CHAPTER NINE: BUILD UP
A week after getting back to school, Caleb's life was starting to adjust to its normal routine. From being tormented by Rias in the early mornings, being swamped by classmates for walking to school with Rias, to the nightly meetings of the Occult Research club. The student council even made a few visits in their club room. Things were starting to become comfortable again.
Any mention of the past week's events were put on the back burner, with Rias and Caleb agreeing to not talk about it for the time being, and concentrating instead on handling the club's activities. Caleb had also stopped talking about Ma Ri, as the latter and her family abruptly had to leave to attend to other family businesses, she was, however, able to leave Caleb a message before her departure. It contained not more than a few sentences:
I'm sorry we had to leave so soon, I'll visit you again next time! Also, thank you for understanding, I promise I'll give the big tell all when I get back!
-Ri
As for Caleb's encounter with the voice from the church, Akano and Rias decided to lay off of him for a while, with the elder gentleman exploring other explanations and research materials regarding the strange phenomena Caleb had gone through. Things were indeed getting back in their regular step.
At least, until today.
*splash*
'What the fuck? Hey! Stop!' The young half breed shouts, rolling off his bed and shaking off the water on his head. His roommate seemed to have found it appropriate to wake him up with a glass of water.
'What the hell was that for?' He says, checking his phone for the time. 4:00 it read, earning a groan from the raven haired boy. 'And why is it so early? Seriously, Rias, if you're gonna torment me every day, the least you could do is wait till sunrise.'
Rias, however pays no mind to Caleb's rant, as she sets the glass she was holding back on the counter top. 'Were wasting daylight here, Caleb! If my servants are gonna be in tip top shape, then from now on were gonna have to start training every day!' She states enthusiastically, all the while her roommate glaring at her while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
'Training for what, exactly?'
'You need to stay in shape, and the others need to train harder. I can't have weak servants under my name!' She shouts, continuing the enthusiastic approach. Caleb groans, knowing full well that he had no other choice but to give in. Rias takes his gesture as him relenting to her wishes.
'Good! Now, first thing to tick of our list: A light jog to Issei's house!'
This shouldn't too bad, it's just a run. Caleb thinks to himself, somewhat lightening up since he was used to running.
Oh, how very wrong he was.
'WHY AM I WEARING WEIGHTS?'
'WHY ARE WE BOTH WEARING WEIGHTS?'
What Caleb thought was a 'light jog' to Issei's house, turned out to be a heavy-paced run, with weights added on to his ankles. As if this wasn't enough, Rias made him run to Issei's house, then to the park, without stopping, making him circle the block whilst they were waiting for their friend.
'Less complaining, more running!' Rias shouts. Somehow getting hold of a megaphone. Unlike Issei and Caleb, Rias was riding a bicycle, a fact that did not escape Caleb.
'Yes, President!'
'Why do you get to ride a bike!?'
'Keep running, Hide!' She shouts in response, paying no mind to Caleb's complaints.
Soon, trio reach the local playground, where their newest member, Asia, was waiting for them. Before they could start a friendly chat, though, Rias instructs Caleb and Issei more exercises, much to their annoyance.
They start off with stretches- this coming as a delight to Issei, since he was being stretched by Rias- before moving on to push-ups, with Asia and Rias sitting on top of Issei and Caleb.
'*pant*Shouldn't you be sitting on top of Issei and not me?' He grunts, lifting himself off the ground.
'What makes you say that?'
'I train regularly.' Caleb starts. 'Issei could use the extra weight.'
Caleb suddenly hears a thud and a gasp from behind him. Looking over, he sees Asia with her hand over her mouth, and Issei, who had lost his balance, laying over the ground, a horrified look on his face.
'O, Oi, Hide...'
'Hide-san...' Caleb suddenly feels a chill run up his spine.
Oh shit.
'And what exactly do you mean when you say extra weight?' He hears Rias say in a sickly sweet voice. He could almost see it, her face giving off a sweet smile, but radiating murderous intent.
'That, that's not what I meant.' He sputters out, his arms suddenly shaking. He could feel cold sweat running off his face. He waits. But to his surprise, Rias doesn't speak, but stands up and walks off a bit, her back to her three servants.
'Caleb,'
'Yeah?'
'I think you should start running again.'
And did Caleb run. Rias had him run across town, then back to Issei's house, with his and Issei's weights clamped on his legs. Her condition was that, if she caught him, he'd have to do a thousand push-ups as punishment.
