Hexed

Chapter Ten

We stop one block away from Kasper's house, and two blocks from mine the other way. I know what he's thinking, ways to keep me here, to change my mind. And ironically, I'm thinking of ways to get him to come with me. He turns around to me, but before he can say anything, I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Just go home." I say confidently. "Don't worry about me, alright? If anything goes wrong, I'll call you. I promise."

I try to appear as fine with the situation as possible. He looks down, takes a deep breath and then faces me again.

"Please don't go with them." he says. That's it. He can't handle me leaving and I can't handle staying. I'm starting to get impatient.

"How could you not want to go? How can you just stay here knowing that you can help?" I step closer to him. "I have to go with them Kasper. They need my help and honestly if there's anyone who could help me it's them."

Suddenly Kasper explodes.

"You think they can help you?! Have you seen them? They're a small group of overconfident rebels who think they can do anything. But they can't, and neither can we. I know you want to leave but I wish you'd just realize that this life you have here, is all you're going to have. You can't change that. So please, just stay."

I can actually feel my heart hurting. He's never been so angry with me before. I hate that I know he's telling the truth, but I can't accept it. This can't be it.

I abruptly turn around. The anger inside quickly turns into heart burn. I don't know why but I start walking, away from Kasper. Forcing away every feeling he's just evoked. He's not coming after me.

I stop walking when I'm standing right at my front door. I check my watch, 1:30 PM. I have no idea what is waiting for me on the other side of that door. I just want to go to my room and sleep. I want to sleep for a very long time.

I turn the door knob and slowly open it, I flinch as it makes a high-pitched noise. I don't hear anything, no tv, no voices. I step inside and cautiously close the door. I don't dare to say anything. It didn't work out so well for me last time. Swiftly I walk through the kitchen but when I get to the living room I stop. Mike is sleeping on the couch, bottles laying around, his clothes are dirty and he hasn't shaved in a few days. The poor guy, he was probably fired again. He's usually out all day, every day, trying to scrape up enough money. Although if I'm being honest, I'm not really sure if he spends his money on us or himself. There is really no way to know. But it doesn't change the fact that this situation sucks for all of us, how we handle that situation is for everyone different though.

I try not to wake him up but when I step on that one stupid wood plank in the floor that I forgot about, he quickly sits up.

"I'm up!" he says loudly. "I'm up, I'll go!"

Then he looks over to me and rubs his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry." I say. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's alright." he says with a scratch voice. "Where've you been boy?"

I hesitate. Even if I'd tell him the truth, he would never believe me.

"I stayed at Kasper's" I lie. "Where's Lydia?"

I'm definitely not eager to see her but if she's here I'd rather be prepared.

"Out of town. She told me, and I quote; 'I can't stand another second around that devil of a child' so it's just you and me for now."

I can sense he's also slightly relieved that Lydia isn't around. They don't even like each other, but they both rely on each other for certain things, and how it's going right now seems to work for them. Or something.

"I'll be in my room." I say, I don't wait for an answer and get to my room as fast as possible.

It's definitely not big, but has enough space for a bed, a small table and small dresser. The minimum requirements to adopt. I drop my bag on the floor, fall on my bed and fall asleep instantly.

When I wake up its 11:05 PM. The darkness from outside filling my room. How long have I been asleep? Seven hours or something? I rub my eyes and sit on the side of my bed. It's still about ten hours before I have to go. If I do. Even though I made it clear to Kasper that I'd be leaving, I still don't really know. I'm going over it for the tenth time in my head. If I go, I can help, and they might be able to help me. I can leave. But Kasper was right about one thing, what they're trying to do. It's dangerous. I don't even know for sure if I'll make it out alive. Though honestly? That part bothers me less than I feel like it should.

The rumbling of my stomach snaps me out of my thoughts. Right. Even though I just woke up, my energy levels feel extremely low. I sneak along the hallway and down to the kitchen. The whole house is dark and there's no sign of Lydia or Mike. I move some empty bottles away with my foot, the sink is filled with dirty dishes and the smell is disgusting.

As I walk back upstairs with my sandwich, I pass Lydia and Mike's room. The door is slightly open and the only light is coming from the small lamp on their bedside table. I listen carefully but there's no noise. When I look inside the room is empty, the bed is messy and again, clothes all over the floor. I step inside and that's when I notice the shiny hand gun laying on the bed. Even though it's illegal, people still have guns. After the government took away the ones they could find they mostly gave up. I just never thought that Lydia or Mike would still have one. Knowing them, they shouldn't.

I stand there for a moment, staring at the weapon. I want to hide it, throw it away, keep it. Anything, because the feeling of Mike or Lydia having it scares me to death. But I can't, they'll notice and I don't want to know what happens if they find out. I step back out and try to leave the door the same way I found it. I sit down in my room, put on my headphones and eat my sandwich. It's kind of gross, the bread is dry and hard, I close my eyes and focus on the freeing melodies flowing through my mind.

I've finished my sandwich and am listening to my fourth song when I hear an agonizing screech coming from outside my window. It's different now, I feel my stomach drop pulling me back into the real world. Before I can actually do anything, I hear loud bangs on the door, followed by a loud stumble in the hallway. I quickly get up but when I get to the hallway there's nobody there. I rush down the stairs to figure out what is going on and follow the noise to the door. I know I'll probably be better off staying upstairs, waiting for it to be over. But ever since I followed Willow down that hole, I have this desire to know what is going on at all times.

"Go back inside!" Mike yells at me.

He is standing in the doorway and is stepping out, in front of him I see a hexed1 laying against the back wall of the flat hallway. He is getting up when I notice Mike holding the gun. Pointing it directly at the guy in front of us. He is bleeding from his eye and has scratches and marks all over, he grunts and pants as he is getting up.

"Wait!" I yell at him.

I'm not really thinking, the guy is now standing up and starting to walk towards us. I want to do something. I want to help, it's not his fault that he was tested on. And I don't blame Mike for wanting to shoot him. I just feel powerless.

The sound of the gun going off rips through my ears, my eyes are watering and I can feel my body shivering. The echo of the loud 'bang' still ringing in my ear. The man falls to the floor, I can't stop staring at him. He had a life, and they took it away from him.

I force myself back to sleep after Mike yelling at me for a solid five minutes. I'm still listening to music trying to calm myself. The last few days have messed everything up, messed me up. And I feel the need to fix it more than ever. My life's a mess, and there are so many others whose lives are being disrupted. I have to do something. I just have to.