Safe House
Two
“You never cried, did you?” he asked her, worried. To his immense relief, she shook her head.
“No one's hurt, you didn't do anything. Do you want to talk about it?” Avery asked him tentatively, he did not look at her. He just kept his eyes on the floor, the gravity of what he had done was beginning to set in, Violet sat down on his other side and he did not need to look up to know that a stare down between the two women was about to happen. Avery stroked his back and waited for him to answer, he just shook his head again.
“Cass mentioned that she felt hot and kept coughing, she kept having nightmares about fire, and we were worried something was going to happen to you.” Avery mentioned, her voice small and anxious. “We are all just happy that you are okay.”
“Don’t make him talk, he’s not ready,” Violet hissed at the other girl.
“Give it a rest, he needs to know people miss him, and want him around.” Avery defended calmly, he secretly was grateful for her saying that. “Does Nathan know?” Caleb nodded shallowly.
Caleb was the first, he was the first to go under Cain’s colony, and it started when he was six years old. Cain had taught him to control it, his power, Cain called it a gift. One of the best days of his life was when he was nine years old and he learned to light a match just because he thought about it. It felt amazing, whenever he activated his power it felt like the only time he could do anything right. It was the one time when he felt like he mattered. It felt like every molecule of energy was at his fingertips as the sparks flew from his very skin to create the fire he had only envisioned. So long as he never used it with bad intentions, which was the point that Cain always drove home, that he could only use it in life or death situations, its full extent could prove to be dangerous, apocalyptic even. Maybe if I told them it was self-defense, he worried.
When he was a little boy he started in on, matches, candles, and then one winter when he was thirteen he lit a crackling fire and made s’mores with the younger kids. Some of the other children would go in and learn from Caleb, Cain and several other boys who were there, how to control their powers and then there saintly, understanding mothers would then pick up their children later in the day. They would hug Caleb and call him a gentle soul.
A gentle soul, he thought bitterly. No gentle soul would do what I did. Regret seeped into his stomach and spread like the fire he caused.
The girls gave Caleb a cup of tea, when he took a sip he got a look on his face that let Avery know that he had tasted her secret ingredient. He shot her a look, which she returned with a sheepish smile.
“Ave, you know I don’t drink,” he reminded.
“You do today dude,” she pointed out. “how else can you expect to calm down? I mean you have been so on edge, I just want you to get a good sleep.” Caleb shook his head and continued to drink. He still could not look at Avery or Violet, he could not stand to see the worry in their eyes for him. Caleb knew he made a big mistake, he had snapped in a big way and he had a strong suspicion that he has not heard the last of this ordeal. Looking back, he had no idea what he meant to do by the fire, maybe it was just to make a point of showing Cain what he was capable of, but it made him sick to know that it did not take a lot for him to sink to Cain’s level. Violet fussed over him and Avery did her best to distract him but nothing worked. He felt sick, the anxiety within him bubbled up and brimmed as he partly debated on admitting Avery was right for putting whiskey in his tea, he did not sleep but at least it made him relax somewhat. Everything’s going to be all right Cay, Avery had told him.
Don’t worry baby, he won’t go running after a kid. Violet assured in an attempt to calm him, neither he nor Avery corrected her.
That was when Avery did something that stunned him, she reached over, and took his hand, laced her fingers with his. This never would have gone over under Cain’s watchful eye, Caleb was the prodigy, the kingpin, and Cain did his best to let the other kids know that they were nowhere near his level, they should be so lucky. At first, Caleb liked the respect, the way the younger kids looked up to him like he was a real superhero. But it got old fast when he learned that he could not associate with them alone. He could barely speak to Avery in person let alone take her hand. They both messed that up when Caleb defended her and intervened where he was not welcome. The whiskey started to work on him and he began to doze off.
When he woke up, Avery left and he avoided everyone for two weeks. Hating the limbo, worried sick about whether or not Cain would take it out on the other kids for his mistake. Leaving was not a mistake, of that he knew for certain, but handling it the way he did, was less than advisable. He kept thinking back to what Avery had said, was it that bad?
Yes, it had been that bad, Caleb was surpassing Cain in his own power and he knew it. Both men saw that, and the second Caleb started to realize his own potential without the help of Cain, every time someone praised him, the older man would do his best to extinguish his newfound confidence. For the first time in his life, Caleb was faced with the biggest, loudest, most odious question he had ever come to terms with; what do I do now?
