Fire In Our Bones (NovaHD)

Chapter 28

Every rustle of leaves, every swirl of wind in the dark made Cooper tense up, ready to run. He hugged himself against the cold, straining his eyes to try and see into the shadows. James should know to meet him here, he thought. Unless Kyle or worse, Kate, had caught him getting the gun.

The next noise to startle Cooper was the crack of a branch breaking, but before he had time to be scared, James was there, looking like he'd seen a ghost.

"James? What's up?" he asked cautiously, taking a step towards him.

"I hate these woods in the dark," James admitted, swallowing. "I got the gun."

He handed it to Cooper who recognized it with a pang as one of Kyle's favorites.

"Thanks," he said. James just nodded. There was a moment of tense silence, then he was speaking before he had time to process it. "How's Kyle doing?"

James frowned and Cooper's heart sank.

"To be honest, not real good, Coop. You being gone is hard on him. I don't know him very well, but he looks more worn out every time I see him."

Cooper bit his lip, nodding.

"This will all be fixed soon," he said mostly to himself. Then, looking up, "Thanks James."

He shrugged, his eyebrows dipping together.

"You're welcome. I'm not sure I feel good about this, but there you go."

Kyle was about to reply when a noise in the shadows made him snap his mouth shut. Instinctively, he raised the gun.

"Did Aleks come with you?" he asked, scanning the underbrush and branches frantically.

"No," James said. He sounded tense, maybe even scared.

After a moment of complete silence besides both men's ragged breaths, Cooper relaxed a little, letting his shoulders drop.

"I'm sure it's nothi..."

A large man stepped out of the shadows, right in front of him. For a second, all Cooper could see was his white grin and cruel brown eyes.

"Hey Cooper. It's been a while." The eyes flickered down to the gun in his shaking hand. "No need for violence just yet. Drop the gun."

............................................................................................................

James swallowed, raising his hands. His eyes darted around, looking for Aleks but thankfully he was nowhere in sight.

"Drop the gun," Sam said again, jerking his rifle towards Cooper. "Drop it, you fucking traitor."

Cooper was shaking with suppressed rage and nerves, but he calmly set the gun down and pushed it away with his foot. It skittered through the damp leaves on the ground and James followed it wistfully with his eyes.

"Ok, Sam. Ok. It's gone," Cooper said slowly, raising his hands again.

Sam just grunted, his eyes still glinting with fury. James wondered if there was a sane thought in the man's body.

"I've been looking for you for weeks," he said accusingly, getting closer to Cooper. "Why shouldn't I fucking blow your brains out right now?"

He raised his gun, cocking it and aiming it between Cooper's eyes. James could see a bead of sweat trickle down his temple, but Cooper kept his eyes open, fixed on Sam.

"Go ahead," he challenged, sounding far too confident. "Kill me, and lose what little respect your brother still has for you. Make him hate you. Do it!"