CHAPTER SIX

You frightened me this morning, love. I came into the kitchen to find you sitting on the floor crying. You'd forgotten where you were and it frightened you. You screamed when you saw me. I know you don't remember this, sometimes you don't remember much, but it was one of the few times you actually frightened me.

I'm sorry I couldn't save you from this fate. Forgive me.

I hurt all over. My father didn't stop the night I came home from the party. My lip was split and my upper arms were nearly purple from all the bruises. And my head hurt. God, did my head hurt. I didn't have to work today, but I didn't tell my father. He probably didn't know. He was too busy getting sloshed when I was leaving to ask where I was going.

Not that he cared.

So here I sat. In the middle of our skeleton house, the house that my mother was killed in. I came often, just sitting in the ashes, crying sometimes, missing her.

Caleb used to come with me sometimes and sit with me and we would talk about her. The way she made apple pie all the time with this flaky crust that melted in your mouth. The funny way she used to flip her hands when she tied her apron. The way she smiled even if her cheek or her eye was bruised.

She could do none of these things now. And now even Caleb couldn't talk about it with me. He was gone, too.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there. Hours, days, months. It didn't matter. Time seemed to escape me when I revisited our old house. I did look up when I heard footsteps in what was left of the foyer just outside the kitchen where I was.

It was Spot. And then I was confused.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He looked a little sheepish. "Rachel told me you were here."

"You went to my work looking for me? Why?" I looked away, suddenly remembering my swollen cheek from being shoved into the wall.

"Why, indeed?" he mused and then sat down in the ashes beside me. "Don't you want to know what happened at the party?"

I shrugged. "You won't tell me. None of you tell me a damn thing. What good would it do to ask?"

Spot snorted. "Don't be dramatic, Shade," he said. "You can't tell me you're not curious. I know you too well."

"I might be... slightly curious," I amended, not looking up at him.

"Saturday night, a group of people crashed our party. This was not by accident. They were led by three people who are the most skilled and dangerous people in the country. They are evil, ruthless killers," Spot began. I looked up at him curiously. He looked pained. "Now, my family and I have been trying to stop them for a long time. So have the twins, Silver, Mirror—

"Why?" I interjected.

"They want to take over. They want complete power."

"Complete power of what exactly?"

"Our organization."

I frowned. "You guys are just a bunch of kids. What would ruthless killers want with you guys?"

Spot looked agonized. "I can't really answer that, Shade."

I sat back and frowned again. "Of course you can't. You can never answer my questions."

"I'm not doing it on purpose," he said, in a surprisingly sharp voice.

"Well, my dad told me a bit ago that I had to lead, because Caleb ran away from it," I informed him. "Is that something you're keeping from me?"

His eyes hardened. "Your dad told you that you had to lead his gang?"

"Is that what he meant?"

"Yes."

I frowned and looked away. "I don't want to lead anything. Especially if Caleb ran away from it. It can't be good."

"It's not," Spot assured me. "Listen to me, Shade. I promise that I will explain everything to you in time. Just know that those people that your father wants you to lead are bad. Whatever he says, don't do it."

I nodded slowly and then sighed. "I guess that's all I can ask for, huh?"

Spot seemed shocked that I didn't snap or complain about not knowing. "Yeah. For now."

On Monday when I was scheduled to work again, Harry informed Rachel and I that he had hired another helping hand.

"Girls, this is Kern McAllister. Kern, this is Shade and Rachel," Harry introduced us, motioning to the boy standing in the shadows.

He stepped up and I finally got a good look at him. He was tall and gangly, with messy brown hair and nearly black eyes. He didn't even look at Rachel; he stared straight at me. He smiled at me but it didn't look normal. It struck me a few moments later that he looked as if he was trying to scare me.

"Is Shade your real name?" 'Kern' asked me, still looking frightening. He still hadn't once looked at Rachel.

"No," I said stiffly. "My mother used to call me that. It's a nickname."

"So are you two related or something? You have the same last name," Rachel pointed out, frowning.

"I've never seen her before in my life," Kern said, smiling a little again.

"Likewise," I said slowly and then sighed.

Rachel took it upon herself to show Kern the ropes while I busied myself with my own work. I didn't know who this kid was and it bothered me that we had the same last name. It wasn't a common last night so it couldn't have been a coincidence. Could it?

Anytime this Kern guy did talk to me, he asked about my family. That bothered me so badly. I hated talking about my family but this didn't seem to occur to him at all.

