Possession < Spider-Man • Book 1 >

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chapter twenty-eight:

Caelum sat there for another twenty minutes. The silence in the room encompassed him, as he waited for someone, anyone, to get him. Who was next? Sarah and Dorri? Matthew and Foggy? How many times was he going to keep pushing people who wanted to help him away? How long was he going to live like this?

The door opened and Foggy stepped in. He was smiling down at him. Caelum felt the sudden urge to scream at him, even though he hadn’t done anything. Was this how his father felt all the time? Just, angry? Just, wild?

“It took a bit of persuading, but they agreed,” Foggy announced. “With your background, and likely case of some kind of anxiety, it would be better for you to stay with us, as an alternative. Do you need to call your parents? Or any older siblings?”

Caelum was quiet for a bit, then he said, “What is going on with my brothers? Has someone tried to go to the address Principal Davis pointed out yet?”

“No,” Matthew said, and Caelum went stiff. “There’s no way to confirm the location of your brothers based on the information given by Mr. Davis, and between his injury, your arrest, and Mahoney’s suspension, no officers have been dispatched yet.”

“Why not?” Caelum snapped, glaring at the man. “He confessed! He said that they were being held there! Can’t they send someone to just check if it’s being inhabited!?”

“That’s not our place to say,” Foggy said, frowning. “You can talk to an officer, but I don’t think they’ll be changing their minds just yet, at least not until things calm a bit down. But, enough of that ― I’ll be back later this afternoon to pick you up, maybe around six or seven. Until then, hold tight, don’t talk about anything without us, alright?” He gave him a comforting smile, Caelum said nothing. He didn’t want this man’s smile, he wanted Peter’s.

Matthew was watching him closely with an obvious frown on his face. “Have they taken the handcuffs off, yet?” Matthew asked.

“No, sir,” Caelum said, moving his hands so they jingled against the metal of the table.

“Foggy, can you call an officer in here to take care of that?” Foggy rose an eyebrow, looking between the two of them, suspiciously. “Take your time, no rush,” Matthew added, and Foggy suddenly got the message.

“Oh! Yeah, sure, I’ll just. . .” He made a wide gesture towards the door, “Find a cop. . .” He grabbed his briefcase, and stepped out of the room.

“What’s wrong?” Matthew asked as soon as he left.

“I don’t know what you mean, sir,” Caelum replied simply. “I’m fine.”

“A young boy ran out of this cell earlier, Foggy said that he saw him come in here. Did something happen ― did you tell him something we may need to know?” Caelum frowned, not wanting to think about Peter storming out of the police station, teary-eyed and flustered.

“No, I. . . he and I just had a fight,” Caelum noted, softly. “Nothing to worry about.” If anything, Peter would finally find it in himself to leave him alone.

It was a strange thing, when he was first approached by Peter, he wanted nothing to do with the boy. He wanted him to be at least a state away from him at all times ― at least that way, he wouldn’t have to worry about him and his feelings. But, in the past year or so, he’s been more open to Peter than he has been with anyone in his life ― if you didn’t count the ghost. Peter was someone Caelum could trust, someone he relied on, and Caelum didn’t want him getting tainted and disturbed by his life and his way of living. He wanted Peter to fall asleep not worrying about him, he wanted Peter to be happy without him, so that if anything ever happened to him, like they did his mother, he would be unconcerned.