Chapter Fifty-Two

Skylar's POV:

Once I was done with the breakfast, which was so not less embarrassing, I tried calling my mother. The breakfast hadn't been bad. I kind of loved the company of all of these boys. They felt like a family to me.

A very embarrassing family.

"Mom, why don't you pick up on the first ring?" I asked her when she picked up the call.

"I was busy, Skylar." She said. "Why are you calling from your school?"

I looked outside from the glass doors, at the beautiful, lavish garden. "I'm not at school."

"Why?"

"There's this College Fair happening. I don't need to be there. And anyway, I called to ask you something." I replied. "When will you guys be coming back?"

I heard her blowing out a sigh before hearing the shuffling of something that sounded like papers to me.

"Tonight, I guess." She said. "Since your cat seems to be sulking around without you."

I felt my heart melting into a pink, glittery mess.

"I told you she'd die without me." I pointed out. Now that we were talking about Chicken, I realized that I actually really missed her. "I'll see you soon then."

When I was done with the call, I joined the others back in the lounge and sat down beside Adrian on the couch. Who, now that I noticed, was busy wiping a very sharp dagger. Its pointed edge reminded me of the numerous knives I had seen back in that basement.

I looked up and saw that Caden wasn't here, neither was Shane.

"Who's Kevin?" I asked all of a sudden, taking all three of them by surprise.

Jesse, who was sprawled on the opposite couch, eyed me with a grin. "Someone who shouldn't be messed with, tiger."

I frowned at his words, not really satisfied by his answer. And maybe Seth saw that on my face—I realized that he was really good at reading faces.

"B lake's father." Seth said.

"B lake's father?" My voice rose up a notch.

Adrian was now admiring the knife in his hand when he added, "His biological father."

I was left stunned. The name had been going on and on in my head ever since Alex mentioned him, but no way in hell had I thought that he was...B lake's real father.

"Why are you asking about him, though?" Jesse inquired, raising a brow.

"Just curious." However, the grin he passed me after that clearly told me that he didn't believe me. "Is Blake involved with him?"

"When is Blake not involved with him?" Adrian asked, and since he was sitting right beside me, I noticed the swirls of black ink crawling up his bicep, almost the exact same shade as his charcoal-black eyes.

"What do you mean?"

All I got a response to that was a helpless shrug. None of them made a move to add on to it, almost as if dismissing the topic. And that made me even more curious. I knew there was more to this Kevin guy than they were telling me.

It almost seemed like they couldn't talk about him.

Which was just odd.

I remained silent after that, a bit too lost in my thoughts. I didn't really care what they were talking about, at least not until all three of them started staring at me.

"What?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"How many guys have you exactly dated, Skylar?" Jesse asked with a narrowed look. Before I could say anything, he added, "First Alexander Carter and now Blake Matthews?"

I opened my mouth in surprise, but Seth beat me to it, letting out a sound which was somewhere between a strangled noise and a laugh, "I thought Alexander was your best friend?"

I was more than glad that Caden wasn't here.

"He is. I never dated any of them." I spoke up in disbelief. "Why are you all suddenly interested in my personal life?"

"They are very protective of Caden." Adrian whispered in my ear, which again, wasn't meant as a whisper.

I looked down at the sharp knife which was very much pointed towards me now. When Adrian realized what he was doing, he let out a sheepish laugh and backed away. "Sorry."

I narrowed my eyes back at Jesse. "I'm not even dating Caden."

Another sly grin spread across his face. Knowing what was about to come my way, I stood up instantly, "I'll be in the backyard." I glared at Jesse who broke into a muffled laugh, his face pressed into the cushion. "I just need some fresh air."

When I exited from the familiar backdoor, I realized that the backyard did not seem so scary in the morning. It was actually calm and peaceful here, and I could clearly see the woods surrounding the house now. The woods were still creepy, but not that much.

