prince ♛ cole mackenzie

16 | revenge

Silas slumped further back on the wood planks of the den. He had run back to the farmhouse to grab a blanket when he realised Cole wouldn't be there for warmth.

It was quite boring, sitting alone all day. He hadn't felt like school and his parents were too preoccupied to notice if he hid here instead.

Cole had left various pages from his sketchbook around the den from previous afternoons; Silas hadn't seen many before.
He pulled some out of a pile as carefully as he could manage, feeling slightly as though he was betraying his friend.

He had never truly realised how gifted Cole was with a pencil. On one of the pages, he had drawn a pale man with prominent fangs bared and a high-collared cloak. On another was a collection of named birds with 'starling' underlined a few times.

Silas flicked through the sheets. Above a drawing of an apple tree, he found a sketch of a boy in the butterfly meadow they had visited. He wore a flower crown and an easy smile.

he drew me.

He couldn't help but relive those perfect moments for the thousandth time. Silas closed his eyes and lay back against the wall. When he reopened them, a girl stood in front of him, looking concerned.

"What the hell, Jane?" he gasped.

"You shouldn't say that."

"There's nobody here to stop me. They said it all the time in the city."

"You weren't at school today," said Jane, ignoring his comment.

"You noticed."

"Were you sick?"

"No."

"Cole fell. He broke his wrist."

Silas became quiet. Panic flared in his stomach, though he wouldn't let Jane see.

"Where is he?" he asked.

"He's at home. He'll be back for play rehearsal tomorrow."

"How did he fall?"

Jane studied the floor awkwardly. "Billy walked by with a plank and it hit his ladder."

of course he did.

"I'm going to see Cole."

"There's no point. The girls and I tried but his mother said he was resting. You can see him tomorrow, though," she suggested.

"Okay. I'm going to find someone else."

"Seeing Billy won't solve anything, Silas."

"He hurt Cole," he said.

Jane sighed and pressed her back against the wall, sliding down near him.

"Are you okay? You look pretty bad," she tried to smile.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Wow, that's really good. Is it his?"

Jane gazed at the page on top. The drawing of Silas. He quickly pushed the bundle away, under his rejected blanket.

"Uhm, yeah, they're his."

"I already know about you two, you don't have to hide it," she giggled.

Silas lifted his hand to shield the side of his face, hearing Jane laugh again. "It's not like that!"

* * * * *

Jane left just before the sun set. Their time had been nice, he supposed. She was kind.

"Promise you won't stay out too late?" she had said to him, with which he returned a smile at last and promised.

Silas waited a minute after she had left to make his departure. He headed in the direction she had gone until he found her and followed close behind.

The Andrews' house was classy. It had many windows with delicate curtains and an ornate fireplace he could spot in the largest room with a light on. Jane entered when her mother opened the door and disappeared inside.

Silas walked to the back of the house, searching the windows. Most had curtains drawn over the panes. Eventually, he found a window to a gray-painted room. Inside he could see a dirty-blond boy sitting at a desk beside Charlie Sloane.

He felt a burst of anger for him then. Silas felt around in the grass for a rock and aimed for that window. It hit the glass hard, but not too hard to cause damage. He threw another pebble to gain the boy's attention.

Billy came to the window with a confused expression that darkened at the sight of Silas. He said something to his friend and they both left the room.

Silas walked to the front of the house and stood where none of the windows could show him and waited. Billy reappeared soon after with Charlie behind him.

"What do you want, freak?" Billy snarled.

"If you ever try to touch Cole again, I'll—"

"You'll what? You weren't even there today. Should've seen the look on his face," Billy looked at Charlie and smirked.

Silas swung at Billy's face before he realised what he was doing. A satisfactory trickle of blood flowed from Billy's nose after the blow.

Billy stood back in shock. Quickly, he wiped his hand across his his face and grabbed the collar of Silas's jumper. They grappled for a few moments before he had him against the side of his house.

"You're gonna regret that," he hissed.

Before Billy or Charlie could make a move, the front door opening sounded. In the short time they were distracted, Silas pushed free of Billy's grip and sprinted from the scene.