Two-faced

Chapter 14

I DONT KNOW WHAT I'M DOING

————————(how did I just randomly post this at like twelve am)—————————

/**Cole's POV**/

Cole storms out of the school, hands clenched into fists as he pushes through the throngs of students. The buzzing of their conversations is just a distant hum in his ears, overpowered by the rage boiling inside him. The echo of Kai's words, that final slap, keeps replaying in his mind. It's not just anger, though—there's something darker, something that makes his skin crawl.

By the time he reaches his house, his thoughts are still a tangled mess of fury and confusion. He practically tears the door off its hinges as he enters, slamming it shut behind him with a force that shakes the walls. The emptiness of the house offers no comfort. It feels like the silence is mocking him, reminding him of the void that has been growing inside him for years.

Cole heads straight to his room, not even bothering to take off his shoes. He tosses his backpack into a corner and collapses onto his bed. But the restlessness in his mind refuses to let him stay still. His eyes drift to his arm, the one Kai had grabbed in the hallway, and he starts to trace the burn scar that winds up from his wrist to just below his elbow.

The scar is large, ugly—an uneven patch of skin that's paler and more twisted than the rest of his arm. It's the kind of scar that you don't forget, even if you want to. Cole has spent years trying to ignore it, to pretend it doesn't exist. But today, it's impossible to forget.

—He's a kid again, standing in the middle of the living room, surrounded by flames. The heat is unbearable, stifling, like it's pressing down on him from all sides. The air is thick with smoke, making it impossible to breathe. Sirens blare in the distance, but they seem miles away, like some faint echo that can't possibly reach him in time.

Cole is frozen, his legs refusing to move. His mind is screaming at him to run, to get out, but his body won't listen. All he can do is stand there, staring at the flames as they devour everything.

Then, through the wall of fire, he sees Kai. He's younger, just a kid like Cole, but there's something in his eyes that Cole can't quite place. Determination? Desperation? Fear? It's all a blur now, but one thing is clear—Kai didn't hesitate. He rushed through the flames, grabbed Cole's arm, and pulled him out of the burning house.

The pain of Kai's grip was searing, burning into his skin even as they stumbled out into the yard. Cole didn't even notice the tears streaming down Kai's face, or maybe he just didn't care. All he could focus on was the flames that had swallowed everything he loved.

The memory shifts—Cole is outside now, coughing and choking on the smoke that still lingers in his lungs. He tries to run back into the house, screaming for his mother, but someone—an officer, maybe—holds him back. "You can't go in there!" they shout, but Cole is too far gone to listen.

The next thing he remembers is the doctor's voice, it was a young doctor, relatively new he suspects, and the way the male fiddled with his fingers, making sure to be extra kind to him, had already been enough to know what he was gonna say, hearing the words out loud was and will still be the worst moment in his entire live. "I'm so sorry...but...your mother had severe injuries and...I'm afraid we couldn't safe her..."—

Cole snaps back to the present, his heart pounding as the memory fades. His fingers are still tracing the scar on his arm, the one left by Kai's desperate grip. The skin there is thick and twisted, a permanent reminder of that day.

He stares at the scar, trying to shake the unsettling thoughts that have been creeping in ever since he saw Kai in the alleyway. Kai's eyes—they were red, like, really red. But that doesn't make any sense, does it? Kai's always had eyes like embers, a deep, burning brown. Maybe it was just the evening sun playing tricks, or maybe his own mind, already spiraling out of control, twisted the memory into something it wasn't.

But then again, the look in Kai's eyes, the way he seemed... different. Could there be something more to it? The thought is absurd, ridiculous even, but it sticks with him, festering like an old wound. Could Kai have had something to do with the fire? Could he have... no. That's insane. Kai was just a kid too. They both were.

That still didn't justify leaving his mother to die

Cole clenches his fist, trying to banish the thoughts, but they won't leave him alone. He's never really stopped thinking about the fire, about the way it destroyed everything. And now, with Kai back in his life, the memories are flooding back stronger than ever, demanding his attention.

Just as he's about to drown in his own thoughts, his phone buzzes on the bed beside him. The sudden noise makes him jump, yanking him out of the past. He grabs the phone, expecting a message from his dad or maybe one of the few people who still bother to talk to him.

But it's not. It's a message from an unknown number.

**Unknown:** 'I know about the fire. And I know who's responsible. You're not alone in wanting revenge.'

Cole's breath catches in his throat. He stares at the message, reading it over and over as if the words might change. How does this person know about the fire? How could anyone know what happened that night, what it did to him? And what do they mean by revenge?

A thousand questions race through his mind, each one more confusing than the last. Part of him wants to delete the message, to pretend he never saw it. But another part, the part that's been simmering with rage and grief for years, wants to know more. Wants revenge.

Cole's thumb hovers over the reply button, his heart pounding. If he responds, there's no telling what he might be getting himself into. But if he doesn't, he'll always wonder.

His phone buzzes again, snapping him out of his thoughts. Another message from the same number.

**Unknown:** 'We want the same thing, Cole. Don't you want to see him pay?'

Cole's mind is spinning. How do they know his name? How do they know anything? He feels like he's standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down into an abyss that's as dark as the night his world burned down.

He glances down at the scar on his arm one more time, his thumb still hovering over the screen. The questions, the doubts, the fear—they're all crashing together inside him, threatening to tear him apart.

But beneath all of that, buried deep, is the one thing he can't ignore: the burning need for answers. For justice. For revenge.

With a shaky breath, Cole makes his decision.

————-(Here you go my children. Eat.)————-

Oh wait- there's some more? WHAAAAT??

Cole's finger finally taps the reply button, and he begins to type. But just as he's about to send the message, his screen lights up with a notification—a new message from the unknown number.

**Unknown:** 'Trust me, Cole. I know what you're going through. And I can help you make him pay.'

Cole hesitates, his heart racing, but before he can change his mind, his thumb presses "Send."

———————-

There we go! A new chapter! Yay!
1283 words for that one, and sorry if there are any mistakes, but this thing somehow autocorrected every single word I wrote and again, it's like 12am so don't blame me. Feedback is, as always welcome.
Have a great day/night whatever.
Byeee!