Heya friends! I've manged to get one more chapter up before we see the New Year roll in! Hopefully it'll be a good one!
Got to work before I can party tomorrow though! Booo! But at Least I got a couple of days off then things will go back to normal! Yay!
Hope you enjoy my latest chapter! Might want to get your tissues or prepare your sleeves though!
Chapter Thirty-One
Remember?
In his room, Callum was looking through the treasures he had stolen from the Hate Preacher, his brother and wife, if one would call it treasure.
After his adventure topside, he had stolen money and credit cards, along with items such as address books and photos of all the members of the church, and their families. He had also found connections to other cults just like them, and he would target them too.
He was going to compile a list of all the families, then begin his crusade on them. Starting with the Straight Truth's Church in Chicago.
"The more reason for me to leave Mutopia." he thought to himself as he looked at the other cults he had listed, "They live in other states, and I will make it my mission to track them down...and destroy them all! I can use my wings to fly to different states and use my ability to blend into the darkness to sneak into places!"
He smirked more as he looked at his list then packed it in a bag then walked over to the mirror in the corner and studied his features.
"Those bastards saw fear when they looked into my eyes, and I made them go insane! I never felt such a high! How I long to do it again with this body!"
He narrowed his eyes and his beak curled more in a smirk as he thought more about what he could do to torture the unfortunate souls he encountered.
"Most of these cults preach against homosexuality!" he said "Maybe I could force them to watch gay porn? Or something similar! I can see it now! Tying them up and forcing them to watch such stuff! Or rub a picture of their parents or children against their crotches! Like I did with that Preacher!"
He licked his beak as he continued to think hard.
"Some say death is the best punishment, but in a way it is a release! I gave that Hate Preacher, his wife and Brother a fate worse than death! I drove them insane!"
The more he thought about it, he began to wonder if maybe he could visit his previous victims in the hospital or mental institutions to remind them that they were not free from him.
"I know where they're being treated." he thought as he studied his features more "Perhaps I could sneak in! And I'll show them that Diablo is always watching! That what they saw wasn't a dream or hallucination! They'll never recover from their trauma! And Boy will they deserve it!"
Just then a knock on the door made him jump and he turned back from the mirror and ran to the bed before he quickly hid his belongings underneath before pulling the duvet down a little.
"Who is it?" he asked before standing up straight.
"Cal..." he heard his sister's voice on the other side.
"Oh, it's you." he growled "Very well, come in."
Mona pushed the door open and she swallowed as she saw Callum's eyes bore into her.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"Little brother." Mona said sucking in a breath "I...I need to talk to you about something."
"You wish to talk to me?" Callum asked cocking an eyebrow.
Mona sighed.
"Jake and I have given you time to yourself to get used to your new form, and find your wings." she said "I know you hate us, but I feel I need to try and break the ice, especially since myself and the turtles will be returning to New York before too long."
Callum said nothing but he sat down on the bed and gestured his hand to a chair next to the dressing table inviting Mona to sit down, which she did.
Mona sucked in a breath, she was so unsure of how to break it to Callum what Hacker had shown her and what she had been told by Tyroth, but she didn't want to come straight out with it, so she decided to try another way to ease into the subject.
"Cal..." she said "Do you remember our early years?"
Callum frowned.
"We were so close." Mona said "I remember all of it like yesterday."
Callum frowned harder, yet the memories of him and his older sister flooded into his head.
"You used to help me with my homework." Callum said "You encouraged me when I wanted to try out for basketball."
Mona looked up.
"Yes," she said "I said if you wanted to do anything, that you should do it!"
Callum couldn't help the small smile that cracked his beak.
"You also used to come to me when you had worried." Mona said "Remember? When it came to bullies, trouble with homework, or other stuff?"
Callum nodded.
"I could talk to you about everything, I never really spoke to mum and dad about my problems."
"You didn't trust them as much as you trusted me." Mona said.
"That's right." Callum replied.
"I can remember all the secrets you told me." Mona continued "And I'm sure you remember a few of mine."
"You first." Callum said.
"I remember the incident of the tree." Mona reminisced "You climbed a tree to find a birds nest."
"Our sibling secret." Callum said "I remember mum and dad told me not to go nesting, one because it was dangerous and disrespectful to the birds, but I was merely curious."
Mona nodded.
