World Ashen

Chapter 24 - Cayler

I woke up, confused, then I remembered the girl. "What part of being careful did you not understand?" August asked as I squinted from the blinding light overhead.

"What happened?"

"You got shot and were out for two days. Luckily, we stopped the bleeding, or you would've died."

"What about the girl?"

Kenneth walked over. "She's stable. What did you want with a Psycho, anyway?"

"Answers, but I'm exhausted right now. Question her later?"

"And what? Keep her locked in the basement?"

"Make sure she stays... here," I said, falling asleep.

My right arm was in a sling August made using an old pillowcase. It took a week before I could do anything with the rest of my body. Piper became friends with the ex-Psycho, named Émilie Rothschild. At the time of Yellowstone, Émilie was a journalist from Germany, but she was doing a story here in the United States. Émilie had joined the Psychos, so the chance of her death was mediocre. Émilie's knowledge of English was alright, so Piper taught her some more. I found it strange, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. Émilie kept saying my name like "caller", and I eventually got used to it. Sometimes, I would forget and correct her. It was a few days after Jenna's second birthday when we started getting ready to attack the current leader of the Psychos, who Piper and Émilie called Jonah.

"Thank you, Caller. You saved my life. I owe you." Émilie smiled.

"Don't worry. Listen, I have to go." Émilie opened her mouth to say something else, but I was already gone.

I wandered into my sister- and brother-in-law's bedroom. "Uncle Cayler," Jenna shrieked and ran into me with a hug. My niece, running to hug me, jostled my body. I gritted my teeth. That hurt! She was only two and didn't know better, just acted as if nothing had happened.

"Hey sweetie, Mommy and Daddy are here, right?" The two-year-old nodded, leading me to Amy and Jace.

Amy had her hands on her hips. "Cayler! We need to talk."

"You seem mad at me and whatever it was, it's not my fault, sis."

"Remember the summer of my graduation?"

"Of course. It was a big day for you. What about it?"

"I remember Sarah-April, Sarah, rather. We went to the same high school in Indiana."

"Okay? I don't get where you're going with this."

Amy sighed, clearly mad that I wasn't catching her drift. "Maybe Gavriel has heard from Dad."

"I don't know. It's been four years since we even heard about him, and they presumed him dead."

"It wouldn't hurt to try."

"I honestly don't recommend it. I don't want you to get hurt if you find out he's dead. Was this it?"

Amy nodded. I turned to Jace. "Jace, Jensen wants you in his office. I don't know why."

Jace said thanks and left. "It's a little weird having Émilie here, isn't it?" Amy said.

I nodded. "I wasn't expecting Piper to become friends with her."

"What? You were going to shoot her?"

"What was I supposed to do, Amy? Send her back to Jonah. Who would've gotten our information and killed us all?"

"Whatever, Émilie is very helpful."

"She is. Sometimes, she calls me Caller, though," I said with a slight smile. "Kenneth needs my help with something," I said randomly.