Life After High School - Ten Years Later

By Risty and Silver

Disclaimer: ahem. We don't own them.

Summary: You figure it out.

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(Kane's POV)

As I said that we should come up with a plan to get my mum and Ria's mum back together, I felt Vincent fling his arms around my neck. I grabbed hold of his shoulder and made him sit next to me.

"I thought that you went back to find Billee" I said sternly. "You should not be wandering about by yourself. Especially now that it is starting to get dark."

"I couldn't find Billee and Legolas," he told me. "And besides, I wanted to be with you."

"All right" I sighed, not being able to find any fault with his reasoning. After all, we were in a strange place with lots of strange people so I couldn't blame him for wanting to stay with me. "We were talking about what to do about my mum and Ria's mum. Any suggestions?"

"Yes" he said quietly. "I think we should just leave it."

"But my mum is really upset" Ria told him. "And I think your mum is too. We have to do it to make them happy."

"No" Vince shook his head and turned to me. "You know what dad is like. If he finds out that Jaime has had any contact with mum, he'll be really mad. He'll really upset mum then and he might even try to hurt Jaime. He has been acting really strange lately, you know."

I did know what he was talking about. Dad had been spending many evenings and a lot of nights downstairs, not in the bar but in the area below where I am not allowed to go under any circumstances. Him and mum were arguing more too and I got the distant feeling that something bad was going on with his work. I wasn't sure exactly what he did, but I knew that Benny and Lucas and some other guys were also involved and that it was very dangerous.

"Maybe Vince is right for once," I said sadly. "Maybe it would be best to leave it. I'm not exactly sure what we could have done anyway. My mum rarely goes out of the house unless she is with dad or uncle Kivan, and my dad's guard dogs would maul your mum if she even came anywhere near the bar. Besides, to be honest I am not even sure if my mum wants to see your mum. Judging from what she's said, I don't think she does although I know she is upset that things turn out as bad as they did."

"I guess you're right" Ria said, hanging her head. "I suppose we had better keep well out of it."

"Excuse me kids" We turned round and were startled to see two men in black riding cloaks standing just behind us. "Can you tell me where Bag End is?"

"I'm…not sure," Ria said quietly. "Who are you?"

"I knew Emma Silverblade and Jaime Shadow a long time ago" the first man smirked. "I was told that I could find them around here. Would you know them by any chance?"

"Yes" Vincent said before I could stop him. "Emma is mine and Kane's mum and Jaime is Ria's mum."

"Good" the second man stepped forward. "We've got them."

Before we could move, they lunged at us. One of them went for Ria and caught her shoulder and the other went for Vincent who slipped away easily. I could have run, but then I looked back at Ria and decided that I couldn't. The triplets had all disappeared the minute they had seen the men. Cowards. There was only one thing to do.

"Run Vince" I screamed at him. "Quickly. Run before they catch you…"

He turned and ran, just as I had instructed. I jumped on one of the men holding Ria and pulled hard at his ear, digging my nails into it. He gave a yell and Ria chose that moment to sink her teeth into his hand. He let go of her, but the other man grabbed her before she could escape. The first man dragged me off his back and began shaking me back and forth like a rat. It made my head hurt, but I managed to pull myself together when I heard Ria scream. As the first man dropped me, I saw what had happened. The man had hit her and she had fallen and hit her head on a large sharp rock. She was lying on the ground and I could see that her head was bleeding heavily. I ran over and knelt by her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. The men came at us again, but this time they didn't reach us. My dad's dog, Prince, came from the bushes and attached himself to one of their legs. The men howled and attempted to flee, only to be stopped by two other figures standing in the shadows.

"Hold it right there" I heard Benny say. "Who hired you? What were you doing?"

One of the men said something and a major fight broke out. However, the two men were no match for my dad and Benny and within two minutes, both men were on the ground. One man was only unconscious, but I think the other was dead.

"Benny, search them" my dad yelled urgently. "See if they have anything on them to tell us who they are. I'll see to the little ones."

Suddenly everything went blurry and I nearly fell. Only my dad's hand on my shoulder kept me upright.

"Hang in there son" he whispered gently. "It's over."

Ria moaned in pain and he hesitated. I held my breath. I knew a bad head wound when I saw one and I knew that my friend had to be treated and soon. Surely my father would not leave her there just because he hated Jaime? However after a second, I felt him move away from me. Kneeling down beside her, he gently turned her face towards him so that he could see the deep cut. Quickly, he tore a strip of material from his riding cloak and wrapped it around her head to make a rough bandage before carefully lifting her in his arms, talking to her quietly all the time. All through this I just sat and watched, not feeling like I was really there. It all felt like it was happening to someone else. I barely even noticed when Benny picked me up.

"You think she needs to go to the hospital?" he asked. Dad nodded.

"I've slowed down the bleeding," he said quietly. "But I think she'll need stitches. And even if she doesn't, they'll need to observe her overnight, just in case. Bring Kane too; I want them to check him over as well. I think he might be in shock. You find anything?"

"Yes" I heard Benny mutter. "And if it means what I think it means, we're in big trouble."

Outside the hospital, Benny set me on my feet and gave me a pat on the head. Dad told him to go and tell Jaime and Frodo that Ria was in the hospital and to bring Vincent to him. I suppose he wanted to check that my little brother was all right too. A doctor immediately came to take Ria away, although in her frightened state she begged my dad to stay with her. After warning me to stay put and wait for Jaime, he disappeared after them and I was left alone wondering what the hell was going on…