Chapter 7: Kyle POV
Disclaimer: I do not own the folktale "Little Red Riding Hood" – of course.
Breath. Calm down and just breath. Calm down. Calm…
It didn't fucking help! I was so angry and… ashamed of my brother and the fact that Cailyn had met him. She shouldn't have met him. He shouldn't even be here! Why was he here? Haven't he ruined enough already or isn't he done being a total asshole?
"When are you leaving?" I tried to keep all emotions out of my voice. It would only please him to see me this angry and annoyed.
"If you don't want to spend some quality time with your beloved brother, then I must just find someone else to keep me company. She seemed nice" he smirked mockingly. I couldn't help it. I banged my fists against the kitchen table in fury.
"You stay away from me and especially stay away from her! You have nothing to do here! This is no place for you" I started off yelling, but slowly lowered my voice without leaving one bit of venom out. He was NOT welcome here! I would certainly not let him think otherwise.
"No place for me, you say? Isn't the pack here? Or whatever you call this little group of toddlers" he smirked, with a challenging look in his eyes. I fought the feeling of wanting to grind my teeth.
"You haven't been in contact with the pack for 3 years, and you expect us to just let you come back? Don't think I'm the only one, who wants you to leave as fast as possible. You've broken pack rules!" I yelled the last sentence, as the wound from the past reopened, but I didn't show any sign of pain.
"Screwing your girlfriend, was breaking pack rules?" he mocked me, even though I knew he knew what I've meant. The dick!
"No, killing humans are against the pack rules!" I bit back, ignoring his comment. I was long over my bitch of an ex, but I that didn't mean that I have forgiven him. He was my brother, for crying out loud! My older brother! He was supposed to be the responsible one, who took care of me and pulled me out of the shit I got in. Instead I was the one to take care of him and help him, when he screwed people over or something. But that time was long gone. When he left town 3 years ago, I honestly thought, that the next time I would see him, was to his funeral, but I guess I wasn't that lucky.
And you know what my so called brother did, when he decided to show up? He smiled. Apparently the memory of killing an innocent human was a fun and happy thought for him. If he didn't wipe that stupid smile of his face, I swear to God, I would kill him.
"One little slip" he shrugged in response.
"One little slip? It's never just 'one' with you. If there is trouble somewhere, you are always to be found in the middle of it! Why can't you just…" I refused to finish that sentence. It doesn't matter how many times, I tell him to change his way or try to be human – metaphorical speaking of course – he never listened. He would never listen. He would always be a lost soul, who owned no compassion or love towards anyone or anything other than his stupid self.
"Calm down, bro, and don't give me the 'be-a-better-man-speech' again. You know it's not really my style" he calmly replied to his younger brother's outburst.
"No, your style is to drop in whenever you like, make a lot of trouble for everyone else and then scram, leaving your mess for others to deal with. Why can't you just do the last part first for a change?"
"That's no fun"
It was no use talking with him. He was impossible! He would never learn.
I quickly found my jacket, threw it over my shoulders and was out the door, without answering my brother's questions to where I was heading. Hell would have to freeze over, before I told that guy where I was going!
I turned on the engine on my bike and smiled slightly at the quit roar. It was like a wild jet controlled animal. I put on my helmet and drove off. The feeling of the powerful and dangerous machine under my legs, made my heart speed up slightly with joy. It was only dangerous in the wrong hands. It would never betray me.
I drove towards the garage, and speeded up on the main street through city, but only enough for me to cross the speed limit with a couple of kilometers. I didn't have to do much, for the machine to do my beddings. I slalomed around the few cars that already occupied the road and sped up slightly more, when I passed the police station. Just for the fun of it. The guys and I had been in there a couple of times for minor things like a speed ticket here and there or "dangerous driving" as the cops liked to phrase it. One time I even spend a night in the slammer. The cops in this town were nice though - must be the result of growing up in a little town, because we were all quite familiar.
I pulled up to the garage and noted whose bikes where here and who's missing - looked like Timmy, Josh and Winston were already here.
"Missed me?" I called automatically as I walked into our workplace and hangout.
"Didn't know you were gone" Timmy answered just as casually, as he came towards me. Winston was hidden under an old cabriolet. Josh had his head in the motor to said car, while the owner of the garage, Lloyd, was sitting in his office behind a glass window properly occupied by paperwork and bills again.
"What do you think? Isn't she a beauty?" Timmy asked while looking at the cabriolet. I was already looking at it, scanning the wrongs and errors. There was still much to be done, but when we got a lot of time with one car, it was usually more fun than just quickly fixing tiny problems like a flat deck or rusty breaks.
"Ben is back" I simply stated, without answering his question – it was rhetorical anyway, because how could that car not be a beauty. It was no sports car, but it was decent.
My announcement made Josh drop a spanner and Winston rolled out from under the car. They all looked at me, like they were just waiting for me to say: fooled you, but they soon realized that I was serious.
