Hold Me Close | Kellic

Chapter 23

"You're planning on meeting Vic?" Mike questioned as I headed towards the door. I was close to being in a rush, I could feel the adrenaline begin to race through me as excitement overcame me now that I was meeting Vic.

"Yes," I said simply and turned to face him. Looking at Mike made me feel guilty under the circumstances. It wouldn't be right for me to offer Mike to tag along considering once we reached Hell's exit I'd have to make him turn back. He'd become even more emotionally drained than what he already is.

"Please," I started and put my hand up in a 'stop' motion, forcing myself to resist looking at him, "don't ask me to take you with me. I can't, I'm really sorry."

I felt a hand placed gently on my shoulder. I turned my gaze upwards and came face to face with Mike who looked at me with eyes that held genuine concern and understanding, eyes that rid of any resentment. It didn't feel as though Mike was someone I had known for only several hours, we had already found ourselves tied together in a bond others might take years to create.

"I know," he said, not daring to break eye contact with me, "Just tell him that I'm sorry for what I did, okay?" I just nodded. I was so intrigued to know what it was that happened between the two brothers but I would be patient and wait for the time to come when it would be Vic's own choice to make to tell me the truth of his past.

"Kellin," Jack called after me once I turned around again to leave my Box, "How do you honestly think you're going to get away with this one? You know I support you but you're not a Spæter. There's no way this is going to work."

"You just have to have faith in me," I said. It was hard trying to build confidence in my own words when I was constantly doubting whether I could do it or not without Jack having second thoughts too. I was determined though, I was a fighter. I was a fighter who would keep on raging in a battle at any cost for Vic.

I looked back at Justin. He hadn't uttered a single word to me the whole time I had been back, even if it wasn't for very long. I knew he was mad at me for letting Gabe get hurt but it was something inevitable, one of us were bound to get injured. It was just tragic that it had to have been Gabe and not myself.

There were no windows built into my Box, no natural light entered the room other than through gaps in the solid walls that had cracked over the years. My living quarters were bare, it was nothing exciting. My Box was just something for me to get by in, it held no happy memories nor did it have a family atmosphere that you might have in a human home. There was no such environment here. The stillness and quietness of the moment we stood in only added to the silent aura of darkness that consumed my home, the sadness only radiating off of Justin.

I turned my attention back to Mike, ignoring Jack since I couldn't handle any look he could've been giving me that might have suggested that I was going to fail this. Mike's eyes consisted of hope that was directed towards me. He wasn't thinking of himself and how desperate he was to be reunited with his older brother, he only imagined Vic being happy by being acquainted with me. I looked at him one last time, both of us nodding in acknowledgement, then jumped out of my Box.

I landed on the ground with no grace. I was still exhausted and found myself rolling on the hard ground, gaining more bruises on my body. The only clothes I had worn were skin tight, black trousers during the whole journey. The standard outfit of any demon or Fallen. I composed my posture and ran, willing myself forward whilst keeping the pain that jolt through my muscles the least of my priorities.

The idea of entering the Middle Land in such little clothing was ridiculous. My dark hair continued to lash around, getting crazier the faster I ran. I brushed my fingers through my raven locks, keeping them out of my eyes so I could focus on the track ahead.