Chapter 25

(What the hell...?)

Pogue's entire body grew tense as the front door of his apartment swung inward the moment he leaned against it. His throat tightened, he locked his door before he left this morning. He swore he remembered to.

Cautiously, he raised his hand once again and pushed the door all the way open. The sight that greeted his eyes instantly robbed him of all breath. His apartment was in complete ruin. The furniture was torn, hundreds of papers and his school books were shredded and scattered across his living room. Most of his belongings were completely destroyed.

(Chase!)

Fear coiled inside of Pogue's chest and he immediately bolted for the table he hid the pendent inside of. It was turned over and all but one of its drawers was ripped out. He checked the only intact compartment and shuffled its contents around until his eyes caught a glimpse of bright gold.

He breathed a loud sigh of relief and curled his fingers around the pendent's shape protectively. Chase didn't find it; he couldn't even begin to express how grateful he was for that. He tucked the pendent into his front pocket and he began making his way around the apartment, surveying the damage.

--

"Hello Reid."

In one movement, Rid felt his heart slid into his throat as he stared at the man standing a few short feet away from him. He honestly couldn't believe it was Caleb. The other boy's appearance was exactly the same as ever there was still something off. Pogue's words immediately replayed themselves inside of his mind; this wasn't Caleb. He could see it now in the other boy's eyes.

"Chase." Reid mumbled, remembered Pogue's exact words.

Caleb's face brightened and his lips twisted into a bone-chilling grin. "So, Pogue finally filled you in huh, that saves us a lot of time."

Reid glanced at Tyler's crumpled body and slowly stood up. His shoulders were tightly coiled with both fear and anger as he fought the urge to turn his eyes black. After all, Caleb's eyes were normal which meant the other boy wasn't going to lash out at him, at least not at the moment.

"What the fuck did you do to him?" Reid growled, motioning towards Tyler.

Caleb moved his eyes towards the unconscious body on the floor. "Don't worry, Tyler's just sleeping."

Reid's eyes moved back over Tyler's sleeping face and then back towards Caleb.

"What the fuck do you want?"

Caleb's lips twisted into a horrible grin that instantly reminded Reid of Chase. "I want many things, power, revenge, but mostly, I want my body back."

Reid stared at him coldly, not understanding a word. His eyes were busy moving quickly back and forth across the dorm room, looking for anything he could use as a weapon. Chase's powers may be stronger then his, but he could still move faster then him. His eyes moved over towards Tyler's desk and halted when they saw a letter opener. Perfect.

"What, Caleb's not good enough for you to leech off of?" Reid mocked, still glancing at the letter opener.

(Give me a reason you son of a bitch.)

"Same old Reid." Caleb sighed amused but then his face turned serious. "Now, if you're done wasting my time I have–"

Caleb halted in mid sentence as a large blur flashed in front of his eyes and a long, painful gash suddenly appeared on his lower arm. He raised his eyes towards the blond; Reid was standing in the exact same spot he was in a moment ago, the only difference was the boy was panting deeply and his hand was holding something sharp.

Intrigued, Caleb turned his arm over and stared at it; it wasn't a terribly deep wound but the fact that it appeared within the blink of an eye was more then enough to make him give the blond an impressed look.

"Time shift..." He mused as glanced at his arm and then at the bloodied edge of the letter opener clutched tightly in Reid's hand. "A very useful ability if you know how to use it–"

He cut off once he saw the same flash of light again and in one move, he violently swung his fist outwards and smiled devilishly when it successfully connected with Reid's jaw, sending the blonde crashing to the hard, wooden floor.

"But also one that's easy enough to track if you pay attention."

Reid groaned as his body slumped against the floor. Damn, Caleb hit like a hammer. His head was swimming from the impact and he wasn't even aware of Caleb moving until the older boy used his powers to roll him over on his back.

"Now you're not going to that again...are you?" Caleb asked, sending a painful ripple of his power through Reid's body.

Reid screamed as Caleb's powers tore through him, making his skin feel like it'd tear open and his head would explode at any given moment. With a dark laugh, Caleb withdrew his powers and leaned over him.

"Now that I have your attention, there's something you're going to do for me."

"Fuck you." Reid groaned as he spat a small glob of blood out of his mouth.

Caleb raised his arm and Reid shrieked as more of his power invaded his body. This time Caleb's torture lasted longer and after what felt like a painful eternity, Caleb pulled back.

"Now are you going to listen or is "fuck you" going to be your final answer?"

Reid's head fell back and a small whimper eased out of his mouth.

"What do you want?"

"That's more like it." Caleb smiled and leaned closer until his face was just a few inches above the blond's. "Pogue has something I want, a small item about this big..."

His closed his hand and held up his fist. Reid blinked when he realized what the older boy was implying.