Rias caught up with him.
She wants to kill me, now she seriously wants to kill me! He says to himself, collapsing on the ground outside Issei's house, his body riddled with fatigue and not even halfway through his punishment. He rolls over, his back now on the grass, trying to get some form of feeling back into his arms. He suddenly hears the front door open, and hears the voice of the devil itself.
'Did I say you could stop?' It says. Caleb quickly rolls over, and furiously starts doing push-ups again, silently ignoring the cries coming from his arms. He could still feel the devil's eyes on him, and so he keeps up his pace. Trying to will himself into finishing the required reps. Till he finally collapses, unable to carry on, and thus accepting his fate.
'*pant* Screw everything, I don't *pant* care anymore.' He waits as the devil approaches him, and turns over to face his demise.
To his surprise, though, the devil instead sits near his head, and sets in on her lap, whilst giving Caleb an amused smile. Though the sun's rays were casting a shadow over her face, he could still sense the expression she had on.
'I take it you've learned your lesson.' She says, her smile growing.
'Yes, yes. I'm sorry, I'll just keep my mouth shut from now on.' He pants, and weakly gestures with his arm. He waits for her retort, but nothing follows. No witty remark, no 'tsk' coming from her mouth.
'Oi, you're all quiet again.' He starts, pushing himself to a sitting position and facing Rias. 'Is it the wedding thing again?' Rias is startled by his casual segueing of the subject, and sighs.
'It's nothing. Issei's parents just joked about Asia being Issei's wife, and my train of thought just led to it is all. Nothing serious.' She says.
'That's a scary thought.' Caleb quips, a serious expression on his face. Rias raises an eyebrow at him.
'My line of thought leading to the arranged marriage?'
'Asia being Issei's wife.' He says casually, earning a laugh from the former. Before their conversation could continue, thought, the door once again opens, revealing Caleb and Asia, already in their school uniforms.
'Are you settled in?' Rias asks Asia, standing up and dusting herself off. The latter nods in response.
'I still have some things to unpack, but that can be done later. Thank you for your help! All of you! Especially you, President!' Asia says, bowing deeply to show her gratitude. Caleb smiles at the exchange, and starts to stand up himself, only to fumble when he tried to support himself with his arm.
'Whoa, watch yourself!' Issei quickly grabs a hold of Caleb, and hoists him up. 'Thanks, man.' Caleb says as he lets out a breath, far more tired than he initially thought.
'President and I should get going, otherwise we'll be late for school.' Rias nods in agreement, and the two wave goodbye to Issei and Asia as they head off to Caleb's apartment.
'Soooo.' Rias looks over to Caleb, who's suddenly dropped the silence between them with his one-liner.
'Sooo?' She beckons for him to continue.
'So why did you go all quiet a while ago?' He asks, throwing a concerned look at his master's direction.
'I told you it was noth-'
'We both know that's not gonna work.' He retorts, this time staring pointedly at Rias, who sighs.
'Things aren't looking good for me on the engagement.'
'How so?'
'Well,' She pauses, then takes a breath. 'I'm engaged.' Caleb chokes on his spit.
'Seriously?!' He's now stopped in front of Rias, no longer caring if they would be late for school.
'Yes.' She states flatly. Caleb snorts.
'That's it? A 'yes?''
'What else would you expect as a response?'
'No plan to overthrow it or anything?' Rias raises her eyebrows, suddenly intrigued at Caleb's words.
'Caleb Tamada, are you suggesting that we overthrow an elite devil?' She says as she pretends to be taken aback by what Caleb had said, who decided to play along.
'I would never suggest anything like that. I simply mean that I would go with whatever my master would want to do.' Rias feigns disapprovement over what Caleb had just said.
'How scandalous that would be! A half-breed challenging an elite devil!'
'Hey now, I'm an elite devil too, you know. If you think about it.' He says, pretending to be offended. Rias however, eyes momentarily widen.
'You,' She says, before turning to Caleb. 'You are an elite devil.' She says, surprised, only realizing the fact then. Caleb looks at her suspiciously.
'What? What is it?' His question, however, would remain unanswered as Rias simply says 'Nothing.' As she cheerfully walks back to their apartment. A little too cheerful if one would ask Caleb, but that wasn't the case.
The school day had gone as any of their days would have, save for the fact that Asia was put in Caleb's class, and when their classmates found out she was staying at Issei's house, she was given precautionary warnings. The words exchanged were by no means meant to be whispered, as most, if not the entire class, heard them. Much to Issei's dismay.
