Broken [Raakshyan Series Book 3]

Chapter 6 - [Aathiray]

I took a sip out of my drink and watched Katelyn carefully. She was sniffing the burger I had bought for her and looking disgusted. “How can you humans eat this?” She asked, pushing it away.

      I gave her a look. “Why? Does it look bad?”

      “I can smell how bad it is for you.”

      I smiled and leaned back in my seat. “It’s all you’ve got for now.”

      She hesitated but pulled it back towards her and took off the wrapping.

      I smiled, but then started to wonder again why she was here.

      Chirpy had told me that she needed to talk to me about something serious. And then he left me with her to go check on Lakshmiray.

      So I took her to a nearby mall to talk to her. I figured it was something Raakshyan related… so being at a mall would mean that no one would listen in on our conversation.

      And boy, did she seem like she really needed to talk about something serious.

      Katelyn was acting like a nervous wreck. I wondered why though… she had been to our world multiply times before. It’s not like this was her first.

      But as I watched her eat, looking as if she actually ended up liking the burger, she looked up.

      “What?”

      I shrugged. “You said you had something important you needed to talk to me about?”

      She hesitated.

      But then she changed the subject. “Why are people looking at me?” She asked. “Chirpy covered my mark up… is it showing?”

      I looked around. It wasn’t just people looking at her. It was a bunch of boys.

      A lot of them went to my high school too.

      Wow. They were checking out a thirteen year old girl. Nice.

      But I couldn’t blame them. Katelyn had long black hair which she probably got from her mother and pale skin, like Kero’s, which looked flawless. Plus, she had gorgeous sapphire blue eyes which made it hard for even me to look away.

      So I just smiled. “Forget about that, and talk to me. What’s so important that you had to tell me?”

      She put the burger down and then looked down at her hands which were now in her lap. “I…”

      I smiled at her, trying my best to give her confidence. But I knew that there was a ninety percent chance that this had something to do with Kero. That itself made me worried.

      “Have you considered talking to Keroshan at all?”

      I knew it. So I sighed. “Why are you asking?”

      She looked at me, her eyes suddenly watery. “He’s not acting right.”   

      My heart started to ache at the thought of that. I then pictured Darius in my mind. And then Lakshmiray.

      “He’s being such a jerk… ever since you left he’s been acting like that. He even attacked Serena today!”

      My eyes widened.

      I knew Kero.

      And I knew he would never do that. He can yell and curse... but he would never attack someone who was as close to him as Serena was.

      But then again, it wasn’t even Kero doing this. It was Darius.

      “And…”

      I watched her carefully. Her eyes were burning deep into me, as if she was trying to find some answers in me.

      But her face gave away the fact that she couldn’t find anything. So she just asked.

      “Aathy… you have a dad you love, right?”

      That made me chuckle. “Yes.”

      “What if he betrayed you when you were young and left… and for so long you thought he did, but…” She hesitated and looked down.

      I smiled, realizing exactly what she was going to ask me. “To me… my father is my father. If he left, I would be angry, yes... but a part of me would always wish he would come back.”

      Her eyes shot up and I saw some hope in them. “So there’s nothing wrong with me?”

      “Of course not, Kate.” I said. “Your family is… your family. And a father is and always will be the first man that you have ever loved. He will always have a special spot in your heart and nothing can replace that.”

      She smiled a bit.

      “And your father in particular… it wasn’t like he was a bad father. Both you and Kero were lucky to have a father like him. He loved you with all his heart and treated you two like you were both the most important things in the world. Some fathers are nothing like that but their children still love them... but your father... he was amazing. How could you not want him back?”

      She nodded, keeping that small smile on her face. But then she looked back at her hands. “I just… so long has passed and I wonder why he’s never come to see us even once.”    

      I opened my mouth to answer that but she spoke first.

      “I know that I love him… but does he love us? Why hasn’t he come?” Her eyes got watery again.

      “Katelyn…”

      “I want to see him Aathiray… but I’m scared that he won’t be as happy to see me.” She started to cry, though it was clear that she was trying to hold it back. “It would break my heart…”

      I scooted my chair over to her side and gave her a tight hug. “You have no reason to worry about that Katelyn.”

      She hugged me back, her head on my shoulder as she cried some more. “I miss him so much. I know I’ll never see mom again… but he’s still alive. I want to see him, Aathy…”

      I rubbed her back.

      “Please Aathy… I really want to see my daddy.”

      I felt really bad for her and a little upset with her father too. But then I thought about it for a moment.

      “Kate. I’m sure your father wants to see you too. But I think the only reason why he hasn’t come to see you is because he’s nervous.” I said, rubbing her back. “I mean, it would break his heart too if he saw you and you and your brother told him that you two hated him.”

      She hesitated, but nodded after a moment. “You’re right… you’re right.” She said, still crying. But then she pulled away and looked at me. “Can you take me to him?”

      I smiled at her. “I will try my best. I promise."

      She hugged me again, but this time much more tightly. "Thank you Aathy!"

      I patter her back, trying to ignore the pain which came with her hug.

      When she looked back at me though, she looked a little more serious. She wiped her tears away and frowned. "After I speak to him... I'm going to ask him for his help..."

      "Help?"

      "To fix Kero... maybe if Keroshan just saw dad... he'd change back?"

      My heart skipped a beat. Yes. I wouldn't have to worry... Kero could find out about Darius without me telling him! Because Kero's father would do to Kero what he did to me back when I tried to hurt Serpethion.

      So I stood up right away. "Right. Let's get going." I said as I pulled out my phone.

       I had to call Mr. Caimnight right now. I didn't wan't Darius to show up again to try and stop me.