Knowledge is Deadly: Book 1: The Azuran Series

Chapter 15

     As soon as Katelyn woke up, her hand flew to her neck to make sure her locket was still there. She sighed in relief when she felt that it was. She swung her legs out of bed and decided to go check on Aspen. She gathered her medical supplies, walked to his room, and knocked on the door.
      After a moment The door opened. Aspen stood facing her. He turned and walked back towards the bed where Blake was passed out in it.
     Katelyn stepped in and closed the door behind her, looking at Blake with an eyebrow raised.
     "He was tired." Aspen muttered and sat on the side of the bed. "He's going to worry himself to death." He said glancing over at Blake.
     "Sounds like someone else I know." She said, sitting beside him. "How do you feel?"
     "Miserable." He said simply.
     "You've taken your medicine the past two days, right?" She asked, looking at him.
     "Yes." He said "Blake made sure I did."
     "Good. I need to change your bandages." Katelyn said.
     He huffed. "Fine."
     Katelyn set the supplies on the bed beside her and picked up the scissors. Aspen pulled off his shirt and set it aside.
     Katelyn cut through the bandages and peeled them away. She winced and took in a sharp breath when she saw the wound. It looked infected, that was for sure.
     "Bad?" He asked not looking down at it.
     "Pretty bad." She went to the bathroom and retrieved a wet a cloth so she could clean it. She sat beside him again and pressed the cloth to his shoulder. He winced slightly but stayed silent. She cleaned it quickly and began wrapping it.
     "I swear, if you make me stay in bed all day again..." He mumbled.
     "Even if you had tried to get up you wouldn't have been able to." She said, finishing.
     "Would too." He defended.
     "Would not." Blake mumbled groggily from behind them.
     Katelyn smirked at Aspen. "Case closed. Besides, I'm not making you stay in bed, but I highly recommend a nap."
      "I like naps." Blake grumbled.
     "I already took one." Aspen said. "I need to actually do something."
     "Me too." Katelyn agreed. "But I don't want to go out with Kile around..."
     "He went out with Kilin. You should be fine." Blake said.
     Katelyn frowned. "I guess I'll go explore the town then."
     "Ok bye." Blake said.
     "Oh no, you're coming with me." Katelyn said, standing up.
     Blake groaned and sat up. "Do I have to..." he groaned.
     "I can go." Aspen offered.
     "No. You stay here." Blake said and stood up.
     'He needs rest. But I need rest. No you don't.' He thought rubbing his eyes.
     "This should be interesting." Katelyn said, starting towards the door.
     Blake started walking towards her.
     "Have fun then." Aspen said laying down.
     "You rest." Blake said.
     "Yeah yeah." Aspen said crossing his ankles and leaning back against the wall.
     Katelyn gave him a sarcastic apologetic glance before shutting the door behind her and Blake.
     "Where are we going?" Blake asked turning to Katelyn. He ran his hands though his hair to try and calm his bed-head down.
     She shrugged. "No clue."
     "Good plan." He said and started walking towards the ladder. Katelyn followed him up and walked out the door of the house into town.
     Blake looked around. "Don't say anything to anyone. If we know Kilin they aren't very friendly to new people." Blake noted.
     "Good point." Katelyn tucked her locket inside her shirt just in case someone recognized it. She started walking towards the center of town. As they walked people looked at them funny and Katelyn picked up on their thoughts.
     'Who is that?'
     'Oh.. that must be Kile's friend he was talking about.. Hu.'
     'What pack are they from?'
     'Damm.. oh no there's a guy with her..'
     'Are they new?'
     Katelyn quickly decided she didn't want to hear any more, and it was making her head hurt worse. She unclasped her locket and swiftly put it in the side pocket of her book bag, which she never left anywhere without.
     Blake walked beside her glancing around nervously. Even without hearing his thoughts she could tell he didn't trust the people here.
     They turned a corner and continued down the dirt road. Down the road Katelyn saw the unmistakable fluff of messy,black hair in the crowd. She stopped.
     "Let's go back the other way." She said to Blake.
    "Why?" He asked looking over at her.
     Katelyn nodded towards the crowd. "Kile."
     "Where?" He asked looking around.
     "Right here you dim wit." Kile said standing behind them.
     Katelyn clenched her jaw, and a couple of foul words ran through her brain. She turned around. "Hello, Kile."
      "Hi puppy." He said.
     Blake turned and looked at him.
     Kilin appeared beside Kile. "Just run off why don't you." She said.  
     "Sorry." Kile said
     "No your not."
     Katelyn looked between the two of them. "Well, if you'll excuse us, we're going to go." She grabbed Blake's arm.
     "Puppy still doesn't like me." Kile complained to Kilin.
     "Come on." Kilin said grabbing his arm and turning to walk away.
     Katelyn huffed and turned around, pulling Blake along and glancing back at Kile and Kilin.
     Kile shoved Kilin and she grabbed his wrist keeping her steady. She snapped something and he looked at her with a laugh. She let his wrist go and they walked down the road.
     Katelyn turned back around, rolling her eyes.
