Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Last Bearers ❯ Chapter 23 ( Chapter 23 )

Chapter 23

Caelyn stared at the door through which his mate had vanished for a long time. It hadn't fully sunk in yet, the full extent of what had happened. He expected Halen to walk through the door again as if it had all been a joke. But it wasn't.

Finally, realization sunk in. The room spun around and this time, there was no one to catch him. He found the wall and pressed his back against it. He slid down, his hand on his belly. Tears escaped from his eyes and dropped onto his knees, wetting the material. He wept bitterly, trying to keep the volume of his sobbing down to a minimum.

After ten or fifteen minutes, he stopped crying and tried to dry his tears. He forced himself to his feet, which was extremely hard for him. He leaned heavily against the wall pushing himself up with all his might. He panted and paused, pushing his sweaty bangs out of his eyes. After he had caught his breath, he started moving again, still struggling to his feet. Finally, he was up. He swore he was never going to sit down when so heavily pregnant again. He left the small room at last. Daire and the others were waiting for him in the Council's chamber.

“Are you ready to go?” John asked quietly.

“Yes.” Caelyn nodded, brushing more tears from his eyes.

Daire gave Caelyn a worried glance, but he didn't say anything. They silently departed from the Council's headquarters and returned to the hotel.

“We are leaving,” John told them. “Please go and pack your things. I will meet you here in the lobby.”

Aleksei, Daire, Bryan, and Caelyn were escorted up to their room. None of them spoke while they packed. They checked the room carefully to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. The guards were waiting just outside for them. They returned to the lobby where John and several more guards waited.

There was a small crowd in the lobby being held back by security. Outside was an even larger crowd being held back by the Police Force. Caelyn felt even more tears wetting his cheeks and he ducked his head so the crowd wouldn't see his tears. He hurried into the limo and kept his face buried in his hands while the others crawled in. Aleksei and Daire sat on one side and Bryan sat next to Caelyn. They were alone; the guards rode with John in the other limo. The door was closed and the limo started to wind its way through the clogged streets.

“Caelyn?” Daire asked softly.

Caelyn lifted his head, tears rolling thickly down his face. Daire moved across the limo and sat on Caelyn's other side. He wrapped his arms around Caelyn the best he could. Caelyn let out a low, choked sob. He felt Daire's hand gently stroking his hair. He wept softly into Daire's shoulder. There was a bit of movement. Caelyn looked up momentarily. Bryan had moved across to sit next to Aleksei so they would have more room. Both of them watched silently as Caelyn buried his face in Daire's shoulder, crying softly.

“How did things get so bad?” Caelyn asked weakly.

“I don't know Caelyn,” Daire replied, gently stroking Caelyn's hair.

“Am I being punished?”

“Shh Caelyn,” Daire murmured, tightening his grip around Caelyn.

“I've brought this upon myself,” Caelyn whispered.

He fell asleep in Daire's arms, tears still streaking down his face. He slept for the entire ride back to The Institute. When they arrived at The Institute, Daire gently shook him .

“Caelyn, we're back,” he whispered. “Wake up.”

Caelyn mumbled something indiscernible and opened his eyes. Unfocused aquamarine orbs blinked until they focused on Daire.

“I'm awake,” Caelyn muttered.

The door to the limo was opened.

“Time to go,” one of the guards said.

They crawled out. Caelyn swayed slightly. Daire put his arms around him. Caelyn tightly clung to him to keep himself up. Aleksei and Bryan slowly trailed after them, watching. The guards kept their distance, but still kept a close eye on them.

Daire stopped when they came closer to the dormitories and turned to Aleksei. “I'm going to go with Caelyn and make sure he gets settled in, all right?”

“Yes.” Aleksei nodded. He understood. “I'll see you later.”

He gave Daire a quick kiss and headed for their apartment. Daire and Caelyn continued on with Bryan. When they reached the Bearers' dormitory, they stopped again.

“Take care, all right?” Bryan asked softly.

“I will. You too.” Daire smiled.

“I will.” Bryan returned the smile.

He watched as Daire helped Caelyn into the dormitory and after he made sure they were safely inside, returned to his dormitory.

Aidan was waiting for them. His eyes widened and he stepped forward.

“Caelyn!” he cried out softly.

Caelyn turned toward him, his eyes blank. Daire let go of him and Caelyn walked over to Aidan. Aidan enveloped him in a huge hug.

“Oh Cae,” Aidan whispered.

Caelyn gave a choked sob. Aidan gently rubbed his back as he sobbed. After a while, Caelyn was silent and allowed Aidan to lead him to his bunk to sleep. Aidan covered his lover with a blanket and gently kissed him on the cheek.

