Chapter Six (Part One) : On the Open Road
"You know I don't think it was a good idea to take Brett's car," Lucas stated.
"It was the only car. We needed a car to get out of that place. Sometimes you have to take what isn't yours to get what you want. Plus it'll leave him puzzled since he doesn't actually know who would do such an unjust act."
"If you say so."
As time flew by driving on the open road. Gravel traveling up and under the tires, smaller particles grinding into dust as they sift through the road. Conversations flow though the ride as time quickly passes by. The bonds between me and Lucas was growing tighter, though not physically visible, I could feel that we were getting closer. Occasionally, I would glance at him, watch him see the differences between his home and the road.
"Wow! This is amazing. Can we slow down and just admire the scenery?"
"Lucas, have you never been outside of town?"
"No, not that I can remember at least."
"Dang, that sucks. So you have never had a change in scenery?"
"Nope."
The car to a screeching halt. The dust that was left behind us quickly caught up and covered the entire car completely. Lucas quickly jumped out of the car, no shoes, just his bare feet. It actually made me realize what I had compared to others. He was happy. Before getting out of the car, I checked my surroundings. It seemed as if someone was watching us but from a distance. It was one of those creepy thriller moments that people would feel when they watch movies.
"What's wrong?" Lucas said popping out of nowhere.
Reflexes in overdrive, I jumped and squealed.
"What the fuck Lucas? Why would you do something like that?"
"Sorry geez. You were just starring out into space so I just wanted to check up on you. So are you okay?"
"Well besides the jitters that I just received from you, I'm fine. I just thought--"
"Thought what? That someone is watching us?"
"Yes, I know that sounds a bit like a cliché but my instincts are usually right."
"Maybe it's Brett."
"No, he wouldn't hide. That's not his style. He's more upfront about everything. This one seems different almost like it's out for blood."
"I don't what you're feeling right now but maybe we should go. If you feel so uncomfortable then we should go."
"No. This is your time to be free and not secluded in your own town."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure," I said brushing off my fears.
Before getting into the field, I took the keys out of the ignition. Watching way too many movies can actually teach a person not to be idiotic while out in a foreign area. I locked the car and walked into the field. I stood there as Lucas jumped and did all sorts of crazy stunts from back tucks, toe touches, etc. It was really was quite moving. Time passed by and the sun had already set. We used up lots of time just playing around.
Suddenly, the fear came back shooting up my spine. Someone else was defiantly with us. We had to leave, immediately.
"Lucas! We're leaving!"
"What? Why?"
"It's getting dark we don't know what lives out here at night," I lied.
"You scared of the dark?"
"No, it's just I--"
"It's back isn't it? The fear."
"Yes. I'm not disregarding my instincts this time. I want to leave now."
"Okay okay."
We hurriedly got into the car and I sped out of the field. Checking my mirrors, I saw no one behind us. But I still felt that jagged pinch in my spine. Something was defiantly wrong and hopefully nothing was following us.
An hour after my reaction, my adrenaline was finally at a stand still. I was chill, calm. I looked to my right and Lucas had fallen asleep. His head was bobbing up and down. I did a risky move and took my hands off of the wheel. Swiftly moving, I unbuckled his safety belt and reclined his chair. Gravity took hold and slammed him into his chair, strangely he was not affected at all he just moved into his seat and slept as usual.
"Geez, I wish I was a hard sleeper."
Quickly regaining composure, I took hold of the wheel. Amazingly enough, we had not wondered off of the road or I probably didn't not feel it. I was becoming quite tired of the long car ride. I was the only that had the license to drive so we didn't alternate. My eyes were becoming droopy and I had a couple yawns here and there. I know, I know. If there is any sign of fatigue I should drive to the side of the road and rest a bit. But I had to get to our destination before tomorrow afternoon. I can't quite say why but I have a reason, an important one.
