Chapter 13: Anger (Love) and Burning Out

Isaac started running at 10 years old.

He had been having nightmares regularly, had just been placed in temporary homeschooling, and had been having a difficult time putting trust in those around him. Isaac was convinced something was wrong with him. No one bothered to correct him. They merely continued to lie about the events that had led to all his 'quirks.'

His therapist had suggested an outlet for all the frustration he had found himself taking out on other people.

Isaac had wanted to try painting.

His father had wanted him to try football.

That's how he found himself awake at 6 AM on weekends, jogging up and down a field, chasing after a ball that he had no desire to kick. He kept it up for about a week before he began to stray from the field and instead started to run laps around the grass on the outdoor track. He quickly learned that he liked the feel of the cold air hitting his skin. He liked the colors and movement that came with passing those around him. He liked moving fast, no one around to tell him to slow down and breathe.

He managed to keep it from his father for about a year. It was fairly easy as he never had time to come to any of his games.

At that point in Isaac's life, his dad had already been preparing to move to America, with no intentions of taking Isaac with him, so he was a bit preoccupied.

So Isaac quit within the month, no intentions of joining a team sport ever again. That's when Coach Brenner approached him on his last day of 'football' practice. He told him that he had seen him running on the track. He told him he was the fastest he had ever seen.

Isaac was on the track team the following week.

He continued to run, and as he got older, he got better and he got faster until there was no one within kilometers that could come close to his time. Isaac went to bed every night knowing that no one would ever be able to catch him… and he loved it.

"Powell!"

Isaac turned at the sound of his surname to see his coach stomping over to him.

He sighed and straightened his posture as the older man hovered over him.

"What the bloody hell was that?"

"Coach-,"

"15 seconds! Are you taking the piss?" he spat out.

At this point, the majority of the team had stopped what they were doing to watch Isaac be chastised by their coach.

"I know I'm a bit out of it, but-,"

The man shook his head and took a couple steps back from the teen. "You are more than out of it. You're late to practice, you leave early, you barely go to the gym, you don't eat and on top of that, Ian said he saw you smoking. I don't know what's going on with you right now, but you need to sort out your shit before you ruin your future. Until you do, you're benched."

Isaac's heart fell at his words and he made a move to follow his coach.

"Get off my track," he shouted, not bothering to look back.

Isaac's face burned and he kept his head down as he pressed his balled fists to his sides and tried to steady his breathing. He rushed off the track and began to head to Isis, but before he could get far, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Isaac,"

His eyes closed at the voice. "Now isn't a good time, Mick."

Mick frowned and said, "I'm sorry. It's just-,"

"Just what?"

Mick winced at his tone and hesitated before saying, "I'm worried about you."

Isaac scoffed at the comment and he lightly shook his head. "I don't have time for this right now."

"Isaac-,"

"Fuck off."

It came off harsher than Isaac intended, and he immediately found himself shaking his head at the hurt look on Mick's face.

He sighed, a bit of the fight leaving him as he said, "I'm sorry. I want to talk to you, Mick. I really do, but I just don't know how to right now."

Mick wanted to argue, but he didn't know what to say in response, so instead he watched as Isaac walked off the track.

(***)

As expected, Danielle was waiting for Isaac when he got back. He sighed and tossed his gym bag to the floor upon spotting her on his bed.

"I'm guessing Mick texted you?"

Danielle nodded and she stood up, but Isaac walked right past her as he went to pick out a fresh set of clothes.

"Are you going to talk or am I going to have to force it out of you again?"

Isaac scoffed and yanked his T-shirt off. "Force it out of me?"

"Aren't you sick of fighting everyone?" she asked. "Don't you want to let go of some of that anger?"

He hesitated at her words before turning away from his closet and plopping down on his bed. He remained quiet for a bit before he finally looked up at her and said, "I don't know how to make it go away without hurting someone. I try to so hard, but all that ends up happening is that I bury it under the self-loathing and the depression until just one look makes me explode… just like my dad."

Danielle's face fell at his words and she took a seat beside him. "Don't do that. You're nothing like your father."

Isaac nodded, the words allowing some of the clenching in his chest to loosen. "Maybe… but maybe the reason I am how I am is because of him. Maybe he's the reason we all are."

"I don't understand. What are you talking about?"

