Young Writers Society

Kaydence

More weeks past, and I found myself becoming more and more desperate. It was almost as if Sebastian had never existed, not leaving a trace behind for us to follow. The lead we had before had come up to nothing, just a hospital. I felt guilty like it was my fault he was gone. I shouldn’t have blown up on him in the woods that day, maybe he would’ve come home.

Francis had fit seamlessly into our group, becoming close friends with the boys. Xander had seemed to ease up around him, even though he still couldn’t get into his mind. Archie seemed to take to him especially well, excited to add something new into his never-ending spiral of what we thought of as “normal”.

It was days like these that I felt a moment of peace if only a moment. Watching Archie and Francis building things such as makeshift bombs for a battle and Archie messing with Francis’s mind by showing him scenes of our old home.

Francis’s eyes were always filled with awe when Archie used his powers, and it made a smile creep to my face. We had never had time to sit back and appreciate our powers, but the demon world had actually been pretty mute these past couple of weeks, which gave us time to enjoy each other’s powers.

Except for me, I sighed. I felt no rest. All I felt was worry and anxiety about Bash. We had exhausted every option of where he could be but he was nowhere to be found, and with the demon world hiding in the dark without so much as a peep, it was hard to find any information.

I was slowly finding my perspective on things restored, and my mind becoming less and less fuzzy from confusion and grief. Xander had taken over my role, cooking and cleaning and keeping the house together as my world was falling apart. Looking in the mirror, there were dark, sunken circles under my brown eyes and my dirty blonde hair was always matted and dirty. My collarbones were starting to grow more and more prominent as I skipped meals to research or go out for answers.

Aileen tried her best to stay near me for her calming effect, but sometimes she couldn’t always keep up. I was slowly losing hope that I would ever find the answer, becoming weaker and weaker as time went on by neglecting all my needs. I knew this was all my fault and I wouldn’t stop until I found him, even if it meant becoming a shadow of who I used to be.

Meanwhile, Francis has been a welcome distraction for me. I focused on watching his every move, still not sure if we could trust him. Since he had been living with us I had never found him doing anything the least bit suspicious, he had actually been quite helpful.

We spent a lot of time together, working on finding Bash. We had even gone out on missions together, but they amounted to nothing. I felt like we had searched the entire island at this point and Bash was still nowhere to be found.

“Kaydence, have you ever thought that maybe Sebastian ran away from you guys? I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, but didn’t he kind of always act like he hated being here? Well maybe after what happened he took off, maybe he doesn’t want to be found,” Francis had offered during one of our late research nights.

I froze, processing. I stared into the computer until everything on the screen became unfocused.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything,” Francis said after a long moment of silence passed.

I sighed, “No, no, it’s okay. Sebastian would never do that. He may be difficult, but we’re family. He would never leave without an explanation or at least telling me what he was planning. No, someone has taken him and is keeping us from him.”

He nodded silently, and we went back to our work, never talking about it again. I guess that was the thing I enjoyed about Francis, he never pushed me to talk when I didn’t want to. We could sit there working for hours and not once would he try to make me talk about my feelings or comment on my lowering weight.

The moment of peace was drifting away as my mind snapped back into the present moment. I felt my frustrations of millions of dead ends bubbling inside of me. I walked out the back door into the woods, a place I had become quite fond of, and started my way to my special spot.

It was about a five-minute walk into the woods to the opening. I focused on each leaf I stepped on, each twig that snapped under my feet, clearing my mind with each step to only focus on that.

The flowers that once decorated the opening were now brown and brittle, winter’s cold grasp starting in on the city. The colorful leaves that dotted the landscape kept it from looking completely dead, however, but my favorite part was the fallen tree trunk on the edge of the opening.

I walked over, sitting down and staring at the sky. I pondered the thought of Bash leaving us purposefully, hating that the idea was even processing in my mind. I wanted to believe family meant more to him than freedom. I really did, but he had become so violent and angry recently, would it be so surprising if he did leave at his own demand?

I wasn’t startled when I saw Francis walking into the opening, scanning it until he saw me on the log. He sheepishly smiled as he closed the space in between us, and I studied him intently. He usually wore dark clothes, like the rest of us. Jeans, a shirt, and sometimes a jacket depending on the weather. Right now he wore a black leather jacket, worn from years of wear. It was Sebastian’s.

We had loaned him some clothes, he had shown up with basically nothing. However, I couldn’t help the ping of guilt I felt seeing him in Bash’s clothes. If Sebastian happened to just look in on the situation, he would think we were replacing him.

“What’s wrong, Kaydence?” Francis asked quietly, sitting next to me.

I felt the tears bubbling inside me, threatening to spill out of my eyes. Don’t cry, dammit. I clenched my teeth, but they finally escaped. Francis looked surprised by my sudden outburst of sobs, but I couldn’t stop. All the anger, the pain, and confusion. It was exploding inside me. I leaned into his embrace, grabbing his shirt as I stained it with tears. I felt his hands rubbing my back and touching my hair. He was whispering nonsense about how it would all be okay, but I couldn’t really make it out over my sobs.

My tears started to slow, and they soon became sniffles. I felt Francis’s finger under my chin, lifting me up to meet his eyes. He was maybe two inches from me, and my breath caught. He searched my face, wiping the remaining tears away. He smiled sheepishly, caressing my face.

Lips, searching for purpose, searching for feelings. It had started before I was able to understand why it was happening. His hands moved to the back off my head, grabbing a handful of my hair, intensifying my passion. I didn’t know what I was doing, I didn’t know why I was kissing, but I couldn’t stop. stop...STOP.

I pulled away, touching my lips, did that just happen? Francis sat back, searching my face with confusion. “I-I can’t,” I said, quickly standing up. My insides were mush and I felt dizzy, my thoughts shouting in my head.

“Kaydence, I’m sorry, don’t leave,” I heard Francis say behind me, but how could I stay? I couldn’t process. I started towards the house, hoping that Francis wasn’t following me. How could I let that happen? I didn’t have time for this, especially with someone I had only known for a couple of weeks.

Everything was silent except the sound of my feet crunching in the leaves, and I was almost to the house when I heard a twig snap. I froze, slowly reaching for my pocket knife. It could be Francis, but I hadn’t heard him following me for quite some time.

“Kaydence,” A weak but familiar voice rang out behind me. My breath stopped, my heart dropping to my stomach. I whipped around, taking in his appearance. He was so skinny, his skin tight around his muscles. Bruises and cuts covered his body, and he limped closer to me, clutching his side.

“Sebastian,” I breathed, relief and emotions caught in my throat. He smiled weakly, and I walked towards him. His smile faltered, confusion and fear on his face as he fell towards me like dead weight.

“Sebastian!” I yelped, falling to the ground with him under his weight.

“Help!”

-

chapter word count: 1,502

total word count: 22,179