The Species of Power [Draft 1]

Chapter 32

The days after Garret had uncovered the truth of the journal, Caton's life started crashing together with one major event after another. With no time to think, everything started falling together. They had made progress with the blades, and the next one was around the corner. Already plans were being made to infiltrate the Elder's sanctuary; where Elder Nev and the first blade of pure forgetting hid on most days. The scary part was that the rebellion was stronger than ever. They actually had capable soldiers like how they used to just before chaos ensued and destroyed all of the best ones they had. The end was nearing, Caton could feel it. But after the end would be a new beginning, a beginning where he and Ruth would face dangers together that were outside of his expectations. With this phase drawing to a close, Caton finally realized that his time was limited. He had wasted so much already.

Night had rolled by in the blink of an eye, and Caton found himself restless; he needed some air. He grabbed the journal and stepped just outside the rebellion, taking in the night air. On the outside, like every other abandoned Shape Shifter complex, rubble and broken building bits scattered the terrain. This base was actually just outside the city; surrounded by a broken barb wired fence. With every movement, his foot would come in contact with pieces of demolished rock. It was a horrible sight, but the sky was clear, and Caton never needed the luxury of having beautiful sights to see.

He wasn't alone, he could hear Garret following him. He could hear the rocks shifting as Garret stepped on the building's remains. Without saying a word Garret joined him by his side. Caton looked down at his hand. It was so close to Garret's. With one simple movement he could take his hand, but he couldn't do it, and once again he settled for fighting with himself internally. Caton looked at Garret, who was staring at the sky with his usual smile. His eyes flickered to Caton, who immediately looked elsewhere. He felt like an idiot.

"What brings you up here?" Garret asked.

Caton shrugged, and lifted his eyes toward the night sky. He dropped the journal, and put his hands in the pockets of his sweater and continued to be too mindful of his gaze, making sure it didn't slip from the sky.

"Needed air I guess," Caton said. "Thought I should clear my head."

"Did you end up telling Ruth?" Garret said. Caton looked at the journal that sat near his feet, and didn't give Garret a response. "Come on Cat," he said. "You should have told her. I thought with how much time you guys spent together that you would have at least have had her read the damn thing."

"She had enough going on," Caton said. "The last thing she needed was another bombshell." Caton picked up the journal and fanned the pages, and slammed it right back down on the ground. "Garret I don't need another bombshell."

"Nobody needs a bombshell," Garret said. "But everyone needs the truth, and the sooner you tell the truth, the better it will be for the people involved."

"Not all the time,"

"No," Garret said. "But this time, yeah."

Caton sat down on the ground and crossed his legs, Garret sat down as well, with his legs stretched out in front of him. Caton remembered when there was no tension between him and Garret. Caton relived those memories everyday.They were always the stupid little incidents, like when Caton and Garret had broken something that had belonged to Marsh. Caton would always freak out, while Garret would relax, smile, and tell him everything would be okay. He wished Garret could be like that now, but he could never ask that of him.

Caton heard Garret sigh after the silence, finally he relaxed and faced Caton. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's none of my business, I shouldn't have gotten mad at you like that."

"No," Caton said. "You're right, I always leave the truth until the last second and I really need to stop doing that."

"You'll learn," Garret shrugged. "No doubt about that." Garret flashed him an empty smile; Caton could tell he was just doing it for his sake.