A/N: Sorry for taking so long. I tried to write whenever I could grab a chance. Hope you like this chapter.
Maybe Someday
Chapter Four: Confessions
Hunter sat by the ocean a couple of days later. He hoped that the email would offset Blake's curiosity for now. He wasn't sure if he could talk about it with someone who's so important to his life.
'I hope I don't fall asleep here,' he thought to himself, glad he was alone, and away from where Cam seemed to always find him. Breathing in the smell of saltwater, he leaned back and cleared his mind, as he'd been taught. He relaxed slowly, and let the sound of the waves crashing comfort him.
A hand came down on his shoulder, and he jerked as a memory came at him like a train.
~ Jake was shaking hands with some neighbor or other. He wasn't sure. But as he watched his brother, he saw the charm was turned on high, his eyes weren't flat but looked as though he sincerely was happy to meet them.
Hunter was doing little math problems that the teacher had sent home with him and some spelling words beckoned on the next page. When his brother was excused and the neighbor and their parents were talking, Jake looked at him, his eyes no longer anything but flat and glittering with malice. Hunter felt fear rip through him, but tried to hide his feelings. 'Predators always look for your weaknesses, to know better when to attack,' the quote from a documentary he saw on TV came to him.
Jake walked towards him, leaned down, and whispered in his ear, "It's all your fault." Hunter wasn't sure what had prompted the small attack, but he kept himself from shrinking away. 'Says you,' his mind replied, as he turned away to go back to his homework. 'Although, why would he say it if it weren't true?' the thought had occurred to him before, and this time was no different. ~
The flashback was unlike a dream, and came and went in an instant. It was weird, and made him pale, but he tried not to let it show too much. His eyes flicked up to see who had touched him, and he nearly sagged with relief when he saw Tori.
He strained for nonchalance. "Hey, Tor, what's up?" From the worried frown on her face, he wasn't pulling it off. If she didn't say anything, he wasn't about to bring it up.
She was wearing a tank and some shorts, and her hair was braided in an unusual way. She crouched down next to him, and took a deep breath. "I'm worried about you, Hunter. What's more, I know Blake is worried about you too. It's hard for me to see, and usually he's doing pretty well, but he looks like he hasn't slept in a week. Now that I look for it, you look the same way. I wish you'd tell me what's going on. Or him." She paused, and looked at him. His guilty look made her feel bad, but she hoped it made him realize that he had someone who would crawl through hell for him right in his own home.
"I don't know," he paused. "I don't know if I can tell him this. It's horrible." Cam's words came back to him. You could say that you're an incest survivor…
"Hunter, whatever happened, your brother loves you, and he'll be there for you. You know that," she replied, turning back to her compassionate nature to try to comfort him.
Hunter sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Alright, I'll talk to him at home tonight. It's just a hard subject to deal with. I gotta go, Tori. Thanks." He got up, brushed the sand off of his pants. Tori's troubled gaze followed him as he left.
At the skate park, Shane was watching the other guys skate, while he and Dustin sat on the bench. "Have you wondered where everyone's been lately? I mean, if Tori isn't at the beach, she's with Blake. Cam is brooding, and Hunter is avoiding us altogether. Are we missing something?"
Dustin snorted, "Dude, what could they be hiding? I mean, we're their friends, right? Wouldn't they tell us if it was something major?"
Shane shook his head, "I dunno, Dustin. I wish I knew." He got up. "Come on; let's get back to Ninja Ops. We have some sparring to do." As they got up and left, Shane thought more about the state of their friendships with the others, and if there was something big that they would hide. Shrugging it off, he hopped on his board and did some minor tricks along the way.
At Ninja Ops, Cam was fiddling with a board from the computer. He rubbed his forehead, trying to make the headache go away, if it ever would. He clenched his teeth, his hand shaking minutely as he tried to transfer a wire. "Damn it!" he hissed when a spark shot out from another wire.
"Cam? What has happened?" his father asked from nearby. When he glanced up, his Dad's guinea pig face looked almost disappointed at his outburst. Oops, he thought. I guess I shouldn't have said that. He continued to examine the wires.
"Just a little glitch Dad, nothing to worry too much about," he said, and then rolled his eyes. "Unless, of course, I can't fix it, but then, there's not much of a chance of that happening."
Kanoi sighed, and replied, "Son, what has had you so easily upset as of late? I've been worried about you."
"It's--," he paused, wondering how to word what he was about to say. "It's Hunter." He looked down, feeling the heat trying to climb up his neck. "He's been having some problems lately, and he didn't want me to say anything to anyone. So, now I'm just trying to help him."
