Wesley
The sky was covered with heavy gray clouds and the color seemed to bleed into the streets I was walking through, after I stood off a train at Surbiton Station. At last I've arrived at the threshold of the house, that I was looking for and pressed a buzzer by one of the side doors.
I suddenly wished that I was dressed better, ridiculous thought. Probably a result of how damn strange this situation was. I didn't have time to think about it for too long, because heavy steps sounded from the other side of the doors and a chubby, bald, middle-aged man opened the doors. He looked me up and down expectantly. He used to have a lot more hair and less of the belly but I recognized him instantly and my heart jumped into my throat threatening to strangle me.
"Dad?" I stammered suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of intensity, that I have never let myself feel. At least not since shortly after the last time I have seen the man, that was now gaping at me. "Wesley?" He whispered. "Yes dad." I wanted to say more but my voice broke and I realized that I was crying. Hot tears streamed down my face and sobs made my entire body shake violently.
"Come in." He said after a short while and I saw tears in his eyes. I entered a narrow hallway filled with shoes and jackets and skates and a scooters.
I wanted to kick off my shoes and hurry into the kitchen but I was a guest now, so I carefully stepped around the stuff in the hallway and followed my father to the living room. He stood there and looked at me, his eyes and face were red and he looked shocked. Then, as if arriving at a decision, he stepped forward and embraced me. I awkwardly hugged him back now crying in the earnest. We stood like that for a while and then he pulled away and wiped at his face with one hand the other still resting on my shoulder.
"I've lost all hope of ever finding out what happened to you." He stopped and grimaced. "And you are alive." Tears streamed down his face and I was crying too. "Where is mom?" I asked. "Picking Molly from choir." He said. "Molly is your sister. She is fifteen, but your mom won't let her take the train alone, if she can avoid it." Focusing on his talk helped me to get a hold of the most violent feelings, but this news woke new ones, of loss. Of all that life with them, that I have missed out on, I had a sister. "Sit down. I'll get you some tea." He said and disappeared in the kitchen. I took off my backpack and sat in the corner of a leather sofa placing the backpack at my feet. It contained all my belongings, that would be my laptop and few changes of clothes. I noticed pictures of me hanging on the opposite wall, a baby, a toddler, a proud actor in some school play, that I didn't really remember and a teenager with too long thin limbs, looking clearly displeased during a trip to Lake District. There were also pictures of other child, a girl I didn't know... My sister Molly. Soon dad returned with a cop and a little kettle.
He placed it all on a low table in front of me and sat down in an armchair beside the sofa. "What happened to you?" He said finally. And I wanted to feed him the cover story, that I have prepared with Riley, but I just couldn't. So I shortly told him the truth. Leaving the dragons part out. I was a hacker and got kidnapped by a criminal organization, which used me to their purposes for five years, until I have escaped them. Then I was hiding for twelve years more out of fear for retaliation. But few weeks ago the organization was attacked and dealt a serious blow, so now I didn't need to hide anymore.
My dad listened to everything I've said and I wanted it to go on forever, because I feared what would happen next. But in the end I was done and we sat in silence for a moment. "What... What happened to you?" I asked at last.
My dad pressed his lips together and for a moment a haunted look passed through his face. "When you disappeared without a trace..." He sniffed. "At first we notified police, we've been looking for you, spreading posters and flyers..." He looked away. "After few weeks I had to go to work again. Your mom... got fired. She was in such despair, she stopped eating and sleeping. She couldn't not knowing if you had food to eat..." I was aware that my kidnapping must have been a blow to my family, but imagining something is one thing, and hearing about it is something completely different. I felt unbearable stab of guilt for causing them all this pain. "It lasted for more than a year, until your aunt lost her patience and forced your mom to go see this therapist. It slowly helped your mom and even I have talked to them once or twice. It took some time but we've put ourselves back together. And then we got your sister." He sighed. "It helped a lot. Your grandma died around that time. I'm sorry lad." He squeezed my hand, that was resting on the armrest of the sofa. "But she's left your mom and your aunt her house in Salisbury. They sold it and it fetched some money, so your mom didn't have to work that much. We regretted greatly that we didn't give you more of our time." He cried again and I could not take it anymore. "I'm sorry." I said and he squeezed my hand again. "What for? You were just a kid. You were alone and afraid. None of this is your fault." I felt like a huge weight lifted from my chest and gratitude surged through me. My dad wiped his eyes. "Your sister Molly, she has lightened up our life. We've never forgotten about you, but she gave our love and regrets somewhere to go. They should be here shortly, come with me to the kitchen I need to warm some food. You're staying, aren't you?" I felt relief again, I feared irrationally that they would have forgotten me or not wanted me anymore, even if I didn't admit it to myself. We moved to the kitchen and I noticed, that it was new as well as the rest of the flat. "Your mom wouldn't move." My father said. "We could have taken over your grandma's house or move somewhere, where you can get more for the money. But she wouldn't move, she imagined that one day you'd come back..." Painful expression passed his face and he continued. "And you have. You have." He smiled through tears. "So we bought this flat and got it shined up. The prices went up so much, that it was a great investment. And we waited and now you're back." He found a pot in the refrigerator and sat it on the hob. Another pot he filled with water and sat over to boil. Savory smell filled the kitchen as the contents of the first pot got warmer. "We're having leftovers." He announced. I could see the change beyond the age and hair. I used to eat fish and chips or frozen pizza ever since I remembered.