     "Come on." Blake said, ignoring them.
     They passed a few buildings and eventually ended back up at their building.
     "Well that was incredibly interesting." Blake said sarcastically.
     "Yeah... at least I wasn't stuck in my room doing nothing." Katelyn said, turning to him.
     "Good point." He said. "You should give Kile a chance." He said after a moment.
    "No. Even if I wanted to, I can't knowing..." she cut herself off.
    "He seems fine. Only slightly annoying." Blake said.
     Katelyn scoffed. "Slightly?"
     "Sometimes."
     "Sometimes? Have you ever had a one on one conversation with Kile?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
     "I haven't gotten a chance because someone keeps dragging me away." He said.
     "Consider yourself lucky." Katelyn turned to walk into the house.
     He huffed and followed her into the house and quietly descended into the basement room. 
     "What time is it?" Katelyn asked once she dropped down beside him.
     "My guess is around two." He said.
     "Two thirty." Kilin said sitting on the couch in the room. Katelyn looked at her.
     "You're back. Where'd you guys go?" She asked.
     "Around." Kile said not looking at them.
     Kilin turned to them. "Visited a few places.. people." She said.
     "That's very specific." Katelyn said and looked at Blake.
     "I have friends here. I needed to visit them. Where did you go?" She asked.
     "We just walked around town. Nothing interesting." Katelyn said with a shrug.
     "Hu." Kilin said and turned back to Kile.
     'Well this is awkward.' Katelyn thought. She looked at Blake, hoping he'd have a better idea of what to say or do. He shrugged and walked to the back of the couch.
      "When did you get back?" He asked looking at Kile.
      "Few moments ago." He said looking up at Blake.
     Katelyn silently walked up beside Blake.
     Kile looked over at her. "Puppy." he greeted with a nod.
     Katelyn rolled her eyes. "Creep." She greeted back.
     "Y'all are odd." Kilin said. "Can't you just get along?"
     "I doubt it."
     "Not possible." Kile added
     Kilin rolled her eyes and sighed.
"I can't help it. She purposely annoys me." Kile said.
Katelyn pointed her finger in his face. "You are such a hypocrite!"
"I am not!" He said throwing his hands in the air.
Katelyn crossed her arms. "Yes you are."
"No. Your just easily annoyed. I don't do it on purpose." He said.
"That's a lie."
"Is not."
"Is too." Katelyn countered.
"No, your literally just that sensitive." He said raising an eyebrow.
Katelyn glared at him and then looked away. "Do you see what we mean?" She asked Kilin.
"Your not even trying." Kilin said blankly.
"Fine." Kile said "Puppy, your hair looks great. Not the best but it's great considering it's yours." He said.
"Thanks." She said sarcastically, looking at him. "And Kile, your eyes are..." She stared into them and looked closer. They looked extremely familiar.
"Are.." he asked curiously.
"Green with yellow streaks..." She finished, studying them.
'Just like Jackson's.' She thought.
"No..." Kile trailed off sarcastically.
"They tried. And failed." Blake said crossing his arms.
Kilin looked up at him. "They will get along when I use magic." Kilin said sarcastically.
"We're doomed then." Kile said.
Katelyn just shook her head.
"Are you guys arguing?!" Aspen called from his room.
"When are they not?!" Blake called back. There was a snort from his room.
Katelyn rolled her eyes and looked at Kilin. "So what is there to do in this town of yours?"
"Err. Nothing you want to do." She said with a shrug.
"Or she would be good at." Kile added.
"Okay, I'm going to my room." Katelyn said, annoyed, and turned to go.
"Bye Puppy." Kile called.
Katelyn sighed wearily and shut the door behind her with a slam. She leaned back against the door and shut her eyes.
"She really doesn't like you." Blake said.
"Got that right." Kile said.
"Try and get along with her. And don't pester her. She's been though a lot of changes lately." Kilin said
'You got that right.' Katelyn thought.
"Oh well. She can deal with it." Kile said.
Katelyn clenched her fists.
'As if he's been through anything like this.' She thought bitterly.
"Give her a break." Blake said.
Kile scoffed. "She needs to grow a backbone."
"You aren't helping." Kilin said.
"I think I am."
Kilin sighed.
Katelyn shook her head. 'He's not helping at all.'
They were quite for a moment.
"Well.." Blake said.
"How's Aspen?" Kilin asked.
"He's fine.." Blake said.
"He's Katelyn 'guard..' right?" Kile asked.
Katelyn raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." Kilin said.
"But David is-"
"Pierce. It's Mr. pierce." Blake corrected.
Kile huffed. "But Mr. Pierce is dead. Why is he her guard?"
Katelyn stiffened. 'Kile thinks so too?' She bit her lip. 'My dad can't be dead.'
"Same reason I'm still Kilin's guard." Blake said sternly.
"You. Are. Not." Kilin said.
"Yeah. You're really not." Kile agreed.
Katelyn stood up straight and walked towards her bed, deciding to take a nap. She kicked off her boots and collapsed into bed, telling herself that her dad is alive.