"He trusts you now. I respect his privacy. Is he in danger of some sort?" Sensei inquired, his paws clasped together in front of himself, looking calm but concerned.
"Not in the way you probably mean. When he wants to tell someone, I'm sure he'll do it. But I don't know if he's ready yet. So now, I wait. And you know just how incredibly patient I am," he concluded wryly. He continued to work on the panel in front of him, and the silence stretched between them.
Blake paced around the living room. He had tried to practice at the track, but being distracted didn't help his times at all, so giving up, he'd headed home. Now, his thoughts just raced, going back to the email from his brother.
I wonder what could've happened, he thought, and ran his fingers through his hair again. He'd thought about trying to search Tori out, but remembering the last time they'd been together, and the worried looks she'd aimed when she thought he wasn't looking, made him change his mind.
He headed towards his room, pausing by Hunter's on the way there. Opening the door and poking his head inside, the navy thunder ranger looked around. The can of soda was on the coaster next to the computer, and he picked it up automatically to throw away. He stared at the blank screen, wondering again what could've possibly happened to his brother that he wasn't willing to share with him. With a heavy heart and his mind trying to think of all the possibilities, he exited the room, carrying the soda can to the garbage.
Dustin and Shane showed up at Ninja Ops, arguing about which was better: skateboarding or motocross. The conversation had turned humorous not long after they left the skate park. The tension was too much for both of them to take after everything that had been going on lately. "Hey Cam!" Dustin called out.
Cam glanced up, glared through his lashes, and glanced back down. Praying to the gods that the computer would work, he closed the panel, and turned it on, sighing with relief when he saw that everything was working as it should. If people would stop playing with the computer as if it were a toy, then it probably wouldn't need as much work as I put into it, he thought, irritated his headache almost too much to think through. He took a deep breath, hoping that that would make it lessen.
Shane and Dustin bowed to each other, and began to spar while still carrying on the conversation. "Dude, motocross will always be better than skating, that's just a fact," Dustin said, and Shane blocked his kick as he replied, "Then you need a dictionary to tell you what 'fact' means!"
Cam shook his head, got up, and moved around them to leave. His thoughts were mixed now that he had nothing to distract him. Hunter had been on his mind, and he wasn't happy about it. He hated the fact that Hunter was in pain, but at the same time, he wished the crimson thunder ranger would get some help.
Hunter was walking along the harbor, thinking about not thinking about anything. It wasn't working very well, but it was worth the effort. What is it with me and water? he asked himself amusedly.
He made his way along slowly, wanting to postpone going home as long as he possibly could. While he was walking, however, someone bumped into him from the opposite direction.
"Sorry," he said automatically, but after that all Hunter could do was stare, his skin going hot and cold as pure terror ripped through him with a memory.
~Jake was glaring at him, a piece of brick grasped in his hand. "I swear you little dipshit, if you say one word I will bash your skull in." Hunter, 6, cowered in the corner of the wall on the porch. He wished someone knew now. Even if they did put me in a small room, at least I wouldn't have this to deal with, he thought, a trail of sweat tickling it's way down his back.~
Hunter came back to himself, the guy he saw a few feet away now. "Jake?" he said in a harsh whisper. "Yeah?" the crimson ranger heard, and started walking in the opposite direction before the guy, Jake, could realize who he was.
Hunter jogged until he reached his home, and slammed the door shut behind him. I need to tell him. If Jake is here … I'm going to need all the help I can get, he thought, and headed for Blake's room.
About a second after he knocked, he opened the door, not bothering to wait for a response from his brother. After taking a deep breath, he asked, "Blake, can I talk to you?" When Blake nodded, frowning, Hunter sat down in a chair facing the bed.
"I—I know you've been worried about me, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you before now," the words rushed out of his mouth. "I-I've been having these really bad nightmares, and it's from before I was adopted by Mom and Dad. And, in these flashbacks, I'm being raped by a guy who I think is my biological brother." He stopped, rubbed his hands over his face.
Blake had a look of horror on his face. He couldn't believe that his brother had kept this from him. The rational part of his brain told him that Hunter would've been scared brainless, but he was slightly past that. Now, all he wanted to do was protect his brother. And to do that, he would need to listen, and be there.
With another deep breath, Hunter continued with the last bit of information from today. "Blake, I think he's here. I think Jake is in Blue Bay Harbor."
Okay, that is it people! I am so sorry that it's taken me lifetimes to finish this, and I hope you liked this chapter. Please don't forget to review, because it always means a lot to me. Blessed be, Chero