The gentle crashing of the ocean waves onto the shore in the not so distant distance sang their luring song to me, but I mentally sighed and resigned myself to the fact that there would definitely be no more ocean swimming this year. The temperatures were really beginning to drop both on land and in the water. Our heated pool would have to suffice. I was comfortable standing around in the open field near the beach. However, I had heard rumors that in maybe two or three weeks we would have snow on the ground. It would be a bit early in the season still for that, but knowing my hometown I didn't doubt a freak snowfall could occur. It was beyond me how Pastel wasn't freezing, but according to her and Citrine their own hometown was much colder overall than Berrybrook was.
"Mom's been trooping on like always," I continued my report of how things were progressing in my life, "The radiation therapy actually hasn't been affecting her too badly. She caught a fever though, so her doctor decided to keep her at the hospital until it goes away just to make sure it doesn't develop into something awful. He gave us the news that he was hoping to see a bit more improvement with decreasing the tumor than what has been seen, but it's only been two weeks. His theory for how everything will play out is that the radiation will get rid of the majority of the tumor, but not all of it. However, the decrease of cancer should give mom more strength to recover enough of her health for a surgery to take care of the last of it."
"That's seriously good news, Coal. It sounds like everything is going the best it can." Citrine replied encouragingly.
I nodded, and then was interrupted by Doodle bringing over a stick for me to throw as he had gotten bored of merely running around. Citrine proceeded to snatch the stick out of my hand and throw it himself before I could even think about pulling my arm back. Both Pastel and I laughed. Doodle had captivated Citrine quite effectively. If my dog was nearby, it was next to impossible to get Citrine to do anything other than play with him.
"Does it still feel weird having your dad back?" Pastel wondered.
"Hell yeah," I said vigorously, "It's probably going to be months before I can start accepting it. I still wake up each morning totally floored that he's around."
"I definitely can't wait to meet him, because he sounds great. We seriously took a vacation at the wrong time. Everything seemed to have happened while we were gone," Pastel chuckled, "It's a shame your dad said he was too busy today for us to come over."
"Which I still think is weird. He wouldn't even tell me what he was doing when he took off earlier." I pondered.
"Isn't your sister's birthday soon? Maybe he's getting her a present?" Citrine proposed.
"Cerise's birthday was last week." I explained.
"Ah, whoops. Everything really did happen while we were gone." he laughed.
"Was he acting suspicious at all?" Pastel questioned next.
"A little suspicious," I confirmed, "But not in a way that makes me think he's hiding bad news or anything. It just looks like he's getting right back up to his old tricks."
"Then I guess all you can do is hold on for the ride."
"Looks like it." I agreed.
Poor Doodle got frustrated. He apparently was incredibly adamant about me throwing the stick, and so when only Citrine showed interested in playing fetch he snuffed around my feet until I gave in to run around with him for a few minutes. Citrine joined while Pastel did something on her phone. She eventually joined us for a few minutes as well, but it was soon time to leave. The four of us had already been on a long walk, and I knew the cousins had other stuff to do.
"Was that your mom?" Citrine asked Pastel after we got started on our way.
Pastel nodded.
"I thought your mom was so angry about you two moving to Berrybrook that she wasn't speaking to you?" I recalled.
Citrine and Pastel had gone ahead and given me more insight about their troublesome family, but the specifics about what was wrong remained sparse.
"She decided to start texting me every now and again a little while ago pretty much out of nowhere. I think it was about two weeks ago, actually- the night before Citrine and I left for vacation. Honestly, I'm surprised she initiated conversation this fast, but I ignore anything that isn't simple, casual topics. I don't need her trying to get on my case again right now." Pastel answered.
"That bad, huh?" I asked sympathetically.
"I don't hate her, but the damn woman has been horribly unsupportive of how I've tried to live my life as well as letting others who should have never had a voice in my business have too much say."
"That's unfortunate. Sorry to hear it."
"It's fine," Pastel shrugged, "I do appreciate that she's at least attempting to patch things up. I'll probably give her and dad another chance once the repercussions of their actions have sunk in a bit more."
I kept glancing Pastel's way expecting further explanation, but she transfixed her stare straight ahead and said nothing more. Citrine gave me a shrug too when I turned my attentions towards him. As far as I had figured out, Citrine didn't really have bad relations with his section of the family, but he had chosen to move to Berrybrook to support Pastel with whatever issues she had with hers.
It was a thought to think about another day. The details would come when they were ready. Dad's actions only grew stranger as well, which made me preoccupied with them instead. Citrine and Pastel stopped at a bus stop in order to get their ride home, and I continued walking until I reached my house. Doodle was more than glad to rush onto the nearest couch and start what I figured would be an all afternoon snooze. However, for me, more walking was in order. Dad sent me a text requesting I meet him in town. The reason why he wasn't keen on divulging. The location he chose bothered me greatly. It was far enough to make walking a pain, but not nearly far enough for me to make an excuse that driving there was a necessity. Plus, I didn't have a car to use anyway. Dad had taken back his, and Uncle Blaze was visiting mom.
My mood remained alright thanks to listening to some of my favorite songs on my music player along the way. Taking my earbuds out upon getting closer to my destination, my chest then erupted with envy as I neared the main doors. Right in front of me was the dream I had been wishing of for years now. A motorcycle of the exact same make, model, and design of the one I could only hope to afford in maybe a few more years' time gleamed in the autumn sun. I glanced around to spot the damn lucky bastard who owned it, but no one was in sight. It was very reluctantly that I stepped past it after giving it one more longing stare in order to find out where dad had parked himself inside.