“I love you,” he whispered.

Aidan straightened up and turned to Daire, who was watching from a distance.

“Was Halen executed then?” he asked.

“Yes,” Daire answered.

Aidan sighed softly. “I see.” He slowly shook his head. “Damn. God fucking damn it!”

“Everything is going wrong,” Daire murmured.

“Yeah,” Aidan agreed. He looked up at Daire. “How was the outside world.”

Daire made a face. “Scary.”

“Really?” Aidan asked.

“Yeah. It really was. I think it's because everyone stared at us all the time,” Daire answered.

“Did you really stand out that much?”

“Yeah.” Daire smiled. “We're all pale and skinny. We dress in the same outfit. It's clear that we're all from the same place. Plus Aleksei has bright red hair and Caelyn is heavily pregnant.”

“Ah. Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Aidan ran his fingers through his shortened hair. “So…what happened? With the Council and stuff. What's the world outside the walls of The Institute like besides being scary?”

Daire looked around the dormitory. The other Bearers were lounging around. He took Aidan by the arm and led him out of the dormitory.

“Where are you going?” one of the guards stationed outside the door asked.

“We need to talk privately,” Daire answered.

“That's dangerous,” the guard warned.

“Yes, I know. It's important, though. You can come with us, but I ask you to please give us a little privacy.”

“Of course.” The guard nodded.

He followed them down the hallway. Daire found an empty classroom and brought Aidan inside. The guard waited in the hallway.

Daire flipped on the light and moved toward the desks. He sat on top of one of them with Aidan close by.

“So…?” Aidan asked.

“What do you want to know?” Daire asked.

“Everything! What happened? Where did you go? What did you do?”

“First we had to report to John's office where we met up with everyone. Then we went out through a side door. There was a gravel driveway outside with two limos waiting for us.”

“Two?!” Aidan breathed.

“Yep.” Daire nodded. “There were a lot of us so we had to take two of them. John, the guards, and Halen went in one and the rest of us went in the other.”

“Was it a long trip?”

“Yeah. It was pretty long. We live pretty far away from the city where the Council headquarters is.”

“Did Bryan behave himself?”

“Oh yes. Bryan was a very good boy. After we got there, they took us to a hotel. The next morning, they took us to the Council's headquarters where we told them what happened.”

“What were the Council members like?” Aidan asked curiously.

“Creepy,” Daire answered with a shiver as he remembered the unpleasant event. “They all seemed to be made out of stone. They barely moved or even blinked. There was one who seemed reasonably sane though. His name was Rusty. He was really nice.”

“That's good.” Aidan smiled. “So what happened after that?”

“We went back to the hotel and had dinner at the restaurant there. It was a really fancy place. You would have hated it.”

Aidan smirked. “That bad, huh?”

“Yes. John wasn't there so Bryan and Aleksei ordered some wine.”

“They did what?” Aidan asked in shock.

“They ordered wine. Aleksei let me try some.”

“Did you like it?”

Daire made a face. “No. It was nasty.” Aidan smiled. “We went back to the Council's headquarters again the next day and they asked us all sorts of questions.”

“What sort of questions did they ask you?”

“They asked me what happened when Bryan helped me back to the dormitory, if I was afraid of him, and so on. There were a lot of personal questions.”

“I see.”

“They let us go after that and we had dinner in the hotel again, this time with John there. Because of that, Bryan and Aleksei didn't order any wine. Today was spent at the hotel. They didn't need us. At five, they told us that they had made a decision. We went to the Council's headquarters again and they told us that they had decided that Halen was to be executed.”

“Did Caelyn cry?” Aidan asked.

“Yes,” Daire whispered. “He cried himself to sleep on the trip back here.”

Aidan groaned softly and ran his fingers though his hair. “I wish he didn't have to suffer like this.”

“I know,” Daire whispered. “So do I.”

The two of them returned to the dormitory. Caelyn was shifting restlessly in his bed. Aidan moved to his side and gently smoothed down his lover's hair.

He looked up. “I'll take care of him. Go ahead and go back to Aleksei.”

Daire nodded. “I'll see you at breakfast then. Make sure Caelyn comes. He has to eat, especially for the baby's sake.”

“Got it,” Aidan responded.

Daire smiled slightly and left.

------------------------------------

Caelyn silently followed his mate into the small room. They were silent—Caelyn had no idea what to say to his doomed mate.

“The baby isn't mine, is it?” Halen asked.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Caelyn instantly denied.

