I'm both thrilled and saddened to inform everyone that this is the last chapter. I'm so happy everyone enjoyed reading this.
Chapter 45 "The Unforgiven"
Consciousness slowly began to seep into Pogue's body and very slowly the empath felt himself stir to awareness. His eyes cracked open and the blurry images of his surroundings puzzled him. He expected to see darkness and the cold stone floor of the dreaded room under his face but instead he was greeted with the sight of a plush bed cover.
Pogue blinked his eyes until they focused and raised his head. Sure enough he was resting on a plush, queen bed in an old bedroom. After scanning the length of the room with his hazy eye sight, it dawned on him almost instantly that he was in the colony house.
Confused, Pogue gently eased himself up into a sitting position, wincing as a searing pain rose through his right arm. The empath cursed softly and held his hand close to his face. His palm was cleaned free of blood and tightly bandaged with a cloth. He was relieved to see that the traces of the blue runes were gone from his arm as well.
Pogue then glanced downward and blinked when he saw his right leg was also blood free. In fact, he was even dressed in a new pair of jeans, that were a few sizes too big for him, and he could feel another bandage wrapped around his thigh where the knife had cut into him.
(Caleb?)
Pogue raised his head and scanned the length of the room once again. He was the sole occupant of the room but when he reached out with his powers he felt several presences not very fair away from him. He wasn't awake enough to feel out who they were but it was enough to motivate him to slide to the edge of the bed and gingerly to his feet. He wobbled slightly but managed to stay on both feet by gripping the bed frame and the doorway as he made his way out of the room.
The hall was empty and cold, like the old house normally was, and Pogue shivered slightly as the chill worked its way into his skin. After a deep, shuttering breath Pogue stepped out into the hall and sent a small strand of his mind out into the house. It touched several presences, one was obviously Gorman - Pogue couldn't help his sigh of relief from that. He was finally out of that damned place, none of this was a trick of Chase's - and Reid's presence was somewhere on the first floor but the one that instantly grabbed his attention was the faint, almost sleeping presence that originated at the end of the hallway he was standing in.
(Caleb?)
He set off towards the direction the vibe came from, glancing into every room he passed until he reached the lone bedroom at the end of the hall. He couldn't remember the last time he ventured this far into the old house, he normally preferred to stay on the house's lower levels because the aged look on the second floor normally creped him out. The bedroom looked old and recently dusted clean. He paused in the doorway, his eyes immediately drawn towards the room's only bed and the figure sprawled across it.
Caleb's eyes were lightly closed, signaling the teen wasn't awake. Pogue entered the room and approached the bed, his eyes never leaving Caleb's form. The teen's chest was slowly rising and falling, signaling breath and Pogue felt his chest un-tighten for the first time in 3 months. Caleb was alive, he was still alive.
The empath gently reached his hand out and pushed the hem of Caleb's t-shirt up, exposing the thin cut along the boy's left side, the wound Pogue inflicted with that horrid knife. The cut was scabbed over; looking like the wound had closed well over a year ago. Putnum really did it; Caleb was fully healed and alive.
The empath moved his hand upwards until it rested a few inches above Caleb's forehead. He closed his eyes and lightly touched Caleb's mind with his powers. He felt around gently - he didn't know how much damage had been done to Caleb's mind since the last time he reached for it - keeping a weary eye out for any traces of Chase's powers or anything worse. He lingered for a short time, relishing the silence in Caleb's mind before he felt the teen become aware of his presence. Caleb seamed hesitant at first to reach out to him but eventually the older boy - whether curious or too exhausted to fight - let their minds touch.
Pogue couldn't help but grimace; Caleb's presence felt so lost and weak. He tried to comfort the teen as best as he could and much to his relief, the older boy accepted it and let Pogue's thoughts cling to him.
(You're safe, he's gone.)
He repeated those words a few more times in his mind, hoping Caleb heard him. He did, the older boy emitted thoughts of relief into his mind before Pogue reluctantly broke the connection; both of them were too exhausted to keep it alive any longer then needed.
Pogue then opened his eyes and heaved a deep, relieved sigh. Finally things were okay. Just as the wonderful thought spread, Pogue felt someone's presence enter the room. He turned towards the doorway and felt himself freeze when he saw Gorman. The elder's face was blank as he gazed at the empath and Pogue grew confused when he didn't feel any emotions in the room from the elder.
