A LEAP OF FAITH

Chapter 23: Behind closed doors lies guilt.

Kiren gritted his teeth, those three words immediately upsetting him. "STOP SAYING THAT, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT?!" He screamed, stepping even closer to Malcolm. "EVERYTIME I ASK YOU SOMETHING, YOU ALWAYS RESPOND WITH THOSE SAME WORDS! EVERY SINGLE GOD DAMN TIME!" His voice was getting tired, but he didn't care.

Malcolm's breathing hitched as he realized all of the times he's responded with that same sentence. "I JUST... I JUST DON'T WANT YOU TO LEAVE ME...!" He cried out, stepping back, away from Kiren.

"THEN WHY DO YOU KEEP PUSHING ME AWAY?!" Kiren demanded, visibly hurt.

"I'M NOT TRYING TO PUSH YOU AWAY, KIREN!"

"JUST TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG!" He grabbed him by the arm, staring at him with desperate eyes.

"I'M NOT TELLING YOU ANYTHING!" Malcolm hissed, jolting away.

"WHAT THE HELL HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?!" He screamed, "YOU'RE NEVER SO...SO RUDE LIKE THIS-!" He yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks. Steam emitted from his face where the water fell.

"I WONDER WHY! YOU WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!" Malcolm screamed back, not bothering to fix his glasses.

"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE EACH OTHER ALONE-! WE HAVE TO BE THERE FOR EACH OTHER, MALCOLM, WHY CAN'T YOU JUST UNDERSTAND THAT?!" He took him by the shoulders, pulling him a bit closer to him.

Malcolm shoved him off of him, "I SAID STAY AWAY-!" He warned shakily, his voice more scared than angry.

"WHY?! ARE YOU GOING TO HURT ME OR SOMETHING?!" Kiren reached out for him again.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Malcolm said a spell, a large gust of wind pushed Kiren back onto the ground. "I CAN'T CONTROL IT, I CAN'T. I DON'T WANT IT TO HURT YOU!" He sobbed out, holding his hands up to his chest.

"WHAT IS 'IT,' MALCOLM?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Kiren shakily stood up, his legs wobbly.

"I CAN'T TELL YOU," he said sternly, looking behind him anxiously.
"Malcolm..." his tone lowered, "what's going on?" He took his hands in his own, holding them tightly. Malcolm shook his head rapidly, his words unintelligible.

"I don't want to hurt anyone else..." he said softly. "I've already done enough," he muttered through gritted teeth.

"What did you do...?" Kiren whispered, sniffling.

"My parents, they..." he trailed off, thoughts swarming his head. He wanted to tell him, but he knew he couldn't. But... he went with his gut. "When they saw that I was born with wings, they knew I'd have powers. And from the day I was able to walk and talk, they've been training me and forcing me to get better and better with each day. That's how I got into the hall of elements. Day in and day out, I was forced to do spell after spell until I felt like I was going to die. Each time I did something wrong, they'd punish me. I got... so fed up with it, their lecturing, their cruel words that... I lost my temper... said a spell... and killed them accidentally." He sniffled, immediately regretting telling him everything.

"Oh, Malcolm..." Kiren cried out, pulling him into a tight hug.

"When I killed them..." he began, "my guilty conscience formed a body. Some kind of entity has been following me since they died. It's here right now... behind me... it's always there, and it always is whispering things into my ear. Just when I think I've moved on from the incident, it forces me to remember. Each time I do something wrong, it grows even more powerful. It just... won't... leave..." He sobbed on Kiren, hugging him tightly.

"I can't see it, can I?" Kiren said softly.

Malcolm shook his head, "I swear... I swear I think Ebony could...every time she looked at me, she'd just stare in horror...right... behind me," he explained in between heavy breaths. It was all too much. Too much to explain, and too much to take in. Kiren would've never guessed that this out of everything was going to happen.