"You got to be kidding me" Josh groaned as the first one to say anything.
"I thought he was in LA?" Winston more calmly asked.
"Well, thought so too"
"When did he arrive?" Timmy wanted to know. He looked at me seriously. No one liked my brother. He always meant trouble for us, because somehow he never had to take the consequences of his own actions.
"This morning" I sighed, remembering this terrible morning, that actually started out pretty good.
"Had Cailyn left jet?" Timmy couldn't help but smirk slightly, and the mentioning of a girl's name caught the ears of the other two guys.
"Cailyn who?"
"Not Cailyn Hood, right?"
"Does it matter?" I didn't quite like the way this conversation had turned. It was not like I didn't want to talk about girls, it was just… for some reason I felt weird talking about Cailyn.
"No, you're right. The only thing that matters is that Kyle Donovan had a girl at his place!" Winston teased and I rolled my eyes smiling.
"Well?" Josh wanted to make sure, but I could see a teasingly glint in his eyes.
"I don't think I want to tell you, now that you want to know so badly" I smirked arrogantly.
"Lucky for us, we have other methods to get information. This is a small town after all" Josh tried.
"Tiny" Winston corrected while looking challenging at me. I knew they were eager to get the truth out of me and their threads was not just empty, but I thought I'd draw it out a little longer. I knew Timmy wouldn't tell on me. He enjoyed teasing those two as much as I did.
"Oh come on, Kyle! Just tell us! We want to know, how you tricked the poor girl to come home with you!" teased Josh with a pleading voice, that made him sound 10 years younger.
"Don't you have any faith in my skills with women at all?" I faked hurt and betrayal.
"It's hard to have faith in something that isn't there, so you can't really blame him" Winston answered before Josh opened his mouth.
"What are you kids talking about now?" Lloyd came over with a teasingly smile. He enjoyed calling us 'kids', when we were… well, acting like we do now. Not that I could blame him and neither of us minded so it was alright.
"I was just wondering the same thing" Sarah came through the entrance and went directly towards Josh, who got a slow kiss. Josh had already put his hands on her hips and was – as usual – quickly to return the kiss. The rest of us made gagging noises or told them to get a room, but Sarah just smiled against her boyfriends lips and flipped us a finger. It was normal procedure.
"We were simply talking about, how Kyle is slowly moving towards manhood" Josh smirked again, as the couple pulled away from each other. Sarah looking puzzled at me, but I simply rolled my eyes at Josh' remark.
"He had a girl sleeping over" Winston explain and Sarah smirks. Great. One more to tease me about this. Why do they even make such a big deal out of this? Nothing happened anyway.
"Who was it?"
"Cailyn Hood" Timmy answers calmly aware of the bomb he just dropped. And here I was, thinking he had my back.
"So it was her!" Josh exclaims, his girlfriend simply lifting an eyebrow in surprise.
"Isn't she with that naive guy? What's his name? Charlie!" Winston adds like if he was just thinking out loud.
"No, I think they are just friends" Logan says, which is the first time during this horribly discussion he's actually saying anything, but that doesn't surprise any of us. Logan has never been one to talk much, but sometimes that's just what you need; silent company without any awkward silences or pointless small talks to fill out the silence and then it doesn't hurt that he has an X-box and about a thousand games.
"Well as much fun as this is, you lot better get back to work. I don't pay you kids for digging in Kyle's private life" Lloyd claps his hands together and I send him a thankful thought as we all find something to do. I silently pray to God or whoever is listening, that most of them won't be here on Monday, when Cailyn said she'd drop by.
The old Toyota Celica AR29 which I clearly remember from my so called walk in the forest, pulls up outside the garage and Cailyn slowly steps out. She looks a little lost and don't seem to know, if she should come in or stay out. Of course Sarah sees her and gives Josh a kick, so that he comes out from under the cabriolet. Josh smirks and winks at me, but I simply roll my eyes, even though I can't quite help but smile… God knows why.
Cailyn spots me, smiles weakly and walks towards me. She nods and smiles politely to Sarah, Josh and Logan – luckily Winston and Timmy isn't here too, but they will probably hear about this anyway. As far as I know they never talked or even looked twice at each other, but you couldn't feel that. Cailyn almost seemed like greeting us was something she always did and I kind of liked it. It was nice to see that she wasn't too high and mighty to greet a couple of grease monkeys like us.
"Got some time to spare?" she asks me when she gets closer. I wasn't really doing anything so I nod.
"Would you mind looking at my car? As you said, it could use a caring hand" she smiles and just like in the woods and at Brady Wright's house, I get that weird feeling. It's a happy feeling, which is so fragile that I don't even dare trying to get a proper hold of it and jet... it seems like this fragile feeling can withstand anything. Oh God, since when have I become this soft and girlie? What the hell is wrong with me? It's not like girls never smiled at me before!