However, I never made it through the door. Dad was standing only just inside, and he darted out the second he spotted me. My suspicions soared upon seeing a familiar smirk on his lips. There was no doubt about it. He was up to something.
"Hello, Coal." he greeted me far too enthusiastically.
"Hey," I replied, "So, did you want to get lunch here or something?"
I hoped not, because Citrine, Pastel, and I had picked up our midday deal at a food truck during the course of our walk.
"Nope," dad denied brightly, "Already ate. I didn't even bring you here to come inside. This was simply a good place to give you your surprise. I didn't want you stumbling on it if I wasn't there."
"What's the surprise then?"
"The surprise is that it is your belated birthday present from me. I have quite a few birthdays to make up for, Christmases too, and waiting until your next one didn't feel right."
"But what is 'it'?" I frowned.
At that, dad looked at me in amused exasperation.
"C'mon, Coal," he shook his head, "If I tell you you're not going inside but that I have a present for you, wouldn't it make sense then that the object is right nearby?"
All I could give was a confused hand gesture. That made dad sigh, and so he turned me around and pointed to the motorcycle.
"Very funny." I scoffed.
"And you think it's seriously nothing more than coincidence that a brand new motorcycle exactly like the one you want is just sitting where you thought you were randomly meeting with your father?" dad challenged.
I looked at him and then at the motorcycle. I glanced back and forth again. The one more time good good measure. Dad's genuineness sunk in, and he laughed at the expression that fell upon my face.
"Like I said, I had a lot of presents to make up for. And, I suppose, in a highly debatable manner, you did win the bet we made," he chuckled reminiscently, "So, as promised, I have gotten you a new motorcycle that suits your liking. I asked Ethereal, Blaze, and Wisp to make sure I got the right one."
I continued to be unable to say anything. Simply walking over when dad motioned me towards the vehicle sapped the majority of my strength. My mouth hung slightly open as I inspected it and struggled to accept that what I was touching was real. Dad's brief departure didn't even recognize with me until he returned with something else in his hand.
"The motorcycle does come with one stipulation. You have to wear this every time you ride. Everyone who rides with you has to have one as well," he explained, wholly serious while placing a helmet in my hand, "I see anyone without one on even once, and the motorcycle is being sold."
"Got it," I promised, my voice quiet from the sheer shock, "And, thank you. Really. Thank you."
"You're welcome," dad responded merrily, "Just also make sure to be aware of your surroundings too. I know some car drivers can be despicable even to the most polite of motorcyclists."
"Will do." I promised again.
Dad placed the keys in my hand, and I briefly wondered if it was possible to faint from sheer happiness. He laughed at me when I hesitated on even getting myself in the seat as I was afraid the joyful illusion would snap, and it would all be a dream or something. But, no, this was reality. The motorcycle roared smoothly to life with an easy turn of the ignition, and the machine itself seemed to beg me to get out on the road. My helmet was secured properly, dad took off saying he would have a snack waiting when I got home, and I slowly but boldly got on my way. Hunter had allowed me to use his motorcycle to get my license, so there was no issue with that, but there was no comparison for how smoothly mine ran compared to his that was quite old now. The smaller, more solitary roads were companion until I got the feel of how it handled and became completely in control.
Then I went everywhere. I went from the Bright Stables all the way to the north side of the city. Busy streets and picturesque streets- I wanted to experience them all. The longer I drove, the more I became my ten-year-old self again. The sense of freedom given from the simple bicycle dad had bought me was amplified a hundred times over by the motorcycle dad had bought me. Not only did the freedom enthrall me, but sheer contentment did as well. Dad was back. There were no words to describe how his return uplifted our lives. Mom, well, she was giving it her all. Her optimism she found that everything would be fine rubbed off on the rest of us. And now I had the best present in the world. No one would ever be able to top it. The helmet did make it so that the very, very edge of my peripheral vision felt a little blinded, but it was a minimal inconvenience.
I traveled around Berrybrook in that one ride more than I had in the past several weeks combined. If it wasn't for the dial on the gas steadily dropping lower and lower, I would have been zipping about the entire afternoon. The wise choice was made to get some more gas before heading home. I was also looking forward to what snack dad had whipped up as the excitement renewed the strength of my hunger. My motorcycle was squeezed into the last of our parking space at home, and I entered heaven the second I walked inside. I should have known cookies were what dad would make. There was one recipe he had come up with himself that was just as good as everything mom made, and dad had been so proud of himself he refused to divulge the whole recipe in order to keep it his special thing to make for us. Mom had done her best to replicate in his absence, but nothing had come close.
However, there was one problem with a certain ingredient I did know the cookies contained. My arrival home was perfectly timed. The cookies had apparently just cooled enough for dad to set one down in front of Glade. They were talking cheerfully, but I had to break that mood when I nimbly darted across the way to snatch the cookie out of my sister's hand right as she went to put it in her mouth. I stuffed half of it in my own mouth. It was indeed the same recipe exactly like I thought.
"Coal!" Glade whined.
"Ignore him. There's more than one." dad reassured her while giving me a look.
He went to give her another one, but I snatched that too.
"Coal." he rebuked me firmly now.
"You used the same ingredients as you always have." I noted.
"Of course." dad frowned in confusion.
"She's highly allergic to nutmeg," I revealed, swallowing the last of my big bite, "But thankfully only if she eats it."
"Oh." Glade pouted, staring at the cookies in immense disappointment as realization swept over her.