Pogue swallowed and slowly slid off the edge of the bed, approaching the elder wearily.
"Gorman?"
The elder eyed him for another long moment before stepping forwards and throwing his thin arms around the teen's neck and shoulders in a tight embrace. Pogue stood there dumbfounded for a moment, he honestly couldn't remember the last time Gorman hugged him, before letting his shoulders fall in relief.
--
Tyler groaned low in his throat as he felt his eyes slowly open. His surroundings came in the form of a huge, dark blur that he couldn't recognize. Something warm was pressed against his temple and curious, he reached out his arm. His fingers brushed against soft, bare skin and relief immediately washed over him. His fingers knew the feel of that soft skin anywhere.
"Reid...?"
His voice was raspy and stiff but judging from the movement under his head, the person had obviously heard him.
"Hello Tyler." A strange voice purred.
Despite his tired state, Tyler pulled himself upright and gazed in fear at the person next to him. It wasn't Reid; his hair was dark and shorter then the blond's and his eyes were the wrong shade of blue. Before he could move away, a strong hand reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him closer. Tyler yelped and tried to wiggle away but the man was much stronger and he soon found himself pressed tightly against a well muscled chest.
"No–"
"Yes." The strange man interrupted. "I've been waiting a long time for you."
"What?"
Tyler raised his head and got a look at the man this time. His eyes were a pale blue color and as he gazed into them, a cold realization soon settled inside his stomach; he's seen those eyes many times before, but where?
"W–who are you?"
"You know who I am." He whispered quietly, sending another chill down Tyler's spine. "And you'll soon remember in time."
The man's face turned blank as he stared at the young boy in his arms. Fear settled inside of Tyler's throat as he felt those piercing eyes roam up and down his body. He jumped with one of the man's hands lightly grabbed his chin and forced their eyes to meet.
"Those eyes..." The man whispered huskily, staring right into Tyler's deep blue gems. "So fragile and innocent, they cut into my soul such a long time ago and broke me with every look."
Tyler swallowed and tried to look away but the man's fingers wouldn't let him.
"They're almost the same as his...Almost."
With that, the man pulled him closer and seized his lips in a firm but gentle kiss. Tyler growled in protest and attempted to push the man away but his grip was too strong. The man's lips were as cold as death but despite their coldness, Tyler felt something inside of his chest flutter. The lips felt so familiar to him but at the same time they didn't. They sure as hell weren't Reid's but he knew he felt them before on his skin.
But how could he? Reid was the only one he'd ever been with; he was a virgin at everything before the blond. So why was this man familiar?
Before he could dwell on the thought further, he felt the man pull him closer and one of his cold hands slid up his bare thigh. He shivered violently, suddenly realizing his own nakedness. God, the man he was pressed against was also naked. His stomach turned violently but he couldn't force himself to push the man touching him away. His body was craving the touch, the need for it felt like it hadn't been satisfied in years. Fear started building inside of his stomach as he felt the man's hand travel across his stomach and continue downwards.
No, this wasn't right. This man wasn't Reid so he shouldn't be doing this, he shouldn't want this.
"No."
Just as soon as the words ease from his mouth, Tyler felt another hand, this one much warmer touch his shoulder gently.
"Ty?"
That voice...
"Reid?"
As soon as he said the blond's name he felt the hands on his body move away, leaving him alone in the darkness, lingering and confused.
--
"Ty?"
Reid felt his heart lurch painfully as Tyler curled away from his hand on his shoulder and groaned quietly, almost like he was trying to move away from Reid's hand. The small rejection pained the blond greatly.
"Tyler?" He shook the teen's shoulder once again, harder.
Tyler stirred from the shake and Reid felt the air inside of his lungs diminish when he saw Tyler's blue eyes slowly open and fill with terror.
"Ty?"
The younger boy made a small sound in his throat and turned his head towards the direction Reid's voice came from.
"Reid?"
The blond felt his insides freeze when the blue-eyed teen whispered his name.
"Yeah Ty, it's me."