For some reason, his next words got caught in his throat and he found himself tightening his hands into fists, his fingernails leaving red crescent shaped marks on the inside of his palms. He let out a deep breath, releasing his hands before looking back at Danielle.

"I need to show you something," he confessed.

Danielle watched as Isaac walked over to his nightstand. He pulled a key from under his pillow and unlocked the top drawer. She could just make out the smeared charcoal faces on Isaac's drawings before he pulled out two particular pictures and locked the drawer once more.

He stuck the sheets of paper out to her and she took them carefully, her eyes never leaving his.

"You remember when we were talking about solar eclipses? Well, I remembered having drawn one, so I came back to my room and sorted through all my drawings before I found that one. I recognized the talisman from an earlier drawing… one with my father."

Danielle didn't say anything. She stared at the drawings, trying to make sense of what was in her hands.

"Does this mean-,"

"That my dad is involved in whatever weird shit we've gotten ourselves into? Yeah, I think it does."

She shook her head and handed him back the drawings. "I wouldn't jump to that conclusion."

"Danielle-,"

"He deals in Egyptian artifacts. It's possible that this was one of the pieces he gave to the museum. It's completely rational."

"Danielle-,"

"Isaac."

He clenched his jaw and tossed his drawings on his bed. "Why don't you want to believe this?"

"Why do you want to?" she shot back. "I know that your dad isn't exactly the best person, but to jump to the conclusion that he is part of the group of adults that has been trying to kill us for the past few months is a bit much."

"It's not just the drawings!" he divulged. In a rush, Isaac went back to the drawer by his bed and pulled out a black velvet pouch. "My dad gave me this the last time he visited as an apology for, for… He handed me this and it's what started it all."

Danielle looked between Isaac and the pouch before crossing her arms over her chest. "Okay, so what's in it?"

Isaac dumped the contents onto his bed, careful not to touch it. "On the trip to Peru, I took this with me and the minute I took it out of my pocket I blacked out. I can't remember anything from the moment I held that rune to the moment I slipped it back in my pocket at the hotel. Wanna take a guess as to what day it was that I touched it?"

Understanding dawned on Danielle and she let her arms fall to her sides as she stepped closer to the rune. "On the mountain in Cusco. The day you found the jewels."

"Mick told me that I was a completely different person on that mountain. I think this is why. Someone wanted me to find the jewels and I'm betting my dad knows why."

Danielle took a moment to let everything sink in before turning back to Isaac. "We have to tell everyone."

Isaac hesitated, his hands instinctively curling into fists again. "I know. It's just… this is different. This is my dad. I don't know how to go about this."

She nodded and reached over to give Isaac's hand a squeeze. "Don't worry. You have me as back-up. Always."

He offered her his attempt at a smile and squeezed her hand back. "Thank you… for everything. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I know. Me too."

She let her hand slip from his and she nodded at the door. "C'mon, let's go to Anubis."

(***)

Mick sat at the dining table, reading over as many Egyptian myths and stories involving solar eclipses as possible. He had been researching for days, but none of the stories he had encountered seemed relevant to anything that was happening to them. Fabian and the others had been helping, but with his new ability it seemed that Mick got through reading material at five times the speed as everyone else. That's why he took it upon himself to read whenever he had free time.

He didn't really mind. It helped center him and to keep his mind off Isaac. It had been a week since his confession and he and Isaac hadn't had a proper conversation since. They couldn't avoid each other as they were both on the same team, but that didn't stop Isaac from turning his back on him whenever possible. Mick wasn't too surprised. His response to everything hadn't been the best, but in that moment, standing close to Isaac in the dark, it was hard for him to just accept his feelings.

The idea of time seemed like it would work to clear his head, but with the more time they spent apart, the more Mick seemed to realize that he didn't want to be apart from him. He just needed to find a way to make peace with that. Once he did, he would be ready to talk to him. And hopefully, Isaac would be too.

The door to Anubis house suddenly opened and Mick was pulled away from his thoughts as he looked up and saw Isaac and Danielle walking in.

"I'm gonna go get Fabian," she said before leaving Isaac in the foyer.

The teen nodded and watched as she walked away before looking into the living area. Once his eyes spotted Mick, his whole body seemed to grow stiff.

Mick cleared his throat and greeted him. "Hey."

Isaac gave him a slight nod and walked into the room. "Hey."