"I told mum and dad that you can fallen down a rabbit hole that had resulted your broken ankle, just so you wouldn't be reprimanded, and I helped look after you until you recovered."
"I was forever grateful." Callum said "Mum and Dad would have grounded me for disobeying them, especially since they warned me that's what they would do."
"Yeah." said Mona "Then there was Jake and the duckling."
Callum looked down sadly as he remembered.
"Another of our sibling secrets." he said "I never saw Jake more upset."
"There were times he just burst into tears and we had to keep him composed when we were around others." Mona said "I remember one summer afternoon on a Sunday, we went to that spot where he buried the duckling, and we reflected, and we stayed there until it was time for us to return home for dinner."
"It was so peaceful there." Callum added "Jake choose the right spot for that duckling to be buried."
"He did." Mona smiled weakly, tears were prickling in her eyes.
After so many days of Callum giving her the cold shoulder, they were talking again just like the old days.
She had spent many nights praying that this would happen and now it was, yet she knew there was still a lot of ice to break through and she still hadn't spoken of Hacker's discovery. She had only just started talking to her baby brother again, and there was now that fear that he would be angry at her when she spoke of it and everything would be undone.
But she knew she had to tell him, only for his safety, and she only prayed he would listen.
"I remember you sneaked out to a party once, when mum and dad told you not to." Callum said "You told Jake and I that you were going to sneak out and swore us to secrecy."
Mona blushed as she remembered.
"I was sixteen." she said "My friends were going to this local house party, it was a Friday night, and after all they told me, I decided I wanted to go, but mum and dad told me that I couldn't as they said I was too young and underage."
"Jake and I agreed that we would cover you, and we kept our word, yet it all backfired." Callum said.
"Yeah!" Mona chuckled "It was 2am when I got back, I was a little tidally as I had had a couple of wines and wasn't used to alcohol! But luckily two of my friends made sure I got back safe, and I sneaked in through the back door."
"But dad was in the bathroom and he heard the door open and thought he heard burglars, and he stood at the top of the stairs as you crept up."
Mona blushed even harder.
"Mum and dad were so mad I had disobeyed them." she said "They grounded me for a month! I think the lecture they gave me was enough to make me learn my lesson, but after feeling so drunk and ill, I decided to stay away from those kinds of parties and stick to sleepovers and camping in the garden."
"I remember you confronted us after you were sent to your room and asked if we'd snitched, but we hadn't." Callum said "And we proved our loyalty to you by letting you play with our DS when you were banished to your room, and when you babysat us, we lied to mum and dad saying you were doing chores, but we helped you so you could finish quicker and watched TV and played games."
"I was grateful to you for that." Mona smiled "I told you both I was the luckiest sister in the world!"
"And we said we were the luckiest brothers in the world." Callum said, his voice cracked slightly and Mona saw his eyes glistening.
"Callum." she said "I wish things were like they used to be, we were so close."
"We were." Callum said "Those memories, I'll never forget them, and I doubt I will experience them again."
"But we can brother!" Mona said, "We can create new memories! We can wipe the slate clean!"
Callum looked up.
"Can we?" he asked.
Mona stood up, hope filling her being.
"We can!" she said, unable to stop the smile that was forming on her lips "We can start afresh! We can forget everything! I forgive you for what happened in Wisconsin after I disappeared, you're not that person anymore, in more ways than one." she added as she looked at Callum's mutant form "Think about it! You can use your new form to help others! You can start a new life! Like we said before!"
Callum looked at Mona, yet he didn't speak.
In his mind he was thinking about his recent activities and how he knew he would have to tell Mona the truth about that, and that he felt he didn't belong in Mutopia.
Yet seeing her speak to him like this, it was starting to eat at his heart, emotions were filling up within him, and his anger he had felt before towards her was diminishing.
Tears formed in his eyes.
"Mona." he started but Mona was right in front of him and she was holding out her hands to him.
"Brother." she said "Please, let this be a new start, I want nothing more than to start afresh with you, Jake feels the same, and the Mutopians want to accept you fully as a member, and if you work hard enough at your flying and use your new talents as a mutant, you could be a Chicago Knight!"
Callum looked up again silently, his throat was hurting, and he bit his tongue to stop himself from breaking down.
