chapter thirty-five:

Peter was not happy ― Caelum, could tell. “You can't just. . .!” He trailed off and Caelum scoffed.

“Just what? Get my money out of the bank?” He was possessing a teenage girl. She was Asian with short bobbish hair. She had chewing gum in her mouth when Caelum possessed her, which he immediately spat out ― he hates chewing gum.

“Cael, you aren't eighteen,” Peter tried to reason, but Caelum wasn't hearing it. He continued to type quickly on the computer. Peter was watching out for him, in case anyone saw him trying to get into a bank's information server.

“You really shouldn't be next to me like this,” Caelum ignored his comment, continuing to work. “The whole point of doing this is that if someone looks through the camera and sees us, they see someone else editing vital information, and not me.”

“I'm not going to leave you alone while you get yourself sent to prison!” He snapped the last word and Caelum gave a nervous smile.

“I'm almost done, alright? Give me a minute.” He had finally found his pulic records profile. He changed the age and date of birth from 2001 to 1998, effectively making himself over the age to take the money he needed out.

Just in time too, his neck was beginning to prickle. He began to wipe the computer of any evidence and stood up, grinning. “See, easy-peasy. Now, where did you put my body?”

Peter was not amused, he frowned crossing his arms. “I don't think we should start out relationship off with money laundering and theft. Where did you learn that, anyway?”

“Don't admit to it!” He whispered, annoyed someone might overhear. “Mr. Goldson taught me. Well, he taught me a bit of basics, and a elective in computer programming helped. That doesn’t matter, where did you put me?”

“Over there,” he pointed to the couch in the corner of the room.

It was empty.

“Peter?” Caelum stared at the couch in shock and horror. His heart skipped a beat, and he began to panic from wondered where he was and what someone might be doing with his uninhabited body. “Peter, please tell me you're kidding.”

“I am.” Caelum turned around and Peter was smiling, his face red from trying to contain his laughter.

He hit Peter’s arm, making the laughter bubble out. Peter half-remembered that they were in a library and tried ― unsuccessfully ― to contain it. “Don't fucking do that!” He snapped, shaking with anger. The face of the girl he was inhabiting lit with blotchy reds. He felt like his cheeks were being held under a open flame. He didn't realize how weird blushing was.

Peter grinned cheekily and he walked him to his body, which was sitting on a couch, dazedly staring at a book. Caelum looked in his eyes and blinked. He stretched and put the book away as Peter helped the girl he was possessing. “Are you okay?” He asked her, as she stumbled a bit on her feet, confused.

“Yes. . . I. . . Yeah, I'm sorry, what just happened?” She replied in a soft and dainty voice, and Peter gave her a kind smile.

“You fell, you looked a bit pale,” Peter lied, but continued with that smile ― smiling at her. “Do you want me to call someone? Are you feeling okay?” Her eyes lit up and her cheeks dusted with a blush.

“I. . . I. . .―” She stammered, irritatingly unable to find her voice. Caelum frowned, narrowing his eyes, immediately annoyed.

“Parker — let's go,” he said quickly, turning to leave. Peter noticed and checked one last time to make sure she was okay before moving to catch up with him. Caelum was quiet, quickly striding towards the doors and out of the building.

Peter, who was beside him, grabbed his hand before they could continue walking. “Hey?” Peter said and Caelum rose an eyebrow.

“Yes?”

Peter didn't say anything for a minute, just studying his slightly bitter expression, then he laughed. “You were jealous.”

His face immediately fell and he went on the defensive. “Pardon me?”

“The girl ― you got upset when I helped her,” Peter let out a laugh and began to walk.

“I–I was not jealous!” He sputtered, trying to keep up. “I just didn't want to waste time talking to some girl, that's all.”

“Mm-hmm. . .” Peter replied, continuing to walk. About five minutes passed when Peter spoke again. “Your eyes scrunched up.”

“Excuse me?”

“When you're upset. You get wrinkles at the end of them.”

