Bethany had a difficulty hiding both her awe and jealousy of Ayden’s newfound ability. “Do you think I’ll ever get anything cool like you? I wouldn’t care if it was something small. I just don’t want to be boring Bethany, and you find someone more exciting.”
Ayden noticed Bethany’s flushed face and realized she had most likely said more than she wanted. They had walked downtown to pass time, and she looked about as if searching for a way to change the subject. The only thing nearby was Ben sitting on a bench near the coffee shop. Ayden reached over and took Bethany by the hand. He understood where she was coming from, since he was also starting to get rather attached to her.
He led Bethany toward Ben, wanting to put the past behind him and see if the guy needed any help. He hadn’t been able to get the visions of Ben’s home life out of his mind.
“Hey, Ben. How’s it going? You need help with anything?”
Before Ben could turn to see the two of them together, he recognized the voice and fell into his old ways. “What the hell do you want, and what makes you think I would want help from a pansy?” He turned and saw Bethany standing beside Ayden, and looked down to see that they were holding hands. “What, you think you’re big and bad because you got the girl? I didn’t ever want her, anyway.”
Bethany strode forward and raised her hand to slap Ben.
Ayden pulled her back, both physically and emotionally feeding her calm energy through their connection. “Hey, don’t let him get to you. He has a pretty tough life at home and feels he has to put on a front to get away from it all.”
Bethany stepped back next to Ayden and wrapped her hand around his upper arm, snuggling against him.
“What do you mean I have a pretty rough life? You don’t know anything about me. Why don’t you step off before I show you what rough is.” Watching Ben clinch his fists, Ayden could tell everything was an act now. Why couldn’t he have seen it before? Ben didn’t want to be like his father, but that was the only thing he had ever known. He was screaming for someone to help him.
Ayden let go of Bethany’s hand, moving away from her enough to give him clearance if this went wrong. “Do whatever you want. I want to help, and if knocking the crap out of me will help you feel better, then here I stand.”
Bethany tried to object, jumping between the two of them. “Ayden, no. What are you doing? You know what he’s capable of. I used to watch him pummel you in the halls and laugh like everyone else, but I’m not going to stand here and watch you put yourself in danger. I… I love you Ayden, please.” She turned to Ben, a tear rolling down her cheek as he grinned mischievously. “Please, Ben. Please don’t hurt him.”
Ben’s left hand jerked up to yank Bethany out of the way as his right swung for Ayden. Seeing that he couldn’t stop Bethany from falling, Ayden leapt forward to make sure Ben didn’t follow through and hit her after himself. Ben’s fist hit his jaw, and the momentum made him move with the fist, but there was no pain.
Ayden balled his hand into a fist and drew back to throw a punch of his own, but Bethany grabbed his wrist. Bethany yelped in sudden pain and cradled her hand against her chest. Ben, not knowing what had happened, laughed at the two of them until Ayden opened his fist and a small flame dispersed into a mist of steam on the cool breeze.
“What…?” Ben trailed off.
Ayden could almost see the gears turn in Ben’s mind. He was more intrigued than scared. “Whoa, what in the hell? Can you teach me to do that?”
Ayden ignored him. “I am so sorry, Bethany. Let me see it.”
When she finally let him near her, he pulled her hand away from her chest so he could look at it. Hairs on the back of Ayden’s neck rose as he felt energy swirling around him before flowing through his hand and into Bethany. As they all took their first look at the one small blister, it shrank as they watched. The blister stopped at only a quarter inch in diameter.
Bethany pulled away. “I… I don’t believe it. It doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”
“Holy shit, man!” Ben remarked. “How did you do that? I knew you were a freak and all, but I didn’t know you were a cool freak. You have to teach me.”