“I'm not naïve,” Halen said. “Dr. White may be an idiot, but I'm not. The due date is off by an entire month. There's no way the baby is mine. Please, Caelyn. Don't think of me as an idiot.”

“I…honestly don't know for sure if you're the father,” Caelyn confessed. “But I don't think the baby is yours.” He looked at his mate. “How long have you known?”

“From the beginning,” Halen replied. “From the moment you told me you were carrying a child. I knew it wasn't mine. I don't know how I knew. I just did.”

“So is that why you raped Daire?” Caelyn asked. “To get revenge on me?”

“If I wanted revenge, I would have told John about your little secret,” Halen sneered.

“Then why…?” Caelyn asked.

“I wanted to know what it felt like to have sex with someone other than my mate, so I chose Daire,” Halen answered.

“Look where it got you,” Caelyn said.

Halen grinned evilly. “It was so worth it to have someone besides you screaming in agony.”

Caelyn glared at his mate and he looked like he wanted to hit him so badly.

“You fucking bastard!” he snarled. “You're a sick, twisted monster!”

Halen moved in closer to Caelyn so they were only inches apart. “So are you.”

Caelyn's eyes widened.

“No I'm not!” he hissed. “I am nothing like you!”

“Are you sure?” Halen asked.

Caelyn was silent. Halen was as well, but he seemed satisfied.

“Halen…why didn't you tell John?” Caelyn asked after a long silence.

Halen frowned. “You were…so happy. Something I'd never seen before. I couldn't take that happiness away from you. I know I can't make you happy—it's not in my nature, but I know the father of your baby will.”

“How do you know?” Caelyn asked.

“I just know,” Halen answered. “I have good instincts.”

Caelyn started crying. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done what I did.”

Halen shrugged. “I shouldn't have either.”

“It isn't fair,” Caelyn whispered. “You have to die and I get to live even though we did almost the same thing.”

“There's one difference,” Halen said patiently. Caelyn looked at him curiously. “You had a choice. Daire did not. I did not give Daire a choice. I'm guessing your partner did?” Caelyn nodded. “See?”

“But…” Caelyn protested.

Halen pressed his index finger to Caelyn's lips. “It's not the same. One day you'll understand how. For now, just know that this is the way I want it to be, okay?” Caelyn nodded. Halen withdrew his finger. “You've shown nothing but kindness to me. All I've done in return is hurt you. You deserve to be happy and you will be. Think of this as my way of saying thank you.”

A guard knocked on the door and stuck his head in. “I'm afraid your time is up.”

“Just give me a minute,” Halen told him. He turned to Caelyn, who had started crying softly again. “Can I kiss you one last time?”

“Yes.” Caelyn nodded, wiping his tears away.

Halen slowly moved forward and gently pressed his lips to his mate's. Halen was surprisingly gentle, his lips barely caressing Caelyn's. They broke apart and Halen went to the door where the guard was waiting for him. He stopped and turned around. Caelyn was watching him through tear filled eyes.

“Goodbye,” Halen whispered.

Then he was gone.

 

Panting, Caelyn opened his eyes. The dormitory was dark and silent. Caelyn let out a shaky breath. It had been weeks since it had happened and yet he could not erase the images from his memory. Halen's face haunted his dreams. It made him feel even more guilty.

“Why Halen?” he whispered, wiping more tears from his face. “Why did you do that?”

He would never know. He groaned softly and pushed himself up. It was still dark, so it wasn't time for them to get up yet. He did not know how much time he had left, but it didn't matter; he could not go back to sleep now. He got out of bed and grabbed a fresh set of clothes from his trunk. He slipped out of the dormitory. The guards looked at him as he passed.

“Is everything all right?” one of them asked.

“Yes,” Caelyn answered, stopping for a moment. “What time is it?”

“Nearly dawn,” the same guard answered.

Caelyn nodded. “I'm going to take a shower.”

“All right. I'll escort you there.” The guard turned to his companion. “Will you be all right by yourself?”

The guard nodded. I'll be fine. I'll call for backup.”

The first guard nodded and turned to Caelyn. The two of them silently walked to the Bearers' bathroom. The guard waited outside to give Caelyn privacy. Caelyn chose the first shower stall he came to and entered. He closed the door and stripped his clothes off. He turned on the shower and waited for it to get warm. Unconsciously, his hand moved to his abdomen. He felt his son lightly kicking him and smiled.

“Be patient my son,” he said softly. “It's almost time.”

