The Boy in the Black Hoodie

Chapter Forty-Five

 CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Carson's POV

No more running away, Carson. You're going to talk them straight in the face this time.

Alright, alright. I will.

No. You have to.

I sighed and flipped my knife around anxiously. I was ready for this. Wasn't I? I mean, it's not like they were Paul. And I had dealt with him no problem...well, kind of. I shouldn't be nervous for this.

All to soon, the door burst open and I stood up. Zane immediately snapped his head in my direction. I dipped my head and smirked. "Zane."

He got the attention of the rest of the group and they all stared in awe at me.

"Seriously, guys?" I asked, tossing my knife up in the air and catching it. "Am I like a zombie or something?"

"Y-You...h-h-how...but, I..." Zane tried to find the words.

"Hmm? Sorry, Latin, English, or German, please. Actually, I could probably understand your Spanish or French as well. Maybe Italian. Not really sure, haven't been to any of those countries lately."

All I got was stares.

"Come on, people. You've got to have some form of communication here."

The girl was the first one to snap out of the trance they had all fallen into. Her eyes fell over me, widening slightly. She chewed on her lip.

"LS?" she asked.

I growled. They were still using that nickname?

"Carson," I said. Then, I looked down at my knife.

Here goes nothing.

I shot a piercing gaze at them. "Carson Monteith."

Jim frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. "Isn't that Paul's last name?"

I smiled grimly. "Unfortunately, yes."

Something clicked inside all of them. They all looked up, mouths agape.

"Are you..." Nolan began. 

I nodded. "Here." I gave a slip of paper to Nolan. On it was a little note. "Give this to Paul when he asks."

I turned to leave. Their stares burned holes into my back. Not one tried to stop me from leaving. Too shocked, I guess. Right before I left to enter the staircase, I turned back around.

"Oh, and you might want to ask him about what happened back with our little family talk. He's got quite a story."

With that said, I exited the underground building. The building that held so much pain; pain that had doubled within the last few hours.

And yet, as I left, I felt somewhat satisfied. It's not that I wasn't still crying on the inside, nor was that aching feeling in my heart gone. No, it was that dark rage in my gut. The unexplained one. It had left now. In its place was, it seemed, an understanding. Not a complete understanding, but more like a tiny piece of the puzzle. And for now, that was all I could ask for. After all, you have to start somewhere.

I pushed my personal life away as I opened the door to the Big Ben's lobby. I couldn't be thinking of that anymore. Not when I had a world to save.

"Carson!" I was greeted by the group.

Darren was with them. Good.

"You okay?" HIM asked, concern lacing his words.

I nodded, letting out a breath. "Yeah. Better than usual, actually."