Chapter 7: Bang, Bang, Bang Goes My Silent Mind

Isaac hit the ground again and grunted, breathing heavily. He was covered in a light dusting of dirt and there was a small scratch on his left cheek. He turned onto his back and smiled up at Derek. "Almost had you then," he said quietly and Derek couldn't help but chuckle back. He helped Isaac back onto his feet and brushed off a piece of dirt from his shoulder and nodded approvingly. "You almost did Isaac, good," he answered and turned to Scott who was sitting on the steps of the patio. "He's a fast learner," he said and Scott twined his fingers together, shoulders tense from worry.

"Yeah, yeah, he's good, we've established that," Scott said quickly, "Can he stop now?" Isaac looked over to Scott and glanced at Derek who nodded before he walked over to Scott. He placed a hand on Scott's cheek and Scott looked up at him. "I want to do this," Isaac said and Scott looked down again. Isaac sighed and crouched down; Mrs. McCall, having impeccable timing, came out then and called the boys in for lunch and Derek took that cue to clear out, telling Isaac that they would pick up after the meal. Isaac looked Scott in the face and smiled at him. "Scott, tell me what's wrong," he said softly and Scott put a hand on Isaac's.

Scott knew that Isaac was well enough to be taught by Derek, after a total and embarrassing body check up by Mrs. McCall, she announced that Isaac was healed up enough to start being taught how to defend himself. "I don't like seeing you get hurt, Isaac," Scott said and Isaac's heart faltered a little. He melted every time Scott tried to protect him from hurt, but he also knew that this was something that he had to do. Isaac took Scott's hand and put it through his shirt and onto his shoulder. Scott felt the thin lines that marked the whole of Isaac's body, but felt a few round rises there. "What is that?" Scott asked and Isaac smiled painfully. "That was when my dad hit me with the metal end of his belt," Isaac said and Scott's stomach flipped a little. Isaac shook his head when he saw that Scott as going to say something and continued, "That move that Derek just taught me? That could have stopped this from happening. That is why I want to learn these things, Scott. That's why I don't mind being knocked down, because I learn something in the end."

Scott sighed and put his forehead on Isaac's. "I'm stronger than I let on," Isaac whispered and Scott chuckled once. "That I know for sure," he said and then looked at Isaac, "I'll try to be okay." Isaac put on a mock reprimanding face and said sternly, "You had better be okay, Mister!" to which Scott laughed and they heard Mrs. McCall saying loudly from inside, "If ONLY we had more company, right Derek?" The boys got up and went into the house, not wanting to get on her bad side.

Meals with the McCall's was always an interesting and amusing experience. Mrs. McCall always made something out of the ordinary, her "fusion of fusion food," she would call it. Today they were having something that looked like paella, but it was supposed to be eaten with unleavened bread and the oddest part was that there were pasta bits in the paella. "It's something new," she said proudly and Derek laughed as he picked up a piece of bread. "Melissa, you always have something new," he said and Mrs. McCall gave him a smile and sat down.

Isaac looked at the meal doubtfully, but when he bit into the bread topped with the paella and pasta, he was surprised to find that he absolutely loved it. "This is really good, Mrs. McCall," he said as he wiped his mouth and she thanked him. Suddenly the doorbell rang and Mrs. McCall frowned at it. "I'll get it!" Scott said happily and got up. Before he left the table he gave Isaac a quick kiss on the hand and left Isaac blushing in his seat.

"He can be a real pot of sugar syrup sometimes," Mrs. McCall said and laughed but the smile was wiped off her face when they heard Scott shout out and then everyone fell silent when they heard a bang louder than any car backfiring. Derek was on his feet and rushing to the front hall faster than any of them, and Mrs. McCall followed fast with Isaac behind them. Isaac wasn't as fast as the both of them, his body still hurting a little but he heard Mrs. McCall's scream and Derek's heavy footfalls running outside and then he heard another loud bang. "Isaac don't come in here," Mrs. McCall said quickly, "Get back into the kitchen and call an ambulance, then call the sheriff!"

Isaac wanted so badly to go to Scott's side, because a part of him knew that something had happened to Scott, but he did what he was told. After he had called the ambulance and the sheriff, he walked to the front hall but stopped at the doorway. Scott was leaning against the doorframe of the front door, sweating a little and there were tears running down his cheeks. Mrs. McCall had her first aid kit and was furiously changing swab after swab of cotton and iodine. But what stopped Isaac wasn't Scott downed on the floor or even Derek crouching down on one knee next to Scott, but the pool of blood that was slowly forming where Scott was sitting.

"S-Scott…?" Isaac said and Mrs. McCall looked around to Isaac. "Isaac quick, I need a warm, damp towel, take one from the bathroom cabinet." Isaac just stood there, dumbfounded, "Is he okay?" Mrs. McCall had tears in her eyes and her mouth of trembling a little, but her voice roused Isaac. "NOW Isaac," she said loudly and Isaac turned and ran to the bathroom. He quickly dampened the cloth and ran back to the front. He handed the cloth to Mrs. McCall and far away they heard sirens. "I'm going to kill them," Derek said under his breath and got up, going towards the lawn. Isaac replaced Derek's presence with his own and took Scott's hand. Scott opened his eyes and looked at Isaac painfully and smiled.

"I… T-Think I g-got some b-blood on the carpet…" he said and Isaac smiled at him. "Just a bit," he said, blinking back tears. "It went right through," Mrs. McCall said and wiped her brow, accidentally smearing blood across her forehead. Isaac looked at Scott and he looked at his mother. "M-Mum," Scott said, but she shook her head. "Don't," she said and just then the paramedics arrived. Her hands were trembling as she works and Isaac let go of Scott slowly and got up. He went around to Mrs. McCall and gently put his hands on hers. "Let go, Mrs. McCall," he said, but she shook her head and tears were pouring down her cheeks heavily. Isaac felt a pull at his heart at the fierce love she had and slowly tugged her hands away. "Let the paramedics take him," he said and she broke down.

She sobbed into Isaac's arms and he held her as Scott was being taken into the ambulance. "Take care of her," Scott managed to call out and Isaac tried to answer back, but his voice was drowned out with the sounds of the sirens. "I will," Isaac said and looked down at Mrs. McCall who was starting to calm down. He grabbed a piece of his shirt and wiped the blood from her forehead and smiled at her, a tear escaping his eye.

"He'll be okay," Isaac said, but he flinched as he saw the fury in Mrs. McCall's eyes. "I'll kill him," she said and Isaac knew that she wasn't talking about Scott. "He's already dead," a voice came from beside Isaac and he looked up at Derek who was standing over them. "The monster that shot Scott, he's dead," he said without any emotion in his voice, "I was the one that looked him in his eye and shot him through his black heart."

Isaac stared at Derek, his heart suddenly pounding.

...My dad is dead?