The words barely left his mouth before Tyler uttered another throaty sound and crawled towards him. Reid was to protest, not sure that Tyler should be moving that much when he had no idea what had happened to him in the first place, but Tyler had managed to wedge himself tightly against his chest before he could even opened his mouth. His arms immediately came around the younger boy's frame, so thankful he finally had Tyler back in his arms and judging from the way the younger boy curled into his arms, he was happy about it too.
"It's okay Ty, its okay." Reid whispered softly into Tyler's dark hair. "You're safe now."
--
"Here."
Pogue was drawn out of his thoughts when a steaming mug of tea was offered to him. He took it with a grateful nod and held the hot cup in-between his still hands, feeling the warmth slowly seep into his tired body.
"Thanks."
Gorman left his side and crossed the short distance to the study's window. "I assume that boy is long gone."
Pogue nodded, still looking down at his hands clasped around the mug's hot sides. "Yeah, the fucker's long gone."
The empath expected Gorman to scold him for his language but either the elder agreed with the chosen word or was too exhausted to say anything because the matter was quickly put aside and replaced by a thick silence that soon filled the room.
Pogue was exhausted, both physically and mentally. His fight with Chase had left many scars and the events that fallowed with Putnum left him drained and sickly. He still found himself glancing down at his right arm every few minutes, fearing that he'd see the blue runes slithering up his skin. He still had no clue what the hell all that was about but the pit in his stomach told him all he needed to know; it wasn't anything good.
Fear started settling inside of him before he could stop it and he cursed mentally when he saw Gorman turn around out of the corner of his eye and face him. The elder's powers were feeling his mind before he could blink but thankfully he managed to keep them from getting to far into his head.
"There's something you're not telling me isn't there?"
Silence once again filled the room but both covenant members retained their resolve. Pogue's shoulders tensed and the teen bit his lower lip slightly, debating on what details he should release to the elder about what happened in that damned place but the truth was he didn't know exactly where to begin. He chewed on his lower lip slightly as he mulled his thoughts over and eventually opened his mouth to speak but he felt his voice die in his throat as he did so.
Pogue blinked and cleared his throat to try again, hoping he could recap his fight with Chase and the events with John Putnum, but he felt his voice give out before he utter one single syllable. His right wrist suddenly burned and even though the pain was nothing more then a quick, sharp jab he almost dropped the mug clutched in his hands because of it.
(What the fuck?)
Across the room, Gorman must've felt Pogue's pain and confusion touch his mind because the elder's eyes narrowed and his face grew concerned.
"Pogue?"
Pogue nervously shuffled the mug around in his hands and thought about changing the subject, wondering if his voice would give out again.
"How'd you find us?"
Relief settled inside of Pogue's chest as he heard the words leave his mouth. At least he wasn't completely mute. He could feel Gorman sigh mentally from his annoying habit of always changing the subject by for once Pogue couldn't physically help it.
"William."
Pogue raised his head and gazed at the elder with confusion. "William?"
"Yes, he contacted me several hours ago, informing me that you, Caleb and Tyler could be found near the wreckage of the barn." The elder replied evenly and then his tone darkened. "And he also mentioned something else..."
Pogue felt himself squirm under Gorman's harsh gaze, knowing full what was coming.
(Damn you William.)
"Pogue, I'll ask once again. Did something happen that you're not telling me?"
The empath's throat tightened painfully once again, preventing him from speaking and the pain in his right arm flared up once again, almost like the pain was the thing that was halting his voice. It seamed he couldn't mention anything that had happened, something inside of him wouldn't allow it.
He knew Gorman could feel his discomfort because he didn't have the strength to conceal it. Within moments, Gorman was across the room to his side, one of his thin boney hands lightly placing it's self on Pogue's shoulder. The teen couldn't help but flinch from the feeling but Gorman didn't pull away. His powers immediately started ghosting against Pogue's mind and not knowing what else to do, Pogue took a deep breath and let him in; hoping the dark magic that prevented him from speaking didn't apply to his memories.
He swore a quick second later as the elder's intrusions caused a white, hot pain to slide down his back. His wrist kept burning and the pain soon grew to an intense level. Knowing that Gorman would soon feel his pain, Pogue grabbed onto the elder's mental presence and pulled it deeper into his memories. He wasn't physically able to speak of the events that happened so this was the only thing he could think of. He pulled forth the memories of his fight with Chase and felt Gorman carefully view them before gathering what he could of John Putnum.
