A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I sort of hit a wall with the plot, and had to figure out what to do. There's another chapter coming, to tie up all the loose ends, but it could go on for longer. enjoy!
Inner Struggles
Chapter 8
"You're the only person who can see me, so, your friends won't be able to save you this time. You'll have to deal with this on your own," Chase said lazily. Reid formed a ball of energy in his hand, ready to throw it. "No, you don't want to do that Garwin."
"Why the heck not?" Reid asked, pulling his hand back, about to let it fly at Chase. "Why am I the only one who can see you?" he asked, daring Chase to say something stupid.
Chase smirked. "I have to get back at Caleb somehow," he said. "I thought, as opposed to going against him again, I'd go for his friends."
"Why did you choose me?" Reid asked. "Caleb isn't that interested in my well being. You would have been better off doing this to Tyler or Pogue." Chase laughed. "What?" Reid asked.
"It's just funny that you said that. I had that same thought, but then it occurred to me. You're the only one who would let this come this far. If it had been Sims or Perry, they would have gone straight to Caleb when they sensed any problem. You on the other hand are just unstable and stubborn enough, that this would amount to this.
Reid thought about this for a minute, before releasing the ball of energy from his hand. Chase dodged it, smirking again. "Nice try Garwin," he sneered. "Let's take this outside, before you're friends come in here and see you throwing energy balls at nothing." Chase disappeared, and appeared outside the window. Reid followed him.
"Just answer this, didn't Caleb kill you?" Reid asked, keeping his distance from Chase.
"He thought he did, but he didn't. After the fire men scoured the area for my body, they came back and said that they didn't find it. He didn't know that I'd escaped when he'd run into save his little girlfriend," Chase explained.
"That makes more since," Reid said, throwing another blast of energy at Chase. This time it actually hit him, but he retaliated. Reid was knocked to the ground with an even stronger blast. "
"We need to go somewhere different, more private, so no one can hear you scream when I kill you," Chase said thoughtfully, thinking. "I have an idea. The place where the old Putnam barn stood. It seems like a fitting place." Chase somehow managed to disappear, pulling Reid with him. They appeared seconds later at the chared ground where Chase and Caleb had dueled it out.
Reid threw yet another energy blast Chase's way, but Chase caught it, and threw it right back at him. Chase then threw a charred piece of metal at Reid. Reid ducked just in time, but before he had a chance to recover, another one was headed his way. This one nicked his shoulder. Reid retaliated by throwing Chase against a tree about ten feet away. Chase slid down the trunk of it.
"I underestimated you, Reid," Chase got up, and picked Reid by the throat, Reid's feet dangling about a foot off the ground. He threw him as hard as he could against another tree. Reid got to his feet, massaging his head.
"How exactly is this going to get back at Caleb, if he's not even here?" Reid asked, getting tired of this.
"Good point. Let's just go back to his quaint little home." Once again, Reid found him self being pulled along. They ended up in the guest bedroom where Caleb and the two other boys were discussing what to do about Reid.
"What happened to you?" Tyler asked Reid, who was standing in front of the invisible Chase. Caleb got up and offered Reid his chair. Reid refused to sit down.
"Chase is right behind me. I know you can't see him, but he's there. Where's Emma?" Reid saw the confused looks on his friends faces.
"She went home. There's no one behind you," Pogue said. Just then, Reid felt Chase's hands around his neck again. Then Chase lifted him up several inches off the ground. Reid was struggling for breath, and had gone limp by the time he let him go. Tyler ran over to Reid's limp body and turned him onto his back. Much to his relief, he saw his chest rise and fall.
Chase gave up the invisible thing, and appeared. "You're dead!" Caleb said. Pogue lifted Reid up onto the bed, and turned to Caleb and Chase.
"That's what Garwin said. Don't you remember that they never found my body?" Chase asked, opening the door and stepping out into the hall. Caleb followed him, and then Tyler and Pogue. Pogue sent Tyler back in with Reid.
"So this whole thing with Reid was just to get back at me?" Caleb asked, stepping towards him. "Why not just come back to me?"
"Because, everyone knows the way to a man is through his friends. If your friends are in danger, you suffer more than if you were in danger," Chase said lazily. "Plus, it's a lot more fun to mess with someone who loses their temper."
"Why don't you just fight me, and leave my friends out of this?" Caleb asked, a energy ball forming in the palm of his hand. He threw it at Chase, not caring if they destroyed the whole house, as long as Chase didn't get out of this alive.
The ball hit Chase squarely in the chest, and he fought back by throwing another one at Caleb, who caught it. Caleb threw it back at him. Chase fell to the ground, but threw Caleb into the opposite wall. This went on for a couple minutes. Chase was weakening, and then Pogue stepped in. He'd just been watching this fight go on, not knowing when to interfere.
He shoved Chase hard into a closed door, the wood shattering on impact. Chase was laying on the floor, not moving. When Caleb went up to examine him, he was flung into the ceiling, landing hard on the floor by Chase. Pogue picked Chase by the neck, much as Chase had done to Reid, and only let go when he stopped moving.
"Caleb, he's out. What should we do?" Pogue asked, not knowing wether to finish the job or not. Caleb walked over and grabbed Chase's limp body by the shoulder, and dragged him out side. Caleb signaled for Pogue to go inside, and he did.
In the guest room, Pogue was relieved to see that Reid was conscious again. "Where's Chase?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
He's outside with Caleb. Caleb's going to kill him for real this time," Pogue answered, sitting down beside his blonde friend.
A few minutes later, Caleb walked into the room. "It's over," he said, sitting down in the chair. "He's dead for real this time." They sat in silence for a while, before Reid spoke up.
"I told you he was here," Caleb laughed, and got up. He went to check on his mother. "Does this mean I can sleep?" Reid asked, smiling. Pogue nodded, and Reid stood up.
"Let's go back to the school," Pogue stood up as well. "Hey Caleb," he said, leaning his head into the living room where Caleb was talking to his mother. "Reid, Tyler and I are going to head back." Caleb nodded.
Pogue, Reid and Tyler walked out side to where Tyler had parked. Tyler pulled out of the long drive way. "Are you alright, Reid?" Pogue asked. When he didn't get a reply, he turned around and saw Reid asleep in the back seat, leaning against the door.
Once they arrived at the school, Pogue woke up Reid. "Hey, we're back. Don't forget, we've got classes tomorrow." Pogue walked off to his dorm, and Reid and Tyler headed to theirs.