Taking this as a good sign, Mick stood up and began to speak. "Look, I was hoping we could-,"

"Isaac!" Fabian walked into the room, the rest of the Anubis gang trailing behind him. "Danielle said you found something."

Isaac nodded and Mick slumped back in his seat. "I found a drawing in my room showing a solar eclipse."

He placed the drawing on the dining table and everyone crowded around it.

"This is great!" Fabian exclaimed. "I'm sure we can use that talisman as a clue."

Isaac gulped. "Yep."

Danielle lightly elbowed him and nodded towards the group.

Nina, having caught the gesture, focused her attention on Isaac. "What's wrong?"

Isaac shook his head and let out a deep breath. "Nothing's wrong. It's just… I may have a way that we can track down that talisman and find out some more information."

"How?" Jerome asked.

Isaac sighed and he set down the second picture. Once again, they all crowded around it to get a good look before Mick looked up again and asked, "Who is this in the drawing?"

"It's… it's my dad."

All noise in the room ceased and all eyes went to Isaac.

Jerome coughed a bit and looked at the drawing once more. "Oh."

"Yeah…" Isaac nodded.

Alfie cleared his throat and straightened up. "Well, this is good, right? You can call him up and ask him if he remembers this."

Isaac winced at the suggestion and Mick frowned as he looked between the two. "There's more to this, isn't there?"

"My father gave me a present before I left for Peru. I didn't think anything of it. He was apologizing after a fight we had had, but the day I used the gift was the day on the mountain. The day I found the jewels. I don't remember anything from that day and I never thought to question it, but these drawings and my dad… well, we don't exactly have the best relationship and he deals in Egyptian artifacts. It's a hobby of his… so is Egyptian mythology."

"You think he's one of them, don't you?" Nina questioned. "You think your dad has been trying to kill you?"

No one said a thing in light of Nina's question, but one look at Isaac, Isaac with his clenched jaw, balled fists, and watery eyes, gave the answer away.

Mick's heart sank and it took everything in him to stay on his side of the table. "Oh, Isaac."

Isaac counted to three in his head, his heart beat loud in his ears, and relaxed his hands. "I, I can get in contact with him. I can try to find out more."

"Maybe we should talk about this tomorrow," Danielle suggested.

The others murmured in agreement and Danielle made a move to walk Isaac out.

"C'mon," she stated as she tugged on his sleeve.

Isaac shook his head and pulled his arm away. "I'll meet you later. I'm just going to go on a run. I need to clear my head."

No one made a move to stop him and Isaac walked out of Anubis house with no one chasing after him.

(***)

Isaac ran for as long as his fatigued, smoke-filled body could take him before he collapsed onto a bench in the locker room.

No one else was within sight and Isaac relished in the quiet of it all as he stared up at the ceiling, the bright florescent lights leaving shadows behind his eyes.

Isaac and his father were complicated. He knew that. Danielle knew that, but most people didn't. He loved his father, but he knew that his father was indifferent towards him at best. Sometimes he stayed up at night wondering why. How could he love someone as desolate as him?

And wasn't that the root of all of Isaac's problems? A boy with so much love and nowhere to put it.

Love untouched turned into resentment, into anger. Anger towards others, towards life, towards himself. It hurt to stand in a room full of people with so much love in their lives and admit that he lacked it in his. It made him angry. And just like his love, Isaac didn't know what to do with all his anger.

He sat up, his head spinning at the sudden movement.

"You shouldn't sit up too quickly. Not after a run like that whilst in your condition."

Isaac sighed and he turned to see Mick at the doorway. Mick hesitated for a moment before stepping further into the room and holding out a water bottle for him. Isaac took it without question and Mick took that as a sign to sit down.

"Can I say what I'm thinking without you attacking me?"

Isaac paused in sipping his water and quickly capped the bottle. "Go ahead."

"I know I said this already and I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I'm worried about you. You're not taking care of yourself. You're under so much stress and you just keep it all in. You don't sleep, you don't eat, you smoke almost a pack a day. You're slowing down…and I'm scared that one of these days you're not going to be able to outrun everything anymore."

Isaac's heart grew heavy at his words and he turned so he was looking up at Mick. He wasn't ready to tell him everything, but Isaac knew that he never would be. It wasn't in his nature to share his feelings. He had spent so many years burying himself in them, it seemed weird that all of sudden everyone was so hell-bent on digging him up. It would be difficult, but he owed it to everyone to at least try to be more open. To try to stay on solid ground for once.