Ignoring the fatigue, I drove for the prolonged period and finally got to our destination. In front of me was a small house in the suburbs. It was cream colored and had a bunch of foliage in the yard. It was almost like a house hidden in the woods but in a much smaller scale. I parked on the driveway and shut off the car. I looked at Lucas once more before finally hitting the hay.
When I finally woke up, the sun was clearly up but I was defiantly not in the car. I groggily got up and fell on the floor. I looked up and noticed that there were tons of pictures of Lucas all over the walls. All of them framed in polished wood, it was like some creepy shrine. But why Lucas? Why was he being worshipped in such a way? Then I quickly remembered why we came. I wanted Lucas to confront his past. We were at his parent's house. But how in the world did we get inside? I'm quite sure we both fell asleep in the car.
Which reminds me where the hell was Lucas. I crawled on the carpet so I wouldn't make such a scene. I quickly smelled his scent. Yes I said it. He had an amazing scent due to some special cologne that he would always use. It had a distinct woody smell but it was amazing. I quickly rose up and walked towards his scent. I ended up at the end of a hallway. His scent was right in front of me but there was a wall in front of me. Was I perhaps going crazy or was Lucas behind the wall?
Backing up slowly, I got into the runners position, pushed myself off the carpet, and ran straight for the wall. I may not be the strongest person just due to my appearance but the problem with me is that if there's something I want I will take it. As I got closer to the wall, there was a slight crack in the wall. Getting closer and closer, more cracks appeared. What the hell was going on? Was this house like the zone for the twilight zone? I finally reached the wall and crashed right though it. Maybe it wasn't much a wall as I thought it was. When I got through, I fell onto someone.
"Justin! What are you doing?" Lucas asked from underneath me.
"I was looking for you obviously. I smelled your scent and I--"
"Whoa did you just say smelled?"
"Yea. Was that too much?"
"Well we are friends, but that's a bit much."
Hmm we slept together on a hammock with no physical boundaries but smelling his scent is a bit much? Lucas is slightly weirder than myself.
"Sorry, I was just concerned."
"Well so was I so I can't really put all the pressure on you. But did you really have to run through the wall? It's not even that thick. It's almost paper thin."
"Okay so maybe I should have analyzed the situation better. But I was worried about you so I wanted to find you at all costs."
"Noted. So where are we?"
"Well--"
"Well what?"
"You remember how you have those dreams about your parents?"
"What about them?"
"Well I sorta kinda in a way brought you to your past."
"Wait what?!"
"Chill Lucas, I just thought that you needed some closure so I brought you to your parents' place."
"Firstly, how the hell can you bring me here without confronting me. Secondly, how the hell do you know where my parents live? Claire doesn't even know."
"Well she does. She just didn't want you to go searching for them aimlessly. Plus your mother demanded that she never reveal to you their location."
"Thank you for telling our story but I think we can tell it better. Oh and thanks for destroying our wall."
Lucas and I got up and saw a man and a woman resembling Lucas. His parents really do exist.
"Mom? Dad?"
"Oh this isn't going to end like I wanted it to end," I thought.
Chapter Six (Part Two) : Confrontation
"We never expected to find see you here, but when we went for our daily morning walk we saw an unusual car parked into our driveway. When we went to go see who it was I almost fainted when I saw you," explained Lucas' mother.
"So we brought you two inside. Good thing it was real early or people would have been adding suspicion to our already mysterious lives," Lucas' father added.
"You guys seem so chill about this if I were in your seats I would--"
"Shut it Justin!"
"Dude are you still upset that I brought you here without your knowledge?"
"I said `shut it'!"
"Okay okay. Geez I'm just going to go outside and wait till you guys wade the moment out."
"I knew you looked familiar," said Lucas' father.
"What do you mean, Darrel?" asked Lucas' mother.
"That's Lee's son."
"You're right! I can see the resemblance."
"You know my father?"
"You know his father?"
"Yes, well you see we and his parents go way back," said the both of them.