"I had no idea. I did think it was strange there was none in the house as it's been one of Ethereal's favorite things to use," dad said, then quickly noted Glade's expression, "Don't worry. I'll just start whipping up another batch without it."
Glade nodded and folded her arms on the counter. I quickly downed the first cookie before doing the same with the second. Then I poked Glade on the shoulder. To my surprise, she immediately slid out of the stool and clutched onto my arm eagerly.
"Daddy said he got you a motorcycle! Let's go on a ride while we wait for the new cookies!" she proposed.
"Glade, I just got back from a very long ride. I'm tired. Besides, we don't have a helmet for you, and you're not allowed to ride without one. I'm also going to go out on a limb and say you probably haven't started your homework yet either." I denied.
"I don't have any homework this weekend."
"Liar. You have Mrs. Crisp as your teacher. There's no way you don't have homework. Even if you didn't, you still haven't made that display for your science report. I bought you the supplies three weeks ago, but I haven't seen you do a single thing with them. The project is due Wednesday. I highly suggest you start working on it now."
"I can just do it tomorrow."
"That's exactly what you've been saying these past three weeks, but nothing has been getting done."
"It'll be fine." my sister continued to protest, her voice growing dramatic and whiny.
"You're going to go upstairs and get to work. If you don't, I'm going to take all the supplies to the store to get my money back, and you'll have to pay for whatever you need out of your own pocket. Dad, Uncle Blaze, Pris, Ceri, and I will eat all of the cookies too, even the ones without nutmeg, so you won't be able to have any at all."
"But Coal that's not-!"
"If you don't like that, then get your little green butt upstairs, young lady, and do what you should have done three weeks ago."
Glade glared at me and huffed angrily. With a smirk on my face, I leaned against the counter to stuff another half of a cookie into my mouth. That got a frustrated cry of exasperation out of her, but she stomped over to and up the stairs before closing her bedroom door firmly behind her.
I merrily took her place on the stool and finished off that third cookie with no problems. I expected dad to stop me when I reached for a fourth, but he merely moved the plate of cookies closer for easier access. Planning at first to make some sort of witty, sarcastic comment, I said nothing upon noticing the strange expression on dad's face. It was a mix of guilt, nostalgia, and amusement.
"What?" I asked, my voice muffled by the thick glob of cookie in my mouth.
"You're going to make a good father someday." he answered with a small smile.
Curious, I kept silent to let him continue.
"It still feels weird every time I see you. I can't get over the fact that you're not that little boy I so easily tossed into the fountain," he chuckled reminiscently, "It doesn't feel like you're the same person at all, but, then again, I suppose you aren't. You have grown. Despite your moments of mischievousness, you've become very mature. You've stepped up to help fill in the gaps I left, and you've done it well. I had no idea about Glade's allergy. If you hadn't arrived when you did, she would have had whatever kind of horrible reaction she would have had, and I would have absolutely panicked."
"It wouldn't have been your fault. You've only known each other for two weeks. It's going to take way more time than that for you to learn everything new about us." I comforted.
"I know, but there's things I should know too. I know the kind of teacher Mrs. Crisp is considering both Wisp and Desi had her, but for whatever reason I completely believed Glade's lie that she didn't have any homework. I didn't think to ask her when I saw all those supplies in her room what they were for. It's taking me some time to get back into the swings of things in terms of being on top of what's going on with my kids, and that's why I'm glad you're here. I need your expertise."
He finished with another soft laugh, and I matched it.
"Don't worry. I'll teach you well." I promised.
Dad finally pushed my hand away when I went for a fifth cookie. He apparently needed no lessons when it came to reading me. I pretended to help clean up the dishes he used, and every sneaky attempt of mine to grab one more from the plate was expertly caught and foiled. An apple was then placed into my hand, and I gave up. Dad got back to work to make that batch of nutmeg-free cookies when I moseyed my way upstairs. Glade wasn't the only one with homework. The majority of my online classes didn't start until winter, but there was one that had just been about to start right as I signed up. It wasn't anything incredibly complicated. Most of it was the basic stuff I had learned in high school. A refresher never hurt though, and college certified in the basics was better than high school certified in the basics. I got the website loaded up, downloaded the new document of notes the professor had posted, and got to studying.
Having got a fair amount done and growing rather bored, I was truly grateful when my phone rang.
"Hey, Midas. What's up?" I answered, "Don't you usually have class at this time?"
"Hey, Coal, and, yes, usually. The professor is sick though, so class was cancelled for today."
"Nice. So, you just wanted to chat or...?" I trailed off suspiciously.
"I actually had a favor I wanted to ask you for." Midas revealed with a laugh.
"I figured," I responded likewise, "What do you need?"
"I ended up taking an astronomy class in order to fulfill one of my science credits, and we have to do a project on a recent discovery in the field. I was wondering if-"
"If dad possibly had some notes you could borrow?"
"Exactly." Midas laughed louder.
"You know, one day he's going to get fed up with you all mooching off his work and tell you to do it yourself." I teased.
"Well, I'm just going to hope that today is not that day."
"I guess we'll find out. Give me a minute. I'll go talk to him."
I went to Glade's room first to check on her though only to discover that she was no longer in there. To her credit, her display for her report was a third of the way done, which was an acceptable amount of work for the amount of time that had passed. Her laughter rang out from downstairs. Cerise, who had come home from her after school activities, laughed along as well. I found as I moved down the stairs that the source of the commotion was Cerise and Glade having a little wrestling session with dad. Boy, did that bring up memories. In the past, there hadn't been a week that went by where dad didn't grab at Prism or me in order to get us grappling on the floor. My brother and I had always had problems coming out the victor, but due to either increasing age, the unexpected strength of his daughters, or by choosing to lose dad was quite effectively pinned down by Cerise and Glade.
