Cassidy's P.O.V.
"His real dad?" I asked.
Ca'sius nodded his head yes.
"Then who's Elliot?"
"My brother."
"Your.... Brother?"
"Yep. But as Apo- Or River- grew up he was more of a guardian to him. He still is."
This was all so confusing.
"So you had River with River's mom.... But then your brother married her?"
"River's mother and I had sex once. And that was within a week of meeting eachother. When she became pregnant I had too much to worry about already because with River's birth came many dangers. So I assigned my brother to look after him since I couldn't. Elliott and River's mother eventually fell in love. Which didn't bother me because River's mother and I weren't ever in love."
"So then Legend... He isn't River's actual brother?"
"No but Everett was. Everett was my other son that Elliott raised."
"It was only River and Everett then?"
"No. All of those people that you just met were his other brothers and sisters."
"All of them?"
"Yes, Raes is his older brother. Dia and Theana are his older sisters. Sehrem and Sidonyus are his younger brothers. And Simarté is his twin sister."
"He's a twin!?" I just about yelled.
"Yes he is." Ca'sius laughed. "River and Simarté are very close. The bond they have is incomprehensible."
"How come Elliott didn't raise her too then?"
"Its complicated."
"Why hasn't he ever talked about her then? Or his other siblings?"
"Because he's not supposed to."
"Why is this all some sort of secret?"
"Its best that it remains that way. Believe me."
"Can you answer one more question for me?" I asked.
"Depends... What's your question?"
"What's the deal with my son?"
"I can't tell you everything but I'll tell you as much as I can." He began. "Your son is special. River's daughter Arabella was born with a 'gift'. The gift is usually given to a first born which technically means Elise but our definition of 'first born' is something completely different. After she died, the gift had to be passed down to one of his other children. River didn't know which one it would be, but as soon as he held Kaiser for the first time, he knew it was him. Now don't worry, your son will have a normal childhood and his teen years will be fairly normal as well, but when he turns 18, his gift will officially become a part of him and he'll know that something about him is different. A few years after that it will be fully introduced to him."
"Why does this sound like a sci-fi film?" I asked, kinda unconvinced that he was telling the truth.
"I know its hard to believe but its going to happen."
"What did Raes mean when he said he'd have teach him everything?"
"Well, I know you're aware of what's gonna happen in a few years, so River will only be around to set the foundation for Kaiser to build upon. Like Sehrem said earlier, those first few years are going to be the most important part of your son's life. Since River won't be around to help Kaiser with his gift, the next most qualified person would be his Raes. Cato, Sehrem, Dia, Theana, Sid, Simarté, and I wouldn't be of much help because his particular gift is one that Raes is a master of. The rest of us specialize in other things. So yes Raes will have to teach him how to use it. And once River's gone, Raes will have to help you raise Kaiser."
"What? No way... he's a douche."
"That he is but he has to. He's going to be the primary person responsible for making sure that Kaiser is well protected. Because there will be people that want your son dead. There are already people that want him dead but the only reason why they haven't come for him yet is because they know that Kaiser has a father as well as aunts and uncles that will do whatever it takes to protect him. That's why they're waiting for River to go. They believe that once he does the rest of us will be too weak to keep holding on."
"Why does he have to die?" I finally asked.
"For the greater good. Like he said, its his fate."
"How is it gonna happen?"
I felt like crying. Just knowing for a fact that I was gonna lose him one day didn't sit well with me.
"No one knows how its going to happen. All we know is that he's going to be the one to do it."
"He's..... Taking his own life?"
Ca'sius nodded his head yes.
"So then it can be prevented?"
"No, it can't. He has to. If he doesn't, bad things will happen."
"If he's going to be the one to do it then why doesn't he know when its going to happen?"
"No one knows when its going to happen. The only people that have an idea of when it might is himself and his brother Sidonyus. It could be a year from now, it could be 6 years from now, it could 14 years from now."
I rested my face into my hands and tried my hardest to hold back the tears. This was a nightmare.
Ca'sius grabbed one of my hands and held it in an effort to comfort me.
