Chapter 54:

Kaitlyn awaited the pain that will follow after those icicles landed on her. She knew that even if those icicles would not burn her, the sharp ends of it might still pierce and hurt her. However, the pain never did come. Instead of pain, she felt heat and darkness. She opened her eyes and looked up. Brendon Armstrong was over her, with his arms around her, protecting her. Kaitlyn felt her heart skipped a beat. The icicles were broken into pieces beside her. The truth hit her.

Brendon protected her with his body.

Brendon's long sleeve was torn and revealed a black charred arm with a golden mark on it. It was even worse than the last time she saw his arm. Kaitlyn heard a sizzling sound as smoke rose from Brendon's back. His face shown pain and torture. Kaitlyn quickly swept the pieces of the stone icicles from his back. She then lifted his arm to examine his charred arm and the golden mark. When Brendon was finally conscious from his pain, he pulled his arm back.

"What is that?" Kaitlyn asked. "That was definitely not caused by Obsidian, isn't it?"

"It was none of your business, Golden Darkness." He mumbled.

"Yes, it is. You protected me."

"I did." Brendon's eyes bored into hers. "I protected you for my own good, I didn't do it for you."

Kaitlyn could not find any hints that he was lying. Yes, he was this type of person. He only did things for himself, and his Lord. That was no way he did things for her. The nice way he treated her before, would most probably be for his own benefits, not her. The way he looked at her with his eyes full of concern, the way he waiting for her for almost an hour? Kaitlyn must have imagined it all. A red wound on his palm caught Kaitlyn's eye. She snatched Brendon's arm.

"It should heal ages ago!" She exclaimed.

"This is different," Brendon mumbled softly, breaking all eye contact with her. "Burns from Obsidian would not heal as fast as a normal wound would."

"You're lying," Kaitlyn commented.

"I'm not."

"Then look at me, Brendon. Look at me, in my eyes, and tell me you're not lying."

There was a slight hesitation before Brendon looked into her eyes. "I am not lying."

"Give me an explanation for this then." She pointed to his charred arm.

"It is none of your business!" He repeated.

"It is!" Kaitlyn cried. "It is my business because you're my friend. You protected me." Some chunks of crystals suddenly broke into pieces because of her strong emotions. Brendon's eyes moved from her eyes to the crystals, and back to her eyes again. His eyes were full of amusement this time.

"I'm not your friend, Golden Darkness. Neither are you mine." He stood up so suddenly, that he was wobbling. "Tell this to no one. Because if you do, I will not aid you in your training." He threatened, before leaving the cave. Kaitlyn sat on the ground, dumbfounded, staring after Brendon's back. Kaitlyn shivered a little when she was reminded of how much Brendon resembled Felix with his blond hair. She felt fear when she saw Brendon sitting at the bench waiting for her because she thought he was Felix. She thought Brendon sold her off to his Dark Lord. At that moment, she felt like she was really going to die when she thought she saw Felix. The moment of relief when she saw that it was Brendon. She was so relieved that her knees gave way.

Kaitlyn remained on the ground, shaking slightly from fear from before. But she remained there at her spot until she was calmed, only returning home at dawn. Kaitlyn assumed that everyone was asleep when she finally returned home. She crept quietly to her room.

"What time is it now?" Kaitlyn jumped at Klaus's calm voice. "Where were you the whole night?" His voice rose.

"Why do you care?" Kaitlyn retorted.

Klaus's face was red with anger, as he started yelling. "What do I care? Kaitlyn Swift, don't you think you're getting out of hand? You stayed out the whole night, and only coming back at dawn. Instead of reflecting on what you're doing wrong, you actually asked me why do I care?"

"You lied to me, Klaus. And I doubt you even try to bother to tell me anything at all."

"Hell, Kaitlyn, you're still bitter about that? That was all for your own good!"

"For my own good? Are you kidding me? All my life I thought mum was killed because of dad. I thought mum died of heart attack. But the truth was, all along, she died while protecting me, and I did not even see her the last time."

"Kaitlyn, it wasn't your-"

"It was!" Kaitlyn interrupted Klaus halfway through his sentence. "Forget mum, but what about Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Aaron? They sacrificed their life for me!"

