Griffin Rock's Secret: A Cody Burns Fanfiction

Chapter 14

     Sunlight hit Cody's eyes as he slowly woke up, his stomach growling in hunger. He stretched, and all his muscles burned from recent events. He didn't feel as burnt out and exhausted as he had from the past 48 hours, and he sat up, feeling a strange sensation of calmness. When he tried to stand up, however, his legs buckled and he fell into the floor. Cody was vaugely aware of the burning pain of sore muscles in his legs and sides, but he was much more focused on the fact that his father was already opening his door.

     Panic was etched into his fathers face as he looked at the empty bed, then onto the floor where Cody was struggling to get up. As Chief Burns helped his son stand on shaky legs, he couldn't help but be relieved that he hadn't simply dreamed his son was back. He hugged Cody, who didn't question his father's sudden embrace. He was just relieved to be back home, with his family.

     "Are you okay?" Chief asked Cody after he had regained balance from falling.

     "Yeah, I'm alright. My legs just buckled earlier." Cody said, grinning at his father. "What time is it?"

     "It's past noon," Chief replied, guiding Cody towards the stairs to the kitchen. "I was going to wake you up so you could get some food into your system." Cody's stomach growled loudly after that and he groaned a little, clutching his gut as it hurt from hunger.

     Once in the kitchen, Cody tried to sit upright, but the fatigue from how hungry he was caused him to slouch and lean forward. His father was cooking up some lunch, the smell of chicken noodle soup filling the air. His siblings were sitting around the table as well, all of them silent, unsure of what to say. They were all very relieved that their little brother was back, but concerned about his health state, both physically and mentally.

     "Hey, Code," Kade broke the slience as the father set down bowls of steaming soup. "We have a few questions we want to ask you," Cody nodded as he started to devour the soup, his hunger evident. As the rest of the family started to eat, Cody looked up at their hesitant faces. The room felt uncomfortable as the family glanced at one another, unsure about what to say.

     "Will you tell us about what happened with Quarry?" Dani asked quietly, her eyes making contact with Cody's. He shook slightly at Quarry's name, but nodded anyway, pushing his empty bowl away from him. The rest of the Burns stopped eating to listen, attempting to prepare themselves for what they were about to hear.

     "It wasn't really that scary," Cody started. "Not at first. I thought he was just trying to save me from the creature. He had a robot use a force field to keep me from going anywhere at first, and said that he wanted to get the creature for his island. That's when everything started to get creepy. He went upstream, toward Mount Griffin. He kept looking at the trees and the ground, even in the water at times. And he was humming." Cody paused for a minute, trying to figure out why Quarry had been humming. The looking around made sense, if he was tracking the creature.

     "We're here for you Cody," Graham said, leaning forward a little. "If you can't continue, you don't have to right now-"

     "No, I'm okay," Cody shook his head. "I was just trying to figure out why Quarry was humming," He looked up to see his dad's face harden slightly. He pretended not to have noticed and continued, although his hands were shaking slightly under the table.

     "When we got to a clearing, he had some of his tiki face drones set up a rope in a tree, and then he pulled out a really big piece of meat. He put it down on a stone, then tied me up. I kicked him hard in the chest the first time he tried. He didn't really get mad though, just laughed and said he liked that I was fighting. He said that I was going to be bait, then gagged me so I wouldn't talk before having me hang from the tree." His hands were really shaking now, and his voice started to tremble. He had to look down at the table, away from the eyes of his family. He didn't want to cry in front of them.

     "He almost got the creature, after I thought it was going to... to kill me. It cut the rope instead, after it ate the meat. Quarry, he was.... I don't know what he was going to do with me after he had caught it with the tranquilizer. I don't think I would have gotten away if the creature hadn't broken out and breathed fire at him. I ran down hill, away from both of them. He almost caught me again, after the creature breathed fire at me. It missed, but it was really close."

     Absent-mindedly, Cody reached up with a shaking hand to touch the left side of his hair, making contact with the burned line of hair. Kade made a sudden movement, almost as if he was about to leave, but Chief held out his hand to stop him.

     "I ripped my clothes when I fell, trying to get away. My hand got stabbed by a stick before he grabbed me. I know he was going to try again, if I... if I hadn't gotten my arm free. I think I might have broken his nose, but after I crossed a stream, I didn't see him again. Then... then dad found me and-" Cody couldn't keep his composure any longer, breaking down into semi-silent tears, his body shaking. Chief stood up and embraced his son, holding onto him tightly. The pain and fear that his son had gone through was now resurfacing, but Chief Burns knew that he and his family could start healing.

     Dani came over to the father and son, who were now sitting on the kitchen floor. She sat down and hugged Cody too, joining the embrace. Graham also came over, leaving Kade to sit awkwardly in his thoughts. He wasn't sure whether he should also hug Cody, or go out again in search for Quarry. He gave a small smile as he joined in the family hug.

     Cody could feel his family holding him, giving him strength and safety. He knew that they would do their best to help him, and he wanted to help them. But first, he had to heal from his experience. And he knew that now, after his family knew the important details, he would.