Murder Out By Caster Bridge

Chapter five

"Hayden Lakewood!" a female voice demanded. "What is going on here?"

We broke apart and together we looked up to see a woman who I pegged to be in her late twenties. She stood there dressed in a white flowing gown with a pair of white flats. I admit she was beautiful. Her ginger hair was braided like a crown around her head.

I felt the bewilderment shoot through Hayden's emotions as he jumped to his feet. "Mother!"

This was Hayden's mother? I've never met her before. Anytime I asked about Hayden's parents, he always said they were out of town or too busy. However, now that I was looking at her, I could see some resemblance. Their turquoise eyes, their hair, and the shape of their noses. But that was all there was in terms of physical appearance. However, their stance, and the way their deadly intimidating gaze locked on one another as though they were in the middle of a heated battle, made me see just how much they were alike in personality.

I froze in the icy moment.

"You snuck out again," she sneered. It was then that her deadly gaze shifted to me.

I fought the urge not to flinch and stay where I was. Every instinct told me this woman meant serious business. It was a bit hard to keep eye contact.

"And now I see why," she continued, eyes once again meeting Hayden's. "Sweetheart, this fantastical dream of yours has to end. This thing, this friendship with this boy can never, ever happen. He is dooming your future forever."

"He is saving my future!"

Her voice softened. "Dear, please, come on back home, back to the place where you belong. You know you are meant to..." She reached out to grab his hand.

Hayden jerked away and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't care!" he yelled. "I already told you and Father that I am making the future I want, my own destiny! I am not, nor will I ever follow in either of your footsteps. I..."

"You have no choice!" she squabbled. Her voice didn't boom. Her voice didn't need to. It was way more powerful like that of a silent boom you don't always hear. "You are next in line."

"I am not!" he argued. "You and Father chose me. I had no say in it."

"Hayden, honey, you aren't thinking clearly. This craziness has to end. I am putting an end to this once and for all."

Neither Hayden nor I knew what to do. All we could do was look at each other. I couldn't reach him. I couldn't move. It was like I was paralyzed. But that didn't stop me from wanting to do something. I squeezed my eyes. What could I do? I just wanted something to happen.

And something did happen.

A flash of warmness from my magic radiated in my chest and flowed through me.

It was then I heard a loud thud as Hayden's mother bellowed, "What the hell?"

I opened my eyes and gasped.

Hayden's mother was on the ground, lying on her back as a heavy downpour doused all over her.

I felt the shock and fear in her.

Quickly, she pushed herself up, nearly slipping on the wet grass as she grabbed Hayden's arm and pushed him behind her protectively as she glared at me. The anger in her, while nowhere as sharp as my mother's, was still shocking and sizzling. Why did she feel the need to protect him from me? I wasn't going to hurt Hayden.

"Hayden," she said. The coldness in her tone paralyzed me. "Why did you not tell me that your friend was powerfully and magically endowed in magic?" It was then she pulled out a similar-looking pen that Hayden had from her hair. However, the crystal on the end didn't glow green. It pulsated red.

Hayden must've known what that meant because terror flooded throughout his entire body as his eyes widened with fear and he stepped in front of his mother. "Mother, don't!" he shouted. "I don't care what he has! He is my friend and I will protect him. Even from you."

Her eyes narrowed. "Very well, Hayden Lakewood," she said. "You leave me with little choice." She grabbed Hayden's arm and turned his hand up, the same hand I had initialed, and drew something on his palm. Whatever it was made him wince and then scream out in agonizing pain.

I gasped, hard.

Acidic bile bubbled in my stomach and erupted up my chest, but nothing came up. Instead, I lost my breath. My eyes squashed shut as tears dripped from the corner of my eyes. I ignored them. I could only focus on the pain radiating in my hand and chest. It felt like someone was stabbing my heart and my soul.

I collapsed to my knees and placed my palms on the soft grass. My fingernails dug into the dirt as I bit back the screams lodged in my throat. If this was what dying felt like, I sympathized. Forcing my eyes open, I blurrily saw, though the tears cascading down my cheeks, Hayden fall forward and looked directly at me with fear bright in his eyes and flowing from his emotions.

Suddenly, an intense heat came from my hand. Looking at it, fear, my fear, shot through me as a red glow illuminated my palm, and Hayden's initial burned like I was getting burned from a hot stove.

Panicked, I leaned back and held it to my chest protectively as I crumpled, clutching at my heart. Agonizing bolts of raw pain fired throughout me, more than when I had felt it through Hayden.

With my vision fading to black, I could hear Hayden desperately crying out my name.

"Weston!"

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, Hayden," Hayden's mother said.

Blurrily, I could see them hugging each other.

And then I blacked out.

_______________________________________

I came awake to the sensation of shaking and a bright light hitting my eyes.

"Weston?" a concerned voice called.

It was familiar, but I couldn't place it. My thoughts were jumbled. And through the blurriness, I could see a vague outline of a person hovering in front of me and some kind of weird light that kept flashing back and forth in my blurred vision.

"Hayden," I said, dazed. My voice sounded croaked and hoarse and felt dry. "Can you shut off that light, please?"

"Weston," the voice said again just as the light faded from my eyes and warm hands touched my face.

That wasn't Hayden. His voice sounded strange. And this touch wasn't gentle. Who was this? And why wasn't my empathy picking up on this person's emotions?"

"Who...?" I croaked out before coughing a little.

"Easy, buddy," the voice said. "It's me, Carter. Your cousin."

"Carter?" What was my cousin doing here?

"Yeah, it's me," he reassured.

"What are you doing here? Where's Hayden?"

"I don't know," he said, helping me to my feet and placing one of my arms around the back of his neck so my hand hung over his shoulder. "Were you out here with him?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but you didn't answer my question."

"I got a text from an unknown number telling me to come out here," he said. "I was going to ignore it, but my instinct told me to check it out. Glad I did. When I got here, I found you on the ground out cold. Are you okay?"

Lifting my glasses and resting them on top of my head, I rubbed my eyes. "Besides having a killer headache, I'm fine. I just want to lay down and sleep."

"Let me take you home."

At the mention of home, I panicked. "No! Please! I don't! I don't want to go home!"

Carter rubbed the back of my neck and I instantly relaxed. "Okay, bud," he said. "I'll take you to my house."

I calmed. "Thanks," I said drowsily as I rested my head on his bulky shoulder.

I barely remember getting to his car or the ride to my cousin's house or even how he got me inside. The only thing I could feel the second I was laid on a soft bed was the intense pain still raging deep inside me.

I curled up, hugging my knees.

I wanted the pain to stop.

It didn't.

But somehow I must have ignored the pain or the pain got so intense that I ended up passing out.