Silent Ground Part 2

by Quil Carter

  “It’s okay,” Sasha whispered. He took a hand off of the wheel and put it on Kel’s leg. “I’ll make everything okay. I promise.”

  “Why does Kheva hate me?” Kel whimpered.

  Fuck… Sasha shook his head, and his hand rubbed Kel’s knee. “It was nothing you did, hun,” Sasha whispered. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “Kheva said it was my fault…”

  “No,” Sasha said, a little more sharply this time. “I know things Kheva doesn’t and it was not your fault. Understand? As soon as – as soon as Kheva gets better, I’ll explain everything to him.”

  Kheva is going to kill me. He’s going to fucking kill me.

  But I dug my grave, if I must lay in it––I will.

  Kel looked out the window. “But… where are we going now?”

  “I’m going to get you help,” Sasha replied. “I’m taking you to a hospital.”

  Kel stared at him. “A hospital?” he said anxiously. “Kheva says I’m to never go out in public alone, not without him.” His teeth locked and his eyes flashed with a wild fear. “With people? I don’t want to be around people! What about Jye? What about you?”

  “Shhh, I’ll be there too,” Sasha whispered, but inside he was swearing. What the fuck would they do with Jye? And him?

  Get a hotel…Yeah, I’ll just get a…

  Money.

  “Fuck,” Sasha whispered. He looked around the front seat of the car, hoping to see Kheva’s wallet, but it was gone. “Kel, can you check the glove compartment for money?”

  Kel’s shaky arm opened the glove compartment, but all that was in there were the truck’s registration, some other random papers, and two chocolate bars. There was no god damn money, nothing.

  Sasha swore, his hand clenching the wheel hard. What now? What the fuck now?

  Then a guttural realization, one Sasha at first didn’t even want to consider.

  But the more he drove, the more he realized… it was what he was going to have to do.

  He was going to have to go back to his old home, back to Lex’s house, his apartment.

  “Left,” Kel whispered. Sasha glanced over at him, but realized they were approaching a fork in the road.

  “Thanks, bud,” Sasha said. He turned left, his stomach now knotting tightly, wringing like a wet towel as he began to realize that he had no other option.

  He had no money. No place to stay. Kel didn’t even have I.D on him. Lex was just a pharmacist but he had doctors for friends, lots of them. Lex would know what to do with Kel, and Sasha could keep Jye in his apartment, locked off from the two domestic cats.

  That was what he was going to have to do, wasn’t it? Holy fucking shit, I’m going back to my old home. I’m fucking going back.

  I’m going to see Jobe, Uncle Lex…

  “Are you scared?” Kel whispered. He watched Sasha’s ever-changing facial expressions with wide eyes, one with a dark bruise circling the ocular, the other with tinges of bloodshot.

  Sasha swallowed and nodded. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I’m – I’m fucking terrified.”

  “It’s scary when Kheva isn’t here,” Kel said, his voice still hushed. “But maybe this is our chance to show ourselves we can make things okay without him.”

  Sasha looked over at Kel, the man just a sickly head poking out of a blanket. He was staring at Sasha with his bruised and sore eyes, his cut, bruised lips chattering around three day’s worth of stubble. A man with at least two broken bones, possibly more, who, in all respects, could’ve died a dozen different times in those three days.

  And here he was saying the words of a sage.

  “I think you’re right, Kel,” Sasha said. He reached over and grasped Kel’s hand, now warm from being pressed against the truck’s heater. “I’ll take care of you, just like you’ve been doing a great job taking care of yourself where you were left.” He forced a smile for Kel. “Were you telling Jye to bring you those things?”

  Kel nodded. “I was so happy when he came to visit the first time,” he said quietly. “He laid with me and kept me warm. Once he left, I was crying and sad and lonely so I called him back. I realized then I could tell him to bring me things too. I got him to bring me water, then he brought me food. I tried to get him to bring me some leftover dinner, but dinner means other things to a cat.” Kel’s nose wrinkled. “Don’t tell anyone I ate Gavin, please. I didn’t have anything else.”

