Kylian stayed rooted to his spot. "Dios mío, what did I just see?"

Catalina almost died. And the ground erupted to save her.

The ground erupted.

Why weren't Catalina and the boy surprised about it?

Kylian's hand travelled up his chest to his neck, then the back of his neck. He tried to slow down his speeding heart. 

Catalina looked unfazed, or at least less shocked than he expected her to. He expected her to be shocked like hoe he was. The other boy looked like he was about to burst into tears any second.

He was glad they didn't realize that he was here, witnessing everything, He did scream when Catalina had plummeted to the ground, after all, but they didn't seemed to have heard that. He didn't want them knowing he saw everything.

Kyle silently watched them leave, Catalina leaning on her dark-haired friend, limping, and the boy, clinging onto Cat as if holding onto something he can't have any longer. He realized—with dread or ecstasy, he didn't know—what this meant. He wasn't alone.

Because he was like the boy, one of them. Not something fancy like being...an earth manipulator or something, but he was like the boy. The boy was like him.

As if the thought had triggered it, he felt the urge to let his body grow out the dark hair he kept hidden inside him, something he could control and decide whether he wanted anyone to see or not. It made him look like a werewolf every time he tried it to remind himself he wasn't normal, what with his naturally long canines, minus the wolf's snout or limbs. But then he remembered he was in the woods. So was the boy and Catalina a few moments ago. Which meant there could be other such rule breakers who could stumble upon him revealing his unnatural self. 

And he'd rather die than be know for what he was. As a freak. A demon spawn. Everything against God. A sin. He wondered what else society will come up with to label him when they find out, jus like Tia Magdalena did when she first realized what he was.

Experiment.

That was the last thing Tia Magdalena uttered at him before moving away with her family, hurling curses at his father, calling him el diablo for committing such a villainy.

He was only seven then, but he remembered all too well. It was his earliest memory that gave him any clue as to why he was what he was. And his only clue.

"He's just a boy!" His tia screeched at her brother-in-law, both standing six feet apart from each other in the living room of the Fortone Estate. 

Kyle was on the sofa, his small fingers wrapped around the stuffed toy of a brown wolf that his father got him on his birthday a month ago, one which he had grown to love the most from all his toys.

"He's your son, Francis!" His tia continued in hysterics, jabbing a finger furiously at her frightened nephew's direction. "How could you do this to him-how could you be so...vile?"

His father didn't reply, only stared coldly back at her. Kyle shrank back into his seat, the cushions cupping his body, shocked by his beloved tia's anger and yelling. Tia Magdalena had never raised her voice in front of him before.

"Oh, yes," she snapped, "you didn't hesitate with that boy." She narrowed her eyes at Francis in disbelief. "But he—he's your son—" She took a step back. "Dios mío, if you lay a finger on my daughter..."

She buried her face in her hands, peeking through her fingers to take a took at her trembling nephew. She slowly pulled her hand away, realization dawning in her face but none too surprised.

"So, this was why she left."

Francis Fortone continued his cold stare, his hands folded, refusing to speak, his lips set in a thin line. He was neither defiant or seem guilty. Just sat and stared back as if it as the way of things.

Back then, he didn't understand what his tia meant. But overtime, he realized. It was because of him that his mother left, because of what his father did to him. Because of his father who turned him into an abominable anomaly.

His mind returned to Catalina and the boy. He felt a strong urge to find out which one of them it was. Catalina didn't seem to bothered by it, barely acknowledging it. It could be her. But the other boy, her friend, he was shaken to the core, looked scared for his life. It could all the well be him, too.

He remembered the two giant roots crawling out of the ground and raising up towards the boy as if to catch him when he fell, but for some reason just fell to the ground with him.

That boy. He was sure of it. He had to find who he was. And he was sure Catalina wouldn't be too cooperative. But of course. Who could there be that knows every detail about every student in Evemore High than his very own personal guide.

Kyle ran back into the school building, keeping an alert lookout for Ian and for teachers who could get him into trouble. But the first person spotted was the older boy from earlier—something Aldane. He was putting up posters about some dance at the end of the year. Kylian jogged up to the boy.

"Hello. Aldane, is it not?"

The boy turned to look at him, smiling slightly, pausing his work. "Please, call me Lou."

"Wonderful! Do you know where Ian Grey is? I've lost my tour guide."

Lou paused to think. "Must be at one of the studios. I heard he had entered one of the showdowns? Don't know which—"

"Showdown?" Kyle frowned in confusion.

Lou opened his mouth as if to explain, but Kylian quickly stopped him. He needed to find Ian first.

"No—no, just, tell me where the nearest studio is." Kylian said, trying to sound apologetic but failing. He had never wanted to find out the identity of a person so badly in his life before. "It's a matter of life and death," he added.

Lou nodded, unimpressed. "Down the hall, two rights. You'll find it on your—"

"Thanks!" Kyle interrupted, rather rudely, leaving the boy hanging mid-sentence and frowning, and took off running.

Down the hall. Two rights. "Aha!" He found it to his left. He tried to yank open the door but after a few seconds of pulling hard, he realized he had to push and gently did exactly that, careful as to not slam it into anyone when he opens it. The room was filled to the brim with students and loud chatters and laughs and yells poured out when the door had opened just a crack. 

