Thaddeus

Chapter 20

(Two weeks after last chapter, please make sure to read Ferret's chapter to see Thaddeus's escape)

Thaddeus stared into the light blue eyes of the dark haired boy in front of him, Thaddeus felt grateful for his help, but he also felt worried for him.

"How old are you?" Thaddeus asked, keeping a guarded expression on his face.

The boy took in a breath, lifting his head. "I'm fourteen.." he eventually said, practically mumbling.

Fourteen.

Thaddeus took a step back, then began pacing a short distance back and forth. It was too dangerous to keep a kid around, Thaddeus felt he was too dangerous to be around. But at the same time, this boy also has abilities of his own..

After a minute. Thaddeus sharply turned back around to the kid, who tensed up a little when he felt Thaddeus's eyes on him. "Do you have a name? If you know me, I might as well know you." Thaddeus said, narrowing his eyes a little.

"I'm, uh, Ashur Solace." Ashur introduced himself quietly.

"Well, Ashur, thanks for the escape, but go back to your family. I'm no good to be around." After Thaddeus spoke, he turned and began walking on the side of the highway. The casino wasn't too far behind them, but it also wasn't close. Thaddeus assumed it'd take nearly the whole day to get back to the city. He couldn't tell what time was it was exactly, one of the times he regretted not wearing a watch, but he could see the pinkish sky, how the sun was barely coming up from the horizon. He figured it was pretty early in the morning.

Ashur ran after Thaddeus, slowing his pace when he was side to side with him. "I ain't got family!" Ashur said, "I was kind of hoping I could stay with you...?"

Thaddeus sighed silently. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into, kid, I'm assuming you know who Alastor is, my family's dangerous. I'm already a target, now you've made yourself one as well. When we get back to the city, you're getting the hell away from me, understand?"

Ashur looked extremely disappointed, lowering his head. "Okay.." he mumbled.

The two walked for a long time, both speaking occasionally. Thaddeus felt his body beg for him to stop and just take a moment to rest, but he was already paranoid about Alastor, especially now that a kid was walking next to him. Thaddeus was as sore and bruised as could be, he felt weak too. He hadn't eaten much since he'd been captured by Alastor, of course, that was probably one of their methods.

It was near dark when Thaddeus and Ashur were back in they city, they'd technically arrived thirty minutes ago, but Thaddeus had a specific place in mind he wanted to go. Somehow, Ashur had convinced Thaddeus to let him stay at least until morning.

Soon, Thaddeus walked Ashur downtown, where the streets were crowded with young men and women chatting drunkenly and whatnot. They came across an old, broken down apartment building, with almost every single window being smashed, a destroyed neon sign that Thaddeus honestly couldn't even read.

Thaddeus led Ashur inside, immediately greeted by the strong smell of cigarettes. Thaddeus made sure Ashur was walking right behind him as he led him through a small corridor and past a bunch of doors leading into apartments. Thaddeus bumped shoulders with two drunk women, who were giggling and mumbling random whatever.

Thaddeus just continued walking, keeping his eyes focused on the end of the hall and on a dirty door. When the two made it to the end, Ashur was practically up against Thaddeus, a little unsettled by this.

A door to the right creaked open, and there stood a bald older man, his scent, which was pretty much just alcohol and cigarettes, came flying out of the room behind him. The man creepily stared at Ashur, a grin widening on his face. Thaddeus looked at him then Ashur, then back to the man.

"Whatever you're thinking of, Tommy, don't try it." Thaddeus said as he began fiddling with the door knob, it refusing to open.

"Shouldn't have brought a kid, bad things happen to kids around here." Tommy's voice was raspy and spotty.

"Bad things happen to ancient idiots around here too. Wanna find out?" Thaddeus clenched his fists, doing everything he possibly could to keep himself from using fire.

"Relax, I just wanna know his name." Tommy smiled and took a step closer to Ashur, who backed away as Thaddeus lunged, sending his fist flying into Tommy's face, then he pushed the man back into his own apartment as he whirled back to the door, aggressively turning the knob over and over until it finally opened.

Thaddeus grabbed Ashur's arm and dragged him inside, slamming the door behind him. Thaddeus's apartment was rather bare. He had a broken window set above an old cot, a desk close by filled with journals and small knives. The apartment had a bathroom, but that was it, nothing else.

Ashur took a glance around, and despite Thaddeus thinking he'd be disgusted by it, Ashur seemed completely unbothered. "How long have you stayed here?" Ashur asked as Thaddeus swiftly moved to the desk, flipping through some of the journals and writing a few things down inside some.

"Eh, about a year." Thaddeus answered, "it's not as bad once it's been a while."

Thaddeus felt ready to collapse, he felt simply weak earlier, but now he was more shaky. Ashur looked at the door, narrowing his eyes. "Does the door lock?" He asked worriedly, slightly afraid that man would come busting in.

"It doesn't lock, but if it's Tommy you're worried about, that guy's more talk than anything, he's to afraid to actually fight." Thaddeus said.

"Even if he does come in, he doesn't stand a chance against us!" Ashur made a small ice cube in his hand, that quickly molding into a blade of some sort.

Thaddeus rushed over and melted the ice, soon water was dripping onto the floor. "First lesson, don't use the damn powers unless you're in a life or death situation."

"First lesson?" Ashur cocked his head up, Thaddeus cursed softly and sighed. "I've decided you can stay with me. If I'm right, and I'm sure I am, Alastor will come after you. I can help you learn how to use what you have to defend yourself. Besides, you're alone, I'm alone, it's a win for both of us." Thaddeus said before heading back to the desk, muttering to himself as he flipped through a journal.

"You should get some rest." Thaddeus gestured to the cot, "we're gonna have a long day tomorrow, depending on if Alastor finds us, which I'm not confident he will."

Ashur finally seemed to pick up on how wobbly Thaddeus was. "Maybe you should...I mean, how long did Alastor keep you in that...whatever it was?" Ashur walked over to Thaddeus, who was hesitant to answer, but did after a moment.

"It was just a couple weeks, that's nothing compared to how long I've been trapped before." Thaddeus said, still keeping himself busy by scribbling things down in the journal.

"A couple weeks can still be bad though." Ashur said, earning a sharp glare from Thaddeus. "Just go, one of us has to stay up anyway and I don't sleep a lot." Thaddeus snapped, his fingers sparking a little.

Ashur eventually nodded before walking over to the cot, plopping down on it a moment later, lying flat on his back.

Thaddeus pulled up an old chair and sat at the desk, looking through the journals he had. He kept many for different members of his family to study, filled with information on one specific person. Only a few minutes passed before Thaddeus began hearing light snoring, he turned and saw Ashur fast asleep.

Ashur looked so peaceful while he slept, it was something Thaddeus admired, he was never at peace, even in his sleep. It was then Thaddeus realized how much innocence Ashur had, Thaddeus felt determined not to let anyone take that away from Ashur, he promised himself right then and there that he'd make sure Ashur stayed safe.

Until then, he'd have to put up with Ashur's snoring.