Till Deceived Do We Part

I made him talk. I just wanted to hear his voice, to feel the quiet and soft rhythm of his heart against my head, to feel his fingers combing my hair. He told me a story, a story of when he was thirteen.

It was the year he met Kaz. He had always been a good kid, going to every class, getting straight A’s and not getting in a single fight. Then Kaz showed up. New kid in class, and Dane said even then, he was dying his hair the same dark red auburn it was now. The only give away it wasn’t real were his eyebrows, a dark brown, and the occasional root that would peak through. So here is good ol’ Dane, and then this kid with red hair shows up. It wasn’t in a mohawk yet, Dane said that came later.

The first day Kaz attended, he got ridiculed, for who wouldn’t? Red hair? New to the school so late in the semester? He had felt bad, but had done nothing, not wanting to ruin his good reputation. And then one day, Kaz called him aside. Dane had been sceptical, not wanting everyone to think they were friends. Kaz made it quick however, for all he said was thanks. Thanks for not making fun of his hair, in which Dane raised an eyebrow. I gesture that was beginning to turn my stomach to jelly every time I saw it.

Kaz responded by laughing and slugging Dane in the arm. That was all it took, one small slug, and the good Dane was gone. Apparently after the friendly slug, Dane punched Kaz. In the end it turned into an all out brawl, in which the teachers had to pull them apart. Whereas usually the teachers have to hold back cursing boys, still trying to beat each up, they had to hold back to hysterical boys, laughing their heads off.

Afterwards, him and Kaz were inseparable. It was how Dane broke his first bone... how Dane almost got ran over by a semi, and many other stories that had me cringing in regards to his safety.

“Eat.” I did, and realized I was hungry. Very hungry. Kaz watched me with what seemed like amusement, where Dane seemed... worried? That should probably cover the majority of the emotions in his eyes, but there were more. A lot more.

“Thanks.” I said, leaning back against him once I finished. He didn’t respond, just went back to stroking my hair.

“Gag. Eating here. So, Dray, you and Dane have any specials plans this weekend?” Weekend? Time had been going by too fast, way too fast. It still seemed like yesterday I was laughing with Zane, and having him help me sneak out to go see Dane. I could only hope that could still happen one day. That Zane would be okay, and Dane wouldn’t leave me once he knew. Somehow, I doubted my hopes would be granted.

“Do we?” I asked, glancing up at him. He shrugged, his shoulders barely moving, as if too lazy to pull an actual shrug.

“You free?” Was I? Hadn’t Flint mentioned something about a scout? The thought of it had my blood racing. Dane made me feel alive, but still the prospect of hunting down the men who took Zane and taking them out, made me feel even more so. It lit a fire in me, something that wouldn’t go out.

“Partially?” He smiled, kissing my forehead, a gesture that warmed my heart.

“Plan as we go then, as usual.” I nodded, my eyes returning to Kaz who was watching us, a smile on his face. While I found him annoying, especially for interrupting us, and for calling me Dray, I wasn’t picking up on any negative vibes. Which was good, for that was the last thing I needed.

“You want the bed, tonight?” Upon seeing my confusion he chuckled, and I felt it through my system, as if it was I who was laughing. “You’re about to pass out. I’m not letting you drive. I’ll bring you to your car in the morning.”

“Share it?” A small grin came upon his lips, his eyes flashing and his body easing closer to mine, if that was possible. I glowered at him. “We’ll make a pillow wall.” At this, the grin vanished as he laughed loudly, the laugh I loved. Kaz soon joined in.

When I was little, Zane and I used to always fall asleep in the same bed. Usually just talking ourselves to sleep. We thought nothing of it. Flint, however, decided he would take it upon himself to tease us, saying we were sleeping together. Once he had the bird and bees conversation, he began hinting we were having sex, even if just the thought was like incest. So, wishing to stop the taunting, Zane came up with a solution. A pillow wall. We’d set it up, and if we did fall asleep, we were separated. As we grew older, we obviously forwent it. It was still a happy memory, though.

When they stopped laughing, Dane mused my hair, still chuckling softly. Kaz was smiling at us, as if we were two love struck birds. I ignored them both, leant my head against Dane’s chest, and shut my eyes. I was happy, I was content. And now I just wanted to sleep.

A jab landed my leg. I ignored it. The bed shifted. I ignored that, too. I kept my eyes closed, my body curled up, and my position relaxed. I wanted to fall back asleep. I wanted to go back to the dark abyss where nothing was wrong. Everything was dark, and that was the end of it.

A hand pressed onto my stomach, as a body pressed against my back. A sound left the body, and I knew I could no longer pretend to be asleep.

