The Truth in the Darkness

Chapter Three
“Love and Protection”

Once again, I awoke as the sun went down, but this time it was because of my laptop. It was beeping, so I got up and checked my messages, Rade was online and was trying to get a hold of me. The most recent message was from him, it read: ‘Kamue, get you’re ass out of bed and look out your window.’

I moved to my window and looked out into the growing darkness. At first I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but then I noticed his black M3, it was sitting idle behind my house. I went back to my laptop and noticed that the message was from a cell phone, his cell phone. I signed off the internet and quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a tight-fitting black shirt. I picked up my sneakers and snuck out to the back porch.

He got out of his car as I sat down on my porch to put my shoes on. He met me half-way to his car and smiled.

“So you did get my message.” He said with a sly smile.

“What time is it?” I asked sleepily. He laughed and towed me to his car.

“It’s nine o’clock and the shadows are beginning to descend.” he said as we got into the car.

After he drove about a block from my house, I asked him a question; “Where are we going?” He laughed again, I was beginning to love his laugh.

“We’re going to my house, if that’s ok.” he said without looking at me.

“I have only one question.” I said, thinking that if I don’t ask now, I never will. He nodded and waited for me to ask it. “How did you know that I had unanswered questions?” I asked while looking out my window. I heard his indrawn breath and waited.

“Well, because you and I are very similar. Kamue, you may not believe this, but I know a lot about you and a lot of it is true about me too. I question the darkness, just like you do.” he said, his voice tight. I immediately spun around to face him.

“How!?” I said in utter disbelief.

“There is a lot I have to show you in only two weeks.” he answered without looking at me. We were at a stoplight when he chose to meet my gaze.

“In two weeks I’ll be eighteen, Rade.” I said and he nodded.

“A lot is going to happen between now and then,” he said, confusing me even more, “But don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of you.” I looked at him long and hard, my gaze finding all his features. I noted the bandage on his hand had been changed. By the time I got up the courage to speak, we’d pulled up in front of his house. We got out of the car and walked into the house. It was a rather large house, about the size of the one he’s designing for my family.

“Rade, why me, and why is your house so big?” I asked as I sat down in his living room. He had walked into the kitchen and came back out with two cans of soda. He handed me one and sat down across from me.

“Kamue….I honestly don’t know why you, yet, and my house is big because I like my space.” He said grinning. I hope he can’t read my mind, I thought, cause I was thinking about him taking me in every room of his house and on every surface. It was the first time I had ever thought that I might be gay. ‘You’re not gay’ I heard him say, but once again, I didn’t see his lips move. We drank our sodas while we watched TV. Normally, I can’t sleep at night, but here, I felt safe, and soon I was fast asleep.

***
He was asleep less than twenty minutes after we arrived at my house. Kamue, could he be the other…I wondered as the lights in my house came on in response to the growing darkness. If I lost control tonight, he’d learn everything the wrong way. ‘His erotic thoughts almost had me.’ I thought as I picked him up and carried him to my bedroom.

After tucking him in, I ran back downstairs and phoned Kurik.

“Yamada, do you realize that it’s almost ten o’clock at night?” he asked groggily as he answered.

“Kurik, I have Kamue. He’s gonna stay over so that I can help him get to school on time from now on.” I lied, hoping that the idiot bought it. There was a long pause before he spoke again.

“Are you trying to say that he’ll be living with you until he graduates?” He asked, his voice devoid of all emotion. I tried to swallow my raising fear and cleared my throat.

“Yes, if that’d be okay.” I said and waited for the immediate refusal I thought would come.

“Come and pick up his shit.” Kurik said and hung up. I left a note on the living room table and grabbed my keys. ‘He’s one hell of a father,’ I thought as I drove back to Kamue’s house. Kurik was on the front porch with all of Kamue’s clothes and stuff, including his laptop and book bag. He helped me load the stuff into my car in silence.

“Take care of him, and make his room, on the plans, into a workout room.” he said and went back into his house. I drove home in silence thinking about the move that I just made. Kamue is going to be living with me, under my roof. He was sitting on my front porch when I got back. He ran to the car and helped me with his stuff.

“He kicked me out?” he asked as we put his stuff in a room adjacent to mine.

“I asked if he’d like you to live with me until you graduate. He said yes and now you can live here as long as you want.” I answered quietly.

“There’s more to it.” he said and then silenced himself. After we moved him in, we sat down in the living room and I knew he was waiting for answers, so I gave him them.

“Kamue, I wanted you to be able to feel free to be yourself, so I offered to take you in. You were able to sleep at night here, weren’t you?” I said grasping his chin and making him look at me. That was my first mistake. I fell into his gray orbs. The next thing I knew, we were kissing and his shirt was off.