The second deviant to their otherwise regular day was that the club was called for another assignment for that day.
'Issei-kun, Hide-kun, presidents wants to see us.' Kiba says to them, as the two were just about to head out of the classroom.
'What's it about?' Whatever the assignment was, Rias had not mentioned anything to Caleb earlier. Kiba merely shrugged, telling them that he wasn't informed either. Caleb looks over to Issei, who was just as curious as he was. For lack of any other forms of information that could be provided to them, the three set off to the old school building.
'Any idea on what we'll be doing tonight?' Kiba looks over to Caleb, who decides to throw the question out to his two companions.
'I wouldn't be too worried about it. Maybe just a contract, or a stray devil. Not that we'd have a hard time with it.' Kiba quips, remembering the last stray devil the Occult Research Club had dealt with. 'Maybe president has an announcement to make.'
'An announcement, huh.' Caleb's mind wanders off to the past week, specifically, his conversations with Rias about her arranged marriage. She is engaged, and it wouldn't be too far off for the engagement to be announced to us, I guess. The three continue on their walk, across the school field, and entering into the old school building, all the while with Caleb stuck with his thoughts.
'Something on your mind, Hide?' Issei suddenly asks to Caleb, who had gone quiet after Kiba's suggestion of an announcement.
'Nah, it's nothing, don't worry.'
'Really?'
'Yes, why?' Caleb throws Issei a confused look from the corner of his eye, the latter's mouth forming a thin line.
'It's just, last time you suddenly went quiet was the whole church raid thing, is all.' Caleb turns his head to Issei's, who was sporting a slightly concerned look on his face. Kiba catches on Issei's observation, and also turns to Caleb. The latter brushes them off with a laugh.
'It's nothing, I promise. I was just curious is this was an announcement. Look, we're almost there, we'll find out what we're going to do soon enough.' The three continue along a corridor, all the way to the door leading to Rias' office. Kiba is about to knock when Caleb stops him. Issei and Kiba look over to Caleb, who gestures for them to be quiet as he leaned in on the door.
'Akano-san, I'm sure he'd be able to-' Caleb's, as well as Kiba's and Issei's, ears perk up at the mention of Caleb's sponsor. Their curiosity suddenly tapped, they listen in more closely.
'I understand your concern, Akano-san, but Caleb's shown he can handle himself in tense situations.' Issei and Kiba's heads whip to Caleb, their eyes clearly asking questions. However, all Caleb does is furrow his brows and shakes his head, motioning that he knew nothing about their conversation. Whatever it was, it sounded serious.
'I'm sorry, Akano-san. I can't really stop them from doing anything, you'll have to go to my brother for this.'
'I understand, please call again if my brother tells you anything. Goodbye.' The three hear the phone click, and, as if their minds were synchronized, they hurriedly scuffle back a few paces to appear less suspicious. Once they begin their walk back to the door, however, a voice stops them in their tracks.
'Hide-kun, Issei-kun, and Kiba-kun!' The three jump in surprise, and quickly turn around to see where the voice came from. To their relief, it came from their newest member, Asia, who was with Koneko.
'You scared the shit out of us.' Caleb says, holding one hand to his chest. 'I guess Koneko had to get you, too, huh?' Asia quickly nods at Caleb's question, though Koneko quickly notices the three's shred of panic.
'Senpai, why were you three so startled?' She asks, her eyes narrowing. 'Did something happen?'
The trio sweatdrop, not knowing how to answer Koneko's question. Caleb laughs nervously a he tries to think of a response.
'Uhm, nothing really-'
'Caleb?' As if God himself threw him a bone, Caleb is relieved to have heard Rias' voice, as all of them turn to face their president, who was standing halfway through the door, having heard Caleb's voice. 'Good, you're all here, come inside, quickly.'
Caleb and the rest do as they're told, and hastily enter the office. Once there, Caleb immediately notices that Akeno was already inside, meaning she heard Rias' entire conversation with his sponsor. Though he was further intrigued by the fact, his thoughts were brought to a halt as Rias begins to speak.
'We have a busy night ahead of us. I was just informed that two devils had become strays, and we're reported to have come to this area. We've been asked to deal with them.' She states in a formal tone.
'They allegedly killed their master, and their fellow servants before rushing off. You all know the trouble of stray devils, and the caution needed when dealing with them.' The team nods in response.
