Leech 01 Caleo

by James Crawford

  Once she sat down Jack looked back at Gabriel and Caleo with a ‘what are you waiting for’ expression and he slipped out of his boxers, wrapped a towel around his waist, and disappeared into the shower room singing ‘Summer of 69’ as he went. Caleo slowly started over to the towels but felt Gabriel’s eyes watching him the whole time. When he picked up his towel and wrapped it around his waist over his shorts he looked at Gabriel, irritated that he still was staring.

  “Hey, I think you're going to need to wait outside,” Jack yelled, startling Caleo who turned to see Jack looking out at Gabriel from the shower doorway, his bare chest puffed out like a challenge.

  “Right,” Gabriel said, snapping back to reality. “I just wanted to see the mark,” he explained, looking at Caleo, hope in his eyes … but when Caleo made no move to reveal it he turned around. “Right, well I'll go and wake up the others, please be quick. These guys have been here for about two weeks without getting out, and having a female in here might … Well, I'll be back in about ten minutes to escort you upstairs so she can get ready.” He turned and bowed to Caleo and was leaving the room just as Nolan walked in. They both exchanged good mornings before Gabriel departed.

  Caleo quickly slid his shorts out from under the towel and hurried to the shower, not wanting to talk to Nolan. He was just entering and saw Jack was drying off in the corner, his back to Caleo, still singing to himself. When he noticed Caleo, he turned and sang louder, motioning for Caleo to join in, but Caleo frowned looking over his shoulder at Nolan who was walking in right behind him.

  Nolan nodded to Jack in greeting, then said, “You shouldn’t be so hard on Gabriel. He's just excited about seeing the Angel. There was really nothing to it other than pure fascination.” Nolan hung up his towel and started the shower a few sections down from Caleo, who had his back to Jack and was rushing to get done so he could get dressed and not feel so exposed.

  “Is that what's going on with you, too?” Jack asked bitterly as he left the showers.

  “Jack!” Jillian said angrily from the corner, obviously listening in.

  “What? You see the way he acts.” Jack turned and pointed at Nolan. Caleo turned off his shower and hurried to get his towel, embarrassed and shocked at what Jack was saying. “He's nothing but a dirty pedophile. I don’t care how young he looks, Caleo is seventeen and he's what, a hundred and fifty-two?” Jack said angrily, staring down Nolan who was stalking over in Jack’s direction.

  “If you want to start something, we can do this after your grandmother’s buried. Now get dressed and take your sister upstairs!” Nolan said angrily, his face inches from Jack’s.

  “Why wait?” Jack said, swinging his fist into the side of Nolan’s head.

  Nolan accepted the blow with just a turn of his head and stood completely still, breathing deep. Jack tried for another hit, but Nolan caught his fist in his own massive palm. With a twist of his wrist Nolan had Jack on his knees staring up at him. Caleo had never seen Jack so mad.

  “You need to leave him alone!” Jack let himself fall to the side and kicked Nolan’s knee.

  Nolan let go of Jack’s hand and fell to the tile floor with a thud.

  Caleo watched, unable to react as Jack abandoned his towel on the wet floor and pounced on top of Nolan’s chest. “Don’t you ever touch him again. He. Is. Just. A. KID!” Jack said, punching Nolan in the face.

  “Jack stop!” Jillian yelled, trying to pull Jack away from Nolan by the arm. Nolan took advantage of the distraction and heaved to one side, throwing Jack off and quickly climbing to his feet. The water in the room suddenly stopped, then flowed towards Nolan’s feet and up his body to his right hand where it formed into a ball the size of a melon.

  “Let’s do this!” Nolan said, thrusting the water ball against Jack’s head where it exploded and regrouped surrounding it in a watery orb.

  Nolan’s hand wrapped around Jack’s neck and lifted him off the ground, slamming him into the wall, where he held Jack pinned.

  Jack flailed around madly, trying to escape from being drowned. “You’re not talking so big now are you? You’re an ant compared to me.” Nolan punched Jack in the gut forcing the air from his lungs.

  “Let him go!” Caleo yelled, trying to pull Nolan’s arm away from Jack, but he wasn’t strong enough.

