Chapter 4- The Family
#5 of Soul
1
Before Vanessa could look, Don quickly covers Kayden's ears back up. Kayden let's go of Don's Aura and his ears dim. That was too close, he thinks. "What was that, sweetie?" Vanessa asks.
"His ears were glowing," Emma pointed. Kayden tries to keep his head down as if he isn't there. But they all knew he was there. It's too early for my powers to be revealed, he thinks.
"Kayden, I need to talk to you for a second," Don says. The two get up and walk to the hallway. They ascend the stairs until they're at the top, at which point, Don whispers, "what're you doing? Are you trying to get caught?" Kayden pins down his ears and looks down.
"I didn't mean to," Kayden says. He covers his eyes, embarrassed. His chest growing heavy and his heart beating faster.
"Look," Don rubs Kayden's back to try and make him feel better, "I know you love using your special powers to read and help others, but you need to start getting it under control. Emma is the most observant of the five; she'll be keeping her eye out for pretty much anything out of the ordinary."
"Ok. I'm really sorry. It's just, now that my abilities are changing, I'm really curious and excited as for how it looks," Kayden explains.
"I know you are. Maybe we should try to control your power from now on." Kayden nods and they head back downstairs.
2
When their meal finishes, Andrew and Vanessa went upstairs while the boys stayed with the Quints. Don agreed to play Candy Land with Morgan, Theresa and Brittany while Emma and Sky talk with Kayden. "How long have you known our brother?" Sky asks.
"Hmmm.... about five or six years," Kayden replies. He stretches his legs on the couch in the living room. Emma and Sky sit on the side arms; Emma at the head, the other at the foot.
"How'd you guys become friends?" Emma asks. Kayden remembers to keep his caution when it comes to her.
"Well, nothing specific really happened. We just started talking, found stuff in common, next thing you know, we became best friends." Kayden's gaze goes over to the four playing the board game. He hasn't really been paying attention but can pick out that Brittany and Don appear to be fighting for first place while Morgan and Theresa seem to be in last. As he looks on and smiles at Don, he doesn't notice any movement on his head until he hears Emma's voice.
"Woah! This guy has rainbow ears!" Emma shouts. Kayden's eyes widen when she sees his hat in her paws. Don looks up and quickly comes to Kayden's aid.
"Hey, hey! You don't rip hats off of people's heads!" Don scolds. "Put it back, Em."
"But look, Donny, they're beautiful." Emma reaches a paw out and slowly rubs the rainbow fur on Kayden's head. The other sisters turn their attention to him and they eventually want to feel it too. Kayden loves having his ears rubbed so he can't help but let out a small murr every now and then, but his main thought is don't read anyone. Don't read anyone. Don't. Read. Anyone!
"How'd you get them that way?" Brittany asks.
"Let's just say it took a while," Kayden says.
"Why do you have them like this?" Sky asks.
"I thought it would look nice on my fur so I figured, why not?" Don eventually gets his sisters to stop rubbing Kayden's ears. He places his hat back on his head, covering the several colors from the rest of the world. Brittany and Morgan go back to their game while Theresa just stands around, watching them since she knows she isn't going to win.
Kayden looks up at Emma. "I'm sorry I pulled your hat off," she says, pinning her ears down. Kayden sits up and wraps an arm around her.
"It's ok," he says. "You were just curious to see what's under there. I'm glad you like what you saw."
"Are you kidding? I love that colored pattern. I wish my parents would let me do that." Since his ears are covered and he can't help it, Kayden secretly reaches out for Emma's Aura to see what it is. He hugs her tight with her returning it to disguise the fact he's reading her. He reaches out with all he's got and her full Aura comes into view of him. A bit of white, green, and yellow. There's no specific name for this one, but if Kayden were to guess, he'd say that she's just being an average nine-year-old.
Before she becomes suspicious, Kayden let's go of her soul, letting go of her as well. Emma rubs her forehead and winces. "Whew! Just became woozy a little bit," she says.
"You ok?" Sky asks.
"Yeah. I just need to sit down." She hops off the couch and goes into the other room, with Sky following her. Kayden lies back down and watches the board game again where eventually, Don wins.
3
Don's room is pretty awesome, Kayden thinks. Technically, Don and Emma's room. It's a decent size, about 10 foot by 10 foot. Bunk beds stand in one corner, a TV and gaming console in the other. Two dressers sit on the opposite wall with a sliding door closet right adjacent to them. Don sits in the bottom bunk with his arms wrapped around Kayden. "Do you want to spend the night here?" Don whispers.
"Of course," Kayden says. "I let you stay at my house and I really like your family."
"Yeah? I can tell that they like you too."
"Except I can truthfully tell." Kayden puts a little tease into his voice. They kiss a little bit before an idea pops into Kayden's mind. "I wanna try something."
"What is it?" Don asks. Kayden goes up to the light switch and turns it off, throwing the room into darkness. Kayden makes his way to the bed and laces fingers with Don. "W-What're you-?"
"Shhhhh." Kayden calmly shushes his friend and does what he always does. He uses his energy and goes out to read Don's Aura. The color makes Kayden smile and makes his tail wag back and forth. A bright green, like the bow on Emma's head, fills Don's Aura. The second he sees that color, Kayden sees the room light up in a beautiful green light.
"Wow," Don whispers. He looks mesmerized by what he sees. Kayden keeps a grip on the Aura, making extra careful to make sure it doesn't change to anything bad. The two look at each other again. Their muzzles turn upright in a smile. Suddenly, Kayden feels a change happening within. It's like he's holding onto something but it's slipping away.
"What's happening?" Kayden whispers. The green light momentarily disappears and then it comes back, but as a bright pink. He realizes that Don has changed emotions right before him. "Is puppy feeling affectionate?"