"You can get it in here and I'll get started" I answer returning the smile. Who cares about weird feelings? I put my focus on something I actually know how to deal with; cars.
She slowly drives the car inside and I open the hood just to start somewhere. The car was rusty and dented and not even let me get started on the engine, but that wasn't something a good set of tools and an experienced person couldn't handle.
"Do you think you are able to save it?" she asked seriously and I smirked without taking my eyes of the engine, but I knew she could see my face.
"Still no faith in me, huh?"
She laughs softly.
"No" the response makes me laugh quietly. Oh, the guys and Sarah will tease me for this as soon as they get the chance.
"We never did either" Told you so.
Sarah comes over and takes a quick look on the engine.
"Why you didn't come sooner is a mystery. How do you even manage to get it started?" she asks rhetorically and Cailyn blush slightly in a very cute manner.
"Beats me too" she answers.
"Where did you have the misfortune to meet our little Kylie?" Josh pops up besides Sarah and winks at me before he looks innocently at Cailyn. I know he is only asking her to torment me and of course she is the only one who might be willing to answer that question.
"This old lady brought us together" she says teasingly and pats the roof of the car.
"How nice of her" Sarah plays along and I roll my eyes.
"Yep, broke down on 35. Good thing Kyle was in the woods"
"Really?" the mentioning of the woods makes Josh, Logan and Sarah send me a look, but I simply shrug and they seem to relax again. Luckily Cailyn doesn't seem to notice our little exchange.
"Thought I recognized that car, but it didn't seem right if Heather was coming here" Lloyd says from the doorway to his office. He smiles warmly while looking at Cailyn who shrieks slightly before running over to our boss and embraces him. We all stand completely taken aback by this familiar behavior between the two of them, as we didn't think they knew of each other's existence. We can only watch almost stunned as they start exchanging words.
"I didn't think you were here! What happened to going to the post office on Mondays?" Cailyn asks. How does she know that? How do they know each at all? What is happening? Who was Heather? Cailyn's mom? I heard her mother drinks a lot.
"I'm doing it later. There's a lot to be done. Did you think you could sneak behind my back?" Lloyd laughs and looks like a beloved uncle. We all like him and all. He is the best boss you could ever want, but he was still our boss. To us he is a friend, mentor and the authority. I will even go as far as to say, that he saved our lives, because it's probably him we can thank for not being on the streets making trouble. We have all been in the pits more than once and Lloyd was the one to pull us up and bring us together. I know it sounds cheesy and all, but it's true. On my parts especially.
"I would never do that. How are you? I should visit more often" she says apologetically which makes Lloyd laugh.
"Don't think about it, sweetheart. You got your grandmother and mother, not to forget your education. How's that going by the way?" they seem to have forgotten that they have company and just sunk into their own little joyous world… and sweetheart! Cailyn must really be someone special to Lloyd. It hits me how little I know about her and how eager I am to learn all there is to know about this girl. No, woman. She is to grown up to be called a girl. That's clear in her eyes, even when she teases and makes fun of things.
"Fine, school's still the same, you know?" she shrugs and Lloyd instantly becomes more serious, then he seems to finally remember that they are not alone and he turns Cailyn around with an arm on her shoulder.
"I'm an old friend of Cailyn's dad and have looked after this one when she was just a scrawny little girl and still do" he says and let go of her. Her red cheeks return full force and she hits him on the arm.
"Who was scrawny? I think your memories are clouded, old man" she retorts in a mixture of embarrassment, tease and feigned anger before she walks towards the exit. Lloyd simply laughs and the rest of us can't help but smile.
"See you later, oh, and Kyle, you can get my number from Lloyd if there is anything" she smiles and leaves.
"Why didn't you say you knew Cailyn Hood?" Josh asks when she is gone.
"You've never asked" he shrugs and come over. He shakes his head as he briefly takes a look at the old Toyota. Then he stops and looks at us – mostly me - as he continues.
"I know you kids are as good as they get, but I don't won't little Cailyn to get in any kind of unnecessary danger. Who she befriend is entirely up to her, but she's the closest I've got to a daughter" he gives us a stern, but friendly look before he returns to his office and his piles of paperwork.
We exchange looks as we all know what Lloyd meant when he said danger. He knows about us. What we are and what we can do. He is one of the only humans who knows and one of the only humans – if not the only – we actually owns anything to.
He wants to keep Cailyn away from the part of us that is not human, the part of us that belongs in nightmares and fairy tales and movies.
The part of us that are wolves.
Hmm, ok it turned out to be a long chapter this one, but hey, it's out of my hands the words seem to come as they please :O)
Hope you're enjoying and thanks to those who alerted, faved or/ and reviewd jet again. That's what makes it worth updating – no fun updating and feel like no one is even reading my nonsense ;) joking, but still, it makes me really happy to get alerts and stuff :D *thumbs up*