"Dad, I have a question for you." I called to him as I slowly made my way down the stairs, enjoying the scene.
"I'm a little busy at the moment." he pointed out in amusement.
"You don't have to get up or anything, if you even can," I taunted, "Midas simply has to do a report on a recent astronomical discovery, and he wanted to know if you had any notes he could use."
"I'm barely home for two weeks after being gone for ten years, and already your friends are back to mooching off my work," dad scoffed in exasperation before shaking his head, "What recent astronomical events does he think I know about? It's not exactly like I had access to an observatory while being locked up and kept prisoner."
"So do you have anything or not?" I asked with a smirking grin.
Dad sighed, but he was fighting back a smile.
"I've been collecting research of all that I've missed since I've been gone. There's probably something in there he can use. All of the notes I've gathered are on my flash drive. It's-"
He tried to continue, but whatever dad said was muffled by Glade deciding she'd had enough with the break in the action. She glomped herself back on him, and I danced around the three of them in order to make it into my parents' room to retrieve the drive. Dad had it currently plugged into his computer.
I don't think the three on the floor noticed my presence as I darted around them once more to return to my room. Midas texted me better specifics on what he was looking for, and I opened up the one main folder on dad's drive to begin my search for the best things to send my friend. However, I immediately frowned when I saw what I was looking at. There was indeed only one main folder, but there was a plethora of folders inside that, and even more folders inside those. All paths led me to documents and collections of pictures with each having a strange name. It was almost as if they were part of a riddle or something encrypted. Highly confused as I had never seen dad organize his notes like this before, I opened up a random document.
What I found had nothing to do with astronomy, and it only heightened my confusion immensely. The first few pages had photocopied pages from old news articles regarding dad's parents' deaths. Several sections of texts were highlighted, and beneath the articles were pages of shorthanded notes apparently written by dad about them. The one thing that instantly caught my eye and sent my heart racing in a way that both chilled my chest and rushed heat to my cheeks simultaneously was that dad didn't refer to the car accident as an accident. He called it a murder.
In the back of my head I know I should have stopped reading right there. This was part of the secret I had sworn I would keep out of. Unfortunately, I clicked on another document. And another. I opened a file full of nothing but pictures. As I put all the pieces presented before me together, it didn't take long to realize exactly what dad had been trying to do in his failed attempt to find answers.
The shock of the information sinking into my brain had it feeling like I'd been looking everything over for an hour, but in reality it had only been a few minutes. Dad's barely contained thundering as he rushed up the stairs and burst into my room should have had me jumping out of my seat, but it took him launching himself through the door before I was jolted enough by his coming to stand up. He took one look at my face, what I had open on the screen, and the flash drive in the port before the most awful sort of look stretched itself across his expression. He pushed me out of the way, hurriedly closed everything down, and yanked the drive free to shove it in his pocket.
"I told you to take the flash drive that was in the right hand drawer!" he gently roared at me.
He kept his voice quiet so as to most likely not draw the attention of Cerise and Glade, but it's quietness made it all the more terrifying.
"I-I didn't hear that. Glade covered you up." I mumbled timidly, withdrawing into myself and avoiding dad's eye as if he was a giant towering over me.
"If you didn't hear me, then you should have asked for me to repeat myself!"
"I'm sorry. I would have if I had known you had something with that kind of stuff on it." I apologized quietly.
Dad exhaled furiously, and I was more than a little relieved when he stepped away from me to pace madly about the room. I felt as if I was allowed to breathe, and I dared to briefly argue my case.
"The car accident that killed your parents was a planned, and successful, murder attempt," I said softly, keeping my ground when dad looked over his shoulder at me with an enraged glare unlike anything I thought I could ever see from him, "You were trying to find out why it was done and who did it, and those people are the ones who captured you. It's a big thing, so why on earth would you just leave a flash drive with such a secret sitting plugged into your computer where someone like a nosy Cerise or an unknowing person like me could have such easy access to it?"
"Of course I wouldn't be so stupid of my own volition!" dad snapped, "I had no choice! You were right that there was more to the story that I wasn't telling. Before he sent me away, Buckeye scheduled a time with me where he would access the house to watch me delete all my research files I had on them. He was very specific on when and which computer I could have the drive plugged in, and he would do a sweep of our system after I deleted each batch of files to make sure they were gone for good."
My heart dove out of my chest and down to my shoes.
"Don't you think you should have been a little more adamant about making sure I knew which flash drive to take then?" I questioned indignantly.
"Coal, you have no-!"
Dad cut himself off abruptly before he could get far. By the deeply conflicted grimace he wore, it seemed apparent that he felt himself unable to contradict me there. This mistake was just as much his fault as it was mine.
"Don't you dare go anywhere alone." he suddenly warned me in a whisper.
His stare on me was unblinking, and he gripped my shoulder tightly.
"Buckeye will have seen that the drive was connected to a different computer and files that were not supposed to be opened were opened. He has probably already traced the breach back to your computer and to you. I will try to get it across to him that my computer crashed and an auto-open program on yours opened those files, but I severely doubt he will fall for such a lie. Otherwise, we have to make sure that you never go anywhere that doesn't have at least a dozen witnesses if he thinks it's fit to seek you out like he did me."
"F-for how long?"