The moment Gorman's powers touched the memory of when Putnum reviled himself, the elder's powers came to a full halt. He played a few more images for the elder to see but Gorman withdrew his powers after a short time. Pogue gasped loudly as the link was severed and felt himself grow lightheaded. Gorman's hands grasped his shoulders when his body threatened to fall out of the chair he was sitting in and held the teen tightly to the chair as a strong wave of vertigo came over him.
When the haze thinned Pogue's eyes were drawn to his right arm only to see the blue runes once again crawl up his skin. Gorman saw it too and grasped the teen's arm tightly, ignoring Pogue's pained hiss. He turned the limb over just in time to see the blue ink fad into the skin of Pogue's arm, leaving a dark red spot in its place.
Pogue blinked and turned to look at Gorman. The elder's face was a mix of confusion, astonishment and anger, cold, dark anger.
"Gorman?"
The elder drew back from the chair silently, his eyes never leaving Pogue's arm. No emotions could be felt in the air from the elder and Pogue's chest tightened with worry. He opened his mouth in an attempt to say the elder's name once again but he caught sight of someone entering the study out of the corner of his eye.
"Gorman there's someone–" Reid closed his mouth when he entered the study, sensing the heavy silence in the room. "Uh, should I come back?"
Both covenant members eyed the blond for a long time until Gorman broke the silence with a light sigh.
"No Reid. What is it?"
Reid's gaze moved back and both between the two of them a few dozen times, sensing the tension between the two, before he spoke. "There's someone, um, someone's at the door."
At that, the elder frowned and slowly walked through the room towards the hall, passing both of the teens without a second look. For some, unknown reason that cut right into Pogue's fragile state. It almost felt like Gorman couldn't even bring himself to look him in the eye. It took all of Pogue's remaining willpower to not let the tears gathering at the edges of his eyes fall. Unfortunately, one ran down the side of his cheek before he could stop it and he knew, instantly that Reid saw it.
"Pogue?"
Pogue took a deep breath and ran the corner of his sleeve along his cheek. When he spoke, his voice was even and emotionless.
"How's Tyler?"
Reid blinked, dumbfounded before answering. "He's fine. He woke up about ten minutes ago. Gorman checked him earlier and said he was fine and Chase free."
Even through his grief, Pogue the corner of his mouth curve into a grin. At least Tyler was ok, one less worry. Then again, Putnum admitted to protecting him.
"That's good. Reid, promise me something."
The blonde cocked an eyebrow, concerned. "Um, ok. What?"
"Look after Tyler."
The empath felt Reid's confusion deepen but thankfully, the blond nodded proudly.
"I'm not going to let anything happen to him again, I swear it."
Even as he said it, Pogue felt the truthfulness and dire need in the blond's words.
"Good and please, keep an eye on Caleb for me too."
Reid tensed but eventually nodded. "If he's the real Caleb I will."
"He is. He's gonna be a mess for a while so please— just try to help him out as best as you can please."
His voice cracked at the end, making the blond raise an eyebrow.
"Ok Pogue." Reid answered hesitantly. "I'll keep an eye on him."
With a sigh, Pogue nodded his thanks and wearily walked towards the doorway. As he moved out into the hall he heard Reid's footsteps behind him and when he glanced over his shoulder he caught a glimpse of the blond heading into the old kitchen at the other end of the hall. As the empath continued down the hall, his ears picked the sound of two voices. As he neared the foyer of the old house his eyes saw who they belonged too. Naturally one was Gorman but the second figure took him a moment to recognize; Evelyn Danvers.
When Pogue fully entered the foyer, both of them ended their conversation and turned towards him. Evelyn gasped loudly when she laid eyes on him and hurriedly crossed the distance between them.
"You." She cried as she threw her arms around Pogue's shoulders. "You, you wonderful, sweat, wonderful– my son, you gave me my son back–"
The rest of her words were drowned out by her heavy sobbing and Pogue ignored the tug at his heart strings from her words and wrapped his arms around her, letting the closest thing to a mother he had in the past three years cry heavily against his chest. He glanced over her head at Gorman and managed to glimpse a hint of sorrow in the elder's eyes before Gorman looked away and cleared his throat.
"He's on the second floor Evelyn, this way." He spoke, lightly placing his hand on Evelyn's shoulder.