“What?” I groaned out, in a very un-lady like voice. He let out a tired chuckle, pressing harder against my back.

“‘Morning to you too.” His voice was low and raspy with exhaustion laced in it. His hand circled my stomach, then repeated. I closed my eyes again and let out a small sigh. “Your hair looks beautiful,” he murmured against my neck, his hand ruffling it more. I made another un-appealing sound and smacked him, earning another chuckle.

“I’m sure yours is worse.” I said, though it came out kind of slurred.

“Difference? I rock the bed head look.” I snorted and he hit me this time. He laughed, rolling us over, so he was on top. My eyes glanced briefly at the pillow wall, and like all the times with Zane, in the morning, it was destroyed. He smiled down at me, and I smiled back, my stomach flipping.

“You know what I think?”

“Scary concept.” He hit me playfully again, rolling us again. I was now on top, and I revelled in the fact that I could rest my head on his chest. He held me tight, and I couldn’t even feel most of the aching in my joints.

“I think... that...” his lips brushed my cheek, making a slow beeline to my lips. I closed my eyes and waited, but what came, wasn’t what I had wanted, or expected. A curse left his mouth, and my mind repeated. I rolled off of him, albeit carefully, and reached down to where my phone lay.

I flipped it open, pressed it to my ear and waited. Flint spoke. “Get out of bed with your lover, and get to you car. Jake called a meeting in an hour.”

“Then I’ll be there in an hour,” was my response, as I chose to ignore the fact he knew where I was. I knew I had a tail, but Flint? Was Jake even trying to get on good my side? Because dealing with Flint wasn’t the way to do it.

“He wants to talk to you first. So get there.”

“Why?”

“How the hell should I know? Just get up and go.”

The base was under stricter protection when I got there. The electrical fence, which was always turned on, was now maxed in power. You could even hear that low, technical buzz in the air. There were guards patrolling the perimeter, each with heavy artillery, opposed to their usual guns. The gate was manned by three different rows of guards, and it took me fifteen minutes to get by them, which said a lot. Being a top meant you aren’t subjected to as many searches, so I could only pity those who weren’t tops.

Dane had drove me to car as soon as I hung up, not saying much. We both had ignored Kaz taunting us about sharing a bed, and when we did reach my car, Dane kissed me gently, and told me to be safe. I agreed, hating the way lying to him tasted on my lips. I wasn’t safe. I wasn’t ever going to be safe.

Jake was at the front door, holding it open for me. As soon as I stepped in, he headed for his office. I followed.

“Sit, please.” I did, watching Jake. Trying to read him. Honestly, though? I wasn’t afraid of anything he could say. Too much had happened for me to fear anything but Zane’s death. Those thoughts still sent chills deep down.

“Watch these. They’re clips off the news.” I frowned, turning to the mini tv in Jake’s office. He clicked it on, and the first image popped up.

Just seeing it sent my stomach to my throat, as memories surfaced. Billows of smoke rose into the sky, fireman all aiming their hoses at the ball of flame that used to be called a house. Reporters stood in front of the camera, ashes blowing in their hair, their faces composed to show horror, when we all knew they just wanted ratings. They didn’t give a damn. As the one began to drone one, about unknown causes, and maybe being a severe case of arson, Jake changed the scenes.

This one, however, was a different building, which had me leaning forward, brows furrowed. Smoke was billowing up again, as red flames licked the sky. Firefighters also fought this one. Reporters were present, again, but I paid no mind to them. This scene I didn’t know.

It was on a busy street, and the building next to the one in flames was already beginning to smoke. People were running around on the streets, some screaming, others shouting profanities. Ashes hailed the sky, and just as the firefighters seemed to back off, to let the flames ride themselves out, another explosion rocked the screen.

The camera flickered, shaking as the holder backed off quickly. More screams, reporters yelling into their mics, and now debris hailed the sky.

The top of the building had exploded, sending cement and who knows what was up there, into the air. The law of gravity took force, for everything that goes up, most come down. Most of the debris were small, but that didn’t stop the mayhem that issued. More screams, more running. The camera tilted, angling toward the ground and...

White noise. But not before it caught the alley way, of a man staring, watching, no panic in his eyes, no fear in his stance. It was just a glimpse, one so fast I didn’t even catch the face, but it was enough.

Before I could say anything, he flipped the screen again. This time a new scene came on, and I felt my stomach plummet. What was going on? I felt myself lean farther out of my seat.

