Silent Ground Part 2

by Quil Carter

  Fuck, do I love him.

  And my god, did I miss that man.

  There was a knock on the door.

  “Sash…?” Lex whimpered. “You don’t need to answer it.”

  But Sasha was already walking towards the door, his heart vibrating like it was collecting all of the energy inside of the room.

  Then he extended a hand, and opened the entrance door.

  And there he was. There was his physical presence, his unique smell of cinnamon, there was his beacon that shone like a supernova inside of the darkest depths of the universe.

  There was Kheva Swift.

  “Hello, Sasha,” Kheva said, his bright eyes shining with a glint that Sasha couldn’t read. “It’s been a while.”

  For a moment, all Sasha could do was stare, until his emotions got the best of him, and he grabbed Kheva’s body and pulled him in for a bone-crushing hug.

  ‘Don’t you ever leave me like that,’ Sasha whispered inside of his own head. ‘Don’t you ever leave me like that again.’

  Kheva let out the smallest of sighs, and around Sasha’s mind, he felt the faintest flickers of warmth emanating from Kheva’s beacon.

  ‘I won’t,’ Kheva responded quietly.

  Sasha sniffed, clutched Kheva to him tighter, then finally, he released his master from his grasp. He stepped away, a thousand questions on his lips, but saw Kheva’s gaze now looking past him, towards Jobe and Lex.

  Sasha turned around and saw them, Jobe and Lex both standing side by side, devastation a clear etch on both of their faces.

  “Come on, guys…” Sasha said quietly, the guilt stinging him. “You know… I have to go back where I belong.”

  “But… Sasha…” Jobe whispered.

  Then Kheva stepped into his vision, his chin held up high and his stance solid. “I will not take Sasha against his will,” Kheva said simply. “If he wishes to return to Ciel Lake with me, he can, but he’s welcome to remain here. I will not make him do anything.”

  Sasha stared at Kheva with surprise, but that surprise was dampened by the hope on his uncle and best friend’s face.

  “I’m going back…” Sasha said, there was no hesitation. “You guys… you guys have each other now, and I’m ready to go off on my own.”

  Jobe sniffed. “So that’s it then? We never see you again?” His eyes shone with unshed tears. “Is that how it’s going to be?”

  “Sasha can visit any time he wishes.”

  Now it was Sasha’s turn to be shocked. He turned to Kheva, dumbstruck, but the man only continued staring forward at Jobe and Lex.

  “Really?” Sasha said slowly.

  Kheva gave a single nod. “You’re past your early training, Sasha,” he said. “You can do whatever it is you wish. I will not stop you.”

  Kheva’s words floored him. They were the last words he’d expect the Master Nightcrawler to say. Did he really… earn all of that?

  “Will you hurt him again?” Lex asked, a light venom slicking his words. “Is he going to come back beaten to shit and violated?”

  “I have no need to hurt him,” Kheva said coolly.

  Jobe turned from the scene, his hand rising to his mouth. Lex, Lex just looked crushed.

  “I’ll come back,” Sasha said quietly as he walked to them. “I promise, I’ll come back. I can’t stay here forever; you guys know I can’t stay here forever. I need more out of life now than just staying in my apartment all day.”

  Lex’s face crumpled. Sasha put his arms gently around his uncle and hugged him. “You have Jobe, you two won’t be alone. I’ll visit so often, you’ll be wanting to get rid of me. And maybe one day, you can see where I live too.”

  “Okay, bug,” Lex sniffed as he wiped his eyes. “But you… you call us if anything goes wrong, okay? You can come home whenever you like.”

  Sasha put a hand on Jobe’s shoulder; they were lightly trembling. “I will,” Sasha said. “Don’t worry about me. This is what I want. I want to go with him.”

  Jobe nodded. “I know, Sash. It’s just hard,” he said. “It was nice having you back… seeing you do all that stuff now, seeing you so happy. I’m going to miss you.”

  “I’ll miss you guys too,” Sasha said with a smile. “I’m not just going to drop off the face of the earth, I promise.” He looked back to Kheva, standing in front of the door with both arms crossed over his chest. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

  Sasha hugged both Jobe and Lex again, Jobe squeezing him so hard Sasha was sure he was going to cough up a lung, then he followed Kheva outside, and got into the black truck.