'Where are they holed up? Issei raises his hand to speak, and the others nod in agreement to his question.
'They're believed to be using an old abandoned mansion as their hideout. It's quite a ways away, so we should get going.'
'Asia, you will act as support for now, so please try to stay away from the fighting, Yuuto will have your back.'
'Yes, President!' She shouts, her back straight as an arrow. Rias smiles at her enthusiastic response, then looks over to Kiba, who nods in acknowledgement.
'One more thing. I trust we won't have a repeat of last time?' At this point, she turns her gaze over to Caleb and Issei, who both immediately stand at attention.
With one last look at her team, and a lingering look over Caleb. Rias gives a nod of approval.
'Let's go.'
'Always with the enclosed spaces.' A cold breeze follows team Gremory as they go through the two huge oak doors of an abandoned mansion. Much like it's facade, the inside of the mansion itself was completely dilapidated; the grand staircase that greeted them had a few steps missing, much of the carpet on the floor had been torn off, was stained, or even slightly singed. The chandelier at the center of the room dangled precariously on two cables, the other two already cut off.
'You're not claustrophobic, are you, Hide-kun?' Kiba looks over his shoulder to Caleb, whose frown could be seen even in the dark.
'I'm not, but is it too much to ask for stray devils to hang out near open spaces? Not roofed areas that they probably know better than we do?' He says as they approach the foot of the grand staircase. Rias gestures for them to be quiet, then looks around the main hall of the mansion.
'Looks like we have a lot of ground to cover. We'll have to split up.' She does a once-over on her team, locking eyes with Caleb for a moment. A small action that did not escape the notice of the latter.
'Asia, stay with Yuuto and Koneko, you three will be exploring the lower left wing of the house. Akeno and Issei will take the lower right wing of the house; Caleb and I will handle the second floor-'
'Objection!' Caleb raises his arm straight up, calling the attention of the he entire team.
'I think it'd be better if we each took a wing on the second floor. I mean, I get that what the others have to team up, but I'm sure you and me can handle exploring alone.' Issei and Kiba shoot Caleb concerned looks, and Akeno turns her gaze to Rias, who instantly frowned at Caleb's suggestion.
'I understand, but these are stray devils that were able to kill their fellow servants. I'm not risking anyone walking through these halls alone.'
'But-'
'My orders are final, Caleb.' Caleb shuts his mouth at Rias' words, the latter narrowing her eyes at him, establishing her authority. He relents, and decides to glare at the ground till it combusts.
'Stick close to your teams. Akeno, Yuuto, take these.' She hands over ear pieces to Kiba and Akeno, who each fasten pieces after receiving them from Rias. 'This'll keep us in touch while we're at different parts of the house.'
Rias gives one more look over her team, before telling them to start their search.
The teams hurry off to their respective areas, with Caleb following Rias, albeit staying a few paces behind. He maintains his gaze on the ground, not bothering to look up. His mind filled with questions about Rias' conversation with Akano. An awkward silence befalls the two as they walk down a dark corridor. The only way they knew the other was still around was through the sound of their footsteps.
'I'm sorry.' Caleb's head instantly whips up. Rias was still walking, her back turned to him, but he was sure that the apology had come from her. Though, one simple apology wasn't about to fix everything.
'I know you overheard my conversation with Akano-san, and I know you're probably upset because we spoke about you behind your back. That, and I shot down your suggestion earlier.' Caleb scoffs at Rias swords, causing the other to stop abruptly and turn around, a hardened expression on her face. Rias' sudden about face leaves Caleb barely enough time to stop, causing get him to stand toe to toe with his master. The two are caught in a stare down, neither planning on backing down.
'Caleb, I don't have time for your slack. I'm apologizing. We need to be able to work well here.' Caleb slightly falters at her words, remembering that they were on a job that needed to go smoothly. The lingering questions on his mind, however, had other plans.
'What were you talking about with Akano-san?' Now it's Rias who tries to withhold her reaction, hesitating on her answer.
'I can't tell you that.' Caleb's brows furrow.
'Why not? Does it have something to do with my Sacred Gear? Did he ask you to babysit me so I don't lose it like at the church?!' Caleb didn't mean to raise his voice, but a nagging feeling in his head egged him on.
'What the fuck is going on-' His words are cut short by a burning sensation in his arm. Rias, who had completely forgotten that she was upset, immediately turns her attention to Caleb's Sacred Gear, which had materialized by itself.
