Saving Calen

28.

Calen's POV

I don't know why I laugh.

Maybe it's because of the sudden relief I felt as soon as his lifeless body slumped forward. Maybe it's the fact that I was finally able to tell him everything I had been thinking.

Maybe it's because my mind lays in shattered pieces inside my skull.

I look at Caden who has a wide grin on his face. For once in our lives, I understand him. He was my trainer, but my dad was his. He didn't know any better.

I watch as Aylah's shoulders shake with laughter, her black hair and green eyes making her look like a damn Angel.

After the laughter dies down, we start to clean. The bodies need to be removed and the blood needs to be wiped up.

We all take to dragging the bodies outside while Aylah bleaches the floor.

Cole stands over my dads body, unsure of what to do. Me and Caden join him.

"Do we give him a funeral?" Cole asks.

"No." We answer.

"But people will ask questions."

"My patience for our families secrecy has worn out. I'm done saving face. If they ask, let them." I answer. Caden nods in approval and drags his body along with the rest.

How fucked are our lives that this isn't even abnormal?

Archer calls a guy who comes and removes the bodies.

I stand at the base of the driveway. The man who made my life a living hell now returns to dust.

To nothing.

I'll live with the effects he had on me forever. And now he gets to rest.

How fucking unfair.

I'm not sure how long I stand out there. Hours maybe.

It's as though everything in my body has come to a halt. The torture is over, the man is gone.

So what now?

Aylah's POV

I watch as he stands frozen in the drive.

He watched his dad be taken, but that was at least two hours ago. The rest of us have since showered and changed.

"He's still out there?" Archer asks. I nod.

"What do I do?" I ask Caden.

I'm unsure if going to him would make things worse.

"You guys don't get it. That man was a monster to us, but Calen got the brunt of it," he explains. "He was different. More disobedient. More individualistic. He had to be broken of that. It wasn't pretty."

Caden sits down and takes a swig of his drink.

"Everyday for weeks, my father would teach one of the trainees torture techniques."

My heart flutters in my chest as I fear where this is going.

"He didn't." Is all archer says.

Caden nods. "He did. They needed a real person to practice on." He stares off into space before downing the rest of his drink and pouring another.

"He lasted only 45 minutes before he begged for it so stop the first time," Cole chimes in. "Then he lasted an hour, then two."

I stare back outside. Calen's shoulders seem less tense. His strong back still faces me.