Ayden looked at Ben with contempt. He embodied everything that was wrong with man. His ultimate goal was to teach his father a lesson rather than trying to solve the problem in a more diplomatic way. Ayden wanted to help Ben. He wanted to help him and his younger siblings escape from the dangers of abuse, but he also wanted to help Ben be a better person. Destruction was all too often the first response to every situation, but when things were already destroyed, those were the moments you had to find a way to recreate and nourish.
“Look, this isn’t anything you can be taught. Heck, I’m still trying to figure everything out myself, but if you’re willing to go have a cup of coffee with us, then I’ll explain what I know.”
*
Over the next couple hours, Ayden and Bethany tried to explain to Ben the short version of the previous week’s events. Ben didn’t seem to be paying attention to much at first until Ayden grabbed his wrist to get his attention. The connection allowed Ayden to push Ben into seeing the truth behind their words.
Bethany kept Ayden focused on the current events and less on the Archetypes, expressing secretly that she was unsure how Ben would handle that type of information. Ben continued to question the validity of some of the claims they had, but after what he saw on the street and felt through the connection with Ayden, he seemed willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Impassive and hard to read, Ben’s face gave little away in regards to his thoughts. “Ayden, your dad passed a few months back, right? Do you think your mom would mind you having a sleepover? I mean, maybe me and the kids could come stay with you for a few days. Actually give them some peace and quiet for Christmas.”
Ayden was sure his mother wouldn’t care to have the company. She had enjoyed seeing Bethany each time she came to visit the last few days, but what would she think about this? “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind, but what about your dad? I wouldn’t think you would want to upset him. There has to be some way around you basically running away.”
Ben shook his head emphatically. “Dude, he isn’t even going to know we are gone. Please, I want them to have a good Christmas this year.”
“We’ll give it a shot, but there’s something that I don’t like about this.”
*
Ayden called and asked his mother if he could have a few friends over for the night. He didn’t give her any details, and she didn’t ask for any other than to clarify that he couldn’t have Bethany stay over. She was so ecstatic he was finally making friends, she didn’t care that it was Christmas Eve or anything else.
Bethany needed to get back home, so Ben and Ayden went to share the news with Carson and Olivia. They were still young enough at four and six that they weren’t truly aware of the situation they had been born into, but they were more than excited with the idea of a sleepover. As they hurried to get their belongings together, Ben heard his father pull into the driveway.
Turning on Olivia’s TV, he turned to Ayden. “You two go with Ayden out the back door. I’m going to let Dad know where we are going to be, and I’ll meet you all at Ayden’s house.”
Ayden could see the lie in Ben’s eyes, full of compassion to keep the kids safe and ignorant of the truth. Ayden knew that Ben would not leave this house without paying a heavy price to do so, but there was no time to argue. Olivia swayed in her Elsa dress as Ayden helped her with her jacket. “Tell Daddy I love him.”
As Ayden snuck out the back door with the kids, he could hear their father already yelling at Ben. “Dad, can you keep it down a little? I just got Carson down for a nap…”
He didn’t stop or slow down, hurrying to get the kids away before the ruse was discovered.
Chapter 6
Several hours had passed without any sign of Ben. Carson and Olivia didn’t notice his absence, as they were overwhelmed by the love Maria was
showing them. It had been many years since she had been able to snuggle with little ones, and she had never been able to do the girly things with Abigail that she could with Olivia.
“I wish that could have been me. Maybe one day. Would you tell her that I love her?”
Ayden was still adjusting to having his sister’s voice pop into his mind randomly. He wondered if she ever gave him privacy when needed.
“Don’t worry, little brother. I don’t want to see those things any more than you want me to see them.”
The kids sat on the couch, each with a small cup of cocoa as they watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Ayden motioned for his mother to step into the kitchen and ended up with whipped cream on his nose as he took a drink of his own. He had already had to explain that Ben would be coming later, lying to say the kids were scared of the dark and that was why they came early. Now was the time to come clean and explain the entirety of the situation to her.
After a few minutes of quiet conversation, she beamed at him. “I’m astonished that you would go so far out of the way to help Ben after he treated you so badly. But I’m proud of you. Those poor little ones… having to grow up in such a situation….”
