Torn from Heaven: Sophomore Sons

Chapter 23

Jess and Shawn were walking down the street, back to Jess's house. It was a chilly night and there were only a few stars in the sky.

"So, how exactly did she get those scars?" Jess asked, excitedly. Shawn glared at her.

"Don't go there, Jess. Besides, is it not obvious?" Shawn said, annoyed.

"Do you know it for a fact?" Jess pushed.

"Listen, Jess, I answered all of your questions and I've done what you've asked. What else could you want?" Shawn asked, defensively.

"I'm just making sure she's not like the other one," Jess said.

"She isn't like her!" Shawn snapped.

"Shawn." Jess stopped walking. "I don't like her, she seems like a bad influence on you. She's making you act weird and I don't like that. She's definitely hiding something," Jess said.

"The only one that's hiding something is me, Jess. I hate sneaking around like this and lying to her," Shawn said.

"Listen, you! I can't afford you going soft on me! I told you if you couldn't handle this, that I had twenty other contacts who could do this, easy! Now you're stuck doing what I say when I do it!" Jess said and Shawn clenched his fists.

"If you bail on me, or if you tell her about any of this, she will know what you're planning!" Jess threatened, poking at Shawn's chest. Jess walked away, her heels clicking against the pavement. Shawn's phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Kit.

"Hey, this is a bad time," Shawn said, feeling sick with himself.

"I-I need you t-to come back to the beach house. P-please!" Kit said, almost inaudible because she was sobbing.

"What? What happened, Sweetheart?" Shawn asked, sincerely.

"Shane- and he- there was drugs and- I can't breathe and- Lee's out and I-" Kit was babbling and panicking.

"I'll be right there!" Shawn said, reassuringly. Shawn leapt into the air, his wings appearing and flew to Jacksonville.

Shawn barged through the front door of CC's beach house. Cassidy and Lee were asleep on the couch, while Kit was sitting against a wall, hugging her knees. Shane's body was lying on the floor covered in sweat and there was pink foam and spit around his mouth. Shawn crouched down and held Shane's wrist to check his pulse.

"Shit." Shawn sat on the floor resting his elbows on his knees, holding his head. "Jesus, what the fuck are we going to do?" Shawn said, sounding tense.

He pulled his sleeve over his hand and wiped his fingerprints off Shane's wrist. Shawn looked over at Kit, and crawled over to her. She looked absent, like she was zoning out into another reality.

"What happened here?" Shawn asked, holding her shoulders and she stared blankly. "Kit!" She looked up, her gaze still blank.

"I don't know," she said, simply.

"Can you at least tell me who the hell he i- was," Shawn asked. He felt that Kit was replacing her with someone else. But that didn't matter in that moment. There was a dead stranger in CC's house.

"Shane," Kit said. Shawn felt a pain in his chest when he heard the similar name to his. Shawn stood up and walked over to the couch.

"CC, wake up!" Shawn yelled and Cassidy groaned. "CC!" Shawn yelled and hit the back of Cassidy's head which immediately brought him up.

"Jesus, what?" Cassidy asked, groggily.

"CC, when's your dad going to be back?" Shawn asked, frantically.