A different building, a different location. Again it was caught on camera, and again it issued fear into everyone around. Ashes hailed from the sky again, and firefighters continued to fight the on-going blaze. Smoke darkened the sky, but unlike last time, the building beside it also went up. Quickly.

Firefighters were knocked back, and the smoke obscured the vision of the camera, but didn’t cut off the sounds. It was sheer chaos. People screaming, others yelling to call an ambulance. Even I could tell that many of the firefighters were in trouble, having been too close to the second building. I wasted no remorse on them, however. I have no problems with firefighters, but I really didn’t have the time or energy to worry about their lives, especially with Zane being gone.

Jake flipped off the screen, turning to me, his eyes grave.

“Dalton?” Jake nodded. “Why?” Why would he do that? There was no meaning to it. I blew up Lincoln, so he blew up random buildings? I didn’t understand.

“It’s to make a point, and move forward. You mentioned how Issaiah said he wants to move in. Which means taking out everyone else. Well, thanks to those explosions, the biggest tech place we had, is gone. The mafia that runs the drug trade, has also suffered a heavy casualty, and from what I have gathered, Issaiah just lost three of his top guards. He took out the competition, while showing he was ahead of us. We blew up Lincoln, so he showed he can play our game; only better. We blew up one building, he blew up three.”

I swallowed, nodding as I did so. My mind was spinning. So Dalton was proving a point? He was ahead of us, times three? I didn’t believe it. Those explosions were sloppy. Too quick to act on. He was grasping straws, trying to make up for the loss of his companion. He was in the hole, and trying to climb out fast. I was shaking my head before Jake could even continue.

“No. No. He’s running. He had to make a scene. We’ve got this!” A smile found my face, as Jake’s frown deepened.

“He’ll be expecting it.”

“Then let’s do what he’s expecting. Only better.” I said, my smile growing. “We’ll go there, all right. Only... we’ll play on a different field.”

“Andrayka,” he began.

“No, Jake. Lincoln’s dead. All that’s left is Dalton. They have idiots for help, so we only have to worry about him.”

“And how do you suppose we do that? Even you can’t scale their fence, or get by their guards. While Dalton wishes to get his hands on you, I’m sure he values his life more. He won’t hesitate to kill you if he has to.”

“What’s one thing we excel in, Jake?” His frown deepened, and he leant forward, head propped in hands, elbows on the table.

“Killing.”

“Yes, but what else?”

“Aren’t I supposed to be the one asking the questions?” I ignored that.

“Being subtle. Discreet. Never getting caught. We do a clean kill. Nothing is ever
left behind.”

“Yes. ” Was all he said, but his eyes showed his confusion.

“They’ll expect it. So let’s do as Dalton and Lincoln were doing. Let’s make a scene, let’s pull all the cliche’s in the book. Let’s get other places fearing us, knowing what we will do to whoever opposes us.” He continued to stare at me, his pale green eyes seeming to drill into me.

“I admire myself for being able to understand your thought process most of the time, but I find myself completely lost. Please elaborate.” That earned a smile.

“We’re gonna take them movie style. Dig out the helicopters, get out the grenade
launchers, and let’s give them a reason to stare.”

“Interesting.” He said, his eyes showing the wheels turning in his head, working it all out, planning. Who needed papers and blueprints, when you had Jake? “That may work. However, with your injuries, I think you should...” No! No! “Sit it out.”

“You can’t-“

”You’ll find I can-“

”No!” I screamed, standing quickly up. He rubbed his temples.

“Sit do-“

”No! I’m going to Zane’s rescue whether you-“ I was cut off, but not by him this time. Jake responded faster and was at his laptop within a second, assessing why it was beeping. Or going haywire, as it sounded. It kept letting out shrill sounds, which earned in making my temper rise.

My mouth opened, but I froze when Jake turned. His face was pale, his mouth was pulled in a thin line and his face looked... scared. He moved quickly, coming around the desk and grabbing my arm, dragging me out with him.

“Jake, wha-“

”Just hurry.” I had to jog to keep up with him, and I mainly did as he said because of the panic in his voice. He had his cell out by the time we reached the main door, and the only thing I caught was open the gates. His hand went in mine, and when it left, a set of keys were there. I frowned. I had a car, didn’t I? One glance told me he hadn’t given me some slow car, but a fast car; a sports car. The same sport car he had banned me from.

“Jake, wh-“ he cut me off, listing off an address, his voice almost slurring in speed. I still got it, my mind storing it and remembering it.

“Go there. Be careful, very careful.”

“But-“

”No time, Drake! Go!”

“What the hell was the beepi-“

”It was Flint’s 911 call to the base, Drake. Now go!” I went.