In this chapter: Cade and Jayden (Guys, I promise we're almost done with introducing the previous lives of all those that will be stuck in the collapse. Just hang on for another few chapters.)
I turned around.
Cade...
This must be him. I could see why this man thought we were brothers. Though some of our characteristics are different, his eyes blue and mine green, my long straight hair black and his long curly hair golden brown, we both had the same type of sculpted body and the edgy look of a skilled street fighter.
Looking at him up close now, there was something strange. He was not what I thought he'd be. I had given him at least twenty five years from afar, but the dude that stood in front of me was not more than two years older.
Cade, I was suddenly sure his name was, took the rifle from me and soundlessly, like a ghost, made his way to the man. He knelt next to him with the ease of air, and the sudden fright in the man's eyes was puzzling if not shocking.
What's going on?
"Nathan Lea Patterson. Octopus's gang. What a... very expected coincidence." He introduced the guy without taking his mask off.
My chest reacted to his voice like a kid watching a scary movie. It was unbelievable. Something unearthly.
It was the most empty voice I've ever heard. So flat, so numb, that for a moment I thought I heard what a dead man's voice sounds like. Not a drop of emotion was heard throughout his tone. It was so controlled that it made anyone listening to it swallow their own words and their heart to drop down to their feet.
And that was my first impression of him. Cade was unnatural.
The second was probably more of confusion driven than anything.
In my head, I was waiting for this Nathan guy to get the shit beat out of him. We all knew Cade was about to get shot. He knew he was about to lose his life. But...
He didn't seem to care.
And for whatever reason that made me feel sick in the stomach. Like the kind of sick that you feel when you watch someone put a gun in their mouth and bust their brains out. That kind of sick.
Fear slowly built in Nathan's body until it was apparent in his voice as it shook. "I didn't want to. They tried to persuade me with money. I said no. But then they threatened me, my wife—my kid. I had to. I told them I ain't for the job. Especially yours. They said it was easy, all I gotta do is aim and shoot. Then I'll get the money and they'll lay of my family—so sorry man, I swear you is the last thing I wanted to mess with. But it ain't in my hand. I'll never do it again, I swear..."
Cade stayed quite. Eventually he said "Who said that?"
"Octopus. Octopus said that." The man replied, becoming less tense at Cade's conversing tone.
Cade stared. His eyes empty and cold, nearly showing the kind of heart he had.
With quick hands, Cade had the mask off the man. All the ease he had gained seconds ago vanished, and terror filled his face again. He was a black male. In his mid twenties I guessed. His short to a buzz black hair had a wave to it, and his shoulders and arms were a strong worked out fit. Looking at him now fully revealed made me wonder why he hadn't at least tried to fight off Cade. He was strong. A gym visitor I'm sure. But he had still appeared in front of us as if he were no older than a ten year old that was mentally and physically, crippled.
Cade gave Nathan the rifle.
Then he stood up and backed away slowly. For a few seconds, he stayed silent, staring at the ground in-between them. Then with focused vision, he looked up at Nathan.
"Get up."
Nathan stumbled to stand up as quickly as he could. He put the rifle on the ground and stood to his feet, hands up in the air, showing he was no harm and was up to no tricks. "I'm so sorry.... I'm so sorry...." he kept on mumbling, looking down and shaking his head, looking as if he knew, knew that this was the last moment of his life. He was dead, his eyes said, he was gone and there was nothing he could do about it.
"I want you to keep the rifle in your hand."
Nathan froze in the middle of his apologizes. He stared at Cade startled.
"W-What?"
"I said keep it in your hand."
Hesitating this time, and completely puzzled, Nathan leaned down and pick up the rifle with his thumb and forefinger, then stood to his feet, hands and rifle up in surrender.
"He said just aim and shoot, didn't he?" Cade asked.
It was that moment that I asked myself the crucial question: Why the hell am I still standing here? And I realized, too late, that it was because of him. His mind.
"When I ask a question, I expect an answer." Cade asked evenly.
"Yes—yes, he said that." Nathan quickly replied, than started mumbling barley heard apologizes all over again.
"Good. Now hold the rifle with both hands and aim it at me."
Nathan paused. He just stared at Cade with eyes asking questions that had no answers. He wasn't understanding, and when he did, he seemed to see it as if his deathbed was asking him to have a visit.
