Always Be Forever

Chapter 10: Hector

2090, BCE, October

Ding!

My phone went off. Waking up, I grabbed my phone. I had a text. It was from James saying: "Hey old friend, it's James. We need to talk. Meet me in the old park?" I sent him a text saying: "Sure old friend. I'll be there in about 30 minutes", before I had put my phone back and had put the long soft pillow on my head, burying it into the bed. I didn't want to get up. "Where's Alex? Where's my son?" Ellie had exclaimed, running around the house at 8 in the morning. "Ellie, calm down. He's probably just out with Michael, come back to bed." I tell her; putting the blanket over my head cause the pillow wasn't working. Ellie had come back into the bedroom, with her pyjamas still on. "Is he not in the house?" I had asked her. "I've tried calling him; he's not answering his phone." Ellie had told me, sitting down on the bed. "Excuses, excuses. I remember when I was young I sneaked off and I had no problem. I remember living in Belgium with my parents, and I would sneak off to Luke's place. Eventually I would be caught, and I would be given curfew for the rest of the week, so I was let off." I had told her. "Hij redt het wel" I had finally told her, in my original language, Dutch. Translated, it means He'll be fine. "Oh I love it when you speak Dutch" she had told me. "Want me to speak some more?" I had asked her. "Sure," she replied.

 Ellie knows a little bit of Dutch. It's one of the main languages that are spoken in Belgium, along with Flemish and German. That's where I had met her, Belgium. Luke had spoken a little English, so he had translated for me when I had met her. Ever since then, Ellie learned some Dutch, and Luke and I had taken English classes to learn the language. "Je ziet er prachtig uit", I told her. Translated, it means: you look beautiful. "Sorry, I never learned what that meant," Ellie exclaimed, blushing. "It means: you look beautiful," I had told her, hugging her from the back, and holding her until she was under the blankets and we were kissing. "Oh mijn mooie vrouw'' I had moaned in Dutch. Translated, it means: Oh my beautiful wife. We continued kissing until I heard the doorbell ring. It was probably Alex, and he forgot his keys in his bedroom. I had run out of there, forgetting to put a shirt on, and headed to the door with the keys in hand. "Alex, if you're here to grab your keys, hear they-" I had started before I opened the door, revealing that it was Michael from school, and not Alex. "Are" I finished my sentence. "Mr. Harp?" Michael had asked me, reminding me that I had forgotten to put a shirt on. "I'm going to go grab a shirt. Please come on in Michael. It's snowing out there." I had told him before he had come in and closed the door while I headed back to the bedroom where Ellie still was.

"Is it Alex?" Ellie had asked rather hesitantly. "No. It's Michael." I had told her while putting a shirt on. "Did he say why he's here?" Ellie had asked me. "No he didn't." I had told her. "Omkleden'' I had told Ellie one last time in Dutch. It means: get changed. I had put a shirt on, and then headed out to Michael, who was still in the foyer. "Is everything okay?" I had asked him once he had taken off his tuque and earmuffs. "It's Alex. I can't seem to find him. Do you know where he could've gone?" Michael had asked me. So Alex wasn't with him. Well, maybe he was with his other friend Jacob from school. "Was he with Jacob?" I had asked, making it seem like a possible solution. "The last time I saw him was last night before he went on with his jazz band. With Mr. Hudson I believe," Michael had told me. That gave me an idea. "I'll call Finn - I mean Mr. Hudson," I had told him before getting my phone out. Remembering that I needed to meet up with James, I had grabbed my coat as Ellie had came out into the living room, where she could see us. "Where are you going Hector?" She had asked from around the corner. "There's a place I need to be," I had told her before I grabbed my coat. "Don't forget your tuque," Ellie had told me, grabbing the blue tuque she had made for me and had put it on my head. "If you can, call up Finn," I had told her before heading out the door to the car.