"How far?" I asked.
"Well just about when you two were born," said his father.
"When we were born?" I asked.
"You two were born around the same time. Justin, you're older by a few minutes," said his mother.
"That would make Lucas eighteen like me."
"Precisely."
"So I'm a year older? Why am I posing as seventeen?"
"It's to protect you. We're actually surprised that Justin is with you. The last time you two were together was when we--"
"When you left me?" Lucas sternly asked.
"Lucas, we--"
"You guys are my parents and you just left me. How can I forgive you guys? I dream about you guys leaving me. Stranding me in the middle of nowhere!"
"Lucas calm down," I said.
"No, I won't calm down. I want to know why. Why the fuck was I left behind?"
"It was to protect you, Lucas. Now shut the fuck and listen to them!" I yelled.
"Both of you, quiet!" Lucas's father yelled.
We both stopped arguing and quickly sat down. Lucas separated himself from me though by leaving as much space between us as he could on the couch.
"You have to understand Lucas. We were thinking about your own good. Like Justin, we wanted you to be safe."
"Safe from what?"
"Justin's parents and we got into some serious trouble after you two were born. After a few days, we left and we bumped into his parents. We talked for a bit and as soon as we knew it we were close pals," said his father.
"But when does the imposing danger come in?" I asked.
"Well when you two turned three, we had a big party for you two. Though you two were still very young, you two were inseparable," explained his mother.
Inseparable? Us? So is history repeating itself now?
"With this party we met so many people."
"That's when you guys met your doom, am I correct?"
"Right on the nose, Justin. These people came up to us and offered to help with the party. We were so preoccupied with everything that we were doing so we accepted their help without really knowing anything at all and that's when it happened."
"When what happened?" I asked.
"The Bridgewater massacre," Lucas' mother added.
"Massacre? I've never heard of a massacre and I've lived there all my life," Lucas added.
"That's because everyone who survived vowed to never bring it up."
"How many died exactly?"
"Sixty three," they both answered in unison.
"That's a lot of bodies. I haven't seen a lot graves back in Bridgewater. Where did all those bodies go?" I asked.
"Some were turned into ash and the rest were taken by the same people that caused it."
"That still doesn't answer how Lucas and I are in danger."
"You two are firstborns."
"What does that mean?" Lucas and I asked.
"Firstborns are the first ones born from their parents."
"I knew that, but what does being a firstborn have to do with anything," I asked.
"All the people that died in the massacre were firstborns. They have some sort of grudge against firstborns."
"Then why didn't they kill us?"
"Because you two were still kids. Though they hate firstborns they vowed to never kill a child."
"But since they didn't kill you two, they told us that they'd come back for you two when you become adults," Lucas' mother added. "After that, your parents took you and left that place. While we stayed because we didn't think that they'd remember us."
"So that's how our danger began."
"Precisely. And years after that, we got a brutal awakening from them. They came back and visited Lucas."
Suddenly Lucas shaking involuntarily.
"Lucas, are you okay?" I asked worried.
"I remember. I remember when they visited me," he answered.
"I would be surprised if you didn't," Lucas' mother stated.
"I remember it so vividly. They-They. AHH!"
I shook him roughly and looked him in the eye.
"Lucas, you need to calm down."
"Justin, they--they," Lucas cried.
"They what Lucas. What happened?"
"They--raped me," Lucas finally cried.
I held him close as he did his own version of the "ugly cry". I looked at his parents and they both looked towards the ground.
"It'll be okay Lucas. I'm here," I said trying to comfort him.
"It's not okay. They raped me so that means I'm gay."
"No, you're not. Just because you were raped doesn't mean a thing. It just means you fell victim to their attacks. I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry? You didn't do this."
"I just thought I needed to say something."
"No, you don't. I just need you."
Okay so I know at a time like this, well especially at this time, I shouldn't be thinking of sexuality. But maybe he was right. Maybe he is gay. So is it wrong for me to doubt his sexuality?