Then I heard the front door open and froze. After emotional ordeal of meeting my dad I dreaded to meet my mother. My mother who got so hurt, who waited for me all these years.
"We can look at it later, daddy has made food ready." A familiar voice drifted in from the hall, when my father rushed out to greet them. "Monica, we have a guest." He said as I moved to stand in the kitchen doors. Mom looked at me at first confused and then paled horribly. Unlike dad she has changed so much. She have always been chubby, but now she was thin and had this bitter look around her mouth and jaw. She stepped forward and grabbed my hand as if to check if I was real and then started... to wail. The sound she made was something between a hurt animal and what I imagined banshees must sound like. Behind her stood a tall girl, her brown hair were plaited and hang over her shoulder in a long braid and she watched mom with horror. She came closer and put her arms around my mom in a gesture both comforting and protective. I started crying again and so did dad and for a while it seemed we would never stop, but then we heard hissing from the kitchen and dad rushed past me to turn down the heat under the pot with water and Molly followed to help him. Mom gripped my arms and stared into my face in a way, that I would have found very uncomfortable in any other situation. Tears streamed down her face that was crumpled with emotion.
At last she spoke. "Wesley... My boy, my baby." And hugged me and I slumped down all I could to fit into her embrace. She smelled the same and this would have made me cry even more if it was possible. "Mom." I started, and she hugged me even harder.
"Food is ready." My dad said and mom released me and pointed for me to go to the table.
It was a very strange meal. I forced myself to eat some spaghetti with meat sauce and cheese, partly because it tasted really good but also because I was hungry after long journey and all that crying. But mom didn't touch her food, she just sat and devoured me with her eyes. She didn't ask me many questions and I realized, that she didn't want to risk breaching any dangerous topics because of Molly, so I told the story I have told my dad between bites.
After the dinner was cleared off the table we stayed seated and Molly placed dishes in the dishwasher, while mom told me about Molly, aunt Bridget and my grandmother who died few years after I was taken away. And then it was time for Molly to go upstairs, because she still had some homework for tomorrow and we moved to the living room.
My dad offered me some ale and I accepted. Even though I preferred energy drinks, I would not pass up on having a beer with my dad.
Mom got some cider and then she wanted to know everything. So I told her, with as many details, as I could safely reveal. She was holding my hand all the time.
"And after you've escaped together with this other boy Riley?" She asked. I've made Riley younger than me in my story, because he has not aged a day during the twelve years we have spent together, and in case my parents should ever meet him, they better not expect a man in his late sixties.
"At first we were just hiding. But this organization casually kidnapped kids with special abilities and turned them into loyal slaves. So we started to reach to them and help them to escape and hide..." My mother squeezed my hand almost painfully and I could see sudden pride shining in her eyes. Great now I was a hero. But maybe I was?
"What happened with this Riley?" My dad asked. "He stayed in the states. Many of the kids we've rescued had nowhere to go, so now he is still taking care for them until they grow up and provides them with a community afterwards." Seeing my parents reactions to Riley's story made me realize more than ever, who Riley was, the importance of his work, even if the "kids" he was helping were dragons. He has shown me the "human" face of dragon kind and whatever he thought about feelings, he had a great heart, that burned fiercely for others.
We've talked long into the night and then I was allowed to sleep on a mattress in a spare room, that was filled with Molly's many projects.
Three months have passed. I moved into an apartment nearby and went through complex process of reclaiming my identity. It ended with DNA test after which the court officially declared me my parent's son Wesley Higgins. Mom made a funny face when this was requested, but it turned out to be one of her jokes. She joked and laughed all the time and Molly told me that she has never really heard mom laugh before.