"I'm scared too and I don't know what to do. Everything just keeps piling up and it's too much to handle. My father might be trying to kill me, officer Richards lied to me and I keep getting visions, ones that I don't want and I thought remembering my mother would make me happy, but fuck if it doesn't just make me miss someone I don't have any tangible memory of ever having. And, and Nina told me that she loves me-,"

"Nina loves you?"

"-and you," Isaac paused and merely looked at Mick before letting out a deep breath. "You. I, it's just all so much."

Mick gulped, trying his best to digest all the information that had just come crashing into him. He knew that he couldn't take all of Isaac's problems away, but there was one that he could help ease his mind of.

Mick stood up and began pacing the room.

"Mick-,"

"I never wanted to be one of the things that caused you to burn out. I wish that I could take your pain away so much. I think about it all the time. I think about you all the time. It's been over a week since we've had a real conversation and you just kept pushing me away. All you ever do is push."

"What was I supposed to say?" Isaac asked. "You told me specifically that you didn't want to be gay. I needed time."

"And all that time did was make me realize that these feelings that I have for you aren't going away," he revealed. "I like you, Isaac. I know that it's inconvenient timing and I know that I'm inexperienced, but that doesn't make my feelings invalid. I, I miss you. I know I made things weird between us, but I want to fix it."

Isaac sighed and he stood up from his spot on the bench. "Fix it? How? I mean, what do you even want to happen, Mick? What do you expect to come from this conversation? Won't it just be another dead end?"

Mick groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know! I just want to know how you feel. I want you to not be so distant."

"You want to know how I feel?" Isaac asked.

Mick stayed quiet, trying to analyze Isaac's intense gaze. He could probably stay there all night, just watching him. The question could remain unanswered, and the truth was Mick would be okay with that because that would mean Isaac would never get a chance to say no. He could be okay it, would be okay with it, or at least that's what he tried to convince himself as he finally broke his eyes away from the boy in front of him.

It hurt to look at him and not know what he was thinking. It hurt to be on opposite sides.

Mick lifted his head then, his blue eyes meeting Isaac's, before deciding to throw caution into the wind. He nodded. "I do."

Without any warning, Isaac rushed towards Mick, forcing him back into the wall, and pressed his palms firmly against the bricks on either side of Mick's head.

Mick gulped at the limited space between them, anticipation filling his whole body as he stared into Isaac's dark eyes.

He waited for Isaac to do something or to say something, yet Isaac remained silent, his eyes gliding over Mick as if he were searching for something. Mick didn't know how to react to the intimacy of it, the closeness of it. He just knew that with Isaac that close he could no longer think.

But then Isaac let out a deep breath, returned his eyes to Mick's and said, "I like you."

Mick couldn't recall who initiated it. All he knew was that one moment they were just staring at each other, only a breath away, before Isaac's lips were on his.

It had been awhile since Mick had kissed someone he truly liked. It made it different somehow. When Mick kissed a girl at a party it always happened so quick, as if they always had somewhere better to be. Music was always blaring, allowing him to forget about the person before him and just focus on the sensation. It was only ever about getting his fix and then retreating before he could be pulled in.

With Isaac, everything was happening in slow motion, the whole world tuned out around him. It was just Isaac and his lips and his hands and the way his hands were pulling at his waist, tugging him closer. He was being reeled in, just one touch, one kiss away from it all being over, from the last bit of his strength crumbling, and him completely letting in the beautiful, curly haired boy currently distracting him with his tongue.

Isaac was getting too lost in it. He was letting himself forget that he still needed to have a conversation with Mick, one that might not end the way he wanted it to.

But maybe that's why he was holding on a bit too tight, his lips lingering far longer than necessary. If he was going to lose whatever it was that was between them before it ever even started, then he wanted to savor it while he still could.

So when Mick tangled his hand into his hair, a moan escaping from his lips, Isaac nearly melted.

That was the point where he usually restrained himself, but with Mick getting bolder and Isaac getting greedy, they were both sinking deeper and deeper into it. Or at least they were until Isaac reminded himself once more that Mick had a decision to make and he slowly pulled away from the teen.

Isaac's eyes opened first and he sighed as he stared at Mick who stood with his eyes still closed, his head against the wall, and his lips red and slightly parted from the kiss.