"They did that to protect you! Just like how I lied to protect you! You didn't talk to me for almost a month because of this, and now you're bitching about this right after you stayed out the whole night?"

"Whatever I did when I stayed the night out, is none of your business!" Kaitlyn felt angrier as her voice went higher. "I don't need you to butt in my business. You're no longer my broth-!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Klaus slapped her on her cheek. Kaitlyn felt a stinging pain on her cheek as she glared at him. Klaus looked at his hands like somebody else controlled his hands, then he looked at Kaitlyn with eyes filled with regret. Tears filled Kaitlyn's eyes. Klaus never slapped her before. Her tears were full of emotions. Anger, hatred, hurt, betrayed and disappointment.

"What's wrong?" Kaitlyn's dad walked down the stairs. His face told Kaitlyn that he was awoken by the argument between the siblings. "Why are you two arguing at such an inappropriate time? The Sun is not even up yet."

"I'm sorry, Kaitlyn. Oh my god. I am so sorry." Klaus inched closer to Kaitlyn, his hands reaching to soothe her cheeks.

"Don't touch me!" Kaitlyn jerked her hands away from Klaus. He looked hurt when she did so. When Kaitlyn could no longer hold in the tears, she ran straight to her room, no longer bothered to keep it a secret.

"Kaitlyn?" Her dad finally realized that this was no small sibling fight the both of them usually had. "Why are you still in your outdoor outfit?"

Kaitlyn ignored her dad and ran past him. On her way to her room, she ran past Aunt Pamela who was on her way down to see what was wrong. Kaitlyn slammed the door behind her and sobbed with her back facing her door. Behind her door, Kaitlyn could hear her dad screaming at Klaus about what happened, but their voices were muffled, just the way Kaitlyn wanted it.

Klaus was Kaitlyn's most precious and trusted person after her mother died. Klaus loved her, protected her and never once did he scold nor hit her. This was the first time. Klaus betrayed her trust when she realized that he was lying to her. Her tears flowed like a tap when she realized this was the second time within one year that someone betrayed her trust. Chris was the first. Kaitlyn felt alone. She felt like she could not trust anybody else in the World, including Raye.

She liked Raye. But after all, Raye was a creature of the Otherworld and every creature of the Otherworld all wanted her dead. What if Raye was like all the others, what if Raye wanted her dead the most? Was that why he got close to her? Was that why he pretended to be nice to her like Brendon did in the cave? Kaitlyn never felt so vulnerable, so weak, and so alone. That night, Kaitlyn cried herself to sleep, again.

Kaitlyn woke up a few hours later to the many vibrations of her phone. She felt that her eyes were puffy, and her throat hoarse. She checked her phone. There were 26 text messages from Raye and 5 from Tiffany, all asking her if she was alright and safe. In addition, there were 18 missed calls from Raye. The phone vibrated soon after she checked her phone.

"Hello?" Kaitlyn picked up. Her voice sounded like a man.

"Kaitlyn?" Raye's voice sounded worried. "You finally picked up. Are you okay? Did Brendon do anything to you? Why didn't you text me as you promised?"

"I'm sorry… I… I forgot. I was too tired and fell asleep right after I reached home."

"Are you alright, Kaitlyn? You don't sound right. Did something happen? Did Brendon do anything to you? Where did he bring you? What did you guys do?"

"No!" Kaitlyn exclaimed. Realizing how agitated she sounded, she cleared her throat. "No. Brendon didn't do anything to me. He brought me to-" Kaitlyn wanted to tell Raye everything about yesterday, but she felt that she should not reveal anything to him yet.

"Kaitlyn?"

"Sorry. He brought me to a clear forest, and taught me how to shot beams. That was all." She reported.

"Did you cry?" Raye's sudden question caused Kaitlyn to be speechless.

"I did not." Kaitlyn lied. "What made you think so?"

"Don't lie. Your voice sounded hoarse." Raye commented. "What happened?"

Tears were threatening to fall again. "I fought with Klaus and he… slap me."

"Klaus?" Raye yelled.

"My brother…"

"What? Why?"

"Long story."

