Shadow Mutation (Book Seven) [UNDER MAJOR EDITING]

Chapter 2: Losing His Sister

Casey's home is cold and lonely, less of a home and more just a place to sleep at night. He sighs heavily as he shucks his jacket and drops his duffel bag onto the nearest armchair. He glances around, not bothering to kick his shoes off as he wanders in.

"Andy? You home?" he calls.

"Bedroom!"

He heads down the hall and finds his little sister kneeling in her childhood bedroom, surrounded by moving boxes. She wears a blue headband, holding her shaggy wolf-cut bangs out of her eyes, and she looks up at him with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

Casey digs his hands into his pockets, frowning. "What's all this?" he asks. "Did Christmas come early?"

Andy purses her lips as she folds a t-shirt against her chest. "Uh, well...not really," she says. "I meant to talk to you, but you've been so out of it and I didn't...know how to bring it up."

His chest tightens as a lump forms in his throat, but he swallows it down. He signs and throws his arms out to the sides.

"Alright, lay it on me," he mutters.

She shuts her eyes, getting to her feet as she drops the t-shirt into a cardboard box already stuffed with shirts. "Sam, Dylan, and I have been talking since we all got accepted to Syracuse."

His eyes narrow. Andy and her friends have always been into true crime stuff and he recalls how Andy was hoping to go to school for forensics, but...

"I thought you were going to John Jay," he says. It's closer, not almost four hours away, and he can't imagine her making a commute that long every day.

"I was, until Dylan didn't get in," she says. She sighs. "We're going to room together on campus. I'm moving out."

He stiffens, words echoing in his ears as his teeth grit, hands forming fists. "And you didn't think to tell me before now?"

"Hey, I tried, but you're the one who's been brushing me off since Dad died!" she snaps, jabbing a finger at him. Angry tears form on her lashes. "I...it's the best decision for me. I have to get out of here."

He's so angry, that he thinks his face must be turning red, rising like the coloured alcohol in a thermometer. "Get out of here? What, and just ditch me?"

"I have to move on, Casey! This apartment, it just...all I can think about is Dad, and every time I see your face—"

"Oh, so it's my fault that I look like him?"

"No! Of course not!" She blinks hard and turns away, dabbing at her eyes lightly as she sucks another breath. "Look, things just worked out that way, and SU is gonna be better for me. I'll still visit. I'm not even leaving the state."

But it's not about the state, he wants to scream. It's about how she's the only family he has left and he doesn't know what he's going to do if she isn't here. He doesn't know what he's going to do if he's stuck in this apartment, alone with the guilt dragging him deeper into his grief.

"Don't go, Andy. We can talk about this, right?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "Dylan and Sam are renting a truck and we're heading out tomorrow. Classes start soon and we've got to get settled." She crosses her arms over her chest in a tight hug. "You could come, if you want."

He lets out a hollow laugh. "Oh, yeah, because that'll be so much fun. Road tripping with your girlfriends for hours on end, listening to those...creepy ass podcasts—"

"Geez, don't make it sound so awful," she says with a frown. "One, Sam isn't a girl. Two, my podcasts aren't creepy, they're intriguing!"

He sighs. "Right, sorry, whatever. I couldn't anyway. I've got...school," he says lamely.

She purses her lips. "Maybe get in touch with Raph...?"

He looks away, crossing his arms over his chest. Andy doesn't know Raphael is a mutant. She just knows that he's Casey's best friend and that they haven't talked in weeks.

"Geez, why are you and April so obsessed with Raph and I?" he mutters. For a second, he thinks of that horrid story Circa made him read during their stint in the cyberverse and his stomach roils. "Ugh..."

"April suggested that too? Listen to her, she's smart."

"And I'm not, right?"

"Stop digging for insults. It's pathetic," she says. "And Joneses aren't pathetic."

He feels pretty pathetic. He feels a whole lot of things, so much sometimes that it all amounts to nothing at all. He stays quiet, stewing, fuming, and Andy turns away as she gets back to packing.

"I'm getting a U-Haul unit as well," she says. "Figured I'd clear out some stuff, give you more space."

More space? He's already creating plenty for himself everywhere he goes. He grunts and pushes off the door frame, moving down the hallway. He's all twisted up again. Andy being here has kept him grounded, reminded him that he isn't completely alone in the world, but even she's leaving him.

She's leaving him because she's smart enough to get through high school and land a spot in a good university. She's going to be some kind of kick-ass forensic scientist with her best friends and she's never going to look back at her loser dropout big brother because why would she? Why would she hold on to someone so pathetic that he would ask her to stay instead of chase her dreams?

He turns and punches the wall. Immediately, pain shoots up his arm as he caves in the drywall and he winces, yanking his hand back to his chest.

"Casey? What was—"

"Nothing!" he snaps. "I'm going out."

He doesn't wait for a response as he storms out.

----------

He pulls his hood over his head as a brisk autumn wind pushes against him. He scowls as he storms down the street, not even sure where he's going. Maybe if he walks far enough, he'll finally get away from everything and disappear.

His hand keeps throbbing, stinging, and he unfolds his arms enough to look at it. His knuckles are red even while coated in drywall dust and he groans. His hand was already fucked up from punching that smug little shit at his school and then he had to go and do that?

He's going to have to patch that hole. Just another thing he has to do eventually.

He used to believe all the stupid bravado he put into the world. He used to think that if he just believed it, things would fall into place. Yeah, maybe "International Bounty Hunter" was a little outlandish, but hey. Aim for the moon and you might land among the stars and all that.

Now...now he just wants everything to pause for a while. He just needs it all to stop.

In the corner of his eye, something moves and a sudden chill floods his shoulder. Casey nearly jumps out of his skin, whipping around as he swings at nothing. He pants, heart hammering in his chest, fists up, but there's nothing around him, no one.

He shakes his head, tucking his hands back into his coat. Relax, Jones, he tells himself even as he rubs his shoulder. The bone-chilling cold seems to linger, haunting him, and he pictures his dad's ghost hovering behind him, haunting his stupid son and his stupid choices.