“Rade.” He shivered, like he did in the car, when I kissed his chest. His whole body flushed pink and he quivered under my touch. I slowed my actions and pulled him to lay on top of me. “Rade, I-” he began but I stopped him with a kiss.

“I understand.” I said and carried him to my bedroom. I then laid him down on my bed and stepped back to take off my shirt. He slipped under the covers and pulled them up to his nose. ‘How adorable,’ I thought as I climbed into bed next to him. I gently pulled the covers down so that his face and chest were visible. “Kamue.” He shivered again and blushed.

“Rade, I-I...um...” he stuttered and blushed again. I laughed.

“Kamue, we’re just going to bed. We both have had a hectic day. Maybe when you’re ready, we'll do..... that, but you don’t have to worry about it tonight.” I said, easing his fear. The demon in me, all the while, screaming for release. I pulled him to lay in the circle of my arms and I laid there, waiting for him to sleep. Not ten minutes later, he was snoring softly, his breath even, in deep sleep. I placed a gentle kiss on his forehead and let myself drift to sleep.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened for almost a week and a half, but by that time, Kamue’s birthday was just days away.

The alarm clock woke us both out of a dead sleep at five a.m. “Kamue, it’s time for school.” I said and gently shook him awake. He sat up and yawned.

“It’s time for school already?” he asked in a low, cute voice. I laughed and smiled.

“Yeah, it’s that time already.” I laughed again and stood up. In the night, somehow, I was stripped down to my boxers, he too was in his boxers, so when I stood up, he saw my morning erection. His eyes bulged out and he blushed.

“R-rade, um...” he stuttered and turned away. I looked down and noticed that I was poking out of my boxers. I went into the bathroom and ran a cold shower. This had become our usual morning routine and he still was a shy as the fist morning, but it was still as cute as ever to see him blush. By the time I got out, he was dressed and ready to go to school. He was sitting on my bed and tapping his fingers on the coverlet. I walked out in my towel and stopped dead when I saw that he had red eyes.

“K-Kamue?!” I said in disbelief and he turned towards me, his eyes were there normal shade of gray. A confused look came over his features as he studied me.

“hm?” he questioned. I shook off my disbelief and walked towards him.

“Never mind.” I said and grabbed my clothes from the bed. I went back into the bathroom to change. I quickly clothed myself in pants, a shirt and a tie and walked back into my bedroom. “Come on, school time.” I said and drug him off to my car. Even after almost two weeks, he was still so shy around me.

“Rade? Why do I still have to go in for morning detention?” he asked and I grinned. I started the car and drove down the street,

“Just because you’re sleeping with the teacher, doesn’t mean that you get off free.” I said without looking at him but I knew that he was frowning.

“T-that’s not what I meant!” He said, his embarrassment echoing in his voice. I laughed.

“I know, I believe you. But, I can’t leave you alone in my house for the remaining time because I don’t think my alarm clock can wake you up, even though it’s loud enough to wake the dead.” He looked like a petulant child.

“I would too get up!!” he said with a cute pout. I had to look at the road to keep from pulling him on to my lap and ravaging him, right here in my car.

“Fine, tomorrow we’ll try it out. If you are even two seconds late to my class, I'll make you sleep in your bed for a week and I will never let you sleep in again.” I said and focused on the road. I could feel his smile, so I turned to look at him and I caught a strange flash out of the corner of my eye. We were being followed by an unknown assailant, that much I was sure of. I continued driving but I kept my eyes on my side mirrors and sure enough, I found a man following my car on foot. He stood an even five foot seven with dark gray-brown hair, but it was his eyes that I noticed, they were the crystal blue-gray of the wolf-kind. We arrived at school and I told Kamue to go into the building.

“Rade? What’s the matter?” he asked and frowned when he saw the man. He approached us slowly and stopped before he was within my striking distance, which was about five feet in front of us.

“Kamue Tigerian, it’s time you know the truth.” he said and I could smell the wolf in him. I stepped in front of Kamue and locked eyes with the man.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked with my golden tiger eyes locked to his grayish-blue wolf ones.

“Renault, Yamada, my name is Renault. You’d do well to remember it.” he sneered with a laugh.

“Kamue, you are anything but normal...and my boss wants you to know that.” he said and walked off. My mind was in a hundred different places until Kamue grabbed my hand and towed me to my office.

***
As I towed him to his office, he seemed somewhere else. I sat him down in his chair and shook him to reality.

“Kamue? Where am I?” he asked as his eyes cleared.

“I brought you to your office, um...R-rade?” I said and waited patiently for him to snap out of his haze. He finally looked into my eyes so I knew I could ask just about anything. “Um...what did that man....what did Renault mean?” I asked, my confusion apparent. He looked angry and turned his head in disgust.

