HIDDEN (Hide Or Die)

Chapter 35

KYLE'S P.O.V.

"Oh, my dear, the mockery of Silver wasn't a joke. Every time she went out, people would throw stones at her or pelt her with rotten eggs. These escalated to the point where James and I had to prevent her from leaving the house and convinced her of the importance of staying indoors for the sake of her and her unborn baby's safety, while we began to assist her with everything she needed but couldn't get for herself." Mom's lips thinned with rage as she struggled to continue the story.

"When people realized she wasn't leaving her house, they changed their strategy. People started teleporting into her house to scare or threaten her..." mom started sobbing uncontrollably, and I had no idea how to comfort her. In my stunned state, I heard a voice say softly, "poor Silver, how could people be so heartless," and I turned to see Andrew looking very sick, tears silently rolling down his cheeks, then I realized with a gasp that he hadn't said those words out loud, but had just thought them. Surprised, my eyes locked with his for a brief moment, trying to figure out if he could hear my thoughts as well, but instead, he shifted his gaze away. I didn't let it bother me when he turned away towards his best friend in an attempt to hide his tears from me; I decided to keep my curiosity at bay until we were alone later, and then I simply followed his gaze to Matthew.

Matthew and Albert were huddled up on one side of the sofa, both looking sad but comfortable in each other's arms, while Becky moved closer to my mother and hugged her quietly.

When Mom said she was going to tell us everything, I never in my wildest dreams imagined something like this, and to be honest, I was beginning to panic at the potential outcome.

Becky let go of my mother and sat quietly beside her, while my mother continued.

"My love, I sincerely apologise for telling you all of this in this manner rather than in the comfort of our home and privacy, but what I'm about to say has a lot to do with our current situation, and since your friends are already involved, I believe they deserve to know the answers as well." Mom looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded wholeheartedly in agreement. I turned to look at my friends, and everyone smiled encouragingly at us, and mom continued.

"It got to the point where James and I would always find Silver hiding out in strange places whenever she was scared out of her house by those...those..." mom paused to control her breathing. "She will hide out in those places until James and I come to get her. Thank God  Silver was a naive teenager who had never left the town before, because if she hadn't been, she would have left without any of us knowing, but because she had nowhere to go, she always teleported around town when she was scared or threatened. So, due to the deterioration of the situation, James and I decided to move in with her until her due date."

"The time had come for her to give birth. It was a cold night, so I sat by her bedside the entire time, holding her hand, while James waited for us outside the door. Bridget, Anabel's replacement, was standing between Silver's legs, urging her to push as her screams echoed through the walls of one of our town's small hospital rooms. Silver had pushed for what felt like hours before we finally heard a healthy baby cry. When I heard it, I was so happy that I didn't even notice the pause in the midwife's movements between Silver's legs with the baby in her arms. When I finally realized she wasn't making any effort to move, I rushed up to her and soon discovered why.

"I took the child from her without hesitation, and when the baby was out of her arms, Bridget blinked and snapped back to reality. "A Cygan?" She'd asked, staring at Silver and me as if we'd brought the devil himself into the world. I ignored her and looked down at the child; he was the most beautiful baby boy, with blood staining his otherwise black scanty feathers on each of his wings, and he had the healthiest cry I'd ever heard. I fell in love with him right away, and so did Silver when I handed him over to her." I looked at Mom, confused. Black feathers? But I thought...

Mom gave me a sad smile and carried on. "While we were both gushing over the baby's beauty, we didn't realize Bridget had taken advantage of the opportunity to flee until James barged into the room, looking very worried. "What happened, why did Bridget run away like there were savage dogs on her...?" James had come to a halt at the sight of the baby in Silver's arms, and we could both see the joy on his face, but before he could take a proper look at him, three large enforcers were breaking down the door to the room and barging in as if they were there to take in a dangerous criminal." Mom sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"I watched in horror as the hulking enforcers snatched the crying child from his mother's grasp and went away with him clutched in one of their cruel hands. Silver and I both cried in protest as they walked away, and I instinctively tried to run after them, but I was stopped in my tracks by James' strong grip; he asked me not to leave and charged me with looking after our crying weak friend while he went after them instead. He promised not to let anyone harm him and that he would bring him back, so I reluctantly agreed and calmed down a little, fully trusting in him."Mom's tears were no longer dripping; they were flowing like a river, and her voice was cracked, but she was determined to finish the story, and as for me, I had no idea where this was going any longer.

"As soon as James left the room, Silver began to scream her head off, as if she was in a lot of pain, and I had no idea what to do. I tried to reassure her that James would not disappoint us and that he would get her baby back; after all, his father was our mayor, so he had the upper hand in this case. As I continued to explain and try to calm her, she kept shaking her head, and the next thing I knew, she was pushing and pushing hard. That's when it hit me, and I immediately looked down her legs, and true to my suspicions, there was another little head trying to make its way out of her." I had no idea when I let out a loud gasp, and everyone else in the room did as well.

"Like I was on autopilot, I jumped into action and began encouraging her to push, just as I had seen Bridget do earlier, and I helped her hold the baby's head while she did so, and luckily, the baby was out of her completely in no time. It was still a healthy crying baby boy but this time, he had white scanty feathers on his wings and looked exactly like his twin brother. In joy, I handed him over to Silver, but she appeared frail. When I stretched him over to her, she looked at his small pink face and smiled sadly, kissing him on the forehead, but I noticed she didn't make any move to take him away from my arms, and when I made her aware of this fact, she replied in a very shaky exhausted voice, "Don't let them take him away too; please Olivia, guard him with your life and when he is old enough to ask, tell him his father is one of the stars, I never want him to know how horrible Gillian was to us.” I was perplexed at first, not understanding why she was speaking in such a manner, and when I tried to stop her, she quickly added, "Please find his brother and protect them both, my friend; I put all my hope in you." And as soon as those words left her lips, my bestfriend exhaled once more and was gone."