  Sasha decided not to make Kel feel bad about that. Not eating for three days would make anyone desperate, even if it was pretty fucked up. “I won’t, I promise,” Sasha said. “It’ll be our secret.”

  “I got some regular bones too at least,” Kel said. That’s right, Jye’s food didn’t have bones in it. Too much leftover evidence. “Jye was bringing me the soup bones you gave him. I pretended to eat those so I wouldn’t hurt his feelings.”

  Jeez, this guy just melted your heart sometimes, didn’t he? Sasha could see why Kheva would love him, and love him more than Rob. Rob was an asshole of the highest calibre.

  And I helped him get stronger…

  “That was nice of you,” Sasha said. He saw another fork in the road approach, the dirt road was getting even more washed out, the small rivers turning into steady streams. “Which direction?”

  Kel looked ahead. “Right,” he answered. “Can I have those chocolate bars?” Kel held up one of the Snickers bars with his good hand, a hopeful look on his face.

  Of course, Sasha let him eat the chocolate bars, and the cab of the truck quieted down. Sasha concentrated on the washed-out dirt road, the windshield wipers on max as they cleared out the torrential rain and the heat cranked up as high as it could go.

  The wind was getting worse too, eventually Sasha had to dodge fallen branches and he became concerned about actual trees being blown over and blocking off the road. It was becoming hell on earth outside, as if the weather itself was trying to keep Sasha from getting help for Kel.

  But there was also another realization, if Sasha hadn’t rescued Kel tonight, not only could this have been the night that Kel died, but if Sasha had found him, they could’ve been stranded at Ciel Lake for fuck-knows how long.

  The what-ifs were enough to drive Sasha crazy, he kept having to concentrate on the fact that he had Kel now. He was safe, he was alive, and Kheva will be back soon.

  What will Kheva do when he comes back though? Sasha was planning on returning in three days, but what will Kheva say? For all Sasha knew, Kheva was going to be pissed off that he’d rescued Kel.

  Kheva had said… that he was finally ready to let go. Let go of Rob? Let go of Kel? Sasha didn’t know, he just knew he couldn’t let his friend die.

  Suddenly Sasha slammed on the breaks, a fallen tree covered in branches fallen across the road. To his overwhelming guilt, Kel cried out as he was yanked forward. He was wearing his seat belt but the force of the stop was enough to propel his body towards the dash.

  “I’m sorry!” Sasha said hastily. “Are you okay?”

  Kel’s face tensed in pain, his teeth locked tight. He nodded faintly but didn’t speak.

  Sasha turned to the fallen tree, and leaned back on the driver’s seat with a groan. What the fuck now? What the fuck do we do now?

  “How far are we from the highway, Kel, do you know?” Sasha asked.

  Kel’s dark blue eyes scanned the road. “Too far to walk,” he said, and just as Sasha’s heart was plummeting, Kel looked behind him. “There’s a chainsaw in the truck’s trunk.”

  The trunk? Right, the plastic container Kheva kept belted to the front of the cargo bed. Sasha looked behind his shoulder and nodded. “I think… I think I can handle that.” Kel had taught him the basics of using a chainsaw, but the man himself was always the one to actually use it since he said it was so fun.

  “Kheva always keeps stuff like that in the back,” Kel said. “Since the roads are so bad sometimes.” There was shifting and struggling as Kel took off the jacket Sasha had given him, then he peeled the s
oaked hat off of his head. “Cut the branches off first and clear them, then cut the remaining tree into pieces small enough to move.” He was talking like he’d had to do this many times, and he probably had. These weren’t government maintained roads, they were private, and no one would be clearing this shit away for months if it was left up to the owners of these logging roads.

  “Kheva has a deal with the company to keep the road clear,” Kel said, obviously intuned to Sasha’s thoughts. “If he keeps the roads clear, he can use the road to get in and out.”

  Sasha didn’t answer, he just stared out at the miserable weather outside and enjoyed his last remaining moments of being relatively dry and warm.

  Then with a deep breath, and only the headlights of the truck illuminating his mission, Sasha got out of the truck and into the storm.

  It was cold, fucking cold. The rain and wind blasted his face and the frigid air stung every inch of exposed skin. Not wasting any time, Sasha hopped into the back of the truck and got the Stahl chainsaw, then closed and clasped the lid and walked towards the fallen tree.