I took out my phone then and scrolled through my contacts. My finger unconsciously hovered above Alex's name. A part of me wanted to call him. I wanted to know where he was.

What if B lake's gang had caught up to him? What if they did something to him?

It was that exact moment when I felt a presence behind me. When I turned around, it was just Caden.

"The redhead's back in school." He said, leaning against the door frame. "Shane told me that." He held my stare for the next few seconds before adding, "With a black eye."

I could not believe Brody was back at school. Was he still looking for me?

"I never knew you could do punches." He said in a voice that sounded very much impressed.

"Oh, that was just the anger." I pointed out. I sucked at punches. I really did.

I saw him take a step towards me, nearing closer. And out of absolutely nowhere, I felt sudden nervousness clawing at my insides.

"We need to go back now if you want to see that video." The words came out in a rush. "My parents will be back tonight."

He looked at me, seeming a bit confused, and then he spoke up slowly, "All right."

I didn't know that I was holding my breath until I finally exhaled.

••••••

Once Caden was done watching the video, I looked at him eagerly. "Do you recognize this person?"

He looked at me with the same frown that had been there on his face from the start—when I told him about the fate of that USB drive, when I pulled out my laptop, and when I had started the video. "No."

I didn't know why I had been expecting him to know this person. To me, the man in that video was just that.

"Well, he clearly told the exact location." I flopped down on my bed, beside him. "We should get there before anyone else does."

"We?" He repeated the word like it was poison.

I looked up at him, my eyes trailing across the hair almost falling over his forehead. "I'm assuming you'd come along with me if I go there." I stated sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

I already knew that he'd be the one going there since now he knew the location. And I didn't want him to go alone.

"They'll follow us." He shook his head. "Taking you along would be dangerous."

As if I didn't already know that.

"I don't care." I stated.

"I do."

"Look, Caden, this time I get to decide and you will nod along. Got it?" I gave him one of my most stern looks—something that I had learned from Mom.

He scrunched up his nose at me, almost as if he couldn't believe I had the guts to say that. "I don't take orders."

"You will this time. Because-" I looked up at the ceiling with a grin. "-it's me giving the order."

••••••

It was almost night when Caden had to leave. And once again, I felt like I needed to stop him. Or maybe I was just being clingy.

"So, we'll be going there tomorrow?" I asked as I trailed behind him, out of the house. He turned around and gave me a skeptical look.

"Yeah. Tomorrow." I saw his eyes lingering on my face for a moment too long before he looked away. I found myself tugging on my hoodie sleeves. Aden's hoodie.

"And you don't need this back?" I pointed over to his hoodie that I was wearing. I wasn't planning to give it back, though.

He looked back at me with traces of a smirk. "Let me rephrase that for you. Are you willing to give that back to me?" He asked.

"Nope." I shook my head just as quick.

"Do you know how big it looks on you?" He pointed out, his eyes raking over my entire outfit.

I crossed my arms, not caring about that in the slightest. Like I had said, this one hoodie was really soft. And something about it made me feel happy from the inside.

"I thought you were supposed to be like other guys and tell me how it looks better on me?" I asked.

He shook his head slightly before leaning down, dipping his head and placing a small kiss on my cheek.

"More like a chipmunk." He replied.

He turned around to leave when we both saw what we shouldn't have seen, My mother.

And Chicken—who looked smothered unlike my mother. She eyed me, then Caden before surprisingly blowing out a sigh.

"Caden." She looked at him, and something about her blank expression seemed to bother me. "And Skylar."

She couldn't possibly ground me when I had already told her about Caden, right?

"Mrs...Anderson." I heard Caden speak in front of me.

Chicken purred happily in response.

Not now, Chicks.

My mother was eyeing Caden with the same unnerving look. For some reason, something felt off between both of them, instead of my mother and me.

"It's been quite long since I last saw you." Mom finally broke the tense silence.

What. The. Fuck.

Thankfully, I didn't say those three words out loud.

