Chapter 6- Found and Lost

  Jax

  I don't know what to think.

  So I don't.

  Neo

  He's not in any csses the next day. He always returns on Friday. Why the hell isn't he back?

  Jax

  The words keep floating in front of me. Son, father... I'm not even sure they're real anymore. I'm not sure what's real anymore.

  Neo

  When we get to dinner and Jax is still nowhere to be seen, my paranoia goes from anxious to fear. Did he leave for good? Is he bringing back an army? Dark creatures?

  What happened?

  Jax

  I don't realize how long I've been sitting there. It's not until I hear the forest bats chirping that I tear my eyes away from the letter and towards the other end of the room. I'd almost forgotten Gedrick's body. The bats hadn't apparently. Time for me to leave before that unfortunate event happens.

  I shove the letter into my pocket. I can't think about this anymore right now. I'm about to start walking out of the room towards the exit when I stop. I feel like I should do something. I mean, what are the other hunters going to think when Gedrick doesn't return? When they see his dead body here on the ground?

  I know what they'll think. They'll think it was me. That I had finally turned into the creature I truly am.

  I turn around, going back to the dead hunter's corpse and pulling out a small pad of paper and a pen he always keeps for our meetings.

  I quickly scribble,

  Someone knows. Not safe. - J

  That would have to do. I would just have to wait and see if they try to contact me in a different way.

  If not....well I guess I'd be back here next week then wouldn't I?

  Neo

  When he doesn't come to dinner, I make up my mind. I'm going to find him. I will find him. There's no way I get through the weekend not knowing what he's up to. I swear it's nothing good.

  Rosa doesn't seem surprised. But she's also not eager to help me either. Odd...she always loves getting into a good smack of trouble. Maybe she's just tired of hearing me talk about Jax...although you'd think she'd be a little more worried? I mean, his scheming will affect her too.

  I don't head back to the cssrooms. I doubt that he's there if he wasn't earlier. Instead, I start making my way to each of the main ndmarks around the school. I start with the Lochness Lake. He usually hangs out there, doesn't he? I frown at myself. I mean, I wouldn't actually know. I only ever followed him around that one year and I'm sure his travel habits had changed by then.

  When I get to the wide expanse of sand and water and don't see him anywhere, my heart sinks. I'm not sure if this feeling in my stomach is just very strong paranoia and agitation...or something wonky I ate earlier. Could've been the meatloaf, I s'pose.

  After checking the library, the common room, and the field, I start thinking maybe I should just walk around the entire school outskirts and head into town and see if I can't find him that way. I also start wondering what creature I could turn into to make this easier. I think a griffin could work and before I even try, I'm in the air with ruffled red feathers sticking out on either side of me.

  Sometimes, my emotions do come in handy.

  I start fpping around the school wall, making sure not to get too high (there's a dome that protects Dempsey and it's like an electric wire. I ran into it once and boy I don't want to do that again). The only way to leave school grounds is through the portion protected by the gates. Even if it is in the air.

  I try to utilize the super eyesight that griffins have and surprisingly, it works. It seems like I got everything right this time. I mean, my st name is Griffin. Be kinda embarrassing if I didn't.

  I can see the whole school grounds from up here as well as a bit of the town of Prescott, some of the houses and stores and even the forest on the other side. With my narrowed in sight, I'm able to pick out individual people and details. I've flown around the entire school grounds 4 times and am about to give up and go out into town when on the far north end, I see a dark shadow near the border of the woods. Near where Jax lives, I think.

  That's got to be him, I think successfully, pushing my wings forward and flying as fast as I can, off school grounds and above several houses belonging to creatures and humans alike. Thank Circe the humans are oblivious to magic. It really makes this whole living and using magic thing a lot easier for all of us.

  Somehow, I manage to drop out of the air and nd on my normal feet again, just as Jax reaches the road that leads from the woods, to town and his house.

  Jax

  I wasn't expecting to be confronted the moment I returned to the road. I took a detour home, not wanting to be followed in case whatever had killed Gedrick was still out there. But of course I'm followed and found anyways. And of course it's Neo.

  Fucking hell can my luck get any worse?

  I start walking, down my road, towards my foster family's home, pushing past him, just trying to ignore the ever living fuck. But he grabs the elbow of my leather jacket and I whip back towards him, eyebrows raised.