  It was a mass of blowing green and grey, the branches whipping back and forth, with more littered on the ground surrounding the truck like pickup sticks. The tree itself wasn’t overly huge, about the size of the rounds of wood they chopped in four for firewood, but it was enough to make this job seem daunting and never-ending.

  Sasha cranked the pull start on the chainsaw, and muttered a quiet thanks to whoever was listening when it roared to life. Then with his eyes blinking away rain, he began to saw off the branches.

  It was tedious and tiring work, the wind made it difficult to position the chainsaw so he wouldn’t get showered with painful woodchips, and the rain had Sasha worrying the chainsaw would stall out altogether. But it kept on going, and Sasha continued sawing until every branch was removed and pushed off to the side of the road.

  Cutting the tree into logs was the hardest part. By then Sasha was drenched and shivering; twice he heard trees falling in the distance, and more times that he could count, there was a low snap deep in the forest.

  Finally, he was on the last log. He sawed it in half, then killed the chainsaw and set it down, slowly, with his hands aching, bleeding, and coated in chips and bark, he pushed both logs through the muddy dirt road and off to the side near the rest of the trees remains.

  He was done. Fucking finally, he was done.

  Sasha gingerly got into the truck, the blast of heat a small comfort to his soaked and aching body. He closed the door and leaned his head on the steering wheel, both eyes closed and his breathing hard.

  “Take a rest, Sashy,” Kel said gently, and he rested a hand on Sasha’s shivering shoulder. “You were out there for a long time.”

  Sasha shook his head and tried to take in deep breaths to control his breathing. “No, I’ll be okay,” he whispered. His arms felt like they’d had boulders strapped to them and he could barely raise his head, but Kel needed help, Kel needed to go to a hospital.

  “Sashy, you’re too exhausted I can feel it. You need to rest.”

  “More trees might fall, Kel,” Sasha said. He lifted his head and squinted his eyes. “I can do it.”

  “It’s only about three miles… and we’ll be crossing through stronger––”

  “Keluva, I’m fine!” Sasha cried. He clenched his eyes tight and his teeth locked, the exhaustion was crippling, but he knew he had to push through; Kel needed help. He could rest once–––

  Those thoughts were the last legible ones to enter his head. Even though he tried to fight it, Sasha felt a cloak of darkness get draped over his mind, and then, darkness, and then… rest.

  When awareness began to trickle back into Sasha’s mind, he realized it was chilly again and although it was still blowing outside, the cab was quiet.

  Sasha opened his eyes, and saw that the road in front of him was now a twilight blue, the logs and trees that he’d cleared off still pushed to the side, but there were more branches on the road.

  Briefly Sasha was confused. What had happened? Until he remembered his last several moments––Kel had cloaked his mind; he’d put him to sleep.

  With his eyes heavy with fatigue and his body sore, but at least dry, Sasha looked over to the passenger side.

  Kel was still sleeping, he was curled up in the Hudson Bay blanket gone to the world, and Jye was also in the back seat curled up into a ball of cheetah spots.

  And the clock said… it was almost eight in the morning. Kel had made Sasha sleep the rest of the night.

  Sasha felt a surge of gratitude, even though he was a bit annoyed since he was sure he could’ve made it to Lex’s house without needing a rest. The fact remained that Kel had wanted to take care of Sasha too, and was willing to bite through the pain for a few more hours.

  “I was out all alone for three days, Sashy,” Kel suddenly said, he yawned but winced when he tried to stretch. “A few more hours isn’t much, and I was happy to be able to sleep inside of something. I turned off the engine to make sure the battery didn’t die though, so it wasn’t that warm but the blanket did fine.”

  Sasha smiled sadly, behind him there was the sound of teeth clipping together as Jye yawned as well. “Thanks, Keli,” he said. “Let’s get the hell out of here though. At least if there’s any more trees down, I can get through them quickly after this rest.”

  Sasha started the truck, and immediately the heaters turned on, forcing warmth back into the cold dark cabin. The world around them was becoming brighter by the minute at least, and even though the wind was still blowing and the rain continuing to fall, it was easier to drive with a bit of light to help guide their way.