“Maybe I was just born that way because I was not jealous, Parker.”

Peter rose an eyebrow, “So you wouldn't mind if I kissed that girl?”

“I–I. . . what!?” Caelum barely kept the anger from his tone.

Peter shrugged nonchalantly. “The girl, you wouldn't care if I kissed her, if you weren't jealous.”

Caelum practically glared holes in the person walking in front of them, but then he sighed and gave Peter a nice, charming smile. “If you wished to kiss her, Parker, then why should I care?” Peter blinked, not expecting this reaction. “Although,” Caelum continued. “Doing so without her consent or fair warning could be considered sexual harassment or assault. Also, she was a complete stranger so it definitely would not look good on your end. But, by all means, kiss her, if you want to.”

Caelum continued to walk, dropping the charming act and crossing his arms, anger increasing in every step. “Wait, Cael!” Peter had lagged behind, and Caelum didn't stop for him. “Cael!” Peter grabbed his arm, and Caelum immediately tried to pull away.

“You pulled yourself away ― don’t ever do that again!”

Caelum stayed where he was, eyes wide in shock as he stared at his arm being held by Peter. Peter noticed immediately and let go. Caelum moved it to his chest, cradling the limb as if it had been burned.

“Cael, I. . . I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,” Peter was obviously shocked, but Caelum was far past the girl in the library now.

The mind controller. He was still following his orders. When would that wear off ― was it going to wear off? If someone grabbed him, he wouldn't be able to fight back. If someone tried to kill him, he wouldn't be able to do anything.

It broke though, for Sarah and Dorri? Maybe because in his head, he forgot about home and they reminded him. But, pulling away, a geniune reflex after being unknowingly grabbed? He couldn't fix that. He didn't forget it. He couldn't relearn it.

“Cael? You're scaring me, please, talk to me? Are you having another attack? Do we—Do we need to go somewhere secluded?”

“I. . . no,” Caelum replied after a moment's hesitation. “I'm fine. I just. . . I was thinking.”

“Oh. . .” Then, Peter frowned, “Don't do that! You scared me!”

Caelum rose an eyebrow and scoffed, “Like how you hid my body?”

“I. . . that. . .!”

“Mm-hmm?” Caelum rolled his eyes and continued to walk, Peter fell in line beside him.

“I thought something serious happened,” he whined. “You scared me!”

Caelum shook his head, smiling a little. “Come on — we're nearly there.”

° · ° · ° · °

The bank was huge. Caelum didn't even know his mother had banked here when he first stepped in. The floor was marble and there were tall pillars in between. Due to it being around late-noonish, the bank wasn’t that populated, but there were still people standing around, at least from what he could see. An older woman in a sitting area sat on the cellphone, a few tellers behind the counters, leaving a couple spots open, a man sitting in the sitting section, looking down at his phone as well. He also saw a few bankers talkings with customers behind thinly veiled curtains.

“Hello, and welcome to Easy Pass Bank!” A very nice looking gentleman. He was young, probably early twenties, and he had nice, crispy blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes. “How may I help you today?”

Caelum smiled and approached the counter, “Hello sir. I am here about my mother’s inheritance. According to my. . . attorney, he said that her spendings were dealt here and that approximately twenty grand in assests were left in my name.”

The man rose an eyebrow, “I’m sorry for your loss, can I get your name, sir?”

“Algol Caelum Forest. My mother’s name was Apolline Daphine Forest.”

The man hummed as he typed, “That’s a beautiful name,” he commented. Caelum was a bit taken aback, but smiled.

“She prided herself in it ― and she certainly lived up to it as well.” The man nodded, and cleared his throat.

“Yes, I see here here. Do you have any form of identification?” Caelum swallowed and took out his wallet, handing him his school ID, and then looked him in the eyes. He quickly took it from his dazed from and promptly dropped it on his side of the glass.

