Falling For The Enemy

Chapter 1

"Hold me up against the wall

Give it till I beg

Give me some more

Make me bleed I like it rough

Like it rough, rough, rough

Push up to my body

Sink your teeth into my

Flesh."

Kyler drifted along on his back, his wings unfurled and eyes drawn to the clear and starry sky. The waves rolled over his body gently and carried him further and further away from the shore. There was a slight nip in the air, the water nowhere near warm enough to swim in but Kyler liked the cold; it helped clear his head, something he desperately needed right now. His latest nightmare was nothing new to him; although, it had only disrupted his dreams when he was younger. What unsettled him now was how distorted and cryptic it had become. Like the piercing red eyes of the very attractive, but also very familiar, male. Kyler shook his head, sending ripples across the otherwise lethargic water. He came out here to clear his head, not contemplate the differences in his past and present nightmares.

"Kyler!" Came the far away shout. "Kyler, c'mon. What're you doing?! It's below 40 out here!" Nox, his older brother, called out.

Kyler sighed. He wanted to stay out but if he knew his brother any, and he knew him quite well, he would come out and drag Kyler back to shore if he didn't go himself. He sighed and dunked his head underwater and began swimming back to shore where his brother waited, a towel clutched tightly in his hand and another slung around his neck.

He pulled himself out of the water and walked across the sand towards his brother. He took the towel from his outstretched hand and began drying his hair.

"What the hell are you doing out here, Ky?" Nox asked, passing a second towel to him.

Kyler shrugged, accepting the second towel and using it to dry off the rest of his body.

"Just came out to swim, Nox." He answered quietly, focusing on drying off to avoid looking at his brother.

When he got nothing else, Nox sighed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, suddenly very interested in the sand.

Kyler flapped his wings a couple times to shake off extra droplets of water before drawing each in and towel drying them. He stiffened when he hit a sore part of his right wing, a result of his rigorous and brutal training, but otherwise gave no sign of discomfort.

"You're gonna burn out eventually, Kyler. Stop pushing yourself so hard." Nox said softly as he handed him his discarded shirt.

Kyler folded his wings in against his back and pulled the grey v-neck on over his head. He grabbed his cargo shorts and white and blue runners and shook them out before sliding them on.

"What, afraid I'll finally best you in a fight, Nox?" He said teasingly as he pulled on his runners, a smirk on his face.

Nox barked out a laugh before punching his younger brother in the shoulder, successfully alleviating the tension between the two.

"You still have a long way to go before you can best me little brother, but you're getting there." Nox smiled and slung his arm around his brother's shoulders, guiding him toward the waiting blue Dodge pickup. He reached up and ruffled his brother's hair, laughing as he narrowly dodged the punch thrown in his direction.

They climbed into the truck and buckled their seatbelts before Nox put the truck in reverse and pulled out.

Kyler rested his cheek against the window and watched the scenery pass by, smiling as Nox began singing along to the My Chemical Romance song blasting through the speakers.

He was inching closer and closer to sleep when his brother suddenly turned the radio down.

"Hey, Kyler..?"

"Hn?"

"Do you, ya know, miss them? Our parents, I mean. You probably don’t remember dad, I mean you were pretty young when he-” he paused, unsure of how to continue, “...died.”

Kyler pushed himself up slowly, caught off guard by the sudden question.

How was he supposed to answer that? How was he supposed to explain that what he could remember about their dad was his death, the circumstances of it so horrific that it became the only memory he has.

He glanced over at his brother and noticed that his knuckles were white from how tight he was gripping the steering wheel. He swallowed and clenched his fists.

“Nox, I-” He sighed and turned his gaze to the window, trying to collect his thoughts.

They pulled into their driveway and Nox cut the engine. Several seconds of uneasy silence passed between them, with Nox awaiting an answer.

Kyler took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak when he saw a flash of something in the trees next to their house.

“What the hell was that?!”

Nox sighed. “What was what, Kyler?”

“Nox, there’s someone outside." Kyler clamored of the truck and jogged over to the trees, peering through trying to spot whatever it was that he just saw.

“You know, if you didn’t want to talk about it you could’ve just said so instead of coming up with shit excuses." Nox slammed the truck door and trudged up the porch steps to unlock the front door.

“I'm serious, Nox! I saw someone out here!” Kyler cried out in protest, his gaze sweeping over the dark forest, searching desperately for what he saw before.

“Whatever. Are you coming in or what?” Nox asked flatly.

“I'm gonna do a perimeter check first. Just to be safe." Kyler replied, his voice sounding distracted and far away.

Nox sighed and pushed open the door, closing it softly behind him. He shed his coat, placing it on the rack by the door and dropped his keys on the kitchen counter as he walked by on his way to his room.

Kyler stared at the front door for a moment before turning back to the trees. He took a deep breath and silenced the human part of his mind, focusing solely on the beast part.

He felt the animalistic side of him take over as he shifted, violently tearing away any humanity that he hadn't protected.

He opened his eyes and assessed his surroundings with his heightened senses, everything sharper and clearer. He trotted into the forest, nose to the ground, trying to pick up any hint of an unfamiliar, or familiar, scent.