Hunting For You

Chapter 3

I sat in the corner near the entry to the bar. Luke sat across from me with his lips pulled in a thin line. I knew that I was frustrating him by not telling him about what I had meant but I couldn't tell him. I don't know why, all I knew was that I couldn't. He could see that I was upset and it hurt him as much as it hurt me. Luke had turned the jukebox on in an attempt to cheer me up and it had worked. At the moment Come As You Are by Nirvana was playing and I found myself bobbing my head up and down to the beat. Luke played with a ring he always seemed to wear and stared at a point over my shoulder.

For the last hour he had been trying to get me to tell him what had me down but I wouldn't say. I twirled a water bottle around in my hands in an attempt to keep myself busy but my mind kept lingering on that one night. All of a sudden a sob escaped my lips without warning. Luke's attention snapped back to me and his features showed his physical pain. He reached out to comfort but I shrunk away from him.

"Cass," he whispered in a husky voice. "What's wrong? Please just tell me. You're hurting and it's hurting me."

"Everything is wrong!" I sobbed. "I miss them so fucking much and I can never see them again!"

I slapped a hand over my mouth after I realized what I had just said. Excitement replaced Luke's wounded expression and he leaned closer to me, he was finally getting answers.

"Who do you miss? Do you mean your parents? Why can't you see them?" he asked.

"Yeah I mean my parents," I muttered.

"Why can't you see them?" Luke pressed.

"I put them in danger while on a hunt in Germany and I felt so ashamed," I lied. "That's why I'm back. I can't go back and face them after the mistake I made."

"Is that why you're always upset?" Luke asked.

"Part of the reason," I replied.

Wow, I was lying to Luke.

"You should go see them," Luke suggested. "They will forgive you."
"It's not that simple."

Kind of the truth I guess.

"Why not?" Luke asked.

"I nearly killed them," I replied. "I saved them then left after my father told me to leave and never come back. Are you happy now? Now if you don't mind I don't want to talk about this anymore!"

"Okay we can stop," Luke whispered.

I sighed and began to play with the bottle in my hands again. I felt somewhat guilty for lying to Luke but I still couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth. I don't think I'd ever be able to tell him the truth which was a shame because I considered Luke a friend.
Luke reached out and pulled my hands away from the bottle so that he could hold them. I rejected the contact and gently tugged my hands free. Luke frowned slightly but he left me alone. I knew that I would be showing my pain which for once forced Luke to leave me alone. I needed time to calm myself down before I spoke again, I couldn't afford another outburst.

The guy from behind the bar walked over to us and he grinned when he looked at me. I noticed that Luke stiffened but he didn't say anything or tell him to get lost like I wanted to do.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked.
I opened my mouth to reply but Luke cut me off.

"She doesn't drink Kane," Luke snapped.

Kane seemed shocked at Luke's outburst he looked at me with wide eyes and I smiled at him apologetically. Kane shook his head and walked off. I turned my attention back to Luke to see that he was gripping the table and his body was rigid as if he had been kicked in the stomach.