“Whoops, my bad,” he said, rather loudly so the man’s associates would notice the mishap. He took a clean look at it and then handed it back to him. “Okay, this lines up.” He looked back in his eyes and blinked.

Caelum quickly grabbed the I.D. before the man could realize what had happened. “Is that all sir? I’m sorry, I personally don’t bank with you, but―”

‘I apologize,” the man interrupted, rather confused. “But you didn’t show me your I.D., sir.”

Caelum gave him a confused look, “I’m sorry, I just gave you my I.D., you dropped it on the ground, remember?”

“He’s right, Tanner,” a woman beside him noted. “Are you feeling okay?”

The man was quiet for a moment, before nodding slightly, “I do feel a little dizzy. I’m sorry about that, anyways, you said that you don’t bank with us? Do you have the routing number to your bank so we can transfer the funds there?”

“Yes, sir," Caelum replied and pulled out his wallet. He had a small sheet of notebook paper with a sequence of numbers written on it. He handed to the bank teller and stood straight, smiling.

Tanner took it, looking over the numbers and typing quickly. “Okay. Now, I just need you to sign a few papers in order to have the transfer of funds on file.”

Caelum rose an eyebrow as Tanner moved, getting the papers in order, "If you don't mind my asking, why do I need to do that? Just, out of curiousity.”

"Whenever significant funds change accounts, we're supposed to keep track of it. Just to have it on file,” he handed him the papers. “You can sit over there, if you want.”

"Okay. . . thank you, sir," Caelum smiled and Tanner returned it.

"My pleasure! Thank you for banking with us today."

Caelum and Peter moved sit down at the loveseat in the sitting area. “Is that it?" Peter asked, and Caelum shushed him immediately. They weren't done until his father was out of jail.

Caelum grabbed a pen and began to sign whenever he saw a line. He pulled out the paper in his wallet, writing down his social information where it was due as well. It didn't take him long to finish, and he got up to hand the papers to Tanner when he was done, gave the man polite smile and hurried out.

When they were at least a few blocks away, Caelum let out a sigh, closing his eyes. “Did it work? Do you have it now?" Peter asked and Caelum gave him a shaky smile.

"Yeah, but I don't want to think about that. We need to go to the bonds office, it should be a few blocks away.”

“I thought we were going to visit your brothers?" Peter asked and he nodded.

"We are. I just need to make sure the money gets to my dad first. I have to get him out.” Peter grabbed his arm, and Caelum inhaled.

"You pulled yourself away ― don't ever do that again!"

“Do you really want your dad out of jail?” Peter asked, not letting go. Caelum ignored it. The grip wasn't hard or mean. It was a reminder, small skin on skin contact. “Cael, remember what he did to you? I don't want you ending up like that again.”

"I have to,” Caelum said honestly. "I can't watch the boys myself and keep them out of the system. I can talk to my dad, see if he'll see reason. But, I can't do alone.”

"If I asked May―!"

“To adopt three more kids?”

Peter looked exasperated, struggling to find a better solution, a healthier solution. “I don't want anything bad to happen to you, Cael."

“I have to do what's best for them, Peter,” Caelum said gently, and sighed. "Look, the bonds office a few streets from the hospital. We can stop there, get everything situated, and then go to my brothers, alright?”

Peter didn't look happy, “At least. . .  promise me you won't stay with him,” Peter said, and Caelum frowned. "I don't want you to get hurt again. I don't want to have to take you to the hospital again.”

"Okay, I won't,” Caelum lied, "Come on, we're going to miss the 2:25 train if we don't hurry."

° · ° · ° · °

The bonds guy Caelum met with was a lot less shadier than Caelum assumed he would be. He explained that all he had to was draw the money out of the account and bring it to the jail where his father was being held. Since Caelum lied about being a minor to him, he said that the people there would handle it. Or, he could pay fee and have him go through everything, which would involve more lying and Caelum wasn't very keen on that. If he kept it up, it might have serious consequences.