"I'm sorry for troubling you, Lucas. But this is what you guys came for right? To know why you're in danger?" Lucas' mother asked.
"No, I brought him here because he needs to know why you guys left him."
"After that event, we thought it was best if we left him with my sister. Staying with us would only increase his danger of death."
" So that's all?" Lucas sniffed.
"Yes. Now I need to ask you both to leave," his father added.
"What already? After all of this, you want us to leave? Don't you want to at least get to know your son?!" I asked furiously.
"It's fine," Lucas said standing up. "Let's go."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I don't want to be surrounded by people that don't even love me. I only need you."
Okay he's either a closet case or he needs to update his dictionary.
"Here, go get the car started. I have a few words to exchange with your parents," I told him handing him the keys.
I watched Lucas walk out the door. Once he was finally gone, I coldly glared at his parents.
"Are you guys insane? He's your son. I brought him all the way here just so he can be with you guys. I was hoping for a happy family reunion not this robot reunion."
"You didn't hear a word we said, did you?"
"Oh I heard you."
"Then you would understand that we're like this because we don't want him to die. The longer he's here with us, the faster they'll find you two. They're probably on their way here."
"But how?"
"They have connections. We've been through twice already. Once more and I'm sure we would have lost him for sure."
"Why didn't you tell him that? He practically hates you two."
"It's better this way, that's why. It's hurting us a lot but we know what's best. And it's best if he sticks with you."
"Why me?"
"Because you two have this clearly strong bond. It may not seem like it now but you two need each other to stay alive."
"What do you mean we need it each other?"
"No time, you need to drive as far away from here as fast as you can. Take our car, it's in much better condition then the car you guys came here with. I'm sure they saw you before you got here. So it'll act as a decoy."
"But what about you two. You stay here and you'll die."
"We'll proudly die for our son."
"Are you guys sure?"
"Yes, now go!"
I quickly bolted out of that place and saw Lucas crying in the front of the car.
"Lucas?"
"What?"
"We're taking a different car."
"Their car?"
"Yeah, think of it as a goodbye present."
We both got into the black Mustang and sped off back into the open road. Strangely, there were no cops around while we were speeding though there weren't any cars either. Maybe we really were in the twilight zone. When we were finally out of town and back on the road, I felt someone was watching me again, but in a car? I looked over and noticed Lucas looking at me, scanning me. It was awkward. I finally knew how it felt to be looked at from the other side.
"Take a picture it last longer," I finally told him.
"Sorry. It's just that since I'm gay now I might as well--"
I abruptly stepped on the brakes, probably ruining the tires but really this boy really needed to be taught a lesson.
"Whoa. Justin we could've died."
"I don't care. Get out of the car."
"What?"
"Get out. Now!"
Lucas stepped out of the car and so did I. I pushed him up against the car and looked at him.
"Do you enjoy this?" I asked.
"Not really."
"Why not? You're gay aren't you?" I said angrily.
"Okay I get it."
"No you don't."
I took Lucas by the head and forced my own lips upon his. We shared an enticing moment or maybe it was just me. He put his hands against my chest and pushed me off.
"I'm sorry, I was just--"
Lucas grabbed my face and gently kissed me back. Whoa so he is gay?
I killed the moment by pushing off.
"Why'd you stop? Did I do something wrong?" Lucas asked..
"No, we just need to get home."
Great now I'm starting to lie.
"Oh okay," Lucas pouted.
We both got into the car and left. Awkward silence filled the car immediately and it didn't seem like anyone was going to break it. Maybe what I did was all a mistake. He's probably confused at this moment and with me not talking to him about it is probably making it worse. But since we had that moment, I've just grown not to want him anymore. Does that make me a bitch? Did kissing kill my attraction to him. He wasn't bad at all it was just--maybe I just see him as a friend then as anything else. He may be confused, but I'm lost in all of this drama.