The smoke becomes thicker. There's no more shooting, just running around. Caelum and Charles were running around them, and there's a gunshot. Caelum screams out, "KIERAANN!!" and hears a body drop.
Caelum began to tear up, Charles holding him back. He just got him and he's about to lose him. But then Kieran walks out of the smoke—calm, untouched, as if none of it mattered. The man who held him was shot dead. Even when Kieran didn't have a gun.
Caelum is relieved. He looks at Charles, with a big smile on his face, and they leave the building together. It was the quickest in-and-out Caelum had ever been in. It was too quick.
To avoid any unnecessary delay, they set the building on fire. Charles got the fuel, and Caelum always has matches.
They all watched it burn to the ground. The building was already in the middle of nowhere. It was easy to set it ablaze, and nobody came.
They walked to the car while talking like they just went for a visit, almost forgetting that Caelum just survived a kidnap by a very dangerous gang.
In the car, Charles and Caelum are catching up. They look like best friends. Charles kept saying "boss," and every time he did, Caelum would hit his head and reprimand him for saying "boss." They were brothers now.
The drive was long, and Kieran was crying in the back. He was so happy, but he wasn't sure his Caelum was still the same. He just sat there, looking. Of course, Caelum noticed.
"What's wrong, my sweet?" he said
Kieran cleaned his eyes, saying nothing. He was still his Caelum.
Charles drops them home and picks up the officer's body. They forgot. Caelum is shocked. The sight is gruesome.
"Who did this?" Caelum asked while holding his nose and Charles says it's Kieran like he's giving him credit for killing someone. Kieran doesn't argue; he's just happy he's home with his sunshine.
Charles runs away quickly before Kieran changes his mind and tells the truth, and Kieran locks the door and puts the keys away.
"You did that?" Caelum says while walking towards Kieran on the other end of the room. Kieran still doesn't speak.
"What's wrong?" he asks, but Kieran still isn't talking.
"Did I do anything wrong in the car?"
"What's going on, Kieran?" He kept asking questions, but Kieran was just standing there, crying. "Why am I not talking?" he asks himself, but he still says nothing.
Caelum kneels down and holds Kieran's feet. He's crying too—but why? Kieran wonders.
"I'm sorry, Kieran, but let's end things." Kieran's eyes looked like they'd pop out of his head. Kieran's breath grew uneven, his hands trembling.
"What?" Kieran asks.
"They'll come back for me... for us. I don't want to drag you into this. I'm sorry Charles told you anything. I'm sorry you're in this now, but it's still early. I can go back, and it'll be fine. I'm sorr—"
Kieran interrupts him.
Kieran pulls him up roughly. The moment feels eerily familiar.
"Repeat what you said," Kieran said.
Caelum stammered while trying to speak. Kieran's fists clenched, his entire body rigid with something dark and unrecognizable. He looked terrifying.
Who's this man I'm talking to? I wish I didn't say anything, Caelum thought.
He kept talking, but Kieran breaks a slap across his face. Kieran looked like a totally different person. This isn't my sweet.
Kieran towers over the kneeling Caelum. He trembles—but the blows keep coming. Kieran says nothing. Not even a tear was coming down.
What's happening to me? he wonders.
"You're not my Caelum," he kept repeating while pounding his face with punches.
Kieran is lost in thought. This feeling—this rage—he's known it before. But this time, he wouldn't be left behind. Not again. He would never let it happen again.
Caelum's screams bring him back. Kieran's face was blank—eerily void of anything human.
Caelum didn't fight back. He couldn't. He let the pain take over—the fresh bruises blending with the ones from before.
Kieran just walks to the door again, turning the key with a slow, deliberate click. There was no leaving.
He didn't say a word. Just turned, shadows swallowing him as he disappeared into the hallway—leaving Caelum alone, with his words and his wounds.
Caelum rattled the doorknob desperately, but it wouldn't budge. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. He turned back slowly—Kieran's shadow loomed against the dimly lit hallway.
He just sat there, breathless. Caelum's breath hitched. His body ached, but the real pain settled in his chest.
Who was this man?
Kieran goes to get a shower and yells Caelum's full name out in the bathroom. Of course, Caelum hears and limps to the bathroom. Kieran had pounded one of his legs a bit too much.
Kieran asks him to come over and have a shower like nothing happened earlier. Caelum is scared but gets undressed and walks in. He had scars all over him. He had lost weight, but he still had an amazing body. His wide back was carefully cut with razors, and his knuckles were bruised. His cheeks were wounded, and his eyes were swollen... he was a mess. Both old and fresh wounds looked the same.
They both showered off the blood of their enemies and talked a bit in there. Caelum didn't dare to bring up what had just happened. He was avoiding any more beatings.
They walk out of the bathroom totally naked, and Kieran hugs him. He hadn't hugged him since the kidnap. He embraces Caelum, but he doesn't hug him back. Rather, Caelum is trembling, and he's restless. Kieran doesn't seem to know what's going on.
"What's wrong, darling?" Kieran asked.
"Did I offend you?"
"Did I yell too loud?"
He seemed to have forgotten what just happened, and Caelum didn't see the need to remind him. He just accepted his fate and cuddled his Kieran and assured him it was nothing. Maybe he was hallucinating.
They fall asleep in each other's arms. It was a cold night. Caelum didn't understand what had just happened, and he didn't want to understand. He's going through too much—maybe it's just a one-day thing. He'll never do it again, he thought.
I'm his Caelum. He thought..