What Shadows Leave Behind

Chapter 2: I Lost Him

Morning came just like every other day. Sunlight shone through the bedroom window and illuminated the room. Charlie opened his eyes and there were a few seconds where everything was the same until realization hit and everything had changed. The sun did rise today. All Rhodians were still gone. Souls of all the Rhodians from the Cabinet were gone too. Charlie shut his eyes. He knew Quill had saved his life but he couldn't understand why because prior to that she had hated him with every fiber of her being. Maybe motherhood had changed her. He didn't know if he should thank her or despise her for that.

He must have turned over in bed at night. He needed Matteusz's warmth right now. He felt lost without it. He was lost without him. He turned to find the other side of the bed empty. He didn't feel disappointed at Matteusz's absence, rather oddly felt hollow on the inside. His deepest fear had come true when he lost Matteusz the moment he decided to use the damned Cabinet against Matteusz's pleas. He knew Matteusz had come home with him yesterday only to make sure he was alright because that's the kind of a good person he was. He wouldn't be surprised if Matteusz wanted nothing to do with him from now on.

Charlie didn't regret the lack of restraint he'd had over the weapon but he hated it at the same time. That moment when Corakinus threatened to kill Matteusz was the scariest he'd ever felt in his life, and the angriest. He couldn't lose him to the same thing that he'd lost his whole world to before. He'd rather have Matteusz alive and lose him than have him murdered by the shadowkin. No one deserved death by those monsters. April didn't have a choice and that's why she had believed in him to do the right thing; to save everybody. He couldn't wallow anymore, not this early in the day anyway. He noticed Matteusz had plugged both their phones to the chargers. Charlie went to the bathroom. He heard the shower running and the curtain drawn. Matteusz hadn't left. He picked up his toothbrush to clean his teeth. He noticed Matteusz's toothbrush was not in the holder. So he was getting ready to leave. Charlie needed to shower and eat before he left the house. He was a creature of habit. These mundane actions were the only things he had to keep himself sane. He didn't know what would happen to him when Matteusz did leave him. He finished brushing his teeth, left the bathroom, picked some fresh clothes from the closet and went downstairs. He showered in the downstairs bathroom quickly, dried off and dressed up in a hurry. When he came to the kitchen Quill was pouring herself some tea. She must have read that coffee was bad for the baby. He was going to head upstairs but Quill spoke up.

"Why didn't you use your own bathroom, Charles?"

Charlie turned and looked at her. He wasn't going to appear weak to her. "Matteusz needed it for his morning stuff", he said.

Quill gave him a sharp look like she wasn't having it but took her eyes off him after a couple of seconds. Aren't you gonna have breakfast?" she offered.

"Since when do you care if I ate or not?" Charlie asked in annoyance.

"I don't. I thought maybe I'll be nice since you went through all that yesterday. Guess that war didn't knock you off your high horse, Prince!"

"Are you done?" Charlie asked without annoyance.

That was odd. He always rebuked when she taunted him. Guess that war did affect him. "Yeah, go about your day" she said in a voice lower than usual.

Charlie hoped Matteusz hadn't come out of the bathroom yet and he was right. He picked his bag and phone up and headed out of the house as soon as possible. He didn't want to be there when Matteusz left the house for good.

He called April and asked her if he could come over to her house. She'd said yes. They didn't have school for another couple of hours. He walked to her house. He was greeted by April's mother at the door. Neither of them smiled or said anything. He went inside and noticed how colorful April's house was. April was eating breakfast at the table. It looked so strange to see a shadowkin sitting at a table eating eggs in a civilized manner.