The Custodes

Chapter 12 - Revelation and Wrath

Kayla stood right outside the apartment building, listening serenely to the noises of the city as night began to fall. She rested a hand gently on her jaw, trying her best to ignore its persistent, repetitive aching as she closed her eyes and leaned back against the building wall. She could feel right where she was hit, almost like it was pulsating against her palm, and knew without even looking at it that a nasty bruise was forming. It didn't seem broken at least - she could still talk with relative ease - but it was one hell of a blow regardless. Hopefully Kelsie could help, though she'd have to wait till the morning to go see her. Just being outside like she was was pretty risky, although her father had passed out not long after punching her so she could probably spare a few minutes of fresh air and hope he didn't wake up in the meantime. Her mind was full of thoughts, mostly about what she'd learned from Hector that day but also about Neo too. She'd kissed him, hadn't she? Why the hell had she kissed him? The last thing she needed in her life at that moment was a love interest, and even less so someone like Neo. The boy was sweet, and his heart was always in the right place with what he did, but as righteous as he was it came with some drawbacks. Just from the short time she'd spent with him she had a good idea of how reckless, naive, and ungrounded he was most of the time. Those things combined could lead to very bad situations if she got herself attached to him, worse situations than she was already in. She wasn't willing to do that to herself just for someone like him. The quietness of her surroundings suddenly hit her as her thoughts faded away, but almost immediately after new ones took their place. There was a faint wind blowing her hair down in front of her face and whispering continuously in her ears as she took in the sounds of quiet footsteps and car tires rolling against the ground from all around the city. It was a strange moment of peacefulness for her, something she rarely came across, however a single thought invaded it all, corrupting the way she viewed everything and tainting it all past the point of appreciation. Death could come at any moment. A spine tingling shiver was sent through her back, despite her adamant refusal of letting her fear get to her, and just as her thoughts began to grow far more frightening and darker, a voice interrupted to pull her from her self-torment "Strange to see you breaking curfew like this. Guess it must've been too nice a night." She turned to see Neo standing in the middle of the pavement, hands in his pockets and presumably on his way back from being out with Noah. He wore a soft smile on his face, letting Kayla know that he was simply trying to be light-hearted, but his words sparked some kind of upset inside her which was only enhanced by the thoughts she'd been in the middle of when he arrived. Curfew? That's what he thought this was? He didn't have the slightest clue why she had to be in before dark, or why she was outside in that moment, or why her life was so fucking shit that she'd resorted to kissing someone just because they said a few nice things to her. It took all her willpower not to scowl, and so she remained a perfectly neutral expression as she looked across the road in front of her, unintentionally keeping her bruise facing away from him "It's some short-lived alone time, nothing else. And I ought to be heading inside right about now anyway." She leaned forward off the wall and stood up straight, as Neo watched her from his spot in the street. "You can't spare just a little longer? I was hoping to talk about a few things." He asked her, looking at her with a patient and wondering expression that made her sigh internally about her pissy attitude towards him mere seconds before. She thought about staying outside with him, talking about whatever he wanted to. It was safe to assume he was planning on asking about what the kiss meant and what they were now, and if he did she wasn't sure she could let him down easily. Coupled with that, she didn't want to get lost in their conversation and end up spilling her heart out to him again. He'd already gotten himself far too involved in her life simply by being near her, there was no way she would drag him even deeper into it by telling him about something more pressing. Like the fact she knew exactly where the two years off her life had come from. Of course she did - despite what she'd told him she'd used her powers for far more than just training, and she knew that it was more than likely he was suspicious of her for that matter. Still, she wasn't about to make up a complete excuse to ditch him. If she wanted to she probably could spare staying and answering all his question, but she simply wasn't in the mood to put in the effort. Exhaling quietly, she gave a small shake of her head "I don't think so. Now just isn't the best time, and I know I say that a lot but right now I...don't feel up to it. Sorry." She glanced in his direction, only to see his small smile remaining on his face as he nodded understandingly. "Alright. It can wait, and I know now not to come knocking on your door in the middle of the night." He said, which actually put a tiny smile on Kayla's face. He was making light of his previous mistake, and though she still quietly cringed at the mistake itself, the progress was amendable. "I can walk you to your apartment, at the least. I hope-" He took a few steps towards her, causing Kayla to turn her head in his direction, and the look on his face made her realise her mistake almost immediately. His smile dropped entirely, wiped clean as though it was never even there and instead replaced by a grim look mixed with confusion and concern. Neo's eyes were locked straight on Kayla's bruised jaw, and she quickly let out a gasp and turned her head as she cursed breathily. But it was far too late; Neo was already moving towards her until he was close enough to see the bruise no matter which way she turned. Kayla did her best to avoid his gaze, but in a single glance she found herself locked onto it, staring into eyes of protective yet unsure sympathy. "How did-" He opened his mouth to speak but suddenly shut it, leaving Kayla to watch as realisation flooding his features and his sympathy became replaced with total, unchecked rage. "It was him, wasn't it." He said in a low tone, his voice so calm that it was almost threatening. "That's none of your business. I'm going home, Neo." Kayla said firmly as she turned and walked into the apartment building, trying to forget the look in his eyes as she left him. Hopefully he'd just take a few moments outside to calm himself then go home, and she'd be able to act like nothing happened afterwards. Just as she was reaching the stairs she discovered there was no way that was happening, as Neo's figure rushed straight past her, fists white knuckled due to how hard they were being clenched as he rapidly climbed the stairs. Shock appeared on Kayla's features but she hurriedly gathered her wits and sprinted after him, starting to shout as she did so "Neo don't you DARE! This has NOTHING to do with you!" The boy didn't so much as glance back at her as she yelled, solely focused on getting to his floor so that he could destroy that bastard's entire fucking face as quickly as possible. Kayla caught up with him and grabbed him by the arm, roughly pulling him back with all her might. He fumbled, but managed to catch himself on the railing, pulling his arm free from her grasp as he finally emerged on the right floor and stormed towards Kayla's door. "Neo! NEO!" Kayla continued to bellow at him, eyes filled with fury as she moved towards him yet again just as his hand gripped the doorknob. Her hand suddenly fell on his shoulder, and in that moment she used what she'd learned from Hector that day, her eyes flashing green for a single instant before returning to normal. Neo didn't even have time to registered what had happened, as despite Kayla being the only one near him he was suddenly hit in the chest with such an incredible force that he could've sworn he passed out for a second, only realising he'd been hit when he crashed straight through the door to his own apartment, nearly tearing it off the hinges, before slamming to a halt against the wall. It felt exactly like a punch, but one so strong that only a being as powerful as Zuro could muster it up. Kayla came storming into the apartment after him, slamming the door shut and glaring balefully at Neo as he sat on the floor against the wall, his breath wheezy as he watched her and still tried to piece together exactly what had happened. Before he got the chance to, however, Kayla's voice erupted from her mouth like a hurricane, as she screamed at the top of her lungs in the confinements of the apartment's sound proof walls "YOU FUCKING HORRIBLE, DISGUSTING PIECE OF COMPLETE AND UTTER SHIT! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT - NO RIGHT - TO GO NEAR MY FAMILY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! YOU ARE NOT MY BOYFRIEND! GOING AS FAR AS TO EVEN SAY WE'RE FRIENDS IS A STRETCH, AND AFTER THIS THERE IS NO WAY I'M SPENDING A SINGLE SECOND OF MY TIME WITH YOU!" Neo stared in shock as she let loose on him, then suddenly seemed to shrink against the wall as her words began to register in his mind. She breathed heavily, her eyes still filled with hatred and anger, but for now she was finished screaming at least. "You don't know a fucking thing. I have lost two years of my life doing all I can to stop my father from murdering my own mother, and there is no way in HELL I'm gonna let you come in and make things even worse!" Neo's eyes widened slightly as his gaze turned to Kayla once more, but as he tried to sit up against the wall he suddenly let out another wheeze and slumped back down. Talking was barely in the question if he couldn't even move, but it didn't look like Kayla wanted to hear anything from him anyway. She walked over to stand in front of him, then suddenly lashed out to slap him across the cheek, her eyes flashing green for the split second their skin made contact. Neo sucked in a breath, pushing himself up straighter as he placed a hand against his chest, before looking at the girl in front of him "Kayla-" She cut him off with an immediate look of detest, then turned and walked towards the door "I have nothing more to say to you. Don't fucking come near me again." With that she exited the room, leaving him alone in his apartment as she shut the door behind her. Kayla didn't even stop to take a breath, instead moving into her apartment and quietly checking both her parents were still asleep. Her father constantly got up for irregular intervals all through the night, so she considered herself lucky that he hadn't done so during all the chaos that had just ensued. Relieved, she made her way to the living room where their lone couch was - her permanent bed since the family first moved in. She pulled her blanket out from under it and laid it across the couch, taking a step towards it but quickly catching herself against the armrest, one hand moving up to cover her mouth. Tears began to stream down her face as she stayed perfectly still, surprising herself by the sudden overwhelming emotion. It'd been so long since she'd cried - she thought she'd gotten over it a long time ago. But that definitely didn't seem the case, and like a dam being unblocked more and more tears fell as grief came rushing in alongside it, years of grief that she'd tried desperately to suppress. She actively had to stop herself from wailing out loud as all the horrible, horrible things she'd seen and been through flew to the front of her mind, and even still she thought of Neo. The way she'd hurt him and the things she'd said, all because he wanted to help her. It was all too much, so she did the only thing she could think of and lay down on the couch, burying her face in her pillow and letting everything wash over her until there wasn't anything left.