"The pendent thingy..."

"Exactly, you're going to steal it for me."

Reid stared up at him in disbelief for a moment before his anger took over.

"Go to hell."

Caleb simply rolled his eyes. "Right then, be a smart ass."

More pain flooded into his body but Reid kept his screams silent. There was no way he was going to give Caleb/Chase any more satisfaction of seeing him in pain.

"Stubborn just like Pogue I see." Caleb's lips turned into a stomach turning grin as his head turned towards the area where Tyler was. "I wonder if baby boy has a high pain tolerance too."

Reid gasped slightly. "No."

Caleb slyly moved his eyes back towards the blond, his dark eyes holding a dark glint. "Oh, have I found a dent in your armor?"

Reid tried to roll over but Caleb's power forced him back on the floor.

"If you fucking touch Tyler I'll–"

"You'll kill me? Please, we both know it's an empty threat, but this isn't." The darker haired boy leaned closer. "If you don't get that pendent for me, I'll make Tyler bleed."

Fear gripped Reid's chest, even though he tried to hide it and his eyes darted towards Tyler's form. The thought of Chase touching him– hurting him– instantly made him feel both sick and enraged. His eyes were burning with anger as he turned back towards Caleb; the damn bastard was still smiling at him.

"F-fine." He stuttered painfully.

"Good. You have three days." Caleb purred as he stood up. "And Reid, I will be checking on you so don't even try to run."

With that, Caleb's eyes flashed again and the light inside of the room flicked as he disappeared. Reid gasped as the crushing weight was removed from his body and coughed a few times as his lungs fought for air. With shaking arms, he rolled over onto his stomach and pulled himself upright. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and a few drops landed on the floor beneath him and the corner of his hand.

"Fuck. What the hell am I gonna do now?" He wheezed as his fingers traced the side of his face.

Luckily nothing felt broken, even though the side of his jaw stung painfully from where Caleb hit him. A soft moan soon reached his ears and Reid turned his head in Tyler's direction. The younger boy sleepily opened his eyes.

"Reid?"

Tyler's eyes froze when they located the blond and after emitting a frightened gasp, he crawled over to him.

"Reid what the hell happened, you're bleeding–"

"I'm fine." Reid mumbled and pushed Tyler's questioning fingers away.

Tyler gave him a pleading look and raised his hand; the tips of his fingers were glowing with their normal soft red light and pressed it against Reid's cheek. Immediately, a warm sensation coursed through Reid's face as the bruised skin healed and he found himself leaning into Tyler's touch.

"What happened, who hurt you?" Tyler asked.

Reid didn't say anything; he was too lost in his own thoughts.

"If you don't get that pendent for me, I'll make Tyler bleed."

A lump formed inside of his throat, forcing Reid to bit his lip and bring a knee to his chest. Tyler gave him a concerned look as he finished healing him.

"Reid what's wrong?"

Reid gazed at Tyler silently for a long time before he lowered his head and rested it against his knee.

"Nothing."

--

Pogue sighed inwardly as he pulled his coffee table back to its original position. One of its legs was cracked and its face was dented in a few areas but it was still in one piece so he didn't see a reason to toss it.

The rest of his furniture wasn't so lucky and Pogue knew he'd have to throw most of his stuff out since he didn't see a point in repairing them with his powers; most of his stuff was cheap and easily replaceable.

He started straightening up the area around the table after wards, gathering up the many crumpled papers and tossing them into the garbage bag in his other hand. Eventually, his fingers bumped against one of his school books and Pogue bent over a short moment later to pick it up. He glanced it over, a few pages where ripped but it still looked in good shape. He was about to toss it on the table when his eyes caught a quick glimpse at the page, forcing him to do a double take.

At first, he couldn't believe what he was seeing so he blinked a few times in order to be sure. One of the pages the book was opened to there was a rough sketch of a small round object. His eyes bore into the book, not fully believing what they saw. He reached into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled the gold pendent out, setting it in the crease of the book. There was no denying it, he was seeing double. In the corner of the right page was a black and white rendering of the exact same pendent. Intrigued, his eyes darted across the small text under the image, and he recited the words inside of his head.

A Spirit Talisman (Pictured) is one of many items used in the rituals the early settlers of Ipswich practiced. There are four known in existence, each one representing a direction with a different color, silver for north, green for east, red for south and blue for west. Many Rituals called for the use of one but only one ritual called for all four. The Crimson Tome, also known as the ritual of blood, demanded the use for all four in order to call a departed soul from the spirit realm into the known world.

A deep weight dropped into Pogue's stomach and he had to sit down for a moment, glancing down at the gold pendent.

(So that's what this damn thing is...)

He re-read the passed again and his head fell back against the couch when he finished.

(This shit is getting more fucked up by the day.)