  "Cam." I state. He grimaces at the use of the name. He hates that name. It makes his brows scrunch up every time I use it. I guess that's why I do it. Cuz his face looks lovely...

  I mean lovely hideous when it happens.

  He doesn't let go of my arm and I don't shake him off. "Where were you?" He asks bluntly, giving me a hard look with those deep, forest green eyes. I stare into them for a moment and then pull away.

  "None of your business, Cameron," I say as haughtily as I can because I don't want him to hear the shaking in my voice. "Why the hell do you care anyways?"

  I'm walking again and he starts jogging to keep up with me. I'm taller. Longer legs. I can always walk faster than him.

  "I care because you were gone for 2 whole days and if you're pnning a way to attack the school then I'll be damned if I don't try to stop it."

  That freezes me in my tracks. 2 whole days? It's a good thing that there's some sort of oblivion spell on my foster family. But still. Damn. I guess that letter really got to me. But I suppose that'd happen to anyone who was just finding out they had a dad all this time. A real dad that is.

  I keep walking, at a slower pace this time so Neo doesn't have to run. "I'm not pnning an attack on the school," I say, nearing my driveway. I stop and so does he.

  "Oh yeah? Then why were you gone for so long? And where'd you even go in the first pce?"

  I can feel my patience running thin from this boy. "I don't have to tell you anything," I hiss, turning to him.

  Neo is so close behind me that when I turn around to confront him about following me and to tell him to piss off, we're practically chest to chest and nose to nose. His green, green eyes widen a bit and the tips of his hair start going pink. He takes a step back, not a very big one, but otherwise holds his ground.

  Fucking hell. How do I get away from that?

  "I'll say this once more for that stubborn, stupid head of yours. It's. None. Of. Your business." I practically breathe the st words into his face before stepping back. "Now, don't even think about following me home. Just go."

  I turn and start walking. I don't wait to see if he listens.

  Neo

  My heart is still fluttering. I could have sworn he was going to y one on me. A punch, I mean. He's done far worse with far less aggravation.

  I watch him as he heads up his driveway and shake my head before turning to start the long walk back to home.

  I would change into something that can get me there faster, but I'm fairly certain I'd screw it up, what with all the thoughts going through my brain like California wildfires.

  So I walk and I think. And then because there's too many things to think, I stop.

  ******

  The weekend passes as it usually does. Slow and filled with ruthless chores and taunts. There's no escape this weekend. Rosa is out of town with her family. And seeing as the school is usually closed on Saturday and Sunday...I'm stuck here.

  At least I manage to stay out of Mike's way.

  When Monday morning comes, I'm so excited to get to school, to talk to Rosa, that it only takes me 15 minutes to get out of the home. Rosa's not at the stop yet so I'm left to pace back and forth until I hear the fps of her wings.

  "Rose!"

  She's sniffling and her eyes are all puffy, like she'd been crying and my heart immediately drops along with my stomach.

  You know, I never understood what that meant until times like this. Like, it literally feels like your stomach gets lower.

  She comes up to me and I automatically wrap her in a hug, avoiding her wings as she lets them disappear into her back.

  "What happened?"

  She sniffs again, rubbing a sweater sleeve over her face before answering.

  "There was another attack in Chicago. A whole family of faeries was killed. Hunters."

  My eyes widen and angry heat rushes through me. She continues.

  "These attacks are just happening more and more. And we don't know why. I mean, we're good. Dark creatures I'd get. But us?"

  "I'm sorry, Rose. Was it anyone that you knew?"

  She gets onto the bus in front of me and I see her shake her head, messy purple curls bouncing. "No. But that shouldn't matter. They're still one of us."

  I grit my teeth as I slide into the seat next to her. "Why isn't the board doing anything? Why aren't any of the magical creatures?"

  She sighs, leaning into me as the bus starts moving. "My dad says that the board doesn't want to start a war they're not sure we can win. Or risk exposing us completely to the humans. He's sat in on some of their meetings and their arguments are all the same. That the human cops will deal with it because the bodies look like normal ones to them. But my mom says that's bologna and just a cop out. Pun intended."

  I rub her shoulder gently. I'm not good at comforting. It's not a part of my skill sets. And Rosa usually knows this. But she doesn't seem to care right now.

  The bus stops and we get off together. "Breakfast?"