Yet, he wanted to see his brothers today, and if he bailed his father out himself, he probably wouldn't make it in time, despite it being close by. So, Caelum conceded, sitting down with the man and filling out several pages of paperwork and spending a couple hundred of his mother's inheritance to help hire the man.

Meanwhile, Peter stood beside, both supportive and yet disagreeing with his decision. Peter didn't know his dad like he did, and Caelum knew he could get back into his good graces, he knew his dad would understand.

And, Caelum also knew that he would be a fool to leave his brothers alone with him. He hoped Peter would understand that.

When he finally finished, they practically ran to the hospital. It was a few streets down, and the streets were a bit busy. That didn't keep them from pushing past people, running to get to the hospital. Caelum wanted to see his brothers, he wanted to make sure they were still alive and well.

Caelum moved to the front desk, where a young woman in a pink-blue uniform sat, typing quickly. “Hello, ma'am,” Caelum greeted, a bit out of breath. "I'm here for my brothers, Pollux and Castor Forest. I―they were brought in yesterday. I'm their brother.”

"Yes, Mr. . . Forest," the woman nodded. “Do you have some kind of identification?"

“I have a school I.D.”

"That'll do,” She replied and Caelum showed her his wallet. "You need to sign in, first," she slid him a sheet of paper on a clipboard with a pen.

Caelum took it, quickly filling it out. Peter frowned, looking around, scratching his arm. Caelum noticed, “Is everything alright?"

“I. . . I dunno," Peter said softly. “I'm getting a weird feeling. . .”

Caelum rose an eyebrow, “What do you mean?" He asked.

Peter thought for a second, but shook his head, “It’s. . . It's nothing, I'll explain it later.”

"Alright,” Caelum stood, clicking the pen off and bringing the papers to the woman. “It’s family visits only, so your friend will have to stay down here.”

Caelum blinked, looking over at Peter. "But―!"

“It's okay," Peter assured. “I'll head back to the apartment. May is going to come home soon and she'll probably want me in school. You're welcome to come back to the apartment when you're done.”

“I know," Caelum said, "Thank you, Parker.” He turned to leave, wanting to see his brothers as soon as possible.

“Wait!" Peter said, and grabbing his hand. Caelum turned around just as Peter kissed him. He was stunned for a moment before giving a small laugh and kissing him back. After a minute, he pulled away, his cheeks warm with embarrassment.

“Hurry up and go," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. Peter laughed, grinning from ear to ear.

“Call me before you leave, alright?" Caelum gave a small nod, trying to get his thoughts in order, and Peter laughed, leaving him alone.

The nurse at the table chuckled shaking her head. Caelum rubbed his neck, watching Peter leave. “Here's your sticker," she said, sliding a printed sticker labeled visitor to him. “Your brothers are in room 218, floor three."

“Thank you," he smiled, and she nodded, waving a hand as he left for the elevator.

° · ° · ° · °

Caelum wanted to run down the hall, but he didn't want to be kicked out, so he kept a brisk walk. Nobody paid him any mind, he had a visitors tag on and the hospital was a bit busy. Doctors and nurses ran past as he counted off the doors. 210. . . 214. . . 216. . . 218!

He pushed through, luckily the door was unlocked. His heart was pounding and a smile on his face. “Castor? Pollux?!" He called, not quite yelling, but also being a little bit unable to contain his excitement and concern.

The light was on and the two boys were sleeping. Completely unaware of the man sitting beside their bed.

Caelum stared at him, his face draining in horror. The man who controlled him, was sitting in the chair, legs crossed and smiling at him. “Algol! Mate! Lovely to see you came, sit down." Caelum moved, sitting beside the man, his hands pressed in his lap, staring at his knees.

“H. . . He–Hello, sir,” Caelum said slowly.

"I thought you had more manners than to leave someone by themselves like that, Algol." He shook his head, clicking hugs tongue, "You disappointed me.”