Meanwhile, Caleb’s cellphone did not seem to stop buzzing or beeping, every time he left the room it felt like the whole world was trying to pillage his inbox. Some of them were questioning why he left the way that he did, calling him “ungrateful” as he predicted. A man who used to work for and with Cain wrote him a hurtful letter about how he had spat in his mentor’s face, how after all that he had done to give Caleb a home, and a purpose, he had torched the very place he had helped built. Caleb never saw the end of the message, Violet had taken it and hidden it away.
The rest of the messages were concerned others asking if he was all right, just like Avery had told him they were all worried about him. He tried to pay attention only to the positive messages, there was a very sizable group of people who honestly did not care about Branches. They only wanted to know if he was healthy, and okay. I’m still alive, he felt like typing. For now anyway. Violet’s parents never knew he was Arma, his power, his home life, his ability, they decided to keep between the two of them.
It was common knowledge, Arma Children were still being accepted into society, yet they were still a novelty. Back in the day, they used to be called “witches”, “gods”, “angels” there was a different name for all of them. They have always been around only this time they were not the subject of hanging or burning or God knows what else. Everyone had different names for them in groups, Cain had called them a “colony”. Branches off the Rowan Tree he used to say, like he was so clever.
So he raised boys to be weapons and the girls to be fighters, he held back the training with the girls, most of them did not mind it, but in the case of Avery, Cassandra, and Kaia, the women who not only could really fight but more than anything wanted to prove their power. These were the girls who got the pat on the head and were reminded to play nice with the others. Avery was always the first one out, threatening anyone who had harmed them, threatened them, or God forbid talked down to them. Liam was the peacekeeper, always quick with a joke, nothing if not theatrical, he was always the first one to get Caleb to laugh so hard he did not think he would catch his breath. He missed Liam the most, he knew there was a good chance that his friend wanted nothing more to do with him and that made the pit in his stomach grow. He knew he would have to understand that and go with it, he was not about to force people to go with him, after that visit he was relatively sure that Avery at least would be on his side. But that was partially to be expected, she felt as if she owed him since one time he stood up for her when she first got to Branches. She used to affectionately call Caleb, Liam, and Nathan “her boys”, Avery was fourteen when she came to Cain, scared and worried she was a banshee, a screamer, a messenger of death and Cain thought that was a real treat it was a change of pace for him from firebugs and telekinetic teenage boys who could get the remote control from across a room and thought he was hot shit.
She picked everything up quickly was eager to learn and control her scream. She was drawn to Caleb, because of one gesture of human decency. It was their own Bathroom Troll scene, she was there a week and more than proved herself capable of handling conflict. She was wonderful with children and Caleb thought she seemed like a good enough person. Every friendship he had was forged in secret. Cain had warned him time and time again that they were Brothers in Arms but they would never associate outside of the school. He and Liam ran into one another in food stops and gas stations and got to know one another by fate. After a while, Cain thought it would be good to test Avery’s loyalty, since she wanted to be one of the boys so badly, he tested her the way he tested them.
It started with the names, he was preparing her for the real world, so he said. He barked insults in her face all the stuff people had been calling her, her whole life, it was a breeze. Then came the isolation, she studied by herself, no one was allowed to talk to her, she slept by herself. That was rough, no one was allowed to even look at her it was torture. The third day, was when Caleb stepped over the line, Cain thought it would test her endurance. He had the brilliant idea of turning a hose on her. Ice cold water doused on her outside, preparing her for the scary outcast she would be treated by extraneous people, the water pressure was to determine what would get her to scream. That lasted about two minutes before Caleb turned off the water and went at her with a towel, yelling at Cain with the type of audacity he had not seen within himself since the fire incident. Avery looked to him after that, she asked his opinion, and defended him every time someone got remotely testy, Avery called him Scarecrow and met up with him outside in secret while they communicated via text on the nights they both could not sleep. She later told Caleb that she never put much stock in Cain’s opinion of her. You were the one I wanted to know, she wrote to him. I always wanted to know you, now we get to, Caleb you can be yourself now! We don’t have to look over our shoulders anymore every time we want to assimilate and just be us everything is going to be okay, I believe in you Caleb, you are so important to me, I’m with you whatever you do.