"Okay. Tell me about it later? Shall we meet? I have something to pass to you." Raye sounded excited.

Feeling cruel to turn him down, Kaitlyn agreed. She took a quick shower and washed her face. She headed down without wasting any time and ran off. She was glad she did not have to face Klaus, her dad or even Aunt Pamela. She finally reached the place she was supposed to meet Raye at. He was already there, holding on to a small cutely-decorated bag. He waved at her enthusiastically. Kaitlyn returned the wave. The both of them moved towards Starbucks and ordered a latte each.

"So, what happened?" Raye asked. "You don't look good."

Translation: You looked bad.

Kaitlyn felt the tears again as she poured the story out for Raye. She could not control herself, she needed someone to confide in, and Raye was the one. Although Kaitlyn was wondering if she should trust him, she just could not control herself. Raye listened to her quietly, nodding to indicate that he was listening. When she was done, her make-up was smeared, and she looked extremely horrible with her tear-stained face. Raye pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay," He coaxed. "Your brother was, after all, worried about you. At least he showed his care and concern for you." It took Raye more than fifteen minutes to calm Kaitlyn down.

"So what was it that you wanted to give or show me?" Kaitlyn asked curiously after she reapplied her make-up and washed her face.

"Oh yes!" Raye was so excited when he passed her the cute bag. "Open up!"

Kaitlyn smiled a little as she slowly opened up the box inside the bag.

"I spent the whole night making it!" Raye stated proudly.

"Obsidian?" Kaitlyn gasped when she opened up the box. In the box, there was a necklace lying in it. A black gemstone was hanging off the chain. It was beautifully decorated.

"You knew about the stone? It took me a long time to find it on eBay." Raye was a little disappointed.

"I read about it once when doing my project." Kaitlyn lied as she picked up the necklace. "It's beautiful." Kaitlyn marveled at the detailed crafting and the lovely gemstone, flashing in the Sunlight.

"Then you should know why I gave this to you?" He asked.

"To protect me?"

Raye smiled and nodded, giving her a small kiss on her lips. "It will absorb negativity, and will protect you against Felix's attack."

Kaitlyn smiled, but her smile died when she remembered how the stone burnt Brendon yesterday. "Didn't it burn you?"

"Burn? How did you know it will burn me?"

"I just know." Kaitlyn teased, keeping it a secret about the cave.

"I wore gloves. Although it did burn a little of my skin. I wasted many gloves." He grinned sheepishly.

Kaitlyn snatched his hands and examined it. It was flawless and smooth, no signs of burn nor was it red.

"Hey, I'm alright, Kait. It healed seconds after I got burnt."

"Seconds?"

"Yep," He nodded, drinking a sip of his lukewarm latte. "Fast, isn't it?"

"Would it differ from Dark Academy students?"

"Why the sudden change of topic to dark acad?"

"No, I was just wondering that if it burns and it hurt them, I can, well, use it against them?" She felt that she was becoming better and better at lying.

"Oh. I don't know." He looked away. "Since they emit more negativity, maybe it would burn them more than it would burn us light acad students?"

"But would they heal?"

"Yes. No, it depends on the size of the stone. If they touched it for some time, it will heal after minutes. At most half an hour."

The gears in Kaitlyn's mind were turning. Even after hours, Brendon's hands did not heal from the time he touched the stone barehanded. How was that possible? Did it have anything to do with his charred arms? There were so many things Kaitlyn wanted to ask Raye, but she knew that it would definitely make her suspicious so she kept her questions for next time.

While Raye took her for a romantic stroll in the park, her mind was full of Brendon. Although she was guilty about it, her curiosity weighed out her guilt. Brendon was hiding something from her, and she was determined to find out what. Firstly, she must know what caused that golden mark on his black charred arm and it was probably the reason which deterred his healing abilities. Kaitlyn's first guess was Felix, but she could feel a strong possession and power emitting from the golden mark. This probably mean that the mark and charred arm came from someone much more powerful than Felix. It got Kaitlyn's mind thinking, but she just could not figured out whom. Kaitlyn was determined to solve the puzzle in her head. She swore to herself, that she will definitely find out who, or what, caused Brendon's charred arm, and she will get to the bottom of this.