I got a part time job in an online sports betting company, to avoid any suspicion about where my money was coming from. It was difficult as I was a thirty-one years old man without any official education and have not existed few weeks ago, but I gave them small sample of my abilities and they wanted me on their team.
I spent as much time as I could with my family, and since mom had to go back to work after she has used all her remaining vacation, it was mostly Molly. She was a peculiar girl, reminded me of hatchlings. She danced, sang, sew dresses and costumes, played guitar and wrote songs. She accepted me instantly. After growing up in the shadow of my disappearance and mom's hope and longing, she was kind of waiting for me to return too and had a place ready for me in her heart. On my side I liked her instantly, she had typical teenage issues especially with mom, who was very protective of her. And she was full of drama, but she was my sister and after missing my family for such a long time I treasured her.
One afternoon we were laying on a sofa in their living room watching RuPaul's drag race, which she was a huge fan of, when she suddenly asked. "Was Riley your boyfriend?" I froze. "No." I said. "But you loved him." She stated. "You are too young for me to tell you about such things." I tried in desperation. How could she have gleaned a secret, that I was hiding even from myself? "I'm fifteen. I know where babies come from." She teased me. "They certainly do not come from what you're suggesting." I could not help it. "Have you got a picture?" She asked. "What?" I said. "A picture. You two have lived together for twelve years and we haven't seen any pictures of this Riley." She explained smugly. "We avoided having our physiognomy captured at all costs, we were fugitives!" I tried to make her see reason but also did not want to lie to her unnecessarily. "I do." I said and reached to my backpack to take out my laptop. I had a picture of Riley's human form from his files in Talon. I have saved the picture before I have given him the file. As if some part of me knew, what he would come to mean for me... And that one day this picture would be all I had left of him. I opened my laptop, quickly decrypted the file and turned the screen to show it to her. Something in my chest tightened seeing his chiseled features. Molly made a very unladylike sound of delight. "Okay brother, I thought you were gay, but this guy would convert anybody! Oh my...!" Gay it sounded so easy in her mouth. I was human. It was if possible even more hopeless. I carefully closed the file and put the laptop away. "He was never interested in me that way." I said truthfully. "We were just friends." Molly patted my shoulder. "He is a fool." She stated giving me one of her serious looks. "You are a great guy." "Thanks sis." I said with crooked smile. "Do not tell mom and dad, no need to distress them." I said. "Tell them that he is insanely cute? I asked you because I happened to hear mom asking dad about that. Dad said Does it matter? And mom said, that no but she just wanted to understand you better." It was unexpected. Apparently when people loved you they could see right through you. Well that said something about the matter. Thirteen years together, sharing rooms and sometimes beds and Riley didn't suspect anything... Or he didn't care. Old pain blossomed in my heart and I wanted to end the topic. "This really sucks for me Molly, let it be." She smiled sadly at me and turned the sound up as the episode arrived at the lip-sync for your life part.
Molly's nosy questions awakened a storm in me, that I was suppressing ever since Crescent Beach. I did not notice the exact moment when I had developed this huge crush on Riley. We lived together dodging Talon and the Order, freeing hatchlings and then one day he was out to meet with a hatchling in human training and disappeared. He was chased by the Order and it took him three days to make sure he could contact me. During these three days, not knowing what happened to him, I realized that the feelings of worry and despair not only concerned the future of the hatchlings in our underground but mostly originated from the fact, that the very thought of life without Riley was unbearable.
Bloody hell! Damn my luck. I knew from the start that I could not count on my feelings being reciprocated. It was not because Riley was straight, it was worse than that. He was a dragon and only really believed in mating for procreation. But I was the closest person in his life. And I was deluding myself that I also was the most important. We were together and I was content... Until Ember.
Seeing this part of him revealing itself made me so jealous I could barely stand it. I was not subtle about it, but count on dragons to completely overlook human emotions, when they might be inconvenient for them.
Bloody hatchling chose the soldier of St George and rejected Riley. And I should have been happy but seeing him suffer and not being able to ease his sadness was just another form for torture. And then Mist made her move on him and feelings of resentment for being denied grew to unbearable intensity. So when the opportunity arisen, I ran. Oh, I wanted to see my family. But my life was there with him and I didn't have to leave forever to see my parents. I just wanted to get away from this... beautiful... creature that I loved and desired so much. And that was completely indifferent. Now that I knew how deeply he could love someone else... Riley saved Garret's life so many times, he was caring for him as if the soldier was his beloved, not a rival. Because of her. Because of what Garret meant to Ember. And after that, I could no longer delude myself, and the pain was just too strong. And here I was. And the pain was catching up to me.