“I need to go make sure Ben is all right. We’ll be back soon.”
“Ayden, you don’t know what could have happened. What if it isn’t safe?”
“I promise I’ll be careful.”
As he put on his coat, Maria went to sit between the little ones and laid an arm on each of their shoulders.
Carson looked up at Maria, a tear starting to form in the corner of his eye. “Mrs. Walker… Do you think Santa will find us here? He always gets lost looking for our house. Ben said that maybe he would find us if we came over here for a few days.”
Ayden looked at his mother sadly. After the fiasco with the tree, neither of them had felt like putting up decorations. Ayden was at the age where he would rather sleep in than celebrate early, and since his dad had passed, they both had come to the realization that Christmas wasn’t going to be the same as it had been in years past.
He smiled at the look of determination on her face, probably revitalized by the innocence of the youth staring up at her. “Santa will have no problem finding you. I promise you that.”
*
Ayden walked up to the house, glad to see there was no screaming or signs that things had been bad after they left earlier. He was hopeful Ben had been able to talk to his dad, and maybe things had even been worked out for the kids to stay over for a couple days.
Stepping onto the porch, he noticed lights on, but there wasn’t any movement inside. With only Ben and his dad present, it shouldn’t have seemed odd, but something tugged at Ayden’s gut instincts. He knocked on the door and waited patiently for an answer. After a few moments, he left the porch to go toward the back of the house and look around.
A cold wind blew harshly against the side of the house, and a branch fell from a tree right in his path. Startled, Ayden looked but saw no one. Seconds before he stepped past the corner of the house, he heard a shotgun go off, and a body fell in front of him: blood poured out of the wound in his abdomen as the man stared at the stars above in disbelief. Ayden fought back the bile that tried to inch its way up his throat.
Surprised at his level of calm, Ayden crouched down to survey his surroundings. He wasn’t sure where the shot had come from, who had taken it, or if they were going to take another one at him. Carefully leaning around the corner, he saw Ben using the gun to hold himself upright.
Ayden rushed over to him and found that Ben had been stabbed. He knew the worst thing to do was to pull the knife out, but what if he could heal him as he had Adair and Bethany? Ben’s eyes were glazed from the pain, and he slipped out of consciousness.
There was no time to call for help, and in that instant, Ayden knew that he was Ben’s only chance. Gripping firmly, he pulled the knife from Ben’s chest. A gurgling sound emanated as blood flowed into Ben’s lung once the knife was gone. The pain was enough to bring him back to consciousness, and he repeatedly mumbled to Ayden, “Take care of them.”
Ayden flung his gloves to the ground and laid his hands on Ben’s chest, trying to heal the damage done, but Ben started to cough up blood. The light that had only recently started to shine from Ben’s eyes started to dim. Ayden felt no swirling of power as he had with Bethany, no transfer of energy flowing into Ben. Ayden struggled to find the switch within him, the method to heal Ben’s wounds.
Ben blinked as he struggled to breathe. His words were faint and difficult to hear as he grimaced with each labored breath. “Take care… of…”
Anger rushed into the center of Ayden’s core as tears ran down his face. For the first time since being given his gifts, he truly questioned himself. Why would he be allowed power to heal one, but not another?
Ayden stormed toward the man that lay on the ground. Blood continued to pool about him. The man could only be Ben’s father, with their faces looking near-identical in the grasp of death’s claws.
Fury boiled in the depths of Ayden’s soul. Flames erupted from his hands as he screamed at the lifeless body before him. “How could you kill your own son? Was beating him not enough?”
Not realizing his actions, the rage consumed Ayden as he pummeled flame after flame at Ben’s father. The flames continued to strengthen as the rage grew within him, turning blue and white from the intensity until there were no remains left.