Because all of the sudden, he started backing away and shaking his head, saying "No. No. No." over and over again.
Cade wasn't touched. He ignored his reaction. "He said it would be easy, didn't he? So just aim and shoot."
...?
Did he lose his mind?
"No, no, no. I can't do that. I'm sorry. I swear I ain't ever doin' it again. I'll never even think about doin' it again. Just let me go man. Please!" He begged. "You'll never see my face from this point on."
For a second, I felt bad for the guy. The man was only in attempt of shooting a person, and possibly killing them. But he hadn't fired the weapon. For all we know he could have changed his mind last second and backed off his intentions.
Still, Cade wasn't touched "Come on, on the count of three."
The man looked at me begging with terror in his eyes.
"One."
His head stared to shake.
"Two."
His knees started to buckle up.
"Three!"
He let go of the weapon and dropped to his knees, holding his face in his hands and whimpering. "Sorry man. I'll never do it again." He whimpered.
I'm thinking, this Cade guy is heartless. No wonder why he didn't care if he got shot. He didn't have a single drop of emotion in the first place to express any fear.
"Get out of here." He calmly said to the begging guy.
Nathan looked up, searching to see if Cade was serious, then with whimpers and stutters he thanked him and took off running.
"Why did you scare him that much?"
He turned around and looked at me, taking in my presence for the first time. My hair, my face, my eyes, my arms, my clothes, even my shoes. What he was thinking about, I had no clue. What was going on inside my head was another story, a matter difficult to explain. I was somewhat happy, happy that he acknowledged me at last.
Not saying anything, he answered me with a tap on his head.
"You let him go." I said, "and he was about to kill you."
"Actions are unpredictable." He answered, "If I had to fight everyone who attempts to kill me, then I'd be doing it all day. Every day."
All day, everyday? He had that many enemies?
He smiled at my expression, "Go home kid. And next time, don't involve yourself in petty situations."
He opened up the palm of his hand, showing me the rifle's cartridge that he had been holding all this time. He slid it in his pocket, then bent down and picked up the rifle. Without another word he turned and walked toward the bridge's stairs.
He moved as if he had no weight at all, sort of drifting. I watched as he disappeared, and when he did...
I felt empty again. As if the past half an hour never happened. And as usual I was only on the bridge to cross over and get to my bus stop.
***
Later that night, I sat in my home. An abandoned car scrap. A piece of land aside of a dirt road that leads to the city. The home of junk cars in all sizes and shapes. And surrounding it were big pine trees.
The boxing equipment hung on the trees. I used to wake up to say good morning to them and get back from my classes to say hello. The classes are a history now. I didn't need them anymore. They taught me all I needed to know about self defense and vital points. And as soon as I mastered them, I had quit and focused my training on the boxing bags. Now I only train on them every now and then when I begin feeling a little rusty.
I lay on the long seat that once belonged to a van, thinking about Cade. His image haunted me all day. His sharp blue eyes, his strong jaw, his arms, with veins running on top of the skin instead of under, his body language that was identical to mine—confident, loose and free. For some reason thinking about him made me uncomfortable. 'You'll never see him again, so just leave him alone', I'd tell myself.
I took a deep breath and exhaled it. It still came out shallow. I straightened up on the car seat, and sat still, trying to regain my levelheadedness. No use. I growled and stood up.
That's when I noticed the figure next to me.
I looked over.
Cade.
What is he doing here?
His attention was on the field around us, looking at everything with a slow careful bored expression. How did he get here? How long had he been here? Why is he here? My brain spun with questions at the sight of him.
"What are you doing here?" I finally mustered the words to ask.
He shrugged and turned to look at me, "Who are you?"
"Why does it matter?"
"It doesn't."
Silence
"Jayden. I'm Jayden."
He nodded and walked around, hands in his pockets. "Where are your parents kid?"
He was the first one I didn't lie to about this, "They don't matter anymore."
He stopped and glanced at me, his expression still hard to read. "And you ran away?"
I nodded.
"Sisters? Brothers?"
I shook my head
He stood there, quiet as the sky. I'm studying him, trying to believe that he was real and he was here.
Eventually, he turned and started walking toward the dirt road. "Come with me kid. I've got a better place for you to stay at."
Gorgeous cover by Me_For_President