  Jillian kicked the back of Nolan’s knee, forcing him to the ground and to release Jack’s throat. Jack fell to the floor limp. Caleo looked down at Jack, gasping to fill his lungs with air, then at Nolan just in time to see him climbing gingerly to his feet, only to have Jack knock him backward to the floor by jumping headlong into Nolan’s chin from the floor. As Nolan fell, losing his balance, he managed to grab a hold of Jillian with his left hand to steady himself on the way down. The hold only lasted a second before Nolan whipped his hand away from her as if her skin was a hot frying pan. Jillian hit the ground with a thud right beside Nolan who had Jack sitting on his chest a split second later relentlessly pounding on the side of Nolan’s face. Nolan was doing nothing to stop him.

  Caleo ran to Jillian’s side, crouching down.

  “What the hell is this?” Gabriel yelled, entering the shower room. Caleo looked up for a brief second and saw Jack rushing towards him before he continued chest compressions.

  18

  “One, two, three!” Caleo counted, breathing into her mouth while pinching her nose.

  Jack pushed Caleo out of the way taking over. Caleo slid into a corner pulling his knees up to his chest and watched in horror, barely noticing that Gabriel had run out of the room panicked, returning seconds later with a syringe and a group of men. Some were dressed in a shirt and tie ready for the funeral, others looking like they had just gotten out of bed the moment before. Two of the men grabbed Jack and pinned him to the wall while Gabriel and another man crouched over Jillian, frantically doing something with a mask while the other pumped on her chest.

  A few agonizing moments later the unknown man lifted his head off of Jillian’s chest and happily announced, “She's breathing on her own. I think everything will be fine. We need to get her to my office and I can get her some strength back.”

  “Do it,” Thorn growled, appearing from the doorway all hints of his normal, cool, and collected undertones gone.

  Gabriel scooped up Jillian in his arms and carried her out of the room. “Take Nolan to his room. I will deal with him shortly,” Thorn ordered a group of men surrounding Nolan, all of whom had an electric cattle prod in their hands. Thorn locked eyes with Jack and said, “Leave us.” The men holding Jack against the wall gently let him fall to the floor and exited the locker room.

  “What happed to her?” Jack asked, panicked and guilt stricken.

  “She was drained,” Thorn said flatly as he picked up Caleo’s and Jack’s towels off the floor. “I’m hoping it was an accident, but there will be an investigation into the matter.” Thorn tossed Jack his towel and turned his attention to Caleo. “Eventually you will have to decide the action we should take in punishment,” he declared, then he reached down to help Caleo up.

  When Caleo didn't accept his hand, Thorn just dropped the towel neatly over Caleo’s shoulder.

  Caleo looked up shocked. “I have to decide his punishment?”

  “You're the Angel, it's your job to govern the Leeches and keep peace,” Thorn explained. “I'll be hearing both sides of the story and helping you through his punishment accordingly.” Thorn turned to Jack, who had stood up and wrapped the towel around himself. “As for you, young man … you're confined to your room unless I escort you out. You are not a Leech and are not held accountable by our laws, but being you called my grand-daughter your grandmother that puts me in charge of you,” Thorn said calmly. “So consider yourself … grounded?” Thorn said, seeming to think about it as if he didn’t know if that was the proper term. When Jack didn’t argue and just stood there Thorn said to Caleo, “We may have to wait till later in the day for the funeral so the lady may join us. Hopefully after she rests a bit w
ith a little help from our doctor, she should have enough strength to sit through the ceremony, but she'll be weak for a few days or so. For now let’s get you dressed and we'll go have breakfast and talk about what has happened.”

  “What about Jillian?” Caleo asked softly.

  Thorn looked at Caleo as if confused by the question. “We'll be lucky if she's eating at all by the end of the day.”

  “I meant are we able to see her?” Caleo corrected.

  “I would let the doctor get things set up first … maybe after breakfast. Now go get dressed so we can eat.”

  

  Caleo and Jack sat silently as Thorn placed slices of cold toast and jelly in the center of the table, then took his seat at the head in the same seat he sat last night. He motioned for the boys to eat, waiting silently. When it looked like they were slowing down Thorn asked, “Would you please tell me what happened this morning?”