"For forever, or at least until we can somehow guarantee that Buckeye and his companions are unable to bother us further- and I don't have much hope in that." dad shrugged dismally.
"Will they come after you again too?" I asked in the softest of voices.
"Just stay in your room for the moment, Coal, please" dad completely ignored me, "I'll bring you the drive with the astronomy files on it. Leave it to me to try and sort this new mess out. Don't say a word to anyone else."
"Alright," I promised, "I'm sorry."
Dad said nothing further. He merely gave me a sad look, gave my shoulder a squeeze, and sharply turned on his heel to stride out of the room.
"That's seriously good news, Coal. It sounds like everything is going the best it can." Citrine replied encouragingly.
I nodded, and then was interrupted by Doodle bringing over a stick for me to throw as he had gotten bored of merely running around. Citrine proceeded to snatch the stick out of my hand and throw it himself before I could even think about pulling my arm back. Both Pastel and I laughed. Doodle had captivated Citrine quite effectively. If my dog was nearby, it was next to impossible to get Citrine to do anything other than play with him.
"Does it still feel weird having your dad back?" Pastel wondered.
"Hell yeah," I said vigorously, "It's probably going to be months before I can start accepting it. I still wake up each morning totally floored that he's around."
"I definitely can't wait to meet him, because he sounds great. We seriously took a vacation at the wrong time. Everything seemed to have happened while we were gone," Pastel chuckled, "It's a shame your dad said he was too busy today for us to come over."
"Which I still think is weird. He wouldn't even tell me what he was doing when he took off earlier." I pondered.
"Isn't your sister's birthday soon? Maybe he's getting her a present?" Citrine proposed.
"Cerise's birthday was last week." I explained.
"Ah, whoops. Everything really did happen while we were gone." he laughed.
"Was he acting suspicious at all?" Pastel questioned next.
"A little suspicious," I confirmed, "But not in a way that makes me think he's hiding bad news or anything. It just looks like he's getting right back up to his old tricks."
"Then I guess all you can do is hold on for the ride."
"Looks like it." I agreed.
Poor Doodle got frustrated. He apparently was incredibly adamant about me throwing the stick, and so when only Citrine showed interested in playing fetch he snuffed around my feet until I gave in to run around with him for a few minutes. Citrine joined while Pastel did something on her phone. She eventually joined us for a few minutes as well, but it was soon time to leave. The four of us had already been on a long walk, and I knew the cousins had other stuff to do.
"Was that your mom?" Citrine asked Pastel after we got started on our way.
Pastel nodded.
"I thought your mom was so angry about you two moving to Berrybrook that she wasn't speaking to you?" I recalled.
Citrine and Pastel had gone ahead and given me more insight about their troublesome family, but the specifics about what was wrong remained sparse.
"She decided to start texting me every now and again a little while ago pretty much out of nowhere. I think it was about two weeks ago, actually- the night before Citrine and I left for vacation. Honestly, I'm surprised she initiated conversation this fast, but I ignore anything that isn't simple, casual topics. I don't need her trying to get on my case again right now." Pastel answered.
"That bad, huh?" I asked sympathetically.
"I don't hate her, but the damn woman has been horribly unsupportive of how I've tried to live my life as well as letting others who should have never had a voice in my business have too much say."
"That's unfortunate. Sorry to hear it."
"It's fine," Pastel shrugged, "I do appreciate that she's at least attempting to patch things up. I'll probably give her and dad another chance once the repercussions of their actions have sunk in a bit more."
I kept glancing Pastel's way expecting further explanation, but she transfixed her stare straight ahead and said nothing more. Citrine gave me a shrug too when I turned my attentions towards him. As far as I had figured out, Citrine didn't really have bad relations with his section of the family, but he had chosen to move to Berrybrook to support Pastel with whatever issues she had with hers.
It was a thought to think about another day. The details would come when they were ready. Dad's actions only grew stranger as well, which made me preoccupied with them instead. Citrine and Pastel stopped at a bus stop in order to get their ride home, and I continued walking until I reached my house. Doodle was more than glad to rush onto the nearest couch and start what I figured would be an all afternoon snooze. However, for me, more walking was in order. Dad sent me a text requesting I meet him in town. The reason why he wasn't keen on divulging. The location he chose bothered me greatly. It was far enough to make walking a pain, but not nearly far enough for me to make an excuse that driving there was a necessity. Plus, I didn't have a car to use anyway. Dad had taken back his, and Uncle Blaze was visiting mom.
My mood remained alright thanks to listening to some of my favorite songs on my music player along the way. Taking my earbuds out upon getting closer to my destination, my chest then erupted with envy as I neared the main doors. Right in front of me was the dream I had been wishing of for years now. A motorcycle of the exact same make, model, and design of the one I could only hope to afford in maybe a few more years' time gleamed in the autumn sun. I glanced around to spot the damn lucky bastard who owned it, but no one was in sight. It was very reluctantly that I stepped past it after giving it one more longing stare in order to find out where dad had parked himself inside.
However, I never made it through the door. Dad was standing only just inside, and he darted out the second he spotted me. My suspicions soared upon seeing a familiar smirk on his lips. There was no doubt about it. He was up to something.
"Hello, Coal." he greeted me far too enthusiastically.
"Hey," I replied, "So, did you want to get lunch here or something?"
I hoped not, because Citrine, Pastel, and I had picked up our midday deal at a food truck during the course of our walk.
"Nope," dad denied brightly, "Already ate. I didn't even bring you here to come inside. This was simply a good place to give you your surprise. I didn't want you stumbling on it if I wasn't there."