  Morning was coming to Vancouver Island, and Jobe and Lex were probably still asleep, with no idea that their lives were about to change.

  It was shameful to admit, but Sasha was terrified of going back to his old home. It wasn’t like he didn’t love Uncle Lex and Jobe with all his heart, but he was almost ashamed to go back now. Even though Kheva had made it clear that Sasha wasn’t allowed to go back home, Sasha hadn’t felt like a prisoner in quite a while. On the contrary, he felt like a member of their family. They all had such a strong connection.

  Which was why he was doing this for Kel, and which was why he’d been taking care of Kheva while his mind was recovering.

  So even though Sasha had had no way of contacting Jobe and Lex, it was still an intimidating thought going back to them.

  “Sashy!”

  Sasha looked over at Kel, and relief washed over him when Kel held up a twenty-dollar bill.

  “Where did you get that?” Sasha asked. It wasn’t much, actually it wasn’t much at all, there was no hotel on the island that only cost twenty bucks a night, but it would at least afford some food.

  “It was in my pocket,” Kel said. “I’d put on Kheva’s pants because I’d missed him so much. Kheva must’ve had it in there. We don’t have to go to Jobe and Lex’s if you don’t want now.” Kel seemed so relieved at this, no doubt he was feeling Sasha’s anxiety over the whole thing.

  Sasha smiled sadly. “We’ll still have to go, that’s not enough to last us… but it’ll definitely help. Thanks for finding that for us.”

  Kel’s own smile faded, and trepidation took its place. “Oh, okay,” he said quietly, and his eyes deflected back to the blue-hued road.

  “You’ll like Uncle Lex and Jobe,” Sasha said, trying to sound reassuring. He recognized the road they were on now, even though it was mud and pools of water, it was better built. They’d be at the highway soon. “They won’t be mean to you, I promise. Jobe’s really funny, and Uncle Lex is too.”

  “But we kidnapped you… they said we kidnapped you…”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Sasha said. “I’ll talk to them, you just concentrate on getting better. Hey…” Sasha reached over and took the twenty-dollar bill from Kel. “Since we’ll be going to Uncle Lex’s house… what do you say we get some McDonalds breakfast? You––” Sasha
laughed when Kel let out a tired, but still excited, squeak of happiness. “You can get two of what you usually get. How’s that?”

  “Really!” Kel said in an excited whisper. The apprehension vanished and happiness took its place, but it was still obvious that Kel wasn’t in the best of shape. His face colour was still ashen, and it was clear he was using every bit of his remaining energy. “Two sausage and egg McMuffins? Two hash browns? Orange juice and coffee?”

  “Of course, you’ve been eating so badly, you deserve something nice. We’ll pass it on the way to my town and we’ll go drive-thru.”

  And light returned to the grey face of Keluva Swift. He gave Sasha an appreciative smile and leaned his head against the passenger window.

  “Thank you, Sasha,” Kel said weakly. “For… for everything. I love you.”

  Sasha looked over at him, and smiled back. “I love you too, Kel.”

  But behind that smile the concern was growing. Now that he was in the morning light, Sasha became even more aware of just how bad Kel really looked. The bruises on his body, under his eyes, one bloodshot, the other blackened. His lip was cut and the corners still tinged blue. Sasha hadn’t even seen the full extent of his broken arm and leg, and quite frankly, he was scared to. He didn’t want to see it until Kel was safe in a hospital.

  And Sasha knew he had to hurry.

  CHAPTER 31

  When Sasha saw the highway at the end of the seemingly endless, winding dirt road, and the cars speeding by getting to their morning destination, it was almost enough to make Sasha start to cry from relief.

  He’d done it. He’d rescued Kel and had made it safely back into civilization. There’d been no more trees blocking the road, no more small lakes to drive through or worry of crashing the truck, and most importantly, Kel was still alert and talking to him. Not only that, but the storm was letting up, even the rain was just a faint drizzle, if that.

  Kel was going to be okay, and Sasha would right what he’d wronged. He’d fix the mistake he made trusting Rob.