  Caleo went to speak, but Jack cut him off sharply. “I did it.”

  “I most certainly doubt that,” Thorn said, laughing. “You’re just a human.”

  Angrily Jack said, “I'm the one who picked the fight with Nolan. I was pissy and Nolan was just the first person I saw. I was already upset with him, so I laid into him.”

  “I've only seen one person get under Nolan’s skin enough to make him lose control in the seventeen years I've known him,” Thorn explained. “That was his brother … I never quite understood those boys.”

  “Seventeen … isn’t that how old you are, Caleo?” Jack asked, looking at Caleo to drive his point in a little further. Caleo glared at Jack, his face heating up from embarrassment.

  “Oh, I see what’s going on here,” Thorn said softly, looking between Caleo and Jack. “Well, I expect you want to know what has happened to your sister. I'm sure Nolan didn’t mean to hurt her at all. You see, we can’t touch anyone with our left hand.” Thorn held up his left hand, which was in a black, fingerless glove. “Whomever our left palm touches has their energy drained. We don’t have a choice in the matter,” Thorn said somberly as Caleo looked at his own left hand. “Don’t worry, my son; you're a different breed, a better breed than the Leeches.” He looked at Jack and then at Caleo as if waiting for a response. “Well, my theory is that Jillian must not have known about this when she grabbed his hand.”

  “Jillian didn’t grab him by the hand, he grabbed her,” Jack said defensively.

  “Well the heat of the moment and all that.” Thorn smiled. “Oh, to be young and in love.”

  Both Caleo and Jack looked at each other a moment trying to piece together what was being implied, then Jack asked confused, “You think that Jillian and Nolan were playing around while he was naked in the shower?”

  “Yes, why else would you attack him?” Thorn asked, sure of his conclusion.

  “There's no way my sister would ever degrade herself to be playing around in a locker room shower, especially one with her brothers standing just a few feet away. Besides, my sister wouldn’t need me to beat him up. She would do it herself.” Jack crossed his arms in front of his chest. When Thorn didn’t look convinced Jack quickly added, “Besides, Nolan is gay.”

  “Excuse me?” Thorn shook his head and got to his feet, his face flush with concern. “This is disturbing news, do you know for sure?”

  Jack looked at Caleo and raised an eyebrow. “Jack is just blowing off some steam. How would he know anyway?” Caleo blurted out. He felt Jack kick him under the table, but ignored it.

  “You shouldn’t joke about that around here. Homosexuality is as forbidden as a female Leech and has the same punishment. Death.” Thorn explained

  Forbidden? Punishment is death?! Caleo thought as he tried not to let his panic show.

  “You mean there are no girl Leeches?” Jack asked and Caleo wanted to hug him for knowing to change the subject.

  “No, girls are extremely rare to start with and are put to death the moment they are discovered. They are too unstable and their powers are always out of control due to their unstable moods on their menstrual cycle.”

  “Death,” Jack said, whistling, and Caleo could tell he was thinking about how to get out of here as soon as possible.

  “If you two do not mind I would like to go discuss this with Nolan now. I'll escort you to your room and when I'm done we'll go check on your sister,” Thorn explained, standing up and leading the boys to the room they slept in the night before.

  Before Caleo entered the room he asked, “What will happen to Nolan?”

  “For what he did the punishment is confinement for twelve years. If it was indeed an accident, then his punishment will be lessened. But it’s a serious offense; he's taken an oath not to drain energy from a human. If she had died we would be forced to kill him, accident or not,” Thorn explained gravely, maneuvering Caleo into the room and shutting the door, ending the conversation.

  After a brief second, Caleo heard something being slid into place at the top of the door.

  “I think he just locked us in,” Jack said, lying on the bed.

  “Why do you think they did that?” Caleo snapped. “What got into you back there? Have you totally lost it? You could have been killed and you almost got Jillian killed.”

  “I didn’t do anything to Jillian, it was your boyfriend,” Jack retorted in a whisper.

  “He isn't my boyfriend,” Caleo said flatly.

  “Keep your voice down,” Jack whispered. “You heard what he said upstairs; they will kill you if they find out.”