"What's the surprise then?"
"The surprise is that it is your belated birthday present from me. I have quite a few birthdays to make up for, Christmases too, and waiting until your next one didn't feel right."
"But what is 'it'?" I frowned.
At that, dad looked at me in amused exasperation.
"C'mon, Coal," he shook his head, "If I tell you you're not going inside but that I have a present for you, wouldn't it make sense then that the object is right nearby?"
All I could give was a confused hand gesture. That made dad sigh, and so he turned me around and pointed to the motorcycle.
"Very funny." I scoffed.
"And you think it's seriously nothing more than coincidence that a brand new motorcycle exactly like the one you want is just sitting where you thought you were randomly meeting with your father?" dad challenged.
I looked at him and then at the motorcycle. I glanced back and forth again. The one more time good good measure. Dad's genuineness sunk in, and he laughed at the expression that fell upon my face.
"Like I said, I had a lot of presents to make up for. And, I suppose, in a highly debatable manner, you did win the bet we made," he chuckled reminiscently, "So, as promised, I have gotten you a new motorcycle that suits your liking. I asked Ethereal, Blaze, and Wisp to make sure I got the right one."
I continued to be unable to say anything. Simply walking over when dad motioned me towards the vehicle sapped the majority of my strength. My mouth hung slightly open as I inspected it and struggled to accept that what I was touching was real. Dad's brief departure didn't even recognize with me until he returned with something else in his hand.
"The motorcycle does come with one stipulation. You have to wear this every time you ride. Everyone who rides with you has to have one as well," he explained, wholly serious while placing a helmet in my hand, "I see anyone without one on even once, and the motorcycle is being sold."
"Got it," I promised, my voice quiet from the sheer shock, "And, thank you. Really. Thank you."
"You're welcome," dad responded merrily, "Just also make sure to be aware of your surroundings too. I know some car drivers can be despicable even to the most polite of motorcyclists."
"Will do." I promised again.
Dad placed the keys in my hand, and I briefly wondered if it was possible to faint from sheer happiness. He laughed at me when I hesitated on even getting myself in the seat as I was afraid the joyful illusion would snap, and it would all be a dream or something. But, no, this was reality. The motorcycle roared smoothly to life with an easy turn of the ignition, and the machine itself seemed to beg me to get out on the road. My helmet was secured properly, dad took off saying he would have a snack waiting when I got home, and I slowly but boldly got on my way. Hunter had allowed me to use his motorcycle to get my license, so there was no issue with that, but there was no comparison for how smoothly mine ran compared to his that was quite old now. The smaller, more solitary roads were companion until I got the feel of how it handled and became completely in control.
Then I went everywhere. I went from the Bright Stables all the way to the north side of the city. Busy streets and picturesque streets- I wanted to experience them all. The longer I drove, the more I became my ten-year-old self again. The sense of freedom given from the simple bicycle dad had bought me was amplified a hundred times over by the motorcycle dad had bought me. Not only did the freedom enthrall me, but sheer contentment did as well. Dad was back. There were no words to describe how his return uplifted our lives. Mom, well, she was giving it her all. Her optimism she found that everything would be fine rubbed off on the rest of us. And now I had the best present in the world. No one would ever be able to top it. The helmet did make it so that the very, very edge of my peripheral vision felt a little blinded, but it was a minimal inconvenience.
I traveled around Berrybrook in that one ride more than I had in the past several weeks combined. If it wasn't for the dial on the gas steadily dropping lower and lower, I would have been zipping about the entire afternoon. The wise choice was made to get some more gas before heading home. I was also looking forward to what snack dad had whipped up as the excitement renewed the strength of my hunger. My motorcycle was squeezed into the last of our parking space at home, and I entered heaven the second I walked inside. I should have known cookies were what dad would make. There was one recipe he had come up with himself that was just as good as everything mom made, and dad had been so proud of himself he refused to divulge the whole recipe in order to keep it his special thing to make for us. Mom had done her best to replicate in his absence, but nothing had come close.
However, there was one problem with a certain ingredient I did know the cookies contained. My arrival home was perfectly timed. The cookies had apparently just cooled enough for dad to set one down in front of Glade. They were talking cheerfully, but I had to break that mood when I nimbly darted across the way to snatch the cookie out of my sister's hand right as she went to put it in her mouth. I stuffed half of it in my own mouth. It was indeed the same recipe exactly like I thought.
"Coal!" Glade whined.
"Ignore him. There's more than one." dad reassured her while giving me a look.
He went to give her another one, but I snatched that too.
"Coal." he rebuked me firmly now.
"You used the same ingredients as you always have." I noted.
"Of course." dad frowned in confusion.
"She's highly allergic to nutmeg," I revealed, swallowing the last of my big bite, "But thankfully only if she eats it."
"Oh." Glade pouted, staring at the cookies in immense disappointment as realization swept over her.
"I had no idea. I did think it was strange there was none in the house as it's been one of Ethereal's favorite things to use," dad said, then quickly noted Glade's expression, "Don't worry. I'll just start whipping up another batch without it."
Glade nodded and folded her arms on the counter. I quickly downed the first cookie before doing the same with the second. Then I poked Glade on the shoulder. To my surprise, she immediately slid out of the stool and clutched onto my arm eagerly.
"Daddy said he got you a motorcycle! Let's go on a ride while we wait for the new cookies!" she proposed.
