Chapter 20 - "There's a reason why I sought her out."

Instantly, Charles' body shot upwards, the blanket thrown away from him and he pointed a finger towards Kane's ' shocked face as he spat, "Don't you fucking dare say her name."

Kane paused for a moment, examining the gritted teeth of Charles that made him seem enraged, but the coiled eyebrows showed otherwise, as he appeared vulnerable and saddened. It was almost as though he wanted to be strong, attempted to be like his family, but he just wasn't like them at all.

Nonetheless, Kane raised his hand in apology in defence. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"I don't care what you meant to do," Charles snarled, pushing the covers off his bed and storming to his feet. You don't have the right to speak her fucking name after you killed her in cold blood. You took her away from us and you sit there and say you care about me, and then you kiss me, and I can't do anything about it!"

"Calm down." Kane's eyes sharpened in alert as he settled his food on a small table and also stood to his feet. "You'll have an attack," he said sternly as he stepped closer to Charles.

"Stop talking to me as though we're friends! You ruined my life!" Charles snapped, his eyes overwhelming with tears; he wasn't certain what he was feeling, but he needed to let it all out. "I don't want anything to do with you! I want you to die the worst kind of death possible and you deserve it! And I don't fucking understand why I can't do it, why I can't at least try and fight you and I'm so confused, and you being here makes me even more confused because I don't want you to leave or else I'll be lonely but I can't feel that way and I should want to kill you but I don't and I—"

Charles saw Kane suddenly get much closer to him, placing a palm against the wall behind Charles. His other hand gently curled around Charles' neck with his thumb brushing across the flesh of his adam's apple.

Charles' eyes shifted to the slightly parted and moist lips of Kane who grew closer and closer, his breath stuck in his throat as he waited for their worlds to collide again. It was the only thing that made his mind suddenly stop thinking, drawing a total blank while his senses waited to feel.

But it never came.

Kane came close enough that his breath could be felt on Charles' nose, but then he stopped. His gaze repeatedly shifted back and forth between each of Charles' eyes, and the worry was visible in his quivering brown irises.

It was odd the way Kane made him feel, and he couldn't understand it. But he suddenly didn't feel the spiralling thoughts he did a second ago, he didn't feel as though there were too many problems to handle or that everyone believed he was insane; he could finally breathe.

"Take a breath," Kane murmured worriedly, nodding his head when he saw Charles part his lips further to take a long deep breath in. "Close your eyes and breathe out slowly." Charles didn't do it, the fright still in his gaze, to which Kane shook his head and insisted, "You can close your eyes, don't be scared. I'm right here."

Charles didn't even realize he was scared.

The moment he closed his eyes, it felt as though the entire world had disappeared and the only thing he could think about was Kane's breath lingering past his face, flickering the tiny hairs on its path and stimulating nerves Charles didn't even know could be touched.

"Your hate towards me is normal, Charles." His eyes were still closed when Kane spoke, but he didn't want to open them. "But it's the way of the troops and your family understands; your family has done worse than that."

"What do you mean?" Charles asked quietly.

Kane slowly pulled apart, and when he did, Charles finally opened his eyes—it was almost as though to make sure he was still there since he couldn't feel his breath anymore.

The grave look across Kane's face made it evident that what he was about to reveal was serious. But then, he shook his head and distanced himself even more. "Forget it, it's not my place to share—"

"You owe me the truth after what you've done."

Kane met his gaze with narrowed eyes, which made Charles flinch. "I don't owe you anything, but because I like you, I'll tell you." Charles heart skipped a beat again. "When Draco was alive, he was a monster and he took the lives of so many, kids even, younger than you."

Charles frowned. "Who's Draco?"

"Ah...that makes sense why you think I'm evil," Kane chuckled, shaking his head. "They've been hiding the truth of your lineage from you." He folded his arms, feeling goosebumps on his arms by the mere thought of all the stories his father explained. "Draco Hercules was your grandfather, Dante's dad. He was a menace. When my father worked for the Mariah's, she would foster children and Draco would break in and kill everyone single one of them. He's the one that killed your aunt too, by the way, Tessa Hercules, and your uncle, Moreno Hercules."

There was no way those things were true; Dante and Nate had never mentioned anyone named Tessa or Moreno. "That's not true."