“No one's hurt, you didn't do anything. Do you want to talk about it?” Avery asked him tentatively, he did not look at her. He just kept his eyes on the floor, the gravity of what he had done was beginning to set in, Violet sat down on his other side and he did not need to look up to know that a stare down between the two women was about to happen. Avery stroked his back and waited for him to answer, he just shook his head again.
“Cass mentioned that she felt hot and kept coughing, she kept having nightmares about fire, and we were worried something was going to happen to you.” Avery mentioned, her voice small and anxious. “We are all just happy that you are okay.”
“Don’t make him talk, he’s not ready,” Violet hissed at the other girl.
“Give it a rest, he needs to know people miss him, and want him around.” Avery defended calmly, he secretly was grateful for her saying that. “Does Nathan know?” Caleb nodded shallowly.
Caleb was the first, he was the first to go under Cain’s colony, and it started when he was six years old. Cain had taught him to control it, his power, Cain called it a gift. One of the best days of his life was when he was nine years old and he learned to light a match just because he thought about it. It felt amazing, whenever he activated his power it felt like the only time he could do anything right. It was the one time when he felt like he mattered. It felt like every molecule of energy was at his fingertips as the sparks flew from his very skin to create the fire he had only envisioned. So long as he never used it with bad intentions, which was the point that Cain always drove home, that he could only use it in life or death situations, its full extent could prove to be dangerous, apocalyptic even. Maybe if I told them it was self-defense, he worried.
When he was a little boy he started in on, matches, candles, and then one winter when he was thirteen he lit a crackling fire and made s’mores with the younger kids. Some of the other children would go in and learn from Caleb, Cain and several other boys who were there, how to control their powers and then there saintly, understanding mothers would then pick up their children later in the day. They would hug Caleb and call him a gentle soul.
A gentle soul, he thought bitterly. No gentle soul would do what I did. Regret seeped into his stomach and spread like the fire he caused.
The girls gave Caleb a cup of tea, when he took a sip he got a look on his face that let Avery know that he had tasted her secret ingredient. He shot her a look, which she returned with a sheepish smile.
“Ave, you know I don’t drink,” he reminded.
“You do today dude,” she pointed out. “how else can you expect to calm down? I mean you have been so on edge, I just want you to get a good sleep.” Caleb shook his head and continued to drink. He still could not look at Avery or Violet, he could not stand to see the worry in their eyes for him. Caleb knew he made a big mistake, he had snapped in a big way and he had a strong suspicion that he has not heard the last of this ordeal. Looking back, he had no idea what he meant to do by the fire, maybe it was just to make a point of showing Cain what he was capable of, but it made him sick to know that it did not take a lot for him to sink to Cain’s level. Violet fussed over him and Avery did her best to distract him but nothing worked. He felt sick, the anxiety within him bubbled up and brimmed as he partly debated on admitting Avery was right for putting whiskey in his tea, he did not sleep but at least it made him relax somewhat. Everything’s going to be all right Cay, Avery had told him.
Don’t worry baby, he won’t go running after a kid. Violet assured in an attempt to calm him, neither he nor Avery corrected her.
That was when Avery did something that stunned him, she reached over, and took his hand, laced her fingers with his. This never would have gone over under Cain’s watchful eye, Caleb was the prodigy, the kingpin, and Cain did his best to let the other kids know that they were nowhere near his level, they should be so lucky. At first, Caleb liked the respect, the way the younger kids looked up to him like he was a real superhero. But it got old fast when he learned that he could not associate with them alone. He could barely speak to Avery in person let alone take her hand. They both messed that up when Caleb defended her and intervened where he was not welcome. The whiskey started to work on him and he began to doze off.
When he woke up, Avery left and he avoided everyone for two weeks. Hating the limbo, worried sick about whether or not Cain would take it out on the other kids for his mistake. Leaving was not a mistake, of that he knew for certain, but handling it the way he did, was less than advisable. He kept thinking back to what Avery had said, was it that bad?
Yes, it had been that bad, Caleb was surpassing Cain in his own power and he knew it. Both men saw that, and the second Caleb started to realize his own potential without the help of Cain, every time someone praised him, the older man would do his best to extinguish his newfound confidence. For the first time in his life, Caleb was faced with the biggest, loudest, most odious question he had ever come to terms with; what do I do now?