Neo listened to the door shut as Kayla left, and silently reflected on everything. He didn't have to remain against the wall, but he didn't feel like moving in the slightest. He thought of the way he'd acted, the way Kayla acted, the anger he'd felt and also saw reflected in her, the way she'd lashed out at him, twice, and the things that were going on with her parents. It was a lot to think about, and he wasn't doing a very good job of it, since the one thing he kept coming back to, completely unable to stop thinking about, was the things she'd said. He pulled his knees up to his chest, hoping if he held on tight enough his emotions would stop building up, but ever so slowly tears began to well up in his eyes, then grow fuller and fuller until they were falling freely, landing on his knees as he trembled sorrowfully. The fact he was crying filled him with annoyance at no one other than himself. It made him feel soft - weak, even - but as he mulled over what Kayla said to him he couldn't help but let them come. He must've stayed in that position for close to an hour, and by the time his phone rang and jolted him back to reality his tears had all but completely dried away. With a hurried rub of his puffy eyes he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, seeing that it was Noah who was calling him. He answered and put it up to his ear, but before he could even get a word in the boy on the other line began shouting "Zuro's here! He's done something horrible too, I know it! Get to Glensgale Park in the middle of the city, that's where he is now. I tracked him all the way from the orphanage till he stopped moving but get here now!" Without another word Noah hung up the phone, and Neo immediately sprung into action. He didn't even have time to think properly about what Noah had said, all he knew was that he had to get to the park immediately. He burst through his door and sprinted as fast as he could, running and running and running with the sole goal of putting Zuro down for good burning in his mind.