Ayden panicked when he realized he had been responsible for the deaths of both Ben and his father. They had both been mortally wounded, but his effort to remove the blade to heal Ben hastened his demise. What would happen if they connected him to Ben’s body?
Fear replaced the anger that fueled the flames. Ayden knelt beside Ben, once again laying his bare hands across the body. “Please take him. Protect him the way he protected his siblings,” Ayden begged. “I only wanted to help him.”
The ground shifted beneath Ben. His body slowly sunk into a temporary pool of quicksand. The knife and gun sank with him. The only evidence left of the night’s events were a scorched circle where his father’s body had fallen and the blood on Ayden’s hands.
Would Ayden be prepared for what was to come?
*
Ayden stumbled through town, blood caked to his hands and face from where he had tried to wipe away his tears. He eventually found himself beneath Adair and dropped to the ground beneath him. Reaching out for the connection with the tree, he felt the familiar bond, and then a comforting compassion.
“You are strong, but your gift is only for the righteous. His heart was righteous, but his body and mind were not. Take comfort knowing you eased his pain.”
Ayden could feel the tears starting again as he screamed, “Take comfort? How am I supposed to take comfort in any of this? These aren’t gifts; they’re a curse!”
The front door swung open, and Bethany stepped out into the cold. She caught sight of Ayden laying on the ground and rushed to see what the commotion was about. When she noticed the streaks of blood on his hands and face, she frantically checked him for injury before sitting next to him and pulling his head into her lap. The thirty degree temperature affected neither of them as they sat in silence for minutes in the shelter and warmth the Crann’arsa provided them.
*
Ayden opened his eyes to Bethany shivering despite the smile on her face as she ran her fingers through his hair. “I better get home before my mother gets worried, and you need to go warm up anyway.” Sitting up, he leaned over and gave her a light kiss. “Thanks for being… you.”
Bethany’s smile faded as she looked upon Ayden’s face again. The dried blood flaked away as she brushed her hand across his face. “What happened Ayden? Whose blood is this?”
Ayden didn’t know how to recant the story to her. The adrenaline no longer rushed through him and the realization of all the details sunk in. He started to tell her everything, but something told him the specifics would overwhelm
her. Closing his mouth on the empty words, he took a deep breath. “It’s Ben’s. He and his father are gone. He asked me to take after the little ones.”
Shock flooded Bethany’s face, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. She wrapped Ayden in a hug as she held him in silence.
“I really like her. Mom has the kids asleep, but she is going crazy trying to get decorations up. You may want to pick up the pace before she realizes how long you’ve been gone.”
He couldn’t believe his eyes when he walked in the door. He stayed in the shadows of the foyer, eyeing the boxes of decorations everywhere, more than he had seen in ages. “Mom, are you all right? Why all this?” His arms were outstretched as he glanced over the room.
“Do you know those kids have never had a visit from Santa Claus? That is downright unacceptable. I’m going to have to have a talk with their father, about several things, but for now I am going to make sure they have everything they deserve. Where is Ben? I was hoping the two of you could figure out that fake tree. I never was good at getting it put together.”
Ayden winced at the mention of Ben as memories from the night flooded through him again. He knew there was no way to broach that subject; he would need to divert his mother for now. Ayden headed toward his room as he unzipped his jacket. “Let me use the restroom real quick, and I’ll come help.”
He scrubbed his hands and face until the skin was pink. No blood remained, even though he could feel the warmth of it on his skin.
Back in the living room, Ayden reached out to take the stockings from her hand. “Mom, I’ve got this. Why don’t you go get some rest? You look exhausted, and you’re going to need to be up early to see their faces.”
Yawning before she could respond, Maria relented to the sage-like advice from her son. Ayden wasn’t sure how he would accomplish everything in time, or what he could find for presents, but he was bound and determined to bring the joy back to his mother that had been missing these past few months. He would have to tell her that Ben wouldn’t be coming, but tonight she needed rest. She was going to have her hands full with two little ones underfoot.
Jingle Spells Page 13