"It has been." Caden murmured.

"And you were just leaving?" Mom asked, walking over towards the front door, towards me.

"Yeah." He responded, turning towards us, without actually giving me a glance. They all were literally treating me like I had gone invisible or something—except for Chicken, of course.

"Join us some other time then." Mom replied, and then she gave him a small smile. Caden mustn't sensed the shock radiating off from me, since he glanced at me. Then he took a step back, ready to leave.

"Sure." And then he was gone.

Meanwhile, Mom opened the front door and went inside with Chicken still in her hands. I looked back at the spot where Caden had been standing, not being able to get over anything that just happened in front of me.

"Skylar, come inside." I heard her voice.

This all was just too creepy.

Wasn't I supposed to introduce him to her. And her to him? Wasn't that how the first conversation was supposed to go?

When I broke off from the trance, I went back inside the house.

"Mom—"

"Don't rush."

"What do you mean don't rush?" I looked at her with wide eyes. "You were talking to him like you've known him since he was a child!"

She sat down on the couch, placing Chicken on the floor. Chicken happily ran over to my feet and when I couldn’t take it anymore, I picked her up in my arms.

"Sit down, will you?" She asked. I noticed then that she wasn't in her work clothes. Even her hair was up in a messy ponytail—which, let me tell you, happened once in a blue moon.

I slowly sat down on one of the dining chairs.

"I do know him since he was a child." She continued and my mouth fell open in surprise, but I kept silent. "His parents...we were great friends, that's all."

Great friends.

Some dear friends.

That is what Mom had said when I asked her about that wooden box. Some dear friends had given that box to my parents.

"Did they..." I looked up at her. "Did they give you that wooden box?"

Mom stared at me for a while before nodding.

"Their lives were sworn over it." I realized, looking down at Chicken.

Mom gave out another sigh. "Their lives and many others."

Like that old man's brother who made that box.

I felt my mouth going dry why I remembered how Mom had told me to stay away from Caden and his family matters. Of course.

"So you knew that they were killed." I asked her. She just nodded in response. "And who killed them?"

"We don't know that, Sky. That's what your dad and I have been trying to find out for so long. But all of that stuff, it's very complicated." And she seemed genuine when she said that.

Complicated.

What was so complicated about that? Their house was burned down. Aden's parents died in that fire. And it was all Blake. Did they not know that?

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

"I never knew you both were that serious." She pointed out before going over towards the landline.

"I told you that I like him." I said. "Didn't you listen to me?"

She muttered something under her breath, clearly more focused in the call she was making. Rolling my eyes, I sighed and leaned back against the chair.

"So, since you know Caden, which is a good thing," I spoke up carefully. "I'll be going with him to Harrisburg tomorrow."

Part of me was expecting her to dodge it off just because she seemed so busy with making that call, but instead, she placed back the receiver and looked at me.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"It's about that locker." I told her, carefully structuring out my words. "I got the wooden box opened and there was a USB drive inside it."

She frowned at that as if she knew what drive I was talking about. She probably did, since I had crushed that thing right in front of her.

After that, I found myself telling her everything about that video I had seen inside that drive, about those metal disco, and even about that red crystal too.

"That's risky, Skylar." She concluded once I had told her everything. "The last metal disco id, do you know how precious that is?"

I just shrugged in response.

She pursed her lips at that. "It's the only way to get access to those centuries-old underground vaults. The vaults that contain fortunes." She did not seem happy when she said that. "You can get killed."

I didn't know about those vaults, but something had told me that that last metal disco id was precious anyway. Otherwise, why would all of them be after it?

"Do you want it to get in the hands of the bad guys then?" I asked her. She remained silent. "Besides, Caden will be there with me."

She looked at me with furrowed brows.

I was literally counting the seconds until the landline rang. Probably the same call that Mom had just canceled.

"We'll talk about this after I get finished with this call." She stated before picking it up.

I knew this won't be that easy.