"Callum...little brother." Mona pleaded "Stand up, and hold me, and let me hold you! I want you back, I want my baby brother back."
The Raven swallowed hard, tears filled his eyes as he glared, yet he stood up and before he could do anything, Mona threw her arms around his neck.
"Callum!" she wept softly, her heart bursting with so many emotions as she hugged her little brother tightly "My dearest baby brother! I've missed you so much! I've wanted nothing more than to hold you again!"
Callum felt the tears he had been holding back fall, his arms hung at his sides as he let Mona hold him, her body was shaking and she sobbed softly.
So many emotions were running through his body, feeling contact from his older sister was a bitter-sweet feeling, he had missed her so much when she disappeared and he had felt so lost without her.
But he knew if he wanted to continue his path, he would have to say goodbye to her, but not without thanking her for mutating him.
In a way it was breaking his heart that he would have to leave her behind, but he knew that she would never agree to his ways of thinking, as it was not the way of her family, nor that of Mutopia.
Lifting his hands he placed them on her back and rested his head on her shoulder.
Feeling Callum return her embrace Mona wept more and held him tighter.
"My brother!" she said softly "In spite of everything, I love you! I will always love you! I never stopped loving you!"
Callum swallowed hard and tried to compose himself and Mona slowly pulled away from him then placed her scaly hands on his feathered cheeks.
Callum looked down and blinked and Mona saw how wet his eyes were from the tears than had fallen.
She wondered if she had gotten Callum back to her enough to bring up the subject of what Hacker saw, but she was hesitant to, she didn't want to loose him again.
Meanwhile, Callum had gathered himself enough to speak and placed a taloned hand on hers before pulling it down gently.
"Mona." she said "In the days since I mutated, I have been trying to get used to this new life, and I admit it has not been easy."
"I understand..." Mona started but Callum stopped her.
"Let me speak," he said "And don't interrupt."
Mona nodded and bit her lip as she waited for Callum to speak.
"I have been trying to get used to my new body, and now, I believe I have come to accept it, as I can do so much with it."
Callum held up his taloned hand.
"I have talons, a beak and wings, as well as feathers black as ebony, for these gifts, I thank you for them."
Mona felt a smile curl on her lips and tears of happiness started to form in her eyes, yet Callum spoke again.
"And with this this new form, I know my purpose."
Mona looked at Callum confused then as he said 'Purpose'
Callum looked at his sister silently, then as Mona read his features she began to make sense of what he was thinking of.
"Callum...?" she started, not wanting to continue.
"I wanted to tell you sooner." Callum said "But I know what I am now, and what I choose to be..."
"Callum." Mona spoke again, yet the words that followed felt like sour thorns in her mouth "Little Brother, I...I...I heard about what's been going on topside..."
Callum's beak then turned into a sinister smirk.
"The Hate Preacher." he said "And his family...they sure as hell deserved everything they got!"
Mona's eyes widened.
"No..." she whispered, her hands sliding from Callum's face as she put a good foot of distance between them "It is true..."
Callum glowered.
"You know?" he demanded.
"Hacker's cameras!" Mona blurted out "He called me, Jake and Tyroth to his computer room and he caught your image on the cameras leaving Mutopia!"
Callum glared and his beak curled into a sneer.
"That damn spider!" he hissed.
"Cal!" Mona looked up at him pleadingly "Please...tell me it's not true!"
Callum glared hard.
"There's no hiding anything from you sis." he said "So why bother denying it? Yes! I am the Preacher's attacker! But admit it sis! He deserved it!"
Mona felt her heart pounding harder, and she felt her legs tremble and she held the dressing table to stop herself from falling over in shock.
She had heard the truth from her brother's own mouth and it hit her harder than a ton of bricks.
"He deserved it Mona!" Callum growled "He deserved is punishment! As did his wife, his brother! And his little brats!"
Mona looked up at Callum as his eyes flashed and he smirked.
"You gave me a new body sis, and a new purpose! And for that, I thank you!"
Oh Gosh! Callum has admitted to Mona about his activities! And after such a touching moment when we all thought things were going to be okay!
What will be the outcome of this? Sorry to end on a cliffhanger, but we will find out the result in due course! Which will be in 2019!
Hope you all have a very happy new year and I'll see you in 2019! Have fun and stay out of trouble!
Love Bloodrayne666