Alone

Chapter XLIII (43)

-Wyatt's POV-

"Start explaining what happened."

Ryder seemed to be holding back his anger but I knew it wouldn't last, Luis was his son maybe not by blood but they were family. "Some kids started talking about something last year in the cafeteria." I started which caused Ryder to turn around with a deadly glare, yet it wasn't for me, "What did you hear?" he questioned me while taking a step closer to me. "They mentioned uh... Luis' father-" again I was cut off as the man before me went into fit of rage, destroying several stalls and a few mirrors though halfway through Max came back in to see what had gone down.

"Sir?" Max asked cautiously hoping to not enrage Ryder, "Take him home... stay with him till I'm home. After I finish talking to Wyatt, I'll let you know what's new, take the others back with you too." Maxwell only nodded and turned to leave after giving me a look, he obviously wasn't happy with me then again what he walked in on wasn't gonna get me on his good side. "Continue." Ryder waved his hand at me, "The group talked about something that happened between him and... that man, something about him deserving it? Oh, and the name Flynn was said, that's what made him leave so I went after him..." Ryder nodded while he rested against the opposite wall to me. "Did you hear what his- what Ben did?" The question had me confused but I answered anyway, "No. What even happened anyway? Why were they whispering about it? Why did it affect him so much?"

"At this time, it's none of your business, no one is in danger... at least not physically." Ryder had muttered the last part, but I figured he was thinking about Luis. "He was already freaking out when I got here, I didn't do anything to him. It's not like I could leave even when he told me to, someone could have come in or he could've gone unconscious if I left to get help..." I finished quickly but I still wanted to know what Luis meant when he said I looked like 'them.'

"Ryder, he- he said I looked like them, all of them... what does that mean?" I asked hesitantly, just like I thought my question had gotten his attention though he stayed quiet like he didn't want to say something wrong. "Like I said before you don't need to know right now, even if you did, I couldn't tell you... only Luis can." Ryder left shortly after his confusing statement leaving me to go over my thoughts and questions that had started to pile up since none of them had been answered.

-Luis' POV-
I don't know how long I was asleep for but what I did know was that I didn't want to be awake right now. Voices were outside my door, but I could hear them clearly, "He's a fucking asshole Rose! He just sat there and watched him! he didn't try to go get help-" Suddenly his voice was cut off by another, "Max quit it, you know why he didn't leave to get help, besides Wyatt doesn't know anything about Luis let alone what he's been through. Think about it Max, he's waved his right to become the successor of his family, Wyatt is putting a lot on the line to help us out... he's not as bad as you think. What happened wasn't Luis' or Wyatt's fault, it was the fuckers sitting at that table." Rose's voice held no room for an argument but was still calming which is why I didn't hear Max continue on his tangent, that or they were making out in front of my door."

"FUCK GUYS GET A ROOM!!" Caleb screamed in horror, 'Well that answered my question.' I let a smirk take over as I sat up in my bed, "Better get up than get dragged out." I grumbled as a knock sounded at my door, "Come in." was my reply. Caleb opened my door and gave me a small smile, "How are you?" he asked, "Besides all the embarrassment, a killer headache and feeling like complete shit I'd say I'm just peachy." Caleb grimaced at my answer but still tried to look positive. "You've got some paperwork that Ryder needs done before tomorrow, it's only six pages and just the one document but when you're done the rest of the day is up to you." I was handed the paper and I quickly skimmed over it, "Maybe I should have panic attacks at school more if I get to go home early, imagine doing this after a whole day of school." I chuckled as Caleb rolled his eyes, "It's just past three so you have a couple hours before dinner."

It didn't take long to finish reading over the file and editing where it was needed or signing a few things so when I was done, I changed into some more comfortable clothes but just before I left I grabbed my lighter and cigarettes even though I could already hear Helen scolding me. The halls were quiet even as I walked past the other rooms or places where some of us would hang out, as I reached Ryder's office I saw the door open and an annoyed Wyatt, part of me told me to start running but I fought it and kept walking towards the open door. Ryder was already standing at the door when he noticed me and gave a small wave in my direction which also caught Wyatt's attention that was now directed at me, "I'm done with the documents you needed, I edited some things like the amount of money going towards repairs of the old HQ and where our security should be doubled. Feel free to look over it if want, I'll be in the gym if anyone needs me." The whole tome I spoke to Ryder I tried to ignore Wyatt's presence but when I turned around to leave, I could feel his eyes on me as I walked back down the hall towards the gym.

Though I hadn't eaten anything since I woke up, I was still full of energy and had plenty of stress I needed to get rid of. A few hours had passed since I started taking my anger out on a punching bag but I still felt restless, so I moved on to through knifes but that didn't work so I pulled out a couple guns and practiced at the shooting range. I was glad no one had come down or tried to talk to me, right now I didn't know what I was feeling all I knew was that it wasn't good, and I didn't like it. due to nothing working to dissolve my stress and growing irritation I left the gym and went outside to the deck and roughly pulled out my packet of cigarettes and lighter.

"I really need to find something less damaging..." I whispered after sucking in the toxic smoke. I spent the rest of the time smoking away since it was the only thing that had worked to calm me down, 'Shit, they're probably looking for me.' I put the rest of my fourth cigarette into the ashtray and watched as it cooled down before I snapped out of the weird trance and went inside. On my way to the dining room, I ran into Tim and Risse, "Hey man how are you going?" Timothee asked to which I replied with a simple 'I'm fine.' but I could tell Risse didn't buy it yet she left it alone and I was grateful for it.

The dining room was full, and we happened to be the last people to arrive, my legs nearly stopped at the sight of him and I prayed he didn't notice my hesitation. "What took you so long! I've been waiting for dinner all day!" Abby grumbled like her normal childish self and it made me smile, I liked it when they acted like nothing happened it helps with the embarrassment. "Sorry Abby I just got my new ma- I mean book, very educational and nothing weird at all." Tim answer got everyone laughing as our food was brought out. "No wonder you were so desperate for dinner, you and your bloody Quiche!" Nat laughed and patted Abby's back which got her to laugh too.

Dinner was full of chatter and a few laughs and it seemed to be going perfectly fine until the end when Ryder told us to stay seated. "We are all aware of what happened today?" he said but no one answered as it was really a rhetorical question, "The fact that such things were mentions means that we have a leak in our boat and if we don't find it and block it we're all going down." Ryder seemed really bothered by this and I don't blame him, we thought we got rid of the snitches, but I guess not. "Ryder not everyone is aware of what happened last year, as a team all members should understand how serious this is." I spoke with a strong voice even though internally I was shaking. Ryder only nodded while the rest of the table looked at me with curious eyes except those who were here last year.

"Last year was... a mess really, we had another member in our group his name was Flynn, and he was my closest friend till he did something none of us expected."

Cliff-hanger? hell yeah! Luis is getting ready for story time, lets see if he can make it out without feeling more broken than he was before. Don't forget to Vote and Comment! Thanks for reading!

Art cover by llueiyu