"Your real father, Nathan Kennedy," Kane leaned closer to him with widened eyes, "he killed his own mother. Sliced her throat with a knife, like this," he gestured towards his own neck and swiped his finger across it, then tilted his head to the side as though he had died.

The excitement through his tone made Charles feel a shiver across his spine; there was no way that story was true. Nate was the kindest most gentle being Charles knew. He didn't even kill spiders when he would find them around the home; even when Dante tried to step on them, he would tackle him down just to caress the spider between his palms and let him into the yard.

Plus, any wound or injury made him squirm and nauseous; when Charles had fallen on rollerblades once and had scrapped his knee all the way to the bone, Nate nearly fainted from the blood.

There was no way he had done that.

"Cesar's even worse," Kane continued, no matter how much colour drained from Charles' shocked face, "he killed your aunt, Dante's sister. Her name was Melissa, and apparently she was a genius. I can't remember how old she was, but she was young, maybe thirteen or fourteen." Charles' heart was pounding; all of them had been involved in that lifestyle? "You know what he did? He reached both sides of her head with his hands and snapped her neck, just like this," he snorted, exaggerating the motion. "My father saw it happen. Then, he threw her at their feet as though she was a toy; Cesar's a real psychopath."

Cesar Dayne?

The excited and gentle Cesar, who dyed his hair silver, spoke in such an angelic voice, practically a saint, took any insult to heart, treated him as though he was a precious diamond, danced and sang opera songs, practiced theatre, tried on costumes for pleasure, painted his nails rose, cried as though his life was ending whenever the nail polish on his nails chipped, and even applied lip gloss and silver mascara?

That Cesar?

"How do you think Nate was conceived?" Kane continued even further, his voice growing much louder, thrilled from Charles' reaction. "Cesar and Draco would rape women as though it was normal for them; Cesar raped your grandmother Judith, and that was how she got pregnant with Nate."

Charles' could barely breathe, and Kane knew that, but he wanted him to hear the truth about everything his family attempted to hide from him.

"How do you think Nate lost his arm and his eye?" he mentioned. "That was Cesar's doing; his team brutally tortured Nate. Gouged out his eye and cut his arm—they're evil people, Charles."

He didn't want to hear anymore.

"And Lucius? Your best friend's father? Dante's oldest brother? Your uncle? He was on a different level completely," Kane boasted, sending his quivering fingers through his black curls. "He was a different breed. They would send him on missions to assassinate one person, but he'd kill all of them just for the fun of it."

"Lucius would never intentionally hurt anybody." Charles pressed his palms over his ears, vigorously shaking his head as he repeated through a shaky breath, "I know Lucius has done bad stuff, but it was because he had to—"

"He shot Moreno's best friend in the forehead because he talked back to him."

Charles choked.

"Point blank, right in front of Moreno's face. For talking back. And that's one of the least worse things he has done," Kane shrieked, staring into space; he was clearly fascinated by all those stories. "Lucius was so bad that everyone feared him more than Draco at one point. He could kill you if you laughed too loud, and he was strong, super strong that it was practically inhumane." Kane exhaled a long sigh. "Dante had gotten bad too at one point; his anger was through the roof. He would ask people for sexual favours and then kill them if he got bored of them."

"That's not true either."

"It is true, Charles! How do you think he met Nate? You think you were born out of real consensual love?" Kane mocked, raising his eyebrows challengingly, and Charles had nothing to say. "Everyone knows that story; he told Nate to help him or else he would kill him and his aunt Judith, that's how they started seeing each other. And that was their pact; as long as Nate was useful, he'd keep him alive. They eventually fell for one another, but that doesn't mean that part of their story doesn't mean anything. Look, all I'm trying to say is, you can hate me all you want, but take a good look in the mirror because your family isn't any better, and neither was Natalia."

"What do you mean neither was Natalia?"

Kane's eyes widened even more. "You didn't know Lucius used to bring Natalia on missions before?"

"I did, but they weren't really missions, it was just adventures—"

"They were missions. Those three bodies were not the only bodies Natalia had under her belt, and let's just say," he shrugged his shoulders, "there's a reason why I sought her out."

Author's Note: I know there are a few inconsistencies but let's just act as though Charles's know nothing and I will edit the beginning once the story is completed.