Thaddeus

Chapter Thirteen

(Go read @HoneyBloom23456 last chapter of her book "Kali" for the beginning of this to make any sense)

"You don't know shit, Kali!" Thaddeus's voice was harsh but lowered. He stared at her, he felt jumpy and anxious. And judging from the look on Kali's face, she knew it. Kali went quiet, her eyes beginning to scan around the area. The two were currently standing in an old, abandoned malt shop at the edge of town. The place was obviously worn down and destroyed. Her face fell as she turned to look back at Thaddeus, who was twitching and muttering to himself. "Hey!" She snapped her fingers in his face and whirled him around to face her. "Come stay with me," she asked, her voice gentle. "I don't think you can be alone right now."

Thaddeus scoffed quietly, pulling away, shaking his head. "No, absolutely not." He began pacing, but not moving too far. He muttered again before speaking. "I'm not risking getting you into my trouble, you don't need it."

"Look, I know what's it like to beat yourself up over something, and you don't have to put yourself through that alone!" Kali said, throwing her arms up for effect, as if that'd do anything. Thaddeus narrowed her eyes on her. "No." He refused again.

Kali sighed, Thaddeus was stubborn, and she knew it. So, she tried a different tactic. "Fine, but you at least have to let me visit you. Please?" She tilted her head a little bit, softening her gaze. Thaddeus paused for a moment, then nodded. "Okay..." He sighed. Kali smiled a little as Thaddeus started directing her towards the exit. "You do need to go though; I don't need you accidentally being caught with me." He spoke. The two teens debated about this for a minute before Kali finally agreed to leave with the promise that she'd return the next day.

The second Kali did, Thaddeus watched her, making sure she was out of sight before leaving the shop. He decided to find somewhere else to stay, he dreaded the idea of ruining someone else's life, he couldn't let Kali see him, not now anyway. Thaddeus did feel a bit bad about just leaving though, after all, Kali had said she'd come back. But he thought he was doing the right thing for her.

(Okay, gonna do a tiny bit of a time jump. Ferret's chapter takes place four days after Aaria's death, and this took place one day after. So, I'm just gonna jump ahead three days)

A few hours ago, Zagen had watched as his daughter ran from his house and to God knows where. He'd been impatiently waiting for a call from his brother saying he'd found Thaddeus, but none had come yet. Too pass more time, Zagen went upstairs and into Alastor's room. His oldest grandson was sitting on his bed, just trying to breathe. "I'm taking you to work with me tomorrow." The elder's voice boomed, as it usually did. Alastor looked up, staring at him in confusion. "I have a few things to discuss with you, some secrets that need to be revealed." Zagen added.

"Why not tell me now?" Alastor asked, narrowing his eyes. "Because I'm busy today." Zagen replied with little to no emotion, also narrowing his eyes. If Alastor thought he could out-death stare his grandfather, he was wrong. The two didn't speak for a minute after that, it was just awkward. Neither one had much to say to the other. Luckily, something popped through their silence. It was Eros's voice, who was somehow louder than Zagen's. "Guess who I found!" He said as he entered the house, dragging Thaddeus behind him by the boy's collar. Thaddeus definitely didn't look like he was doing even just decent. His clothes were dirty, his hair was grimy, and he looked like he lost just a little bit of weight. He also had very obvious dark bags under his eyes.

Zagen left Alastor's room, peering down the stairs and towards his brother and grandson. As he was going down to them, Alastor also appeared, just staring at Thaddeus from the top of the staircase. Thaddeus didn't make eye contact with anyone, he just stared at the ground. He seemed to be very jumpy and fidgety. Zagen lifted Thaddeus's chin up, forcing him to make eye contact. Thaddeus looked both physically and mentally drained. Zagen grumbled before slapping Thaddeus across the face. "What were you thinking up there, huh!?" He scolded quietly, his voice, eerily low.

"I found him lurking behind an old mall." Eros chimed in, Zagen shot him a look before turning back to Thaddeus. "Since you're of my flesh and blood, I'll help you get out of this whole situation. But if you pull another stunt like that, I'll let you rot in prison until the day you die." Zagen hissed.

Thaddeus didn't say a single word, he truly did just look dead. Zagen noticed this and decided to use his odd obedience. "While Eros finishes our arrangement for you, you'll stay in the basement. Do I make myself clear?" Zagen asked, though what he said was absolutely not a question. Thaddeus hesitantly nodded and not even a second later, Zagen was pulling him towards the basement door, which was located under the staircase. Zagen opened the door and shoved Thaddeus inside, who didn't once try to fight back against this. Everything in the boy's body told him to, Thaddeus hated being locked away alone, but in this instance, he felt like he deserved it.

Zagen slammed the door behind Thaddeus and noticed the lock was just a small dial on the handle. That wouldn't do. Zagen went into the kitchen, beginning to search some of the cabinets before he finally found what he needed. It was a latch with a very small keypad on it. Returning to the basement door, Zagen snapped the new lock on the edge of the door, wrapping the latch around the wall and locking it into place there. Eros walked over to Zagen as he was punching in a four-digit code.

"You think that'll hold? That kid has fire, you must know this." Eros said as Zagen finished with the lock. "If he starts burning it, we'll know. The door, and really the house, is made of an older wood, he lights it on fire, the whole structure crumbles. He's not getting out." Zagen answered, Eros grinned. "He only needs to be in there for a night anyway."

As the two men walked away, Thaddeus found a corner and sat against it. Subconsciously, he sunk into a ball, hugging his knees. It was what he'd done when he was younger and in solitary confinement inside juvie, it made Thaddeus feel just a bit safer then. Now, it wasn't helping much. It wasn't long before Thaddeus felt his body begin to shake, his breath beginning to tremble. Thaddeus had horribly underestimated how much he hated the dark, how much he hated being left alone in it.

You deserve it.

He inhaled a small breath; he wanted to just close his eyes and hopefully never wake up. But every time he did close them, all he saw was Aaria. He couldn't get his sister out of his mind, Thaddeus had tried so many times to do this, but every attempt failed. He felt like his entire world had collapsed, there was no reason he saw to even just get up. Thaddeus was convinced that everyone hated him, although, he was sure none of them could hate him more than he did himself. He pulled his legs closer together, he hadn't noticed a few tears running down his cheeks.

"I deserve it."

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Wow, this is a lot shorter than I thought it would end up being, but I think some important things still happened. Anyways, hope ya liked this one!