Meanwhile, Caleb’s cellphone did not seem to stop buzzing or beeping, every time he left the room it felt like the whole world was trying to pillage his inbox. Some of them were questioning why he left the way that he did, calling him “ungrateful” as he predicted. A man who used to work for and with Cain wrote him a hurtful letter about how he had spat in his mentor’s face, how after all that he had done to give Caleb a home, and a purpose, he had torched the very place he had helped built. Caleb never saw the end of the message, Violet had taken it and hidden it away.
The rest of the messages were concerned others asking if he was all right, just like Avery had told him they were all worried about him. He tried to pay attention only to the positive messages, there was a very sizable group of people who honestly did not care about Branches. They only wanted to know if he was healthy, and okay. I’m still alive, he felt like typing. For now anyway. Violet’s parents never knew he was Arma, his power, his home life, his ability, they decided to keep between the two of them.
It was common knowledge, Arma Children were still being accepted into society, yet they were still a novelty. Back in the day, they used to be called “witches”, “gods”, “angels” there was a different name for all of them. They have always been around only this time they were not the subject of hanging or burning or God knows what else. Everyone had different names for them in groups, Cain had called them a “colony”. Branches off the Rowan Tree he used to say, like he was so clever.
So he raised boys to be weapons and the girls to be fighters, he held back the training with the girls, most of them did not mind it, but in the case of Avery, Cassandra, and Kaia, the women who not only could really fight but more than anything wanted to prove their power. These were the girls who got the pat on the head and were reminded to play nice with the others. Avery was always the first one out, threatening anyone who had harmed them, threatened them, or God forbid talked down to them. Liam was the peacekeeper, always quick with a joke, nothing if not theatrical, he was always the first one to get Caleb to laugh so hard he did not think he would catch his breath. He missed Liam the most, he knew there was a good chance that his friend wanted nothing more to do with him and that made the pit in his stomach grow. He knew he would have to understand that and go with it, he was not about to force people to go with him, after that visit he was relatively sure that Avery at least would be on his side. But that was partially to be expected, she felt as if she owed him since one time he stood up for her when she first got to Branches. She used to affectionately call Caleb, Liam, and Nathan “her boys”, Avery was fourteen when she came to Cain, scared and worried she was a banshee, a screamer, a messenger of death and Cain thought that was a real treat it was a change of pace for him from firebugs and telekinetic teenage boys who could get the remote control from across a room and thought he was hot shit.
She picked everything up quickly was eager to learn and control her scream. She was drawn to Caleb, because of one gesture of human decency. It was their own Bathroom Troll scene, she was there a week and more than proved herself capable of handling conflict. She was wonderful with children and Caleb thought she seemed like a good enough person. Every friendship he had was forged in secret. Cain had warned him time and time again that they were Brothers in Arms but they would never associate outside of the school. He and Liam ran into one another in food stops and gas stations and got to know one another by fate. After a while, Cain thought it would be good to test Avery’s loyalty, since she wanted to be one of the boys so badly, he tested her the way he tested them.
It started with the names, he was preparing her for the real world, so he said. He barked insults in her face all the stuff people had been calling her, her whole life, it was a breeze. Then came the isolation, she studied by herself, no one was allowed to talk to her, she slept by herself. That was rough, no one was allowed to even look at her it was torture. The third day, was when Caleb stepped over the line, Cain thought it would test her endurance. He had the brilliant idea of turning a hose on her. Ice cold water doused on her outside, preparing her for the scary outcast she would be treated by extraneous people, the water pressure was to determine what would get her to scream. That lasted about two minutes before Caleb turned off the water and went at her with a towel, yelling at Cain with the type of audacity he had not seen within himself since the fire incident. Avery looked to him after that, she asked his opinion, and defended him every time someone got remotely testy, Avery called him Scarecrow and met up with him outside in secret while they communicated via text on the nights they both could not sleep. She later told Caleb that she never put much stock in Cain’s opinion of her. You were the one I wanted to know, she wrote to him. I always wanted to know you, now we get to, Caleb you can be yourself now! We don’t have to look over our shoulders anymore every time we want to assimilate and just be us everything is going to be okay, I believe in you Caleb, you are so important to me, I’m with you whatever you do.
♠ ♠ ♠
I ACTUALLY FIGURED OUT BBCODE BACK IT UP PEOPLE I AM A LEGEND!Erm, thanks for reading!
Jules :-)