Chapter 4: "Home bitter home"
It was quiet…
So quiet that every footstep he made sounded like a thunder spreading thought the academy, being accompanied by the metallic sound of the handcuffs that restrained him.
It was already noon, for Delilah and Julius last nights events had been shocking enough to prevent them from sleeping at all, leaving them awake to witnessed this moment…The moment when Kurt arrived to the academy.
His bulletproof vest and camouflaged pants had now been replaced for a black shirt, a pair of blue jeans and grey sneakers.
He remained silent during his walk, looking serious, fragile…defeated…
"I'll take care from here on" Al told the guards as they both immediately returned to the car waiting for them outside.
"Welcome back Kurt…" Al said to the young man.
"Welcome home…" Scarlet followed.
"Yeah…" He heartlessly replied "Home bitter home…"
Kurt made a few steps and instantly noticed those two familiar faces.
"Nice to see you again…" He said with a neutral face as the Delilah and Julius remained in silence "I don't remember ever catching your names though"
"I'm…Delilah Devonshire…" She replied with a slightly shaky voice
"And I'm Julius Chevalier…" Julius extended his hand in sign of friendship.
"Kurt Keller…" The young man responded while shaking Julius hand "Convict Renegade"
"Err…Pleased to meet you" Julius replied with an awkward smile.
Al neared from behind and tapped Kurt's shoulder a few times in order to get his attention.
"Uhm Kurt…I think there's someone who wants to see you man"
Kurt lifted an eyebrow in sign of confusion; unaware that he had a visitor.
Al pointed at the door, as the figure of a boy passed trough it.
"And I thought it could get any worse…" Kurt tiredly commented as the boy neared him.
He had Kurt's same age and height, dark hair, brown eyes, a white T-shirt, black pair of pants, white sneakers, and a backpack that appeared to be full of electric and mechanic hardware.
"Bloody hell, it's really you man!!!" The boy said in extreme joy with a denoted Irish ascent before strongly hugging Kurt.
"Steve…let go off me, NOW!!!" Kurt seriously replied.
"You haven't changed a bit!!!" The boy said enthusiastic.
He then realized the company he had, and turned to greet the pair of agents next to him.
"Steve O'Connor" He said with an enormous smile while shaking Julius and Delilah's hands "At your service…"
"So, how's life treating you?" Steve said while facing Kurt again.
Like he had done with Al, Kurt responded by showing the handcuffs that were restraining him.
"Oh right…Sorry"
Scarlet neared to removed Kurt's handcuffs and proceeded to show him were he was going to sleep, followed by Al, Delilah, Julius and Steve.
His room was just next to Delilah's; she didn't complained, maybe because of the curiosity she had felt toward him.
Kurt took a good look at Al before entering his room.
"I want Grief and Sorrow back" He said in a cold voice.
"I'll see what I can do man" Al replied coolly "You better like get some rest, you are gonna need it"
And he closed the door…
"Grief and Sorrow?" Julius inquired without understanding.
"That's how he calls his guns" Steve cut in "He…consider them a part of him"
An awkward silence followed that statement "Well…I better check my room"
"I'll show it to you" Scarlet kindly offered to aid, as she now guided Steve to his bedroom.
It was just after Steve and Scarlet departure that Delilah faced Al with noting more but confusion and questions visible on her eyes.
"Uhm Al, mind if I take a few seconds of your time?"
"Sure, what's the matter?"
Delilah inhaled deeply "I wish to know what you know about Kurt"
"Err…That's not an easy request"
"What is it about him, about you and G.I.B.?" She inquired "What is it that you're not telling us?"
Al sighed "Delilah, this is like an extremely delicate subject and I would love to take my time to explain…But I can't…"
Al abruptly turned around and left in direction to his office as Delilah stared at his back feeling a little anger.
"Then I guess I'll have to do this the hard way" The softly whispered before feeling Julius hand on her right shoulder.
"So what do you want to do tonight?"
Delilah snapped out of her trance "What?"
"Tonight remember?" Julius clarified with a smile "We were suppose to go out"
"Uhm, I'm sorry Julius but…Something just came up" She said feeling a little bad "Could we leave it for some other time?"
"Yeah, no problem…" He responded calmly "I'll have the night for me then"
"Ok, see you later" Delilah made a few steps and entered her room, still feeling a little bad for leaving Julius like this, although it appeared not to have bothered him too much.
"Damm it…" He whispered to the air in the room as a wave of disappointment a slight depression took over him.
"Maybe some other time" And he started walking toward his room, to finally get some sleep.
Time passed quickly after that, everyone being too exhausted to notice it. Hours flew away in an instant, quickly welcoming the night.
Delilah's digital watch started to beep, letting her know that the hour she was expecting had arrived.
"Two in the morning, what a time to be searching for information" She sarcastically commented to herself as she got up from her bed and left her room in silence.
She walked trough the corridor hoping not to be spotted, and then faced the door of the data storing room.
She manually disabled the electronic lock and proceeded to turn on the computer in the middle of the room.
After passing trough a few firewalls and coded locks, Delilah finally managed to access the classified area of the computer's memory.
"Let's see now…Kurt Keller" She tipped the name of the character on the search bar just before a warning advice appeared in bright red. Delilah omitted the advice and continued as the only article about the subject was quickly displayed"
"My god…" Delilah whispered after a few minutes of reading…
Footstep coming trough the corridor outside the door made her come back to reality. Turning the computer off in an instant and peeping though the door in order to see if there was someone there.
After realizing that she remained alone, Delilah proceeded to cover her tracks, enabling again the lock on the door and walking toward the living room in silence.
She lay on the couch tired and closed her eyes with peace.
"How sad…" She said softly before falling asleep as a tear crawled from her eye and made its way down trough her check.
The sound of footsteps glided trough the air one last time before Julius emerged from the dark of the living room and admired his beautiful love sleeping on the couch.
End of Chapter 4
Yeah, yeah I know, you want to know what the hell is all this about. Well don't worry, everything will become clear on the next chapter, and that's a promise.
See ya later…