“That thing was just trying to get at us. Pay him no mind.” Rade said and opened his laptop.

“Should I get to work?” I asked quietly. He looked up with a sad look on his face.

“I’m sorry, Kamue. No, you can just chill out here until school starts, if you wish. But if you want to get some work done, then be my guest.” He said and looked back at his laptop. I sat my laptop down on his desk and signed on messenger. Rade was on too so I messaged him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kamue: hey what’s wrong?
Rade: K-kamue?...oh, right.....nothing’s wrong.
Kamue: right....please tell me, Rade.
Rade: ..........................................not yet.
Kamue: ???
Rade: not yet....I’ll tell you when we get home.
Kamue: Promise?
Rade: yes, I promise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He signed off and I looked for people I knew. No one was on this early, so I signed off and sat back in my chair. He wanted to tell me when we home, where no one could hear us or spy on us, the only place I felt safe, so it must be something big.

***

‘It’s too soon…’ I thought as I stole glances at Kamue. I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost time for school. I quickly placed a soft kiss on Kamue’s lips and walked into the classroom as the other students arrived. Kamue sat down, quickly, before his “friends” arrived. After everyone was seated, I began today’s lesson.

“Today were are going to learn about the ancient legend of the demons.” The whole class seemed to smile, everyone that is, except Markus. That bastard, he’s a demon. I figured that out the hard way almost two weeks ago. I thought while eyeing my still-bandaged wrist. “It is said that there is a rare type of demon, the Tiger demon, of which there are only two in any generation. These tigers are said to be the most sought after beings in all creation. Then there are other types of demons, though none of which has the rare aspect of the Tigers. One such type is the dragons, the tigers main enemy.” I said and wrote the statement on the board. It was then I realized that the wolf, Renault, was working for Markus. “Open your textbooks to page 378 and complete the chapter activities at the end of the chapter.” I said and sat down behind my desk. I knew Kamue would sign back onto messenger once he got into the classroom, it was one of the main ways he got anything done in class, so I signed on and instant messaged him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rade: Kamue, is this a private conversation?
Kamue: yes, it’s just me here.
Rade: I think I have to tell you something that you may not be ready for.
Kamue: ?? what’s the matter?
Rade: Renault was a wolf demon.
Kamue: ????? ur pullin’ my chain.......right?
Rade: .....I wish I was.....but that isn’t the worst part.
Kamue: then what is??
Rade: ......his boss is a dragon demon.
Kamue: ..............Rade.....stop joking.....
Rade: I’m completely serious............Kamue....we’ll talk about this more at home.....just trust me.
Kamue: ......alright...I do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stopped the conversation and signed off. To make my message clear, I looked straight into Kamue’s eyes and saw them widen in realization. I looked at the clock and noticed that it was already eleven twenty-seven, three minutes to lunch. If I could somehow talk the principal into getting a sub for my class, then I could fully explain things to Kamue. The bell rang and everyone, except Kamue, ran for the cafeteria. I led Kamue to the main office in silence. The principal was on her lunch break, so she saw us.

“Ms. Itada, I need to go home early.” I said and smiled at her. She got this look in her eyes, one of suspicion and she sat up.

She sent me a mental message; “Is he no longer safe here?”
I nodded my head and stood up. “Alright, Rade. Kamue, I expect to see you bright and early tomorrow morning.” she said and went back to her lunch. Kamue and I left the building and got in to my car.

“Rade?” he asked as we drove off.

“Wait until we’re home.” I said and concentrated on driving.

***
He drove like it was the only thing on his mind, although I knew something else was. What did he mean when he said that stuff about Renault and demons? Could he be for real? As the we parked the car in his drive way and got out, a throwing star hit the tree next to my head. Rade pulled me down and stood in front of me.

“Come out!!” He yelled and reached into his front pocket. The assailant was Renault. He stepped from behind Rade’s house.

“Yamada, shouldn’t you be in school?” He said with a laugh. He seemed to not notice me because he stayed focused on Rade.

“What do you want, Renault?” Rade said with blatant anger in his voice. Renault laughed and whistled. His call brought two people out from their hiding places. One was tall and lithe and had a sly smile on his face, he had greenish hair and eyes. The other was stocky and built with a crazy look in his yellowish-green eyes. His brown hair was wild and he looked at me with a sick smile.

“Jackal and Serpent. My Comrades.” Renault said as they surrounded Rade and me. “Come on Tiger-man, show your little lover what you really are.” Renault said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice and Jackal laughed a crazy laugh. I looked at Rade and noticed that he was pissed. He looked at me and smiled a sad smile.

“Kamue, this is not how I wanted you to find out, but I guess it was inevitable. This is how it always ends up, but this time it shall be different.” He said and looked back at our assailants.