"I. . . I am sorry to hear that, sir," he swallowed. “How did you–you find my brothers?”

"Ah, wasn't that hard,” he shrugged. "Asked a police officer which hospital two recently kidnapped boys were placed. Happy to give me the location.”

"Are you going to hurt them, sir?” Caelum asked, a bit frantic. "They're–They’re the only family I have left. Please, they're just―”

“Bite your tongue." Caelum teeth clamped down on his tongue and he gasped, blood spurting and his mouth stinging. The man stood, brushing off himself and giving him a side-eye. “Manners, Algol. Surely you must know about it. Go on, apologize for speaking out of turn.”

"I. . . I apologize, sir," he said blood dripping from his tongue, welling in his mouth and leaving a terrible taste.

“What should I make you do. . .?” The man murmured, tapping him chin as he paced in front of him. "I could make you kill your brothers? Eat them alive? Take the skinny one off of his life support, poor bastard.”

Caelum's stomach weighed down with terror, "Please, sir. . . please don't hurt them, I'll do anything."

“Oh, I'm sure you would, you were shagging your Principal,” he scoffed. "Would you do that, Algol Caelum Forest? Answer me honestly, would you do that in front of your brothers?”

"If you didn't hurt them, yes sir.” The man whooped out a laugh, and Caelum's stomach twisted.

"Wow! Is that loyalty or insanity?" He asked, but didn't give Caelum the chance to answer. “Or is it that you like shagging men, eh?”

"I. . . no. . ." He stammered. He didn't think he would ever be able to have sex after what he went through with Principal Davis.

“But you're definitely, how do you Americans say it? Batting at the other cone?”

"I'm sorry?”

He rolled his eyes, "Don't be daft. You're gay ― I just bloody saw you snogging your boyfriend downstairs. It was actually a bit heartwarming if you looked past the fact that you also kissed your Principal cock with that mouth.” Caelum flinched, and he laughed. "It's true, isn't it?"

“. . . Yes, sir," he said, practically spitting out the words.

"Mm, doesn't that make you mad?" The man asked. "He ruined your life. He made you nothing ― merely a pet compared to who you were before. Aren't you upset by that? Tell me the truth.”

"I hate him, sir,” Caelum replied honestly and the man smiled.

“Good! Let's go kill him!"

Caelum flinched, "What?”

"Bite your tongue.” Caelum bit his tongue again and winced, hissing in pain. “What did I just say about speaking out of turn!?"

His anger sent shivers down Caelum's spine, seeing his father in his eyes, hearing Principal Davis in his voice. “I–I apologize, sir,” Caelum said softly, trying to move away from him.

The man watched him closely, and smiled. “Are you scared, Algol?" He asked gently, moving towards him and Caelum swallowed.

“Yes, sir." He was leaning in front of him. He put a hand on his thigh in order to steady himself. Caelum practically jumped, making him stumble and fall out of the chair. “No! Please! Don't, no!" He cried, his heart racing as he stared wide-eyed at the man.

The man glared at him, “Sit down. Stay still," he ordered and Caelum moved back, staying still but breathing heavily. "You just said you would do anything for your brothers. Were you lying, Algol?”

"No, sir.”

"Get on your knees.” Caelum moved, kneeling in front of the man, his mouth going dry and he blinked, forcing the tears to stay out of his eyes. “If I said I would leave you an your brothers alone if you sucked me off right now, would you do it?”

"Yes, sir.”

"Bloody hell,” the man kneed him in the face and Caelum let out a cry of pain, holding his nose. “How the hell are you so. . .!?”

"I–I’m sorry?” He asked, holding his bleeding nose. He was still trying to understand that the man wasn't going to make him do what Principal Davis made him do.

“God, that so invigorating." He growled, “Alright, get up.” Caelum stood, anxiety radiating off him, but it was nothing compared to the excited and dangerous look in the British man's eyes and the murderous grin etched into his face. "Let's go find your Principal, eh?”