It was a cold, wet, rainy autumn night when newly ascended Caleb Danvers fought and defeated Chase Collins, the fifth and final bloodline of Ipswich Covenant of silence.
After all the effort he and his fellow Sons of Ipswich put into defeating this menace, his death seemed like the most satisfying of things.
So life returned to its bizarre normalcy for the four sons, where they could bask in the glory of knowing that they single handedly defeated great evil that threatened to destroy everything. A glory that none of them could share, of course, but glory nonetheless.
Days, weeks and months pass, and soon it shows that the Covenant's troubles didn't end with the apparent death of Chase Collins. The cold, unforgiving month of January came and a new enemy surfaces that cannot be defeated with strength and wit, and the boys are left helpless facing the betrayal of one of their own.
"Nice. Very nice. I like this new budget increase."
Three of the four boys were sitting on the benches by the pool, admiring the newest addition to the swim team. Half a dozen lovely buxom cheerleaders.
Reid, who seemed the most interested, was the one who spoke first. He was eyeing a girl as blonde as he on the right side, dressed in a short dark blue skirt and a matching shirt that could pass off as a considerably conservative bra. She had a bellybutton ring that jiggled at every shake of her pompoms, and a chest that did the same. Her smile was too wide to be real, but the authenticity of a girl's happiness wasn't what turned Reid Garwin on.
Pogue, sitting on Reid's left, had his eyes glued on the pretty brunette in the middle of the six girls. Kate winked cheekily at him and turned to face the rest of her team, before showing them the proper way to stretch and her amazing flexibility. Pogue whistled under his breathe, wiping sweat off his brow in a mocking is it just me, or is it hot in here?
Tyler was sitting on Reid's left, and was looking at the cheerleaders absent-mindedly, without saying a word, wondering why the swim team captain and the self-appointed leader of the sons of Ipswitch would miss out on one of the most important meets of the year.
"I like the uniforms." Pogue said, not taking his eyes off his girlfriend who was practicing her choreography in an extremely sensual way to tease her sweetie. "And the choreography. And whatever the hell they do to their skin to make it so damn hot…"
His voice trailed off when the swim coach approached the threesome. He stood in front of them for a moment, staring at each and every one of them and the empty space on the bench beside Pogue that was usually occupied by Caleb. The coach sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Alright guys. I need four and I only see three. This is a problem."
"Sorry coach, we haven't seen Caleb all day, and he never told us he was gonna skip practice." Reid said.
The man sighed again.
"Well, the three of you get in the pool. Ten lengths warm-up, stat."
The three boys obediently stood from their bench, removed their shirts and dived into the deep end of the Olympic pool with a particularly large splash.
Lying did not occupy an important place on Caleb Danvers' To-Do list.
Not only did he deem it an immoral, evil and disgraceful thing to do, but he was awful at doing so.
It was entirely thanks to his incredible love for his friends and the constant fear of being discovered that he managed to keep the secret of the power as a secret should be.
And it was this same love and fear that convinced him that lying today would be the best option for everyone, including himself.
He first noticed it this morning, after taking a shower and getting dressed in his school's dark blue and black uniform. He reached for his tie and noticed that his hands seemed different than usual. After closer examination he realized that his left hand – his spotty, wrinkled veiny left hand – had aged without waiting for the rest of his body.
Caleb didn't like to panic either. "only cowards panic." He stated most of the time. But today he panicked for the first time in five years with the slow realization that the abuse of power he had used at Putnam barn was catching up with him.
Maybe he believed that since he used his power for a good cause it would have no effect on his body. Or maybe he thought he was stronger than the addiction and the consequences. Whatever it was, he realized, it wasn't true, and he was already beginning to age, barely four months after he had ascended.
"This is even worse than Dad." He whispered to himself. He was sitting on his bed, his left hand lying limply of his lap, twitching now and then.
His father hadn't started aging until his late thirties. Caleb had barely turned eighteen, he had barely ascended before it began to show.
He willingly missed his swim meet. He couldn't let the guys see his hand, and he hadn't even checked if other parts of him were affected. He had used the time to think, and came up with very little possible actions.
The obvious one was to lie, and pretend nothing was wrong until he found a better way to deal with the problem. This would avoid panic for Reid, Tyler, Pogue and Sarah. It would also give him time to think it over, maybe find a solution. Maybe this had nothing to do with his Using.
The second more honorable possibility was to tell the guys, panic together and find a solution together.
For the first time in his life Caleb Danvers chose the least honorable option.
He slipped on a pair of leather gloves – no use drawing attention to his hand by wearing just one – grabbed his bag once more and stood from his bed. He walked down the stairs, out the front door and drove his car to school almost an hour late.
This is going somewhere, i promise. Criticism is appreciated, good or bad, if it improves the story.
xoxo