'Tsk. Shit.' Caleb hurls a few more swear word till the burning dies down. The lining on his Sacred Gear was glowing. What was once clean brown leather that enveloped his arm had started developing black spots around it, and the yellow lining pulsing as it glowed.
'What's happening to it?' He hears Rias ask. He didn't know, and the fact that something that may have been permanently attached to his arm was starting to burn worried him.
'To hell if I know. This fucking burns.' He breathes out, trying to resist wincing in pain. Rias' concern overcomes any form of hesitation, as she attempts to hold Caleb's Sacred Gear.
'Caleb-' Rias cuts her words short, as she and Caleb hear a thud in one of the rooms on their left.
They both share a look, Caleb keeping himself from making any noise, and proceed to cautiously approach the only two doors there. Caleb looks over to his master. She starts to count with her fingers, 'On three.' She mouths. He nods, and waits.
One.
Two.
Three!
The duo forcefully open their doors, each looking through the rooms thoroughly. Rias quickly finishes her room and heads over to Caleb, who was also near finishing his search.
'Anything?' She asks, standing near the doorway. Caleb looks over to an unopened door to the side of the room. He walks towards it slowly, careful not to get jumped by anything. He stops just in front of the door, listening for any kind of sound that could emanate from it. He waits for a few seconds, takes a few steps back, then lunges for the door, effectively knocking it down. He immediately looks around. Rias follows suit, stopping a few paces away from Caleb, who looks visibly relieved.
'Nothing.' He sighs with relief, letting out a breath he did not know he had been holding. He looks back towards Rias, an amused smile gracing her lips. He starts to walk back toward her, shaking his arm in an attempt to get rid of the burning, when he suddenly notices her eyes widen.
'Caleb!'
'Wha-'
A force pushes him down, breaking the floor boards beneath them and sends both him and whatever was on top of him down a few floors. Caleb lands on solid concrete, his head landing with a thud. Immediately, he becomes disoriented, and turns over, clutching his head.
'Fuck.' He whispers. He was starting to see black spots, the pain in his head magnifying. He tries to crawl around and get up to his feet. After only crawling for a second, his hand lands something mushy, and sticky.
'What the fuck?' It's only then the stench of blood and rotting flesh hits him, forcing him to cover his nose with his clean hand. He holds down his vomit, trying to make sense of where he was before moving.
Soon enough, his eyes adjust to the darkness, and it is then he notices that his head was bleeding, likely from his nasty fall. He gets up on his feet, his arms still shaky from the morning's training.
Well, this won't go well. He thinks to himself. He looks up from the holes he and the other thing had made, and figures that the others had already heard his fall. He then wonders why they hadn't headed down yet.
Caleb quickly scans the area again, his nose still trying to block out the rotting stench. He hears a noise come from behind him, and immediately jumps out of the way. He lands clumsily, losing his footing due to the sharp pain on his head. He quickly ducks under another attack, and, summoning lightning to his fist, punches his perpetrator before it can move away.
He hears a shriek and the sound of nails dragging on the wall, Caleb moves over to the middle of the room, trying to find any source of light. He hears heavy breathing, unsure if it was coming from his perpetrator, or himself. Between his head stinging, and his arm burning, he also had the disadvantage of not knowing where anything was, his vision still being slightly blurry. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Then he hears laughter coming from the room.
'They send a group of children after us? Do they really see us as that weak?' The high and shrilly voice sends chills up his spine. Caleb sees a hazy figure slowly move towards him. The figure laughs once again, maintaining its high pitch, and emitting a dangerous vibe from it. Caleb steels himself, knowing that this was going to be a tough fight.
'Tell me, boy, do you honestly think you can take me on?' The voice suddenly stops. And the figure moving towards him disappears. Caleb's eyes widen as he tries to find the figure.
'I'm right here.' The voice whispers to Caleb's ear. He immediate jumps back, sending a bolt of lightning to his previous spot. The light coming from it enough to show the actual appearance of the enemy Caleb was facing.
To say it was hideous was being generous. 'It' was hunched over, on all fours. Its body contorted in ways not humanly possible, with some of its bones jutting out in weird directions. It was completely hairless, skin and bone was all that was left of it. Its eyes were open to a freakishly wide degree, with his two eyeballs bulging out ever so slightly. The most threatening thing Caleb could find on it was its razor sharp teeth, which pierced the inside of its mouth, and protruded from its skin. The teeth accentuating the unsettling smile it wore.