"Glade, I just got back from a very long ride. I'm tired. Besides, we don't have a helmet for you, and you're not allowed to ride without one. I'm also going to go out on a limb and say you probably haven't started your homework yet either." I denied.
"I don't have any homework this weekend."
"Liar. You have Mrs. Crisp as your teacher. There's no way you don't have homework. Even if you didn't, you still haven't made that display for your science report. I bought you the supplies three weeks ago, but I haven't seen you do a single thing with them. The project is due Wednesday. I highly suggest you start working on it now."
"I can just do it tomorrow."
"That's exactly what you've been saying these past three weeks, but nothing has been getting done."
"It'll be fine." my sister continued to protest, her voice growing dramatic and whiny.
"You're going to go upstairs and get to work. If you don't, I'm going to take all the supplies to the store to get my money back, and you'll have to pay for whatever you need out of your own pocket. Dad, Uncle Blaze, Pris, Ceri, and I will eat all of the cookies too, even the ones without nutmeg, so you won't be able to have any at all."
"But Coal that's not-!"
"If you don't like that, then get your little green butt upstairs, young lady, and do what you should have done three weeks ago."
Glade glared at me and huffed angrily. With a smirk on my face, I leaned against the counter to stuff another half of a cookie into my mouth. That got a frustrated cry of exasperation out of her, but she stomped over to and up the stairs before closing her bedroom door firmly behind her.
I merrily took her place on the stool and finished off that third cookie with no problems. I expected dad to stop me when I reached for a fourth, but he merely moved the plate of cookies closer for easier access. Planning at first to make some sort of witty, sarcastic comment, I said nothing upon noticing the strange expression on dad's face. It was a mix of guilt, nostalgia, and amusement.
"What?" I asked, my voice muffled by the thick glob of cookie in my mouth.
"You're going to make a good father someday." he answered with a small smile.
Curious, I kept silent to let him continue.
"It still feels weird every time I see you. I can't get over the fact that you're not that little boy I so easily tossed into the fountain," he chuckled reminiscently, "It doesn't feel like you're the same person at all, but, then again, I suppose you aren't. You have grown. Despite your moments of mischievousness, you've become very mature. You've stepped up to help fill in the gaps I left, and you've done it well. I had no idea about Glade's allergy. If you hadn't arrived when you did, she would have had whatever kind of horrible reaction she would have had, and I would have absolutely panicked."
"It wouldn't have been your fault. You've only known each other for two weeks. It's going to take way more time than that for you to learn everything new about us." I comforted.
"I know, but there's things I should know too. I know the kind of teacher Mrs. Crisp is considering both Wisp and Desi had her, but for whatever reason I completely believed Glade's lie that she didn't have any homework. I didn't think to ask her when I saw all those supplies in her room what they were for. It's taking me some time to get back into the swings of things in terms of being on top of what's going on with my kids, and that's why I'm glad you're here. I need your expertise."
He finished with another soft laugh, and I matched it.
"Don't worry. I'll teach you well." I promised.
Dad finally pushed my hand away when I went for a fifth cookie. He apparently needed no lessons when it came to reading me. I pretended to help clean up the dishes he used, and every sneaky attempt of mine to grab one more from the plate was expertly caught and foiled. An apple was then placed into my hand, and I gave up. Dad got back to work to make that batch of nutmeg-free cookies when I moseyed my way upstairs. Glade wasn't the only one with homework. The majority of my online classes didn't start until winter, but there was one that had just been about to start right as I signed up. It wasn't anything incredibly complicated. Most of it was the basic stuff I had learned in high school. A refresher never hurt though, and college certified in the basics was better than high school certified in the basics. I got the website loaded up, downloaded the new document of notes the professor had posted, and got to studying.
Having got a fair amount done and growing rather bored, I was truly grateful when my phone rang.
"Hey, Midas. What's up?" I answered, "Don't you usually have class at this time?"
"Hey, Coal, and, yes, usually. The professor is sick though, so class was cancelled for today."
"Nice. So, you just wanted to chat or...?" I trailed off suspiciously.
"I actually had a favor I wanted to ask you for." Midas revealed with a laugh.
"I figured," I responded likewise, "What do you need?"
"I ended up taking an astronomy class in order to fulfill one of my science credits, and we have to do a project on a recent discovery in the field. I was wondering if-"
"If dad possibly had some notes you could borrow?"
"Exactly." Midas laughed louder.
"You know, one day he's going to get fed up with you all mooching off his work and tell you to do it yourself." I teased.
"Well, I'm just going to hope that today is not that day."
"I guess we'll find out. Give me a minute. I'll go talk to him."
I went to Glade's room first to check on her though only to discover that she was no longer in there. To her credit, her display for her report was a third of the way done, which was an acceptable amount of work for the amount of time that had passed. Her laughter rang out from downstairs. Cerise, who had come home from her after school activities, laughed along as well. I found as I moved down the stairs that the source of the commotion was Cerise and Glade having a little wrestling session with dad. Boy, did that bring up memories. In the past, there hadn't been a week that went by where dad didn't grab at Prism or me in order to get us grappling on the floor. My brother and I had always had problems coming out the victor, but due to either increasing age, the unexpected strength of his daughters, or by choosing to lose dad was quite effectively pinned down by Cerise and Glade.
"Dad, I have a question for you." I called to him as I slowly made my way down the stairs, enjoying the scene.
"I'm a little busy at the moment." he pointed out in amusement.
"You don't have to get up or anything, if you even can," I taunted, "Midas simply has to do a report on a recent astronomical discovery, and he wanted to know if you had any notes he could use."