Around lunchtime when I was set free, I stepped outside and looked around. The second I did so, I saw a mop of dark hair that looked heartbreakingly familiar. The body the hair was attached to was walking away from me, down the street, seemingly gliding through the throng of people, like a ghost.

Caleb.

I took off full speed after him. "Caleb!" I shouted. Was it my imagination, or did the boy I thought was Caleb pause for a second? It was only a second though, because I blinked and he was gone.

Again. He was gone.

This simple fact floored me and the tears spilled out, blinding me instantly in the fury in which they fell. I was so angry and confused and incredibly hurt. It couldn't have been my mind playing tricks, could it?

I stopped running after I slammed into something solid and warm. I looked up, apologizing instantly because I thought I'd run into a stranger. However, I was quite delighted to see Joker's worried eyes staring back down at me when I looked up.

"Mother Mary, you look like you've seen a ghost," Joke said, frowning. "Wicked–"

"On it," Wicked answered and stuck two fingers between her lips, whistling three sharp notes. S-O-S.

Instantly, Silver, Lysander and Spot crawled out of the woodwork and they appeared behind the twins. Joker passed me off to Spot, who held onto me tightly while I regained my wits enough to tell them what the hell was wrong with me. Once I had calmed down, I was led to a bench and set down between Joker and Wicked, who grabbed my hands instantly.

"Can you please tell us why you were running?" Wicked asked.

I nodded. "I thought... I thought I saw Caleb. In the crowd. I was running after him."

Something very similar passed in all of their eyes, which I found curious. It was like they all got sad at the same time.

"Grief does terrible things to the psyche, Shade," Joker said quietly, after a moment. "I know when my parents died in our house fire, I thought I saw them everywhere. In all the places we used to go. But they're gone. Caleb is gone."

I yanked my hands from the girls and stood up. "I don't get why you all think Caleb is dead. He isn't dead."

"Nobody said he was dead, Shade," Spot said patiently. They all looked at him, wide eyed, but he was calm. He looked me dead in the eye. "He's not dead, Shade. He's hiding."

Finally an answer. Finally. Granted, it wasn't an answer I wanted to hear, but it was a start. I was tired of secrets. So incredibly tired of them.

Then something struck me. "I have to tell you guys something," I said, and then sat down between the twins again. "The other night, my father was threatening some guy in our kitchen. He called him Kern. And Harry hired some help this morning and his name was Kern. He has my last name and he's really creepy. Like, bodies in the cellar creepy."

"Wicked," Joker said, grinning.

"What?" Wicked asked, leaning around me to stare strangely at her counterpart.

"Nothing," Joke said, waving her hand. "So this Kern guy, huh? Think he's related to you?"

"I think so. I hope not, though. He keeps asking about my family. It makes me really uncomfortable," I admitted and then sighed.

Silver grinned at Spot. "Perhaps we should go see what this kid's issue is, eh, Conlon?"

Spot gave him a grim smile. "We may have to."

I shook my head. I wanted to tell them that there probably wasn't much they could do to make him stop, but it wouldn't do me any good. Then, I realized something.

"Joke, you said your parents died in a fire," I said, looking over at her. "Why does it seem like everyone's parents died in a fire?"

Joker frowned. "Because that's another secret, Shade," she said and glanced up at Spot. He gave a curt nod and she looked back at me. "There's... this organization, Shade. A long time ago, they were bandits and thieves. They started fires in the homes of good people. But, about one hundred years ago, a group of people broke away from this organization. A group that would go and warn others about the arsonists."

I blinked a few times, trying to follow. "And what of your family? And Spot's family? And my mother? They all died in fires."

"They all were part of the group against the arsonists, Shade," Wicked said slowly, looking nervous.

"My father didn't die with my mother, though," I said, though all the dots were connecting. "That means... they weren't on the same side. And if my mother was on the side against them, that means..."

Spot nodded grimly. "Yes. Your dad is the current head of the arson gang — the gang that me and my generations have been battling. The gang that Caleb ran from. The gang that killed all of our parents. The gang that crashed the party — and the gang that wants you to be the next leader."

HAHA! Bet youse didn't see THAT coming! Talk about a plot twist, right? Raise your hand if I just blew your mind! Teehee!

Oh, and in case youse guys didn't notice, I've drawn some inspiration from re-reading my Series of Unfortunate Events novels. Just a bit, though. In case some of youse thought it seemed familar and such.

Haha. And I LOVE how almost all the secrets are out now and Spot and Shade haven't kissed. Well. Not yet. They will. Soon. ;]

Hope you've enjoyed. Love me with a review? :]

CTB!

xx Wicked