Broken Genes

Chapter Fourteen

I wake to the smell of breakfast. I am so confused I don’t even notice my stomach growling hungrily. It is only then that I realize how hungry I am, and also why. The whole of the night before rushes back in a dizzying mess and I realize I am still in the clothes from last night. They are ripped and covered in a mixture of dirt and blood. I stretch my arms and legs and wince as pain sparks in my muscles. The smell of food enters my nostrils again and I realize I have forgotten about the possible intruder. I slide out of bed and grab the old baseball bat that lives behind my door – it had been here when I arrived and I never got rid of it.

I make my way to the kitchen with the bat held high, like I’m ready to hit a home run. I sneak into the kitchen, ready to swing. I see who it is and drop the bat in relief. Jase jumps at the sound of the bat.

“What are you doing?” he asks jumpily. I give him a once over just to check that he was okay from last night. I hadn’t checked in my exhaustion. I sigh in relief as I see that he appears unharmed physically. Although I’m not certain about mentally, I’m not sure how much he even saw in the dark.

“Sorry, you scared me. I thought you were an intruder or…” I let the sentence hang in the air unfinished. I can’t say ‘Hunter’ in front of Jase. I still have hope he hadn’t seen as much as what I think he had.

“One of them.” He finishes and I look down at the floor. “We’ll get to the explanation later. Right now, I’m making you breakfast and you need to go change” He says gesturing to my clothes. I look down at my clothes and see what he means. I make my way back towards my room. “Wait, did you honestly think and intruder would be cooking breakfast?” Jase yells jokingly and I laugh in response.

I get to my room and go straight to the shower. The warm water relaxes my tense muscle and I enjoy the short pleasure. After, I get out some clean clothes and quickly get dressed. I return to the kitchen to see Jase dishing out the food. I sit down at the table with Jase and immediately start eating.

I find that I’m starving and the most reasonable explanation for that would be, that using my powers drain all my energy. That brings a thought to my mind.

“What time is it?” I ask Jase. He looks up at me and promptly answers.

“3:40 pm” Jase says. I stare at him in surprise.

“Pm! What! I was asleep that long?” I ask surprised. Jase just nods.

“I only woke up at two in the afternoon, and I found you still asleep. I not surprised you slept so late, if what I saw last night was true. Which brings me to the large question of, what exactly happened last night?” Jase says. He is suddenly very serious and I know I can’t lie to him.

“That depends on how much you saw.” I say, looking down at my half empty plate.

“Everything.” Jase says. I look up quickly, there is no bit of doubt in what he is saying. I can’t get myself out of this now. But, I couldn’t have not done what I did either.

What do I tell him? I ask Margore. I know Jase is waiting for an answer but he will just have to wait a bit longer.

They know who he is now, he is no longer safe either way. It is your choice, but if you tell him, you are betting your life on his ability to stay quiet.  Margore replies. I think for a minute and decide.

We can trust him. Thank you.  I say and close the mental link. I look Jase in the eye.

“What I am about to tell you, no one else can know – ever. If you tell anyone, both of us will be in serious danger. I wouldn’t be telling you this if it would put you in harm’s way, however, thanks to last night, I am afraid, you are already in harm’s way. You have to swear not to tell a soul.” I say seriously. Jase just nods and pushes his plate away. I do the same.