"I think the pink light made it obvious," Don says. He wraps his arms around Kayden again and pulls him towards him. Kayden ends up on top of Don, their muzzles locked and the pink all around them. Kayden feels his heart beating a little faster and his heart filling up with so much love and emotion.
Thoughts of getting caught leave Kayden's mind and he doesn't care if anyone sees them kissing or see his ears glowing bright pink. "I love you," Don whispers in between kisses.
"I love you too," Kayden says back. They wrap a blanket around themselves and go back to kissing.
4
As Kayden showers (Vanessa insisted), he couldn't stop thinking about a few things: Don, Emma, his powers. He wasn't sure what would happen if word got out about his ability. He'd probably be experimented on or something. Or maybe there are chances that he'll be hunted down so no one can be controlled by him. Kayden knows he isn't a control freak. He uses his powers for good, not evil. The odds of people leaving him be would be very slim.
Kayden's thoughts turned back to an hour ago when he was making out with Don and his room lit up like a Christmas tree. He loves the thought of his ears glowing, knowing that his abilities are getting stronger by the day.
He looks around and doesn't see anyone else in the room with him. As he rinses the suds off of him, he closes his eyes and wills his own energy to go deep within his own subconscious. He digs deep within his Aura and suddenly, his ears grew bright with light. Green and pink filled the bathroom. He opens his eyes. This really is amazing, Kayden thought.
Kayden lets go and the light turns off. He steps out of the shower, dries his fur and changes into new clothes: a black shirt with a pink skull and crossbones with blue basketball shorts. Don thought it would look nice with Kayden's pink arms. He takes the dirty towels and clothes and puts them in the hamper.
As he opens the door, he sees Emma standing there as if she was waiting for him. "What're you doing?" Kayden asks innocently.
"I'm just waiting for my turn in the shower," she says. She passes him and closes the door. He hears the water turn back on. Kayden goes into the dining room where Don sits eating a late night snack.
"Hiya," Don says. A box of club crackers and the hat used for covering Kayden sits next to him. Don stands up, grabs the hat and then carefully puts it back on Kayden.
"They make my ears hurt a little," Kayden softly whimpers.
"Awwwww. Foxy wants to show off his bright ears doesn't he?" Don asks, teasingly. Kayden just nods. "Ok. But only if you promise to keep your powers under control."
"I promise." Don sets the hat back down on the table and Kayden's ears perk back up. His tail slowly wags, sweeping across the floor a little. They quickly glance over their shoulders to see if anyone's watching and they hug. "I'm so happy you're letting me stay the night."
"Hey, anything for my best friend. Here," Don picks up Kayden, who giggles from the sudden gesture, "let's go back to my room since we'll have it to ourselves again." Kayden smiles and his tail keeps swishing.
5
They kissed a little bit before they ended up cuddling. Kayden can hear Don's beautiful heartbeat through the fabric of his shirt. He yawns, ready for sleep to consume him and, hopefully, another day full of green and pink follows. "Goodnight, foxy," Don says.
"'Night, puppy," Kayden whispers. As he starts to fall into sleep, they boys hear a ding, making their ears perk back up. Kayden looks up and sees his phone on Don's nightstand. He reaches over, grabs it, and sits up in bed.
"Who is it?" His friend asks.
"My mother." Kayden looks at the couple text messages from her. She's wondering where she is and why he didn't come home again. Because the fighting makes me upset, Kayden thinks. He presses the call button and puts the phone against his ear.
"What's going on?" Don asks. "Is everything ok?" Kayden holds up one finger. His mom finally answers.
"Kayden, where are you?" She asks, sounding concerned. "How come you didn't come back home?"
"I'm at Don's house. I'm staying the night," he says.
"Why didn't you tell me or your father?"
"Because..." Kayden thinks back to several days ago when his parents had a huge fight which drove him to sleep in the rain, which is the same night he met Kaleb. "... because I'm tired of the fighting."
"Son, your father and I have gotten along better, lately," she says calmly. However, Kayden's energy stirs and starts to sink within himself.
"How? You two haven't gone two days without fighting over something so stupid!" Kayden accidentally shouts in the phone. "The last time even drive dad to stay in a motel for the night!"
"Kayden-"
"No! I don't believe you! You know why?" Kayden was pretty much on a roll right then. His anger boiling him, but before it turns into full blown anger, another thought occurs to him. "Because you're still going through with the divorce, aren't you?" His mother stays silent. "Aren't you?!"
"Kayden, I had no idea you'd get worked up over this," she says.
"Well it does! It upsets me a lot!" Kayden sits there, thinking about what it'll be like if they continue with the divorce. His family will be split up, they will never be able to be together again. It does make him angry, but it mostly makes him sad.
"You still there, son?" Mother asks.
Knowing that even Kayden's powers can't control this situation, he says, "I'll come home when you guys solve your problems." After that, he hangs up.
"Is everything ok, Kayden?" Don asks, carefully wrapping his arms around the riled up fox. Kayden buries his eyes in his paws and let's the tears fall.
"No," Kayden says, "my parents can't get along for once in their life. They're going through a divorce and I don't want them to!" Don slowly rubs his back.
"It's ok, foxy. I'm here." Don hugs Kayden tight, doing what he can to calm him down. The room suddenly changes as more tears fall down Kayden's face.
"I wish my parents wouldn't fight," Kayden cries. "It scares me! I don't want our family broken!" Kayden's energy goes crazy. The only thing he can focus his mind on is how upset he is. At his family, at himself, and at his powers for not being able to control them.
Kayden sniffles and opens his eyes. The first thing he notices is the room is blue from his glowing ears. The second is that the door is open.
The third is that Emma is standing there.