To Be A Leader

Chapter 19: Our House

"It's great to see you, Five! And Doc Meyers, and Tom! And Milo," Kytan laughs and smiles at the now furious teen. "You're a runner now."

"You-you traitor!" Milo screams, lunging for Kytan. Tom reaches out and grabs him, his reflexes almost too fast for me to see. Milo fights against him, baring his teeth. "My sister is dead because of you! Ian murdered Penelope because you sold us out!"

"Milo, calm down!" Tom demands. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Let me go! He got my sister killed! He nearly got my mum killed. Let me go!"

I step forward and place my hand on Milo's shoulder, which makes him pause. I'm shaking with rage, but I don't let it show on my face.

"Calm down, Milo. We need his help."

Brown eyes go wide. "But-"

"No buts."

We have not gone this far, risked this much, only to ruin it by attacking the person who can help us. Even though I despise him with ever fiber of my being, I need him.

Kytan smiles. "Wow, Five-o. You've gotten ahold of your anger really well since I left."

"Don't call me that," I snap, causing him to flinch. "After this, there is a very large chance I let Milo take a swing at you, and you'll be lucky if I don't do the same. You sold me out and got my nine-year-old kid killed. That is something I have not forgotten or forgiven."

My words are cold and my stare is colder. I'm surprised I managed to say that without wavering, without breaking down. Even after all these months the sting of Penelope's death feels fresh. Remembering how she died-afraid, confused with so many people watching, none who were willing to stop what was nothing less than an unjust execution. It makes me want to break down right here.

But I won't. I won't show any weakness to the person who is responsible. He didn't kill her, but he might as well have.

He gulps. "R-right. Hey, have you got Sam on coms there?" His tone quickly shifts, as if he hasn't just been threatened to be beat within an inch of his life. He pulls out a headset from his bag and puts it on. "I took out my old headset for the occasion. Abel runner, reporting for duty."

"Kytan," Sam says in shock. "Wow. It's been months, man. After Ian, you and Cameo... I mean, you just disappeared in the night."

"Good riddance," Milo mutters under his breath, glaring daggers at the dark haired man who either doesn't hear him or doesn't care.

"Yeah. We needed to get our heads together. We needed some healing," He says casually. "Neither of us had really been the same since Yang died. We read a lot, got into some pretty groovy stuff. Found a few things that worked, and Cam headed off on a spirit quest. And I'm helping people with the voices."

I bristle. "With the help of game consoles?"

"Yeah. Thanks for those. We cannibalize them for parts. They had those neural nets to control the VR, and they help us see what's going on with people. You said some of the people in the Abel alliance are having trouble with Moonchild, right? That's a really common one. We've got some people here with Moonchild Syndrome."

Tom sends me a subtle sideways glance before raising a brow at Kytan. "And you can help them?"

"Let me show you. Veronica's in the conservatory." He jerks his head towards the door, and Milo perks up at the mention of Veronica. "Also, yeah, be quick about going through some of those doors. The ghost lady likes to shut them on people's hands."

"Ghost lady?" Sam repeats.

"Yeah, she's fine as long  as you keep moving. Come on, run!"

He darts off, and we have no choice but to follow. I can feel both Maxine and Tom watching us, worried that either I or Milo will suddenly attack Kytan. I want to, and I know Milo does as well, given that he has to stop himself from reaching back and grabbing his bat that's strapped to his backpack. The only reason I haven't done anything is because of how much we've done to get to this point-to have a chance at being free from Moonchild. I won't just throw that away.