It's been awhile since I've seen James. The last time I heard from him was when Aaron had told us that we weren't allowed to work with him anymore. I don't understand Aaron; his intentions were never clear as to why we couldn't protect our families. All he had said was that he was going to take care of everything, but since I at least know, or knew I should say, that Aaron's life is messed up, James and I decided to take it into our own hands and protect our families. Alex was just a baby, and Cashmere wasn't even born; Jasmine was still pregnant at the time. That was the last time that I had seen Jasmine. It's been awhile. The last time was 14 years ago. The last time I saw Fiona. I call Fiona onto speakerphone, to see if she wants to meet up with James as well.

The phone rings, and she answers right away. "Hector? It's been awhile since I've heard from you," she had started. "How have you been?" I ask her. "I've been good. There's a reason you're calling, is there?" She had asked. Fiona knows me too well, that I blush. I had a crush on her before I had met Ellie in Belgium. I was really in Belgium for the summer with Luke. My English was still bad at the time, but Fiona had a translator on her. "Yeah there is. James wants to meet up at the old park. You want to tag along?" I ask her. "Yeah sure. I'm just leaving now. I'll see you soon," she tells me before hanging up. When it got to a red light, I had put my phone in my bag, so I wasn't distracted. The park was coming right up onto my left. Take the left turn, park the car in the parking lot, and sit where I used to sit before when I would talk to James. Sitting there while waiting for James, I think back to when we were young. We used to play on the swing-set, even though we were a little old for it. Would you call 18 too old for a swing-set? I remember it was the summer after I had come here from Belgium with Luke, Ellie, and her younger sister, Erin. It's been awhile since I've seen Luke and Erin. I hope everything's going okay for them. I see James pull up, and he sits beside me. "James," I had started as we started swinging the seats very slightly. "Hector," he had stated. "Why did you text me?" I had asked him. There better be an explanation, and it better be a good one. "There's something you need to see," he had told me before getting out his phone and headset. He pulled up a link and plugged the headset in, and then gave it to me for me to watch.

I didn't understand what I was watching at first, but then I noticed Rachel spiking a punch bowl with whiskey, Fiona going to get Cashmere and then bringing her back to drink the whiskey. That's where it got ugly. Aaron and Rachel practically forcing Cashmere and Alex to get married, and then taking them to a place I knew I remembered, and letting them have sex. I had to stop the video in disgust when it got to show them doing it. Putting the phone down, and taking the headset out, I handed the phone back over to James, and just sat there speechless and in disgust from what I had just witnessed. "So, my son and your daughter had sex last night," I had finally let out quietly and slowly. "Did Cashmere come back home?" I had asked him. "Fiona had got her and brought her to us. I take it she didn't do that with you guys?" James had asked. "She didn't. I even invited her to come and visit here. Speaking of which, here she is," I tell him as Fiona had pulled up. "Fiona, can you please explain the video and how you got it?" I asked, standing up and facing her. "You might want to sit down," Fiona had told me. I sat back down, and she sat on the bench that wasn't too far from James and I. "The reason why is because I didn't want Aaron and Rachel to get away with it. I kept on telling them not to, but they didn't listen. So I recorded it, and I sent it to James. I was going to send it to you as well, but James had told me that he was going to share it. I was only able to capture how Cashmere got drunk. I don't know about Alex. I'm so sorry." Fiona had told us. "It's okay. You did the right thing." James had told her. "Just like what you guys did before." Fiona had commented, reminding me of when I had to protect Ellie from a somewhat threat that Aaron had told us about. "I want to know where my son is," I had told her. "He's probably still in the back room," she had told us. "Then we should go get him," James had told.

"We can't just barge in." Fiona had told us. "I don't care. I don't care if it's been 14 years since we last saw them. I don't care. I want my son back," I had told them. "I'm coming with you. Fiona?" James had asked Fiona. "Okay. I'm with you guys. We need to teach them a lesson." Fiona had told us before we each went to our cars and drove to the school.