The Star Children's Destiny

Chapter Twenty-two

Iceara landed in the clearing that was by the lagoon. Cane was sitting on a large rock with a flat top, with his head in his hands. As she got closer, the dark-haired girl could hear his muffled sobs. Without saying a word, she sat down next to him, pulled him into a hug, and held him in the embrace until his tears subsided. Finally, he composed himself enough to look up at her.

"Thank you. I... really needed that," he said, sniffling.

"It's alright. It's okay to cry."

"I know. It's just that I never wanted anyone to know that. Or at least, find out in that way."

"Why don't you tell me what happened? It might help you feel better."

"Our dad was an alcoholic and our mother was a drug addict. Both of them were very abusive when it came to Khris and me, but to me even more. We shared a room out of fear. To make a long story short, one night when we were six, our mom was high as a kite. When our dad came home, he was three sheets to the wind. He came into our room, picked up Khris, and threw her into the wall. She wasn't hurt badly, just stunned. He got into the bed, ripped off my pajamas, and.... Well, I'm pretty sure you can guess what happened next."

Iceara held in her anger and disgust for what Cane's dad had done to him. "It was only that one night though, right?"

"I wish. He did it whenever he came home like that first night. That's why I had Khris stay in the room next to mine after that. She would always check on me if he was gone, then she would stay, just to make sure I was okay. If he was still there, she would wait until morning before dragging me out there. I was so scared that he would..." Cane trailed off in another set of tears.

"Cane, it's okay," Iceara said, pulling him close. "He's gone. It's over."

"I know that, but sometimes, when I have a nightmare, I can hear him. He'd tell me how good I was. And the worst thing is when it feels like it's happening all over again," Cane said, as a fresh wave of sobs overtook him again.

Iceara held the shaken boy close until his tears had once again dried and he felt more comfortable. They stayed like that for another ten minutes or so before Cane decided that he was ready to go back and apologize to Aletta for his rude outburst. When they got back to the manor ten minutes later, they found Ethan and Rich hiding behind the couch and screaming apologies. Pots, pans, and anything else that wasn't nailed down was being thrown at them by Khris. The brunette was crying and telling them what she thought of them.

"Khris, please calm down!" Cane yelled, running over to his twin and grabbing the meat cleaver out of her hand before she could throw it.

"What is going on?" Iceara asked, seeing the mess and picking up a couple of the pans.

"Ask those two cowards behind the couch!" Khris said, before disappearing into the kitchen.

"You guys?" the blonde asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Aletta left!" Rich yelled, in fear of something hitting him in the head.

"Why? Did it have to do with something I said?" Cane asked, a little worried.

"No," Ethan said, taking a peek to see if it was okay. "Airos challenged her to a Death Duel."

"When?"

"Tomorrow," Rich said, also taking a peek.

"Why didn't you tell us? We could have tried to stop her, or at least do something."

"She told us not to tell," they said in unison.

"You idiots!" Iceara screamed. She blindly chucked the two pans she was holding. Both of them ended up hitting Khris's targets from earlier head-on. The two older boys hit the floor with a loud thump. If someone had gone to check on them, they would have seen that the two boys had fallen next to one another and they looked like they were cuddling.