'What's wrong boy, never seen a devil before?' It throws back its head in laughter, strangely its eyes didn't close, and its gaze remained on Caleb, who was starting to get unnerved from its manic laughing. It eventually stops laughing, the snaps its head towards Caleb, its head cracking sideways as it spoke.
'Let's see now,' it says as it licks its lips, completely unfazed by how its tongue was getting sliced by its teeth. 'How much of you do I have to bite off before you die?!' Its eyes widen even more. As luck would have it, the lightning bolt dies down, and the room is once again enveloped in darkness. Caleb's senses go haywire, as he dodges another attack from his perpetrator.
He shoots another lightning bolt across the room. Lighting it again once more. The creature hangs off of the ceiling, somehow defying gravity. Both it and Caleb hear thus and explosions above, and look over the hole they had made.
'Looks like we'll be having a feast for ourselves!' Caleb doesn't waste time and lunges for the creature, summoning lightning onto his hand, landing a hit.
It momentarily drops to the ground. Caleb, not letting it recover, drags his hand over the concrete, forming a gauntlet over his fist, and connects it with the creature's face.
The creature is sent flying across the room, Caleb sent out another lightning bolt. He attempts to summon his bow, and is infuriated when it doesn't materialize.
'Come, on, you fucking thing!' He shouts, slapping his brace, trying to get it to work. His momentary distraction costs him, as the creature pounces to him with astounding speed, landing behind Caleb and catching him off guard. It takes a huge bite on his left shoulder. Caleb grits his teeth. Before the creature could bite off part of his shoulder, Caleb grabs its head and channels lightning through it, electrocuting it and forcing it to release its hold. Caleb attempts to capitalize on his attack, but a sharp pain shoots throughout his left arm. He sees black streaks on his skin where the creature bit, the pain doubling within a few seconds. He hears the creature laugh again.
'Does it hurt, boy? You should know, you won't be able to use your limbs once that spreads!' Caleb hears the maniacal laugh again. He drops on his knees in pain, and the creature moves in to strike, sending Caleb across the room. In rapid succession, he gets thrown around like a rag doll, being toyed with by his opponent. Soon, Caleb loses all feeling in his left arm, with the streaks flowing onto his leg.
Fuck, come on, move! The creature strikes him again, but Caleb is able to summon a spark on his right hand, and lands an explosive punch on the creature's face. Unfortunately, the hit wasn't strong enough to do extensive damage, and it lands safely on the ceiling.
'You'll have to do better than that, boy!' The creature's laughter is all that's ringing in Caleb's ears, he looks up at it, crawling on the ceiling as it gets ready to pounce on Caleb.
He smiles, a notion that did not escape the creature's notice. It attempts to attack Caleb, but becomes stuck. Caleb shakily gets up to his feet, a blue glow suddenly emitting from the ground. The entire room is filled with glyphs, the one the creature was standing on activating, encasing his limbs in ice. It shrieks in anger.
'When did you?!' The creature stops short, as a look of realization washes over its face.
'You think I'd just let you throw me around like that?' He declares, triumphantly. Slowly, he starts limping towards the creature, glowing spark growing in his hands. Mustering up his strength, Caleb launches himself towards the creature, landing his hit, and causing an explosion within the basement.
The resulting force destroys the ceiling, Caleb only being kept safe by the glyphs he had set up before. The force of the explosion sends him straight through the ground, landing with his back to the floor of the main hall, where he and his friends had started. His opponent, or what could have been left of it, was nowhere to be seen.
Caleb takes a deep breath, letting himself calm down for a bit. The throbbing in his head and the burning in his arms were will reminding him of their presence, yet for the moment, he did not care. All that mattered to him was that he had a moment of silence, even if only a moment. But fate had other plans as he hears a voice speak in the back of his head.
Hello again, Caleb.
END
A/N Hey guys! sorry if this took longer, getting back into writing groove is a little hard, plus, I'll be starting law school in two weeks. Srry about that.
Anways, There was a question by Charli. on Caleb's path. I don't know how to explain it without ruining the story, but I will ask a question next chapter. Basically, the readers get to make Caleb's choices in certain scenarios, and that's about all I can explain.
Keep in mind that I will set up a poll on my profile so you can vote, or just leave a review on the next chapter.
If not enough votes are cast, as in, less than 20 people, I know kinda pushing it but I need the commitment of the readers in the choice, I have default path to be followed by the story.
That's it guys, see you next chapter!