Slowly, his eyes opened and he let out a long shuddering breath. "I don't know how to start a conversation after a kiss like that."

Isaac laughed, the tension between them easing slightly.

"You like me."

He nodded and leaned forward to press his forehead against Mick's. "I like you."

Mick's eyes fluttered shut at the sentence and he smiled as his arms wrapped around Isaac. "What now?"

Mick's eyes were still closed, but he could feel the way Isaac suddenly tensed under his embrace. He immediately opened them to find Isaac taking a step back, forcing Mick's arms down to his sides.

"I don't know."

"Isaac-,"

"I'm not going to be someone's secret," he told him. "Not again."

Mick remained silent as he collected his thoughts before he sighed and moved away from the brick wall. "I want this, Isaac. I really do, but I need some time. People expect things from me. My family-,"

"It's not just that," Isaac interrupted. "There's so much going on with Eridres and Set and my dad, and… Nina. I just feel like getting involved could be added trouble."

Mick frowned and lightly shook his head. "I don't want to be the cause of more stress, but don't you think you deserve this? That we deserve this?"

The question made Isaac nervous and he made a move to pack away his things. "And what exactly is this?"

Mick immediately rushed to Isaac's side and placed a hand over his. "I like you, Isaac. I want to be with you. I'm sure of that. Are you?"

He sighed and turned to face him. "I think I made how I feel pretty clear."

"Then give me a couple days," he replied. "Just a few to sort everything out and to tell everyone on my own terms."

"And what exactly are you going to tell them?"

Mick smiled and he pressed a chaste kiss to Isaac's lips. "The truth."

The corner of Isaac's lips twitched and he dropped his bag to pull him into a hug. He pressed his lips to the top of Mick's head before letting him rest his head on his shoulder. "Okay."

Mick nodded and he tightened his embrace. "Okay."

(***)

Danielle eyed the pouch on the table, her hands wrapped around a mug of hot coffee. She had been staring at it since Isaac had left, failing at keeping herself from thinking about him. She knew she couldn't always be there to comfort him, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to be.

She sighed and took a sip from the steaming cup, instantly wincing at the bitterness of it. She cast one more look at the rune before walking into the kitchen.

As she did, she spotted Eddie standing on the opposite side of the kitchen counter, a mug also in his hand. She hadn't had a conversation with him since everything had started. There always seemed to be a crisis at hand, one that prevented any sort of contact than what was required between her and the Anubis residents. It made her wonder if he ever thought about her. Sometimes she thought about him. It was always a fleeting thought. Never anything tangible enough for her to ponder on for only a moment, but it didn't matter if it was only for a short time. After all, he still existed in her mind.

"Hey."

Eddie's eyes lit up and he tried to fight off a smile as he replied. "Hey. Did you need something?"

"Just some sugar. Someone made the coffee a bit too strong for my taste."

Eddie set his mug down and went over to one of the cabinets lined up on the wall. He pulled out a bag of sugar and Danielle immediately reached for it, but before she could grab it Eddie pulled it close to his chest.

"Let me. I do owe you a cup of coffee, after all."

Danielle nodded and leaned back against the counter. "By all means then."

He beamed at her and poured out her mug to prepare her a fresh cup. "You know, I'd still be up for a real cup of coffee. Not here, but at a café or something. Not that there's anything wrong with our coffee. It's perfectly fine. Though you're right. Patricia does make it awfully strong. I think she might do it on-,"

She smiled as he fumbled over his words before cutting him off. "I'd like that very much."

Eddie paused his ramblings and he looked up at her. "I know a great place over by-,"

The sound of a loud yelp broke the conversation and Danielle looked into the dining area to see Alfie holding the velvet pouch.

"Don't touch that!" she shouted as she rushed into the room.

Her heart fell as she spotted the onyx rune on the ground where Alfie had let it slip. She gulped before she hesitantly looked at his hand. On the center of his palm was now a burning symbol, one that seemed to be pulsating with every second.

Alfie gave a nervous chuckle as he glanced up from his hand to meet Danielle's eyes. "Umm, I think it's a little too late for that."

AN: It's been a hot minute. I have been living in London for the last four months and have only just returned to the states. I have been in the process of writing this chapter for awhile (writer's block really is the silent killer) and I'm happy to finally have it ready for you guys. See you in the new year with another chapter!

-Karina