  “What’s it matter to you, if he is or not?” Caleo whispered harshly.

  “He's forty something, you're seventeen,” Jack said angrily.

  “He's in his twenties.”

  “So's your great-great-grandfather,” Jack said with a witty smile. “He may look young, but his mind is still over a life time ahead of yours, that’s what matters. He's a predator.”

  “You’re being stupid. What does it matter who—” Caleo’s voice jumped back up to yelling and he caught himself before he finished his sentence in a whisper, “—is my boyfriend?”

  Jack paused, staring at Caleo; he opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it. Annoyed, Caleo walked to the bathroom. “I’m just looking out for you! You need to find someone around your own age,” Jack explained, trying to sound calmer. Caleo turned around. “Someone who was born in the same decade as you would be a good start.”

  “You’re a jerk, you know that?” Caleo said, his voice matter-of-fact.

  “Jillian reminds me every day.”

  “Yeah, but I never thought it was true.”

  “Don’t blame me if you’re too stupid to know she's always right,” Jack said, throwing the pillow at Caleo.

  “I was under the impression she only thought she was always right.” Caleo fell back on the bed beside Jack. “You stink,” he said sniffing the air.

  “Shit!” Jack swore. “Where the hell did Stinky go? Jillian is going to kill me. God, I hope he's still in the showers.”

  “I’m sure he'll show up,” Caleo assured him. “We're in a compound; there aren’t many places he can escape to.”

  Jack leaned over and whispered in Caleo’s ear, “We need to find him and get packed. We're leaving the second Jillian is able to walk.”

  Caleo nodded and whispered back, “I figured as much, but how? I don’t think they are going to let me go.”

  “I don’t know, but we can’t stay here. It’s not safe and I don’t trust any of them.” They heard the bolt on the door being moved and both jumped to their feet, putting as much distance between each other as they could. There was a quick knock and Gabriel stuck his head in.

  “Your sister is asking for you,” Gabriel said, bowing his head to Caleo as he opened the door for him. Caleo stopped as Gabriel held up his hand. “I was told that the human was not to leave the room.” He nodded to Jack smugly. “Caleo is the only one allowed to go.” When he figured Caleo would protest he said, “I was only told that
he had to stay in this room. Thorn said nothing about you having to. If you wish I could tell your sister you'll be by later.”

  “No, you go. Stay with her until I can come. I think I'll just take a nap until Thorn comes,” Jack said with a half-smile that Caleo translated into I'll get everything ready and secretly hoped that this wasn’t a trick to split them up.

  As Gabriel closed the door and slid a newly installed dead bolt across the top of the door, Caleo heard Jack singing ‘Runaround Sue’ by Dion & the Belmonts.

  Caleo was led down the hall to a small room where Jillian was sitting up in a hospital bed, eating a plate of dry tuna with crackers.

  She weakly turned to Caleo. “Where is Jack? They said he was with you,” Jillian said panicked.

  “He's in our room, Thorn grounded him,” Caleo explained with a smile. He went to sit in the chair beside her bed, only to find Stinky already curled up there, watching every move around the room, his tail twitching nervously.

  “We were wondering where you were.” Caleo gently pushed him down and asked, “How you feeling?” as he took the seat for himself.

  “Like the day after a bad case of the flu. It feels like my arms are made of iron.”

  After a few minutes of sitting silently Caleo asked, “Did they tell you what happened?”

  “They told me that when Nolan touched me it drained my energy to the point my heart stopped, because I didn’t have enough energy for it to work. But it’s all fuzzy. I remember Jack being an ass and seeing more of both of you than I ever want to see again.” She smiled weakly at Caleo. “Next time my brother picks a fight he better have clothes on or I won’t be saving him.”

  “Does a Speedo count as clothes?” Jack asked from the doorway with a smile. Thorn stood sternly right behind him.

  Jillian smiled weakly and said, “Why don’t we shoot for a ski suit and settle for anything in between.”

  Jack hugged her tightly. “You’re just jealous of my tan line.”

  “Well it’s better than Caleo’s full body porcelain, if I didn’t know any better I would think you've never seen the sun. There isn’t any tan at all,” Jillian said, extending her hand and taking Caleo’s on the other side of the bed.