"I'm barely home for two weeks after being gone for ten years, and already your friends are back to mooching off my work," dad scoffed in exasperation before shaking his head, "What recent astronomical events does he think I know about? It's not exactly like I had access to an observatory while being locked up and kept prisoner."
"So do you have anything or not?" I asked with a smirking grin.
Dad sighed, but he was fighting back a smile.
"I've been collecting research of all that I've missed since I've been gone. There's probably something in there he can use. All of the notes I've gathered are on my flash drive. It's-"
He tried to continue, but whatever dad said was muffled by Glade deciding she'd had enough with the break in the action. She glomped herself back on him, and I danced around the three of them in order to make it into my parents' room to retrieve the drive. Dad had it currently plugged into his computer.
I don't think the three on the floor noticed my presence as I darted around them once more to return to my room. Midas texted me better specifics on what he was looking for, and I opened up the one main folder on dad's drive to begin my search for the best things to send my friend. However, I immediately frowned when I saw what I was looking at. There was indeed only one main folder, but there was a plethora of folders inside that, and even more folders inside those. All paths led me to documents and collections of pictures with each having a strange name. It was almost as if they were part of a riddle or something encrypted. Highly confused as I had never seen dad organize his notes like this before, I opened up a random document.
What I found had nothing to do with astronomy, and it only heightened my confusion immensely. The first few pages had photocopied pages from old news articles regarding dad's parents' deaths. Several sections of texts were highlighted, and beneath the articles were pages of shorthanded notes apparently written by dad about them. The one thing that instantly caught my eye and sent my heart racing in a way that both chilled my chest and rushed heat to my cheeks simultaneously was that dad didn't refer to the car accident as an accident. He called it a murder.
In the back of my head I know I should have stopped reading right there. This was part of the secret I had sworn I would keep out of. Unfortunately, I clicked on another document. And another. I opened a file full of nothing but pictures. As I put all the pieces presented before me together, it didn't take long to realize exactly what dad had been trying to do in his failed attempt to find answers.
The shock of the information sinking into my brain had it feeling like I'd been looking everything over for an hour, but in reality it had only been a few minutes. Dad's barely contained thundering as he rushed up the stairs and burst into my room should have had me jumping out of my seat, but it took him launching himself through the door before I was jolted enough by his coming to stand up. He took one look at my face, what I had open on the screen, and the flash drive in the port before the most awful sort of look stretched itself across his expression. He pushed me out of the way, hurriedly closed everything down, and yanked the drive free to shove it in his pocket.
"I told you to take the flash drive that was in the right hand drawer!" he gently roared at me.
He kept his voice quiet so as to most likely not draw the attention of Cerise and Glade, but it's quietness made it all the more terrifying.
"I-I didn't hear that. Glade covered you up." I mumbled timidly, withdrawing into myself and avoiding dad's eye as if he was a giant towering over me.
"If you didn't hear me, then you should have asked for me to repeat myself!"
"I'm sorry. I would have if I had known you had something with that kind of stuff on it." I apologized quietly.
Dad exhaled furiously, and I was more than a little relieved when he stepped away from me to pace madly about the room. I felt as if I was allowed to breathe, and I dared to briefly argue my case.
"The car accident that killed your parents was a planned, and successful, murder attempt," I said softly, keeping my ground when dad looked over his shoulder at me with an enraged glare unlike anything I thought I could ever see from him, "You were trying to find out why it was done and who did it, and those people are the ones who captured you. It's a big thing, so why on earth would you just leave a flash drive with such a secret sitting plugged into your computer where someone like a nosy Cerise or an unknowing person like me could have such easy access to it?"
"Of course I wouldn't be so stupid of my own volition!" dad snapped, "I had no choice! You were right that there was more to the story that I wasn't telling. Before he sent me away, Buckeye scheduled a time with me where he would access the house to watch me delete all my research files I had on them. He was very specific on when and which computer I could have the drive plugged in, and he would do a sweep of our system after I deleted each batch of files to make sure they were gone for good."
My heart dove out of my chest and down to my shoes.
"Don't you think you should have been a little more adamant about making sure I knew which flash drive to take then?" I questioned indignantly.
"Coal, you have no-!"
Dad cut himself off abruptly before he could get far. By the deeply conflicted grimace he wore, it seemed apparent that he felt himself unable to contradict me there. This mistake was just as much his fault as it was mine.
"Don't you dare go anywhere alone." he suddenly warned me in a whisper.
His stare on me was unblinking, and he gripped my shoulder tightly.
"Buckeye will have seen that the drive was connected to a different computer and files that were not supposed to be opened were opened. He has probably already traced the breach back to your computer and to you. I will try to get it across to him that my computer crashed and an auto-open program on yours opened those files, but I severely doubt he will fall for such a lie. Otherwise, we have to make sure that you never go anywhere that doesn't have at least a dozen witnesses if he thinks it's fit to seek you out like he did me."
"F-for how long?"
"For forever, or at least until we can somehow guarantee that Buckeye and his companions are unable to bother us further- and I don't have much hope in that." dad shrugged dismally.
"Will they come after you again too?" I asked in the softest of voices.
"Just stay in your room for the moment, Coal, please" dad completely ignored me, "I'll bring you the drive with the astronomy files on it. Leave it to me to try and sort this new mess out. Don't say a word to anyone else."
"Alright," I promised, "I'm sorry."
Dad said nothing further. He merely gave me a sad look, gave my shoulder a squeeze, and sharply turned on his heel to stride out of the room.
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