding Alex back against Zeke..

Caden averted his eyes, a bit distraught. "I hate to say it, but even though Zander was a full demon, Zeke may end up being more of a hassle to take care of. My guess is that Alex was only able to defeat Zander because of their connection they had when he was little. He knew everything about him, whereas Zeke..."

"He knows nothing about him.."

"Exactly." He shut his eyes for a few seconds and opened them back up, looking more devastated than ever. "Somehow, Zeke is at a far greater level than Alex, leaving him at an advantage. But you probably already knew that. Juliana said she will do her best to find some way to make it easier for you to track him down." He clenched his fists so hard his hands started to tremble. "There's still so much you don't even know, but I'm afraid my time is at its end."

I threw my arms around him just as he finished, and he did the same. "I'm sorry Caden.."

"There's nothing you have to be sorry for." He kissed me on the forehead as he began to fade away, leaving me with a few words before completely disappearing. "I'll be watching over you. I love you so much."

"I love you too..." I began to cry again. The warmth of his body disappeared and everything was gone.

**

My eyes opened with tears flooding them, and I realized I was back in Alex's room. I just sat there with a blank expression on my face. I felt so many emotions running through my mind, it was hard to control. Biggest of all, I felt so happy..never had I ever imagined I'd be able to see Caden again...and even though it may not have been on the best terms, it was good enough for me.

Alex and Jake came barging through the door, and I slowly looked up at them. Alex rushed to my side looking me in the eyes. "Serine? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Yea..." I nodded with a small smile forming on my face. "I saw him, Alex.."

"Saw who?"

"Caden." Just saying his name made me sob again.

Jake ran up to us in a hurry, instantly reacting to his name. "Did you just say Caden? As in Caden Evans? That Caden!?" His reaction was a little more than I expected. When I nodded, his eyes widened. "What do mean you saw him? You never even left here. Or was it just one of those images you had?"

Shaking my head I gave him and answer. "No, it was really him. He told me that you were one of his best friends.."

"How did you even see him? Talk to him? Did he call you or something? And how do you even know him?

"No, he didn't call me and about how I know him, well...Jake, I don't know if you know, but Caden, he's my older brother..." Now that I think about it...wouldn't he have realized from the pictures that were in his room?

"You two are related?!" I nodded and he just stared at me with a blank expression. "So then, that room...belonged to him?" Looking up at Alex, he averted his eyes. I nodded again, and Jake pushed his lips together. He looked like he was trying so hard to say something else, but the words were just lost.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I asked him, curious now. "Did you not recognize him in the pictures that were around his room?"

He was still silent, thinking it over for a little while. "Now that I think about it, I thought he looked familiar, but I never thought it was Caden. I thought he had been long gone from this place years ago."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I haven't seen him since eighth grade. As close as we were, I just couldn't handle staying out here. At that time, I didn't think about how it would've made the two of us even lonelier than we already were." Just a look at my expression, he continued without even me having to ask. What did he mean even lonelier? "Considering since you're Caden's younger sister, I suppose you figured he had the perfect life. That's why you probably looked up to him and treasured him so much."

The way Jake said it, it made it feel like I didn't even know the real Caden...that the perfect and happy brother I knew, was suddenly gone. "So then, you're saying..."

He blurted out before I could even finish. "I'm saying that though on the outside he may have appeared happy, on the inside, he was pretty miserable."