10 Years Ago Today

Chapter 4

Hael played with a toy in the single cell he was in, waiting to get out of jail. He hated when Leon had a point. Now he realized he was being a douchebag to not go and see Aelan.

"I'm going to get some pizza, you want some?" Kaycey asked as she popped her head in the back where he was being kept.

"When do I ever turn down pizza?" he asked with a small smile.

"This is true. Pepperoni, onion, and avocado, right?"

"You know me so well."

"Well, you and your tax return can take me out as repayment someday, eh?"

"Aye, aye, captain." He said with a salute.

Kaycey smiled and put a piece of loose brown hair behind her ears as she left into the city. Hael sighed, feeling his hands tremble from the alcohol leaving his system. How was Leon so good at it? That dude could chug a liter and still walk straight while Hael on the othe hand got a mini bar bottle and he was all over the place. Even Venus, Leon's on and off girlfriend, still loved the guy even when he drank. He was a good nurse and didn't alert anyone to his problem. Why was Hael so bad at it? Luckily, Kaycey had a crush on him or he would have a ton of stuff on his record. The door to the station opened but he ignored it since the night guards were coming in and out.

"Hello?" someone said softly.

Another front desk person came through the door.

"Hi, can I help you? Oh god, where have you been?"

"Trapped... underground..."

"O----kay... What's your name, hun? Do we need to call your parents?"

"N-N-Nate." The voice said and Hael stopped playing with the toy in his hand. "My name is N-Nate Splint-ter."

Hael sat up quickly and went to the bars of his cell to try and see who was out in the lobby. It can't be a coincidence...

"Nate Splinter?" the other front desk person asked. "Okay, honey, you want to sit over there for just a second?"

Hael kept trying to see through the window in the door leading from his cell to the front desk when the door opened and the other front desk girl came in but her face was white as sheet.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Z-Z-Zombie." The woman said before she fainted.

Hael made a face as he watched her from his cell, trying to figure out if he could reach the keys from where he was. She was a little bit aways from him but he was able to bend down and reach out to grab them from her waist. Kaycey is going to kill me... he thought as he still unlocked the door from the other side. He stepped over the woman and opened the door to the lobby. He looked around to try and find who had come in claiming to be Nate when he spotted someone sitting in the shadowy parts of the lobby, their body covered from head to toe in dirt and mud.

"Hello?" Hael asked.

The person turned to him and Hael started coming around the counter.

"Did you say your name was Nate Splinter?" Hael asked, walking towards the person.

"Yes..." He turned his head a little. "You look familiar..."

Hael looked over the younger kid covered in dirt and mud, his hazel eyes piercing through like lamps on a dark night. Hael found himself reaching out to him but as he did, the boy flinched away from him and Hael stopped.

"I was... gonna get the dirt off of your face." He said softly.

The boy looked at himself and seemed to realize that he was covered in mud.