The weeping mother pulled away and composed herself, giving Pogue a weak smile before allowing Gorman to lead her through the foyer. As they neared the stairs, Gorman glanced over his shoulder at the empath, his eyes once again expressionless.
"Wait for me in my study."
Pogue remained still, not even bringing himself to nod. His blue eyes bore into the back of Gorman's head as he lead Evelyn up the stairs and only looked away when the two were out of sight. When he couldn't hear their footsteps anymore, Pogue inhaled a deep breath and turned towards the front door. He wasn't in any mood to tolerate Gorman any more, or anyone for that matter. All he wanted was just to go home.
Without making a single sound, Pogue opened the front door and closed it quietly behind him. No one in the old house noticed.
--
Tyler's head rose when he heard the door of his room open. His chest tightened for a moment, fearing it was Chase or worse but the fear quickly sub-sided when Reid's frame came into view. The blond shut the door behind him and turned to reveal a few bottles of water and a handful of grain bars clutched in his arms which he dumped on the closest corner of the bed.
"This was the best I could find; apparently Gorman doesn't need to eat actual food." The blond grumbled.
Tyler eyed the food pile silently. He knew he should probably eat something but he couldn't bring himself too. His stomach was still in a tight knot from the earlier dream he had and he felt no desire to mention it to Reid. After all, who would mention to their boy friend about having a sex dream that didn't involve him? He still had no idea who the other person in the dream was or why the man was familiar to him. He knew he's never seen him before.
Tyler was drawn out of his thoughts when he felt the bed dip as Reid crawled onto it and scooted up behind him.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
Reid nestled against him and lightly rested his head in the crook of the younger boy's neck. "Well Pogue wouldn't tell me a damn thing about what happened. Do you remember anything?"
Tyler lowered his eyes and shook his head. "No. All I remember was sitting in Gorman's study with you, everything's blank after that. I feel like I've been asleep for a year though."
He heard Reid sigh against his neck. "I'm just glad you're ok Ty. I didn't know what to think when I woke up and saw that you were gone."
Feeling Reid's arms loosen their grip slightly, Tyler shifted until he faced the blond and buried his face against Reid's chest. He needed to feel the blond's warmth, needed that contact for some unknown reason although Tyler guessed it had something to do with the dream he had. The older boy held him tightly without complaint and Tyler only nestled closer. Reid felt nothing like the man in his dream, Reid was warm and his touches were much softer.
Reid drew s husky breath and started lightly kissing the side of Tyler's neck, causing the younger boy to moan softly.
"I love you Baby Boy."
Tyler's only answer was to nestle deeper into the blond's arms. But no matter how hard he tried not to think about it; in the back of his mind Tyler could still feel those unknown, cold hands touching his body.
--
The sound of the water falling over his shoulders seamed to be the only thing keeping Pogue's mind clear and the empath enjoyed the small distraction. Actually, Pogue was just happy to be back home – his real, non-Chase improvised home– and showering. The familiar surroundings and the hot water raining down on his tired shoulders should've been enough to ease his mind but unfortunately it wasn't. All he could see whenever he closed his eyes was that damned stone room and John Putnum's face.
"I'll see you in a year boy."
The man's voice kept repeating the one line inside of his head over and over again. A year, what would happen to him in a year?
Death?
"Would you die for him?"
A grim realization suddenly came over him. Death...of course. William said the ritual would kill Caleb if Chase did it and since Pogue himself...
(That has to be what that son of a bitch meant. A year...one fucking year?)
The realization sent a chill down the empath's spine and a white, hot pain up his arm. Pogue hissed loudly and glanced down at his right arm, seeing the blue runes suddenly appear on his skin and writhe up his arm until they faded into the skin once more. Pogue glared at his arm and slammed his fist hard into the tiled wall. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes but if they fell they were unnoticed by the rest of the water cascading down his face from the shower head.
(One year, one fucking year.)
There was no other way to put it, nothing he could say or think would erase that thought from his mind.
He had one year to live, one year until he was doomed to die in Caleb's place...
--
The phone in Pogue's living room rang for the course of twenty seconds before the automated recording for the answering machine instructed the caller to leave a message.
"Pogue its Reid. I know you're not going to pick up but I just wanted to let you know that Caleb's... Caleb's finally awake..."