  Jobe and Lex waved at the window, tears rolling down their cheeks, then soon, they were out of sight. Sasha was alone with Kheva in the truck.

  He was going home. Finally, Sasha was going home.

  But there was one lingering question; the question that had kept Sasha up at night.

  What had happened to Kel?

  Sasha looked over at Kheva, hoping that the master would read his thoughts and tell him what he so dearly wanted to hear, but as the minutes carried on and they left Cranden––Kheva was quiet.

  Was he intuned? Did he know the question that Sasha was screaming at the top of his lungs? Sasha didn’t know, but he’d be a fool to not see that Sasha was desperate for an answer.

  They rode in silence, absolute silence. There was no radio, no music player, the only sounds were of the wind blowing through the open doors, and the cars that they passed on the highway.

  Eventually, not soon enough, Kheva turned off of the highway and onto the unassuming dirt road that would eventually lead them to Ciel Lake.

  Still Kheva had said nothing.

  The question was burning a hole on Sasha’s tongue, just sitting there smouldering, wanting so badly to be spat out. Sasha had missed Kel just as much as he’d missed Kheva; his heart ached to hear that insane man’s voice again, to have him call Sasha, Sashy, like he loved to do.

  And when Sasha would be doing his chores outside, he’d see Kel in the garden, taking care of his strawberries and blueberries, or coming in and out of the green house. Fishing too. Kel loved fishing. Sasha had developed a liking for it as well, and it was just the cutest, most endearing thing when Kel caught a fish. He was so happy.

  Kel’s gone, isn’t he?

  Sasha’s heart broke. Is that why Kheva’s said nothing? Because it’s too painful for him? Kel’s gone, and Kheva had went through the worst of his grief and was ready to bring Sasha back to Ciel Lake.

  If that’s the case… fuck, if that’s the case––I’ll take care of my master until the end of days.

  I love him.

  “I love you,” Sasha suddenly said.

  Kheva’s eyes didn’t leave the road, nor did any response leave his lips. But as Sasha’s words lingered in the air, Kheva removed one hand from the steering wheel, lowered it, and grasped Sasha’s.

  And he squeezed it, and held it.

  The truck went through its twists and turns, its many forks along the way, and abundance of thick trees that blocked out the sun save for the bright opening made by the road they were driving through. Sasha found himself recognizing everything, and slowly the excitement and dread matched potency as the truck rode through the last stretch of road before they would arrive at the lake house.

  It would be okay though. At least… at least Kheva would be at peace now. No more Rob to torment him, no more having to guard those traumatic memories from his childhood. Kheva was at peace––and Sasha could be at peace with him.

  Then, Sasha saw the house break through the trees, and his body responded to this excitement with a shuddered jolt. The truck then pulled into the clearing, the house looking very much the same, and Kheva parked it in the muddy driveway.

  Sasha hopped out, his body a shiver of emotion. He closed his eyes, then inhaled a deep breath, and turned and walked towards the porch.

  Jye was there, sitting on top of the stairs, his ears twitching back and forth.

  But there was
no Kel waiting beside him.

  Kel always waited on the porch for Kheva to come home.

  So, that’s it then?

  Sasha swallowed down the burning. He tried with all of him to keep his composure, but the pain in his throat was quickly spreading to his face, and he found himself stifling a choke.

  Kel was gone. Keluva was gone.

  “Let’s go inside, Sasha,” Kheva said quietly. He walked in front of Sasha, his head still held high, and made his way to the porch. While they approached, Jye reared up to rub his head on the railing of the stairs, a low purr faintly being heard.

  Even though he tried to fight them, the tears came. Sasha closed his eyes tight as his world began to blur, and wiped them away while following Kheva as quickly as he could.

  No, he couldn’t show emotion. He couldn’t fucking show emotion. He had to be strong for Kheva––Fuck, he had to be strong for Kheva right now.

  “Sashy?”

  Sasha froze, his breath caught and trapped in his throat. He wiped his eyes, and looked up towards the porch… and there he saw Keluva Swift leaning on a cane, a smaller cast on his arm, and a grey walking cast on his injured leg.