He stepped into the shower and closed his eyes. He stood still for the longest time. Finally, he washed his body, running his fingers through his long blond hair, to try and get it untangled. He turned off the shower and stepped out. He dried himself off and dressed. Then, he went out to the main part of the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, he glanced at his reflection. He saw someone who looked like a stranger. He barely recognized himself. He was thin and worn. His eyes were slightly sunken and his cheekbones were narrower than he remembered. Pale skin reflected off the fluorescent lights. Everything about him was worn out, even his hair.

Caelyn shook his head. He ran his fingers through his hair again and started braiding it. He had a bit of cloth with him that he used to tie off the braid so it wouldn't come unraveled. He gathered his sleeping clothes and left the bathroom. The guard was waiting for him. Silently, the two of them made their way back to the dormitory. It was filled with activity now; the other Bearers were up and getting dressed. The overhead lights had been switched on so the room was flooded with light. On the other side of the glass, Caelyn could see the Breeders also getting ready for the day, scarcely aware that they were another Breeder short. Caelyn crossed the room, pushing the guilty feelings out of the way. He put his neatly folded sleeping clothes in his trunk and closed the lid. Aidan came over to him. He did a double-take.

“Caelyn?” he gasped. “Holy crap, I barely recognized you!”

I barely recognize myself. Caelyn thought grimly.

“I've never seen you braid your hair before,” Aidan babbled.

“I decided to try something different,” Caelyn replied.

“Well it looks good.”

“Thanks.” Caelyn fingered the braid.

One of the guards stuck his head into the dormitory, the same one who had escorted Caelyn to the bathroom. “Hey, it's time for breakfast.”

The Bearers filed out of the room and made the familiar trek to the cafeteria. They stood in line for their food. Breakfast today was scrambled eggs and toast. Caelyn took his tray to the usual table in the corner, Aidan behind him. They were joined by Daire who muttered something about oversleeping and stupid horny redheads. Breakfast was silent.

After it finally ended, they brought their trays to the garbage and headed to class. They sat in their usual seats in the back of the room. Just another day. Caelyn realized as the teacher started class that it was his due date. He felt fine, though, well, except for a mild shooting pain in his back. He wondered if Dr. White had been wrong yet again. The man was an idiot.

 

The pain started getting worse. It wasn't too bad for a while. Caelyn barely noticed it. He had been having slight pains on and off for several months, which was normal, according to Dr. White. It wasn't until the pain started getting more regular and moved to the front of his body that he realized he was in labor. He groaned as he felt a contraction and doubled over. The teacher stopped his lecture. Aidan put a hand on Caelyn's back.

“Cae? What's wrong?” he asked softly.

“It…hurts,” Caelyn panted.

Aidan didn't understand but Daire did. Sapphire eyes widened.

“Mr. Walker, Caelyn is in labor,” he said in a loud voice.

The other Bearers murmured in hushed voices. The Breeders all shifted in their seats. At once, Mr. Walker crossed the room and looked at Caelyn.

“You're right,” he said. He called to one to the guards. “Alert the Medical Facility! Hurry!”

The guard nodded and hurried off.

A wheelchair was brought for Caelyn and he was rushed to the Medical Facility. His water broke halfway there. Daire and Aidan went with him, although only Aidan was allowed to go back. Normally, only a Bearer's mate was allowed to be with him when he was giving birth, but since Halen was gone, Aidan was allowed to go back. Only one was allowed so Daire told Aidan to go.

“He needs you right now,” he said quietly.

Aidan nodded and followed Caelyn into the back. Caelyn changed into a cotton gown with help from a nurse and was put in a large open room. An IV was started in his arm. A nurse brought a chair so Aidan could sit. Aidan reached out for Caelyn's hand and gently squeezed it.

“Here we go,” he murmured.

Caelyn smiled, but it was soon replaced with an expression of pain. He resisted the urge to scream as he felt a wave of pain. Aidan squeezed his hand and whispered softly to him. From time to time, Dr. White came in to check on him.

“Hmm, you're progressing slowly,” Dr. White said with a frown.

“I can't…I can't breathe!” Caelyn gasped.

Dr. White placed a breathing mask over his face. He relaxed, finding it easier to breath. Aidan gently stroked his hair. Caelyn tightly gripped his hand when he felt another contraction coming. He cried out and bit his lip. A rough iron taste filled his mouth. He realized that he had bit his lip so hard it was bleeding. Aidan grabbed a tissue and gently dabbed at the blood on Caelyn's lips.

“Thank you.” Caelyn smiled weakly.

“Just hang in there, all right?” Aidan's hand curled around the bloody tissue. “I don't think I could bear it if I lost you.”

Dr. White came back into the room.

“How are you doing Caelyn?” he asked.

Caelyn could only groan softly. Dr. White stepped forward, pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, and checked Caelyn's progress.