  She shakes her head. "No. I don't think I can eat right now. I'm heading to my locker and css. I'll see you ter."

  I don't follow her and I don't disagree.

  I head to my locker on the other side of the west wing (the main building is split into three, the east wing for the unders, those that are in years one through five, the center, and the west wing for the overs, or the rest of the students.)

  He had completely escaped my mind until I saw him there, standing next to his- my -locker, like always. I push forward, my mood soured and looking for anything to fight.

  "You're in the way," I mutter, stomping to a stop.

  Jax turns to me, his chocote brown locks up in a bun today hanging low at his nape, his blue eyes questioning and cold. His lips are thick and snting into a sneer at me now. He sms the locker door closed and stares at me, leaning against it and blocking my locker even more.

  "Cam."

  I growl. "Move."

  He raises an eyebrow at me. But he doesn't move. Effing asshole.

  "Did someone piss in your cheerios this morning? One of your orphan friends?" he sneers. Then he chuckles. "Oh. Wait. That's right. You don't have friends."

  I know my hair is turning the color of fire. I can feel the magic rolling through me. I bite it down. The st time we got into a magical fight, we were forced to sit in the same room with each other after school for three hours, expining why we did what we did, why we wouldn't do it again, and how we performed each of our magical abilities. It was a nightmare. And while I'm pissed, I really don't want to deal with that again..

  "No, actually. I've just heard there was a mass murder in Chicago. A family of faeries. Like my best friend? And knowing you, I wouldn't put it past you if you had something to do with it."

  I watch his face carefully, hoping it'll give something- anything- away. He rolls his eyes, cool as ever. Like stone. Or a tree trunk. "While I'm complimented that you think I have such power, it would be beneath me to start killing our own kind."

  I don't know what to say to that. I never seem to know what to say to him. I just stand there and gre, waiting for him to take the hint and move out of the way. Others are moving around us now and I know first css is going to start soon. He knows, too. He rolls his eyes once more and turns away, walking down the stone hall.

  I'm turning to open my locker when I hear a ruffling sound. I gnce over quickly and see a crumpled, parchment colored envelope falling to the ground. It must have fallen out of Jax's pocket as he walked away.

  I bend down, picking it up carefully, intending to crumple it up and toss it in the trash. But then I see the name.

  Jaxith Liam Bellvederus Miles

  "Don't do it, Neo," I'm whispering to myself. But I've got to. I've just got to know what's inside that letter. What if this is the proof we need to get Jax stopped for good?

  I gnce at the hall, at Jax's back getting smaller the further he walks away. Quickly. Before he notices it's gone. I turn my attention back to the envelope and carefully pull out the letter inside.

  I read it 3 times- it's short, so I have time- before I shove it in my locker underneath of everything else.

  The words that stick out at me are son and father and when you know. Does Jax have a father? Did he know he had a father? Is that what he's been doing all these years? Looking for his family? Maybe that's why he's gone every Thursday. Maybe he's meeting with a private investigator or something.

  My stomach is roiling with a mix of emotions. But guilt is overriding them all. I had to think about this. About all of it.

  Jax

  When I saw Neo walking towards me, he looked as he usually did- ready to kill me. Or ready to kill anything, really. But still. After all the fights we've had, we're usually fairly decent at just staying out of each other's way now. Apparently that's not what he wanted today.

  No, instead, he looks to start a fight, accusing me of murder. And when he says it, I feel every inch of me go cold. Because while I might not have killed anyone, I know exactly who did.

  Hunters.

  And I was working for them.

  The look on his face is what really got me though. The anger and disgust. That he thought that I was so evil as to have killed them myself. And that bothers me. That he thinks I could have done it and that it actually happened.

  I just can't get it out of my head. I can never get it out of my head. Everyday. It haunts me, torments me.

  Those eyes. His eyes. His emerald, so very green eyes. His side flop of reddish brown hair that changes colors when he's not controlling his emotions. The way his face is covered in a consteltion of freckles. And how his bottom lip pouts when he doesn't get what he wants.

  The fact that he was looking. Looking for me. The fact that he was even thinking about me. Even if it's not for good reasons.

  The fact that I know it doesn't matter. Won't ever matter. Because he doesn't care, doesn't feel, and never will. He'll always hate me. He could never love what he thinks is a monster.

  Not like I love him.