by K.L. Bauman
Chapter Thirteen
Too Many Questions
Kayde was more than relieved to find Mrs. Kline’s car missing from the garage when he arrived at the B & B. He leapt over the cats in the hallway as they yowled in greeting. After he slammed his bedroom door shut, he pressed his back against it as if afraid someone might break the door down behind him; his vision blurred as he started hyperventilating.
Calm down, Kayde! Just take a few deep breaths and calm down. Kayde forced himself to take slower breaths, hold them for a second, then exhale slowly. He slid to the floor, his back still pressed against the door. He drew his knees to his chest and hugged them with shaking arms.
What had happened at Toby’s house, he couldn’t explain. Some deep fear had reached out and grasped him so tightly, he’d felt it as surely as if strong and powerful arms had wrapped around his chest and squeezed with all their might.
And when Becca had released his hand to hug that woman, he’d lost her. He’d lost her energy, lost her music. The fear he’d felt before had been nothing compared to the horror of that void where Becca’s music belonged. It had to be that woman. He couldn’t remember her name now, but she was Toby’s mother. That had to be why he was so agitated around that kid all the time. It hadn’t been because he was jealous. Something dark and evil surrounded Toby and his mother.
Kayde couldn’t believe he’d left Becca there, close to that…whatever it was. His fear had severed any rational thought. All he’d been able to think about was getting away.
Pulling his cell from his pocket, Kayde called Becca. His hand shook so hard he could barely keep it against his ear. The phone on the other end didn’t even finish its first ring before Becca’s worried voice answered.
“Kayde? Are you alright?”
Overwhelming relief at hearing Becca’s sweet music again washed over him. Kayde swallowed the lump in his throat and answered in a small voice, “I’m okay, now that I hear you.”
Becca’s ragged sigh of relief sounded through the ear piece. “You really scared me. What happened?”
“I’m not sure. I think I just really do need to lie down for awhile. Maybe I’ve been working too hard or something. What are you doing for an hour or so?” he asked. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to go back over to Toby’s, but he didn’t want her to see him this way, either.
“Chris just asked me to go to Melstone City with him; I told him I needed to go see you.”
“No, Becca. Go ahead and go with Chris. I’ll just be sleeping anyway.”
“You sure?” Kayde could hear the worry in her voice. A part of him wanted desperately for her to come to him and hold him, comfort him. However, he needed some time to get himself together and figure things out.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Call me when you get back, okay?”
Becca sounded uncertain as she answered, “The minute I get back.”
They said their farewells, making sure to tell each other how much they loved each other. Kayde was half scared to hang up, afraid Becca’s song would cut off with the connection. Thankfully, her sweet sound echoed after he snapped the phone shut.
After staring at the foot of his bed for fifteen minutes, he opened the phone again and pressed the speed dial. Phantom of the Opera sounded in his ear for a moment before his dad’s voice answered cheerily, “Hello, Kayde! How goes the working world?”
Kayde found himself unexpectedly tearful again. He would never have dreamed that he could become homesick, but there it was, punching him in the gut. It took a moment to speak. “I’m doing okay,” he said. “I’m still working at the B & B.” It felt good to talk about something normal. Kayde relaxed a little, feeling suddenly tired.
“Well, son, I’m proud of you for sticking with it this long. Your new card will be in the mail today, and I’ll add some money to the account. You’ll be out of there in a couple days.”
Kayde was stunned into silence. He’d forgotten about leaving Glenville since he and Becca had begun dating. Even with the terrible gossip flying around town about him and all the strange feelings he was experiencing, it had never once crossed his mind to leave. That would mean leaving Becca, which was something he couldn’t do.
“Kayde, that you?” his mother’s voice entered the line. His dad must have him on speaker phone.
“Hi, Mom. How are you?”
“Oh, good. We sure miss you!” her voice sounded strained for a moment, and Kayde envisioned her holding back a few tears. “We are all so proud of you. How are things going?”
Before Kayde could answer, Tayla’s voice rang out, “Hey Kayde! What are you doing?”
Kayde chuckled, “I’m talking to you, goose! What are you doing?”
Tayla rambled on for a good few minutes, talking about her dog, the cute boy next door she had a crush on, and, of course, how she’d been singing and singing and singing every day. More stinging tears; Kayde hadn’t realized just how much he was missing his family until now.
When Tayla was finally done, Kayde’s dad spoke again, “So, Son, where will you be heading to next? You’re almost to the border—think you might get to some of Grandpa’s old haunts?”
Kayde paused before answering, “I don’t know. I thought I might stay here a little longer.”
There was silence before Tayla’s voice burst through, “You’ve found a girl! He’s found a girl! Who is she? Is she pretty? What’s her name?”
Kayde shook his head in wonder. “How in the world did you figure that out just by me saying I was going to stay?”
Kayla’s voice had the “duh!” sound to it as she answered, “Because you would never stay anywhere for long unless a girl was there!”
Chuckling in spite of himself, Kayde said, “Well, you’re right, you little twerp!” He had to pull the phone away to save his ear drum from Tayla’s ecstatic squeal.
“But I have other things to talk about right now,” he said. He needed to find out a few things. Tayla’s disappointed groan made him smile again. “Okay, Tayla. I’ll give you one thing, but then you go off and do something else while I talk to Mom and Dad, okay?”
“Oh, alright.”
“Her name is Becca.”
There was a gasp and then a dreamy little girl’s voice, “Becca…That is soooo pretty!”
“Okay, Princess, off you go. Let the adults talk for a minute,” his Mom ordered. When he was sure Tayla had left the room, Kayde addressed his parents.
“Dad, when you were going through our family history, did you come across anything at all about our ability, like what it all involves, what it can do?”
“Well, not really. All our family was definitely musical—in our special way. I never did find any records that indicated where it originated from or what it all entailed. And, as you know, I hit a dead end at close to a hundred and thirty years back. I couldn’t find any family past that point anywhere. It was like they were just wiped out of history.”
This wasn’t helping. Kayde felt uncomfortable again. “Dad, Mom, when you were up here, did you ever experience anything….strange?”
“Why? What do you mean by strange?”
So many questions flooded him then, he wasn’t sure what to ask. He wanted to know about Becca—was she one of them? Why could they hear each other’s music? Why could she stop his dark emotions? But, more importantly, he wanted to know about what happened to him today. Why had her music stopped? Why had he been so terrified, he’d been willing to run and leave her in the middle of possible danger?
“Kayde? What’s the matter? Is everything really okay?” his mom’s voice was getting higher pitched.
“Yes, I’m okay. I think. There’s just been a lot of weird things going on with me lately.”
“You mean like going through puberty all over again?” his dad asked, his voice amused. “I went through something like that around your age.”
“Oh, yes!” his mother pip
ed in. “Especially if you’re falling in love, Kayde. You’ll experience some things…well,” he could almost hear her blush, “I won’t get into details but when your dad and I first started dating--”
Kayde groaned, cutting her off. This was getting him nowhere. He shuddered to think what his mother would’ve told him if he hadn’t stopped her. “Never mind! I’ve got to get some things done for Mrs. K now,” he lied. He was suddenly ready to get off the phone.
“Alright. But if you need to talk, at any time, just give us a buzz,” his dad answered. They said their farewells and hung up. Kayde sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. His call had gotten him nowhere. He had way too many unanswered questions.
Kayde yelled as something attacked the back of his jeans.