The Chosen Ones

CHAPTER NINE

Matt quickly docked the boat and picked up his unconscious son and ran him into the house, with Casey running close behind him. She cleared the couch and Matt laid him down.
"What do we do?" He asked Casey, frantically. "Do we call an ambulance?"

He didn't know because he had no idea what just happened. His son had just healed his hand by simply touching it. Who wouldn't be thrown into a panic by that? Was this his power the two men who kidnapped Casey told her about?

"He looks fine." Casey said. "He just looks like he's sleeping. His breathing seems normal." She noticed his chest going up and down in a perfect motion.
Matt noticed it too and thought she might be right, but it was a gamble. He was only four years old after all and just fainted, if they were in Maple Brook he would be on his way to the hospital.

They decided to let him sleep, taking a seat on the carpet in front of the sofa he laid on. Every couple minutes they would turn and look at him to see if his breathing was still stable.

"Has he ever done anything like this before?" Casey asked.
"No, of course not." Matt replied. "I think I would have told you about this the night you told me people were after him. I mean, this has to be why right? He actually healed my hand, just by touching it."

Matt couldn't believe it. How was his little boy able to do what he did? There were so many questions.
"I guess, but what can they do with him? Just use him for that? Or can he do other things we haven't seen yet?" She asked.
Matt looked at Tyler again. "I don't know."
"We won't let them get their hands on him." Casey vowed.

Tyler opened his eyes just then. He stretched his little arms over his head.
"Is your hand okay?" Tyler asked Matt.
His face was tired, like he had just slept through the entire night, when in fact it had only been an hour. Whatever it was that he did had drained him.

"It's fine. Thanks to you." Matt told him as he gently rubbed his hair.
Tyler smiled and drifted back to sleep. They both breathed a sigh of relief. He was okay. After a few hours Matt picked him up and took him to his room and tucked him in. It was getting late and he decided to let him sleep til the morning.

He got wood for a fire. It was a chilly night in the mountains. Casey had put on a white oversized hoodie that was long enough to cover her shorts. She joined Matt back on the living room floor in front of the brick fireplace.
He handed her a cup of hot tea.

"You think we should tell the others when we get back?" He asked her.
"I don't know. It might freak them out." Casey answered.
"Yeah but it might make them feel like they're fighting for something." He added.
"They're fighting for you, Matt." Casey said. "I'm amazed at how quickly they all got your back after hearing such an unbelievable story."
"Almost as quick as I had yours." He replied.

She turned away, blushing. They were alone again, like the other night on his back porch. It wasn't like she didn't want to be alone with him, it was more like she was afraid to. She didn't trust herself around him, and she didn't want him to interfere with her plan.

Casey had always been the girl that really made guys work for her attention. The problem wasn't that Matt wasn't trying, it was that he didn't need to. She just wanted him so bad it was pissing her off. But she knew she couldn't lose sight of her goal. Kill the people who killed her family. If she needed to keep telling herself that she would. No distractions.

They sat side by side now, his right knee touching her left one.
"Thank you for bringing me up here. It was nice feeling normal again." She said.
"I thought it might help. When we get back we might not have another normal day for a long time." Matt said.

She agreed. "The best thing we have going for us is that they don't know that we know."
She was referring to the people that slaughtered her family and were on their way to Maple Brook. Whoever they were still thought they had the element of surprise, when in fact Matt and the others would be waiting for them.

"We have an advantage." Matt said. He wanted to change the subject, but also didn't want to push her away, like the other night.
"Hey, I really think you should stay at my house for a while when this is over, you can take as much time as you need to get your life back together."

"Matt I told you, I just think it would be best if I left." Casey reiterated. "I don't want to sound mean, but..........we're not friends."
Her comment hurt a little, still, he took her hand. "What if I don't want you to leave?"
She shook her head slowly. "We can't...."
He didn't let her finish.

He kissed her, soft at first, then more intense. There was maybe a second when Casey almost pulled away, but it passed quickly and she was all in, losing herself in it. She climbed on his lap and straddled him, grabbing the back of his neck with her hands. He kissed her passionately, moving down to her neck before she finally, reluctantly pulled away.

"What?" He asked, trying to catch his breath.
"I'm sorry, I can't......We can't." She said. Her cheeks were flushed as she tried avoiding eye contact with him, for fear she would want to kiss him again. Her blue eyes were shining bright.

"Okay, don't apologize. I'm the one who should be sorry." He admitted. "I kissed you."
"No, it's okay." She got off of him and stood. She ran a hand through her blonde hair. "Maybe I should just go to bed."
She was flustered as she contemplated her next move.

Matt nodded, still seated. "Okay. I'll see you in the morning then." He also got to his feet.
They were about ten feet apart as Casey had backed away from him. He almost laughed at her confusion. He really had her out of sorts. She even turned the wrong way as she looked to find the stairs.

"They're over there." He said with a smile, teasing her.
"Goodnight." She said to him, smiling back.
"Goodnight." He replied.

She was on the second stair about to head up when she suddenly stopped and turned back around. She quickly walked back in his direction, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, to which he happily returned the favor.
The kiss lasted another minute before she pulled away. Looking up at him, she just smiled.

"What are you doing to me?" She asked.
"I think I should be asking you that question."
"I'm going to bed, for real this time." Casey said with a mischievous smile.
"Okay." He grinned.
She kissed him one more time. "Okay, now I'm going."
"You sure?"
"Shut up." She said playfully.

This time he did watch her go up to her room. He was one hundred percent in love with this girl. A girl he met two days ago. He wasn't even going to try to figure it out. He didn't want to. Just let it play out, he thought.

Somewhere close by, there was evil lurking. And it was coming, for him, for his son, for all his friends. He didn't know it then, but this would in fact be the last normal day of his life.