  Kel grinned at him, a look of manic excitement on his face, and then… and then he laughed. “Sashy!” he cried. “I missed you! I missed you so much!”

  If one thought that seeing Kel would stop the tears from coming, they would be wrong. Sasha choked back a sob and ran towards Kel, then took the man into his arms and held him tight.

  “You’re okay?” Sasha sobbed. “You’re okay, Keli? Promise me you’re okay.”

  “I’m okay,” Kel said lightly. Sasha noticed he was talking like he had something in his mouth, no doubt from the chunk of tongue Kheva bit off being stitched back on. “I’m all okay, Sashy. Please don’t cry. My bones are almost all healed and my tongue is feeling a lot better too. Don’t worry, Sashy.” This though only made Sasha cry more; he clutched Kel to him, fully intending on crushing Kel’s ribs.

  “Kheva?” Sasha only pulled away when more questions entered his head. He looked to the sliding glass door where he saw Kheva standing.

  The Master was holding a faint smile… a smile that Sasha had never seen him wear before.

  “He’s okay?” Sasha asked. “Is Rob gone?”

  Kheva nodded. “It took me a while,” he said quietly. “But he’s gone. Permanently gone. There will be other wars we may have to fight, Sasha, but for now, this one is concluded. Rob is dead, Keluva is here, and it is here with his family that he’ll remain.”

  “And… the other nightcrawlers? The first gen?”

  “They have more important issues to distract them,” Kheva replied. “I’ve spoken with them, and they accepted my truce. Our safety has been guaranteed as long as we behave ourselves. There will be no more fighting between us.”

  The relief was crushing, Sasha gave Kel one last hug, then walked over and put his arms around Kheva. Sasha knew that Kheva hated hugs, but there was nothing inside of Sasha that really cared in that moment.

  “You’ve been through quite the ordeal, nightcrawler,” Kheva said as Sasha hugged him. “We all have. But for now, it is over.” He pulled away, and motioned with his jaw for everyone to come inside of the house. “Come on, there will be no chores today. I wish…” The smile returned, that warm, welcoming smile that Sasha could get used to. “I wish to spend the day with my boys, with my family.”

  And with nothing else said, only that warm smile that brought a strange sense of serenity to the usually stoic and stern nightcrawler, Kheva turned and walked inside.

  Sasha and Kel followed.

  THE END

  A note from Quil

  Wow, it’s done! A book I always called Fallocaust’s grandfather is finally completed, and a world that has been inside of my head for so long is now in the hands of others. Also, unless you weren’t paying attention at all, you’ve already figured out that Silent Ground does indeed take place in the Fallocaust universe. Some of the characters and places in Silent Ground have been mentioned in The Fallocaust Series, and in future Fallocaust books you may just be meeting some of the guys read about in this book as well. I never outwardly stated this, since I wanted it to be an Easter egg of sorts, and also wanted to write the book in a way that if you have no idea what the fuck I’m talking about since you’ve never read The Fallocaust Series, you wouldn’t be missing anything huge. Reading The Fallocaust Series is not needed to read Silent Ground.

  It really was wonderful to finally get this book out. Like The Gods’ Games, this was a book I started writing in my teens (around 16-17 for this one) and it was my first ‘I’m going to write this story how I want to write it. Fuck what people think’ type of book. So, since it was one of my firsts, it was always very close to me. This is my last book started pre-Fallocaust, so it kind of feels like the end of an era in a way. Damn though, it’s great to finally get this book out.

  So, what’s next for me? I’m currently writing Fallocaust book 4 ‘A God Among Insects’ and Fallocaust Short Stories. After those two books are done, I’ll be moving on to The Gods’ Games book 2, which I am also excited about. Yes, there’s no rest for the wicked, or the man with an overactive imagination. I’m still going strong at this writing stuff, and hope to bring you great, twisted books for decades to come.

  I do hope you all will continue to join me.

  And, of course, for updates on book releases, to view excerpts, or to watch my steady descent into pure, unfiltered insanity, follow me on Twitter @Fallocaust, on Facebook /quil.carter, and my own personal website www.quilcarter.com.

  Sincerely,

  Quil Carter