"I know that I didn't raise my son, but trust me when I say that I know Apollo better than anyone. Even better than he knows himself. He genuinely does have the kindest heart in the world. Its just hidden under that tough personality. Apollo would give his life if it meant saving the life of an innocent person he'd never met before. He'd never hurt anyone unless he thought that person was a danger to the ones he loved. When he was in Blairwood, he was treated worse than you could ever fathom. There wasn't a day that passed when he didn't feel pain. And even today, he's never gone a day without feeling pain. But that's not why he's killed people that worked there. He doesn't care that they hurt him. Hurting them wasn't something he planned to do. Its just that when they started killing off his friends who were like brothers to him, it became a problem. It wasn't just Reese's death. His friend Matthew was killed when he was 13. His friend Demarcus was killed right in front of him when he was 14. And there have been countless others. So he has a reason for doing the things he's done. Doesn't mean he's not a good guy because he is. That's why in a few years he's not going to be around anymore. He's doing it to help the rest of us."
I understood where he was coming from, but I still didn't want it to happen.
After we finished talking I got up and walked to the back to where River was sitting. I sat next to him and he pulled me closer as I laid my head against him.
"Ca'sius just told me that in a few years I'm gonna be stuck with Raes." I complained.
He laughed and kissed my forehead.
"Raes isn't that bad. He's just a jerk. An even bigger jerk than I am."
"Wow, that's kinda hard to believe."
"Its true." He chuckled. "And he wasn't lying when he said that his wrath is worse than mine. It really is."
"No way.... There's no way I'm believing that."
"Don't believe it then... But you'll see what I mean one day."
"How is that even possible?"
"I can be controlled to a certain extent when I'm pissed off. It might take a lot but I can be stopped. And you can tell when I'm about to snap because my hands start shaking and I get really fidgety. Raes however, there's NO stopping him when he gets angry. You can't control him at all. You just have to let him do whatever he wants to do because no matter how hard you try to stop him, it just wont happen. Plus unlike with me, you can't tell when he's about to snap. He doesn't show signs. It just happens out of no where. So yea his wrath is way worse than mine. You haven't seen pissed off until you've seen him. He's not a bad guy though. He does everything with good intentions its just that he has a bad habit of not thinking before he does something. You'll warm up to him eventually."
"You don't seem like you've warmed up to him at all." I laughed.
"I haven't." He replied. "I won't ever warm up to him. I love him to death but he and I are too much alike to actually get along."
"You two look alike. Like, a lot."
"Yea everyone says that."
"And I still can't believe you're a twin..."
"Indeed I am." He stated. "Simarté is definitely the sweeter one though."
"So is she your favorite out of your siblings?"
"No. Her and I are the closest for sure but my favorite is Sehrem without a doubt. That guy can do some amazing shit. He has such a way with words. He could literally talk you into believing that the world is shaped like a pentagon. He can make you believe whatever he wants you to. Once he made me question a medical procedure I was about to use on a patient and it took me the longest time to realize that he was just fucking with me."
"Could he make you believe that you're not attractive?" I giggled.
"He's done that before. I was extremely insecure for about a month afterwards."
"You've actually been insecure before? That's a shocker."
"I know right. Its hard to believe that my unbelievably handsome ass has ever been self-conscious."
"Dude.... Humble yourself..."
"Never."
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A/N
Hi guys! ^.^
I've noticed that a lot of you are surprised by the sharp turn this book has taken judging by the comments and the many, many, messages I've received that are fuuull of questions.
I'm being very vague about the details surrounding this 'gift' of Kaiser and who River really is but I promise you I'm doing it for a reason! Lol its become a huge mystery hasn't it?
Anyways, I brought in this twist to the story and this whole thing with Kaiser because this book is gonna end eventually I'm just not sure how soon exactly. So now I'm setting it up for my second book (:
The idea of my second book is gonna be based around Kaiser (when he's older) and his 'gift' as well as the truth behind who River really is. Raes is gonna be a pretty important character in the second book as well and you'll learn a lot more about him and River's other siblings and who they are.
I'll give more information about the next book as I get closer to ending this one but as for now just enjoy the rest of this one :p
Lol I'll update again soon !