"Is Ian Grey here?" Kyle yelled over the din, "Have you seen Ian Grey? Ian Grey!"

One of the students shook her head slightly, staring at him. "Sorry bro!" someone yelled from inside.

"Thanks," Kylian mumbled. "Hey," he said to the boy closest to him. "Where is the next studio?"

The boy flicked his eyes away. "Uh, next corridor."

"Thank you," Kylian said, already running off to find it. In his hurry, he spotted the boy walking toward him, juggling a tower of books, a second too late. The two of the collided and the books spilled onto the floor and the boy fell back on his rear with a yell. Flushing, Kylian scrambled to help the boy with the books.

"I'm sorry," Kyle said as he piled the books into his own arms, "I'm so, so sorry, I didn't—I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Bloody hell, you weren't!"

Kylian swiveled around to face him, recognizing the voice. "Ian?"

Ian scowled at Kyle, looking annoyed. "No. Beyoncé."

Kyle smiled apologetically, relief flooding him. "Right, right. Sorry."

"Apology accepted, Pretty Boy, but please, watch where you're going. Do you know how hard that was?" Ian said, letting out a frustrated sigh as he joined Kylian in picking the books back again.

"I'm sorry," Kyle said again, "I was in a hurry." He wanted to rush into questions but he feared seeming suspicious or too interested. Cat liked to keep her relation to him a secret. And probably would rather jump down a cliff than be known half a Castillo.

So he waited until Ian piled half of the books into Kyle's arms before collecting them into his own.

"Alright, load them up," Ian ordered.

"No, I'll help,"Kylian offered. Mostly because he wanted to get answers.

Ian smiled gratefully. "I'm headed to the library. Sounds good?"

Kylian nodded as he fell into step with Ian.

"So, Ian started, "what was the hurry about?"

Keep it cool, Kylian thought. "Oh, nothing much. Nothing important."

Ian frowned but didn't push the matter. "Where did you run off to after that thing—"

"Nowhere," Kylian said quickly, the previous events still fresh on his mind. "Just wanted to clear my mind." He paused. "Uh, what's the name of Catalina Delgado's friend?"

Kylian saw Ian raise his eyebrows, but he answered. "You see, she has a lot of friends," he said. "There's Joseph Creed, Antonio Agresti—the love of her life, but poor boy has no clue. Um, Delta Charles-Swallow—"

"It's a boy. Did you say Delta? Is that a boy?" Kylian asked before Ian could break into a full biography of the students in Evemore.

Ian raised his eyebrows even higher. "No, Delta's a girl. Delta Charles-Swallow"

Kylian frowned in thought. He almost tripped over his own feet, which would have been disastrous. "Are there anyone that sticks close to her? Dark haired? A little tanned. Maybe mixed."

Ian nodded slowly, watching Kyle intently. Kyle guessed his sudden inquiry about the students of Evemore piqued Ian's interest. Kylian ignored it, deciding to deal with it later.

"He was there when my sister was arguing with Cat. He ran outside, I believe."

Ian nodded, his eyes widening with recognition. "Oh, him." He shrugged. "Yeah, he's always taking Catalina's blame these days without argument. Remember Physics today? Because Cat's in the Fashion Showdown. Pretty sure after the showdown Hal's gonna frame Cat some way as payback, it's not easy with her. Nice guy. Well, to me anyway. Ruby's been stalking him as if she's 
got some strong emotions for him—pretty sure its not some sweet lovin'—"

Kylian breathed out deeply. Ian needed to learn to stay on topic and talk slow. The rate at which the words came out of his mouth baffled Kylian. "Ian. I asked for his name. Not his life story."

Ian nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, but if you're interested, it only seems fair that you get his life story."

"Ian, just give me his name." Kylian was basically pleading.

Ian huffed. "Fine. It would have helped though. In high school, you do a bit of stalking and research before you propose to them."

"Ian I'm not crushing!" Kylian almost yelled. "Just give me his name, por favor!"

"Chill, bro," Ian chided, "we're near the library."

Kylian groaned inwardly. Was he doing it to actually annoy him or was he just plain dumb and oblivious? It was so hard getting out something as simple as a name out of the boy.

Ian smiled sympathetically. "I know your pain." He shook his head as if reminiscing. "Day one, brother. I would say you've got taste, but I wouldn't know."

Kylian scowled at Ian as he opened the door to the library. Kyle refused to enter, and Ian, realizing that Kyle wasn't following, stopped to turn around. "What?"

"His name."

Ian frowned, looking annoyed. "I told you."

Kyle's scowl deepened. "You told me everything from his birth to death expect for his name!"

Ian narrowed his eyes, pausing to think. Then he shrugged and said, "Hal Aldane."

Kyle felt his chest drop. Aldane? "As in...Lou Aldane?"

Ian nodded matter-of-factly. "Yep. He's pretty known—senior, biology genius and all. Hal, not so much."

"I went through all of this when I could have just—" Kyle sighed. He stalked over to Ian and promptly dropped his stack on Ian's. "There, suffer." He turned on heels and without paying any attention to Ian's cries of protest, made a swift exit, leaving Ian to struggle with the wobbling tower of books.

***