River.

Chapter 179: Roomies

Amanda's P.O.V.

"How long have you two been waiting here?" I asked Rome and Gray who were sitting on my aunt Julia's porch when we pulled up.

"Two hours." Said Rome.

"Did you guys walk all the way here?" Asked aunt Julia.

"Yep." Grayson said.

"Come on inside." Uncle Jack insisted.

Rome and Gray stood up as we all walked into the house.

"Everyone's worried about you two you know, you kinda darted out of there without saying a word."

"What could we have said?" Asked Grayson.

Well he had a point.

"Why don't you two go upstairs with Amanda while I make lunch. I'll let Cass know you're safe." Said Julia.

We went up to "my room" which was really just a spare room that I call my room because I spent way more time with aunt Julia and uncle Jack than I did with my own mom.

"So what made you guys come here?" I asked as I sat on my bed while they sat on the bean bags across from it.

"Guess we just wanted to go to a non-depressed environment." Rome answered.

"You've come to the wrong place then." I sighed. "Aunt Julia cried all last night."

"Mom hasn't cried yet." Said Gray.

"I'm sure she has. Just not around you guys." I retorted. "You know, so that you wont worry. She misses him though. I know I miss uncle River and the cheesy jokes he used to tell me everytime I was sad or upset."

"He's not dead." Rome insisted.

"Roman I know how it feels. My dad died when I was 5. You just have-"

"He's not." Said Grayson.

"Guys-"

"Kaiser told us."

"Kaiser's 8. What makes you believe him?"

"But he's smart for his age." Said Rome.

"What did he tell you?"

"That he saw dad. He talked to him."

"Maybe it was just a dream."

"No." Gray began. "He wasn't asleep. He was wide awake."

I honestly didn't know what to believe.

"Guys, Kaiser's grieving. That's just how he's dealing with it."

"Our brother's a rational kid. He wouldn't just make up something like that."

"Fine then what did River tell him?"

"Something about needing more time. He wouldnt tell us the rest. I know its hard to believe but even you know that Kai is a smart kid. He knows what he saw."

"As skeptical as I am maybe he saw something else.... Something that's not alive..."

"Like a ghost?" Asked Gray.

"Exactly."

"That's stupid."

"Oh but your dad coming back to life is somehow more believable?"

"Or maybe he never died. Look Amanda..." Rome began. "I know we sound like basketcases right now but you have to believe us. I trust Kai and I believe every word he says because he's never lied a day in his life. And no this isn't just the grief talking."

I wanted so bad to believe them... But how could I?

Uncle River wouldn't fake his death unless-

That's when I froze

Unless he was trying to protect his family....

Oh boy.
...

Cassidy's P.O.V.

A few days after the funeral, Raes moved in.

Yay.

"Even though I've warmed up to Raes over the years I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to live with him again. That year and a half in France was enough." I complained to Cato.

"Raes has to take on the role of mentoring Kaiser full time now." He explained. "The only way he'll be able to do that is by living with him."

"By mentoring you mean training?"

"More or less."

"My son's only 8. You guys are not gonna strip away his childhood just to turn him into a war machine."

"His father was a war machine. Raes is a war machine. They were born war machines just like Kaiser. I know its extremely unfortunate but Kaiser won't have a normal childhood. And no matter how hard you try, he wont ever have a normal life. None of us have had a normal life because we weren't given that option. And we can't do anything about it. Kaiser can still be a kid for now but he needs to be prepared for when things take a turn for the worse. If he's not then he wont have a life to live."

"Can we hold off on that for a few months at least? He just lost his dad."

"We can only afford to waste a few weeks, nothing more."

"Okay... But he's gonna start questioning why Raes is constantly training him..."

"And you will not tell him the truth." He said menacingly.

"Okay geez... Just saying...."

"Kaiser musn't know who he is or what he's capable of until he's older."

"Why not?"

"Because the more he knows, the more danger he's in."

I sighed in frustration.

Who knew meeting